How Could It Have Been Better

Artists want to get better, they want to be the best.

And yet very few regularly ask the question, out loud to a real person, “How could it have been better?”

I’m not saying you should go around asking that to everyone and become paralyzed from all the opinions…but I hope there’s two or three or five trusted people in your camp where when you get done with the show or the tour or the interview or the session you can ask

How could it have been better?

And maybe you’ve never asked that question or it’s been a long time since you asked anyone that question. So let this be your cue.

***The artists I know who ask that question with an open mind get better faster and build their confidence deeper.

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I’m always interested in your perspective, whether affirming or dissenting. Continue the conversation anytime: gabethebassplayer@gmail.com

Ten Dollar Operation

If you make one dollar a month for a while and then two dollars a month for a while and then have a TEN dollar month…it’s best not to enter the next month acting like you’re a ten dollar operation.

The burst of a great month is great but bursts are not the norm. That’s what makes them bursts…and makes them fun.

I was talking with a business manager who has a pretty big artist roster and I asked where she sees artists making money mistakes most often.

She said lifestyle on the road.

Because the expenses on the road aren’t a one time thing…they reoccur everyday you’re on the road. She said acts get a little money coming in, then maybe they have a big month or big season and upgrade their life on the road as though that big money is the norm.

And most of the time it isn’t.


A good rule of thumb is even if you’re over spending and bleeding money on tour buses, stylists, guitar techs and monitor engineers night after night…STOP when you run out of money. Worst case scenario let the zero balance be the wake up call.

If you let it go negative (i.e. borrow money), then the stupidity can be endless.

Get a good business manager. Check in with them if you already do. Learn how to grow steadily and make wise predictions on how and when to upgrade.

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I’m always interested in your perspective, whether affirming or dissenting. Continue the conversation anytime: gabethebassplayer@gmail.com

Forgetting

Becoming astute in cracking the code of the ‘how to make it'…i.e. memorizing the answers, memorizing the map, figuring it out…

…to go along with that, you’re going to have to be very good at forgetting.

All the answers you memorize are going to change. The mountain range on the map is going to move.

And now the old ‘knowing’ doesn’t really do you a whole lot of good. It’s best to forget as quickly as possible what you once knew in favor of what it has turned into.

That’s why it’s hard for a manager to break a second baby act. They have a really hard time forgetting the way they broke their first one.

We all want to believe we’re building our knowledge toward the sure-thing, the repeatable process.

But more than ever we need to be willing to forget in order to adapt quicker.

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I’m always interested in your perspective, whether affirming or dissenting. Continue the conversation anytime: gabethebassplayer@gmail.com

The Truck Driver

I got caught in slow city traffic behind a big pickup truck. The truck driver was slowing down for everyone who wanted to turn into our lane from the side streets.

I was furious. This driver thought they were being the nicest person on the planet by letting everyone in…but being nice to all those people meant he had to slow the rest of us down.

He was not being nice and friendly and considerate to me.


If the driver slows down, the people behind are mad. If the driver doesn’t slow down to let people in, the side street people are mad.


Sometimes you’re going to have to be ok with being the truck driver.


***Artists especially hate being the truck driver. That’s why you need to hire a good manager. But sometimes you’re just going to have to choose which people you’re going to piss off (for now) and keep on down the road.

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I’m always interested in your perspective, whether affirming or dissenting. Continue the conversation anytime: gabethebassplayer@gmail.com

Nightcap 18

Remember, when you see those amazing freshman college football players, that just a few months earlier they were asking for a hall pass to go to the bathroom.  

It’s hard to rinse the suds off of a colander.

It seems ultimately appropriate when a lady says she’s going to get dressed and then goes and gets a dress on.

Why is it that the people who are able to buy my house for cash can only afford to let me know via a hand written tag board sign at a stoplight?

If you’re smiling when you read the words: Jellyfish- Spilt Milk, we have a deep connection.

Don’t get distracted by readiness from willingness. The latter is much more powerful.

***Yep, there are 17 nightcap posts prior to this one. Just little thoughts that didn’t turn into full posts. Search ‘nightcap’ on the blog to read the rest.

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I’m always interested in your perspective, whether affirming or dissenting. Continue the conversation anytime: gabethebassplayer@gmail.com

Support Live Music

The cry of many an artist. They cry of many a venue and booking agency.

And ‘support’ might be the right word at the beginning.

When I was in middle school and high school it was nice that my family and friends came out to the shows to support me…and believe me it was borderline charity work for them to have to endure those shows.

But an artist career can’t be built on support. It can’t be built on people doing you a favor. It can’t be build on ‘support live music’.

I don’t go to U2 to support U2. I don’t buy an iPhone to support Apple.

Your career must be built on the fan paying for a ticket and feeling like they received something even greater in return.

But if the finger is turned and we look at bands and artists and tell them Support Live Music!…how would a band or artist support live music?

By putting on a better show. By making sure that when the people defy all odds and make it to your show that you deliver in a way that doesn’t say ‘thanks for supporting live music’ but instead ‘you’re welcome for the experience, I’m sure we’ll see each other again next time’.

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I’m always interested in your perspective, whether affirming or dissenting. Continue the conversation anytime: gabethebassplayer@gmail.com