Solos And Chords

If you dust off your guitar and spend the day learning all the guitar solos from Bohemian Rhapsody…then at the end of the day that is exactly what you’ll be able to play.

On the other hand if you dust off your guitar and spend the day learning a bunch of chords…then at the end of the day you’ll be able to play pretty much any popular song from the last sixty years.

Two different approaches. Two great results. Both offering an answer to, ‘what is the guitar for?’

Both are right. But the paths will lead to different places.

Hum Love on Spotify and Apple

In My Own Company

I’m just trying to find a decent melody
A song that I can sing, in my own company- Stuck In A Moment, U2

I always tracked with the first line, writing so many songs day in and day out. Constantly trying to find that melody that would lift the room.

But when I was younger I didn’t understand the second line.

Now I do. And on some days I’d agrue it’s more important than the first.

We all want to connect. We all want to be respected. We all want a hit.

But work that you can be proud of when it’s just you and the work? That’s a good day.

Hum Love on Spotify and Apple

What A Miracle

First Monday of the month…new Hum Love playlist on Spotify and Apple.

Before Spotify came to the U.S. I met a friend here in Nashville who was from the UK with a UK email address so he had Spotify on his computer already.

He got his Mac out and showed a bunch of us. We couldn’t believe it. It was so much fun. We’d just shout out songs and he would play them. It was a magical music extravaganza. 

All these years later the shine has worn off…but the tool is still incredible.

Here is a playlist of ten songs from ten artists. Artists from all over the world. Some famous artists, some not. But here are all their songs mashed together side by side and presented to you in an easy to consume experience. What a miracle.

Hum Love on Spotify and Apple

You Work Hard

If you’ve been doing this for a while it’s safe to say there isn’t a problem of worth ethic.

You work hard. Your team works hard.

And yet you haven’t arrived at the level of success you’d hoped for.

Instead of preaching ‘more effort, try harder, work longer’…what if you worked on getting everyone on the same page, inspiring a shared vision and goal, building a culture of cooperation.

Hum Love on Spotify and Apple

Less And More

Spend less time checking social media and more time writing a song worth sharing on social media.

Spend less time becoming more perfect and more time becoming more entertaining.

Spend less time talking about doing the work and more time doing the work.

Hum Love on Spotify and Apple

Cycles

There used to be an album cycle and an artist’s career revolved around this roughly two year timeline of events. And with the cycle, usually at the beginning or the end of one, came a break.

You wrote the album, made the album, promoted it, released it, promoted it more, did radio, did the big tour and then back home for some built in time off before the next cycle.

Now there isn’t an album cycle. Now it’s constant. There are no built in breaks. No time off. There’s no end. More work, more content, more posts, more promotion, new songs, new videos, no end in sight…it just keeps going.

It will swallow you unless you insist on not being swallowed. Unless you switch from playing THE game to playing YOUR game.

»» There’s a certain degree of constant-ness that you have to be willing to accept if you’re going to be an artist these days. It’s the way it is right now. The industry has changed. Expectations of music consumers have changed. Marketing and promotion has changed. It’s all faster and more fleeting than it used to be. You need to know that…and decide whether or not this is the circus you want to keep signing up for.

Hum Love on Spotify and Apple