Artist Conversation Cycle

Bragging and complaining. The conversation cycle of many an artist.

(And then sometimes they end up being the same thing.)

If you find yourself in bragging part of the cycle…go back to work.

If you find yourself in the complaining part of the cycle…either quit or go back to work.

And in either case, find something else to talk about.

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

Goodnight Boston

It’s important to remember that two people saying the same thing aren’t saying the same thing.

Not every Goodnight Boston is created equal. Not every Thank You Cleveland is accepted as gratitude.

Presence over technique (the actual words in this case).

Greater presence transforms the same technique into something far beyond the technique itself (i.e. emotional connection)

Powerful presence can make any technique look good.

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

Winning Paper, Rock, Scissors

How to win paper, rock, scissors.

By turning it into a different game while the other person still thinks it’s simply paper, rock scissors.

(Now I’ll tell you this level of insight on this game only came from the hours of boredom on the road years ago with very close friends)

Here’s how…

Just before you do the 1, 2, 3, shoot…tell the person what you’re going to do.

They’ll pause. They’ll wonder. They’ll ask if you’re telling the truth. In short, they’ll react.

And now you’re not playing paper, rock, scissors anymore.

It’s not random anymore. You’re reading and responding, seeing and changing.


It pays to know what game you’re playing. It pays even more to know what game you’re actually playing.

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

Rudolph, Reindeer, Santa

Some may be surprised, but I’ve written about Rudolph once before…and now I’d like to offer some new material on the matter…

-We all think we’re Rudolph. The one and only, the unique one from the rest. And we’re dying to be picked. For someone to see our value and come save us from obscurity and criticism (even our self criticism). If everyone would just pay attention to my wondrous talent everything would finally be better.

-Yet we act like the other reindeer. We spend most of our time trying to fit in and making fun of any nose that’s not the same color as ours. We hesitate and second guess until someone else (who we see as cooler or smarter or more hip than us) deems the red nose valuable, then we jump on that train like we loved the red nose all along.

-When the truth is we need more Santas. Santa knew who he needed and when he needed them and what he needed them to do…and was perfectly happy to give away the credit. Rudolph you’ll go down in history. Santa understands that the whole point of this thing is to deliver the presents and make the kids happy. Santa is the leader. Clarity of purpose, knowing his needs and deficiencies, employing the right reindeer for the situation, getting the job done and not worrying about who gets the credit.

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

The Problem With Good Songs

The problem with good songs is that they don’t fail quickly.

If you could write a good song and then a few hours know that, while it’s good, it just isn’t going to hit, that’d be great.

But good songs don’t fail quickly. There’s a lot of no-mans land in between.

And that’s really hard. The waiting and seeing. To keep pushing it or let it rest.

But the necessary discernment and intuition grow out of being more bold, not more timid.

***songs may be substituted out for projects

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

Cool And Famous

When someone comes across your Instagram account what would it take (what would you have to change) for them to see and know…

This artist is really cool.

instead of only

This artist is getting more famous.

***You get to define ‘cool’ however you want to. As long as you define it.

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