The Glamorous Road

The road is only glamorous to people who don’t do it.

In and out of hotels and busses and vans and planes and green rooms. Hurry hurry hurry. Wait wait wait. Dinner is late. And lunch was too early. Sleep bows to the schedule. And the schedule doesn’t think you need much sleep.

You get to see the skyline of the city and the inside of the venue before leaving for the next city. Even good hotels can do a great job of reminding you you’re not in the comfort of your own home.

There’s no downtime until there’s lots of downtime but the downtime never happens in the place you hoped it would. It’s working 24 hours a day…even while you sleep you’re in work mode.

Yes, the road is only glamorous to the people who don’t do it.

So how can any of us put up with it?

Because we don’t look for it to be glamorous. That notion was played to rest long ago.

We put up with all of the above not in hopes of glamour but in expectation of meaningfulness. And in the long run our desire for meaning trumps our desire for glamour.

If the road was ever glamorous, it stopped being that way a long time ago. But life on the road can be meaningful from day one and keep on being that way forever. The connections build, the relationships deepen, new things are discovered…the ups and downs of life played out while going from city to city.

The road isn’t glamorous but it is meaningful.

Hum Love on Spotify and Apple

Prices

If I’m looking for a wedding band I don’t want one that claims to be great but only charges a few hundred dollars. It’s weird to claim to be great but not charge a great price.

There’s a reason there isn’t cheap drive through caviar (well more than one reason). Spending way more money and sitting down at a table with a white table cloth make the caviar taste better.

Do you want some time with the free therapist or the one who charges hundreds per session?

Price can be a tricky thing. No matter what price you charge, it attracts certain people and detracts others.

But chances are you need to raise your prices. And maybe by a lot.

Hum Love on Spotify and Apple

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