The show supports the moments.
The moments support the emotional feeling and connection.
The emotional connection creates the flavor of the memory.
The memory is the basis for how they’ll talk about the artist next time and how they’ll decide if they’re going to go again.
The moment the big check lands in your bank account, that’s a good feeling. Worth celebrating. Because maybe it’s been a while since you landed one like that. Maybe you’d been hearing for a while that it was coming but then got delayed again and again. Maybe you can breathe a little easier.
And then the good feeling goes away.
Because the check landing in your account isn’t the work. The work is the work. What you do every day is the work. The check is something completely different.
The check is great. I hope you get lots of big ones. But what about the contribution you make every day? Is it building a meaningful, helpful, maturing life?
The modus operandi for so many artists hustling in Nashville is this…
Say yes and commit to the current cool thing on the table just enough to be associated with it if it goes well…but never get locked in enough to not be able to jump ship if a cooler option comes by.
I see everything from record deals to dinner plans get handled this way.
And living this way, over time, teaches you to diminish your value to the world around you. To put it simply ‘I don’t bring cool to the table so I must constantly find it elsewhere and associate with it’.
Sticking with it is a skill. Quitting and finding a better option is a skill. But regardless of which skill you’re building or flexing it’s important to begin to understand the value and version of cool you bring with you wherever you go.
One of the hardest things about having the title of bass player, guitar player, drummer, keyboardist or back up singer is that you don’t have the title of lead singer…and coming to terms that the lead singer, in the eyes of almost everyone outside of the band, is more important than you are.
It’s not that you’re not as important…it’s just that the masses don’t perceive you that way.
And here’s the thing…the fans need the lead singer…the lead singer needs you.
So then…One of the hardest things about having the title of lead singer is admitting (to yourself and to them) how much you need the confidence and trust and support of your band. Recognizing the power of the band as a whole, not only in practical function but in synergy and personal grounding.
It’s hard to not be the lead singer. It’s hard to be the lead singer. But so much of this business revolves around the position of the lead singer that it’s important to understand your proximity to it and then how to best serve in that role.
It’s a lot easier to blaze a trail that has been blazed before.
The chances of you truly blazing your own trail in this business is close to zero.
But rather, the most likely way to succeed is to blaze a familiar trail. It’ll look and feel new and exciting but most of the elements of success in the marketplace will be the same ones that have worked for other artists kinda like you.