Advice from old pros

[jamesgmusic]

I have been giving music all I have formy whole life, I have been pushing my own music forabout the past ten years. The truth is: I dont know anything else, but it seems toget harder. The advice I need, when times are tough and it seems like there isnt any hope, How have you pushed on? How have you kept going? There is a definite fear that I may not be good enough,butafter school, and the years I have put in, I know I dont want to stop. But something has to happen for my family and me. Its hard. I hope I can improve and I hope I have what it takes. Thanks to anyone for their time. -James G

[dovetail]

www.sivers.org.Derek has a new service just this type of problem.

[davewalton]

Aug 7, 2008, 5:22am, jamesgmusic wrote:I have been giving music all I have formy whole life, I have been pushing my own music forabout the past ten years. The truth is: I dont know anything else, but it seems toget harder. The advice I need, when times are tough and it seems like there isnt any hope, How have you pushed on? How have you kept going? There is a definite fear that I may not be good enough,butafter school, and the years I have put in, I know I dont want to stop. But something has to happen for my family and me. Its hard. I hope I can improve and I hope I have what it takes. Thanks to anyone for their time. -James GHi James,Probably the best advice I've received (and it's mostly an "attitude" thing as opposed to helping with your music specifically) is to think "long term".When I first came to Taxi (in 2004 after a long time away from music), I was pretty anxious to make something happen. When I was thinking in a short-term timeframe, if something wouldn't happen in a month or two, I started to get frustrated. I joined in March of 2004 and by time the 2004 Rally came around in November, I was NOT a relaxed customer. I went to the Rally with the idea that I needed to force a deal somewhere and of course it didn't happen. The only thing I managed to do is to create a memorable impression on Matto by practically knocking down the crowd and shoving a CD up his nose as he came off the stage after a panel. He gets a big laugh everytime he "reminds" me about that. So then I started to get to know Matto through the forum here and "long term plan" is one of the things I picked up from him (either directly or through osmosis... I don't really remember). One thing I can say is that if I'm thinking "OK... I'll give myself 5 years of continued development before making any decision about myself as a musician", then the whole weight of the anxiousness of potential success just slides right off. In an extreme example, if I pressure myself to make something happen this week and it doesn't, then I'm very frustrated quickly. If I have a "5 year goal" or plan or whatever, then I'm not really expecting ANYTHING to happen this week, I'm just working on my music and I'm in a much better frame of mind. Bottom line... think "long term" to give yourself enough time for the "miracle" to happen. Use this forum to your advantage... post a listing and a song before you submit to get feedback from other forum members. Listen to the music of others when they post their success with forwards and deals to learn from that. Regarding others who post asking for help, if there's something that you can contribute to them then do so. Don't feel obligated to say SOMETHING... but if you feel like you have a comment or experience that could be meaningful to them, then contribute.Myself, I spent at least a year and a half "getting current". In the context of a "5 year plan", that wasn't too bad and the frustration level stayed in check for the most part. Eventually that effort started to show signs that the time spent wasn't wasted and that there could be a payoff within that 5 year timespan. Now it's just a matter of doing the work today and not really waiting for or worrying about forcing the results.There's no magic word to describe "dynamics" or "getting current" to make that happen right away. It's basically a process like "Marco..." "Polo...". We get a little closer with each effort but it takes time."Gently push yourself forward" (credit: Traveling Ed). That's a great frame of mind to be in as opposed to paddling like mad, splashing water everywhere, getting myself and everyone around me soaking wet. HTH,Dave

[jamesgmusic]

This is the best piece of advice I have hadThank you VERY much for your time.Its just hard to know if you are good enough sometimes.I know I need to work on that.Thanks again DaveIf you dont mind, I will probably pick your brain again!

[davewalton]

Aug 7, 2008, 11:43am, jamesgmusic wrote:This is the best piece of advice I have hadThank you VERY much for your time.Its just hard to know if you are good enough sometimes.I know I need to work on that.Thanks again DaveIf you dont mind, I will probably pick your brain again!I don't know about Ft Worth Texas, but Cape Girardeau MO isn't exactly the capital of film/television music (yet). Regarding how I stacked up against the rest of the world, I had no good idea. This is an excellent place to get a feel for that, where we stand and how much work we have to do before our music is "ready".Too bad Hummingbird isn't here right now. Her experience is such that she'd have a LOT of meaningful things to say about this subject. She'll be back from vacation soon I think. Off the top of my head, she's one of the best examples of starting off at one level (especially from a production standpoint) and working her way through to where she gets forwards, Taxi deals, and I think she's working on scoring a short film now too, something she dug up on her own. I've made significant changes in my music too but hers is much more dramatic (and inspiring)."If they can do it, maybe I can to" isn't a pipe dream... more of a reality in most cases than anything else so it's a good way to think (I think). Depends mostly on patience and attitude.

[jchitty]

Aug 7, 2008, 5:22am, jamesgmusic wrote:I have been giving music all I have formy whole life, I have been pushing my own music forabout the past ten years. The truth is: I dont know anything else, but it seems toget harder. The advice I need, when times are tough and it seems like there isnt any hope, How have you pushed on? How have you kept going? There is a definite fear that I may not be good enough,butafter school, and the years I have put in, I know I dont want to stop. But something has to happen for my family and me. Its hard. I hope I can improve and I hope I have what it takes. Thanks to anyone for their time. -James GWell, I'm not an old pro, but I'll still post my thoughts. There are days I am literally in the pits of hell when it comes to my music. I want to quit and never pick up a pen again. This is a very expensive pursuit too.....demoes, submission fees, etc. And in a recessionary climate when you worry about saving enough money for the hard times, it's hard to justify spending anything on music.And then the next morning, I'll wake up with some sort of renewed energy to write another song, go figure. I think this is common to all musicians and songwriters. We are feelings oriented people, so our feelings can run the gamut of absolute joy to utter despair.Ive just learned to live with these feelings. I think that's the key.....knowing that you're just gonna have some miserable times and that you gotta take your lumps. And if you're like me, you DO NOT like them very much, hehe. I don't even consider myself a moody person, but I am when it comes to my music. It's not that I care that I've been criticized, I don't mind that....it's just the sheer disappointment and the daily grind of THE WAIT..... striving for something that you know you might not ever achieve. So in essence, you're working so hard for a goal and you may get zero return for it. In the work world, it's equivalent to working for free.But if you're like me, you wake up the next day, and all of a sudden you have these lyrics in your head, and the world is filled with hope and promise again....if nothing else, I'm very prolific. Constant writing is what keeps me going. It keeps me from getting too depressed. A new song equals another roll of the dice if another song didn't go off well....and hope is of course what keeps us energized. And plus, trying to learn from the critiques and attempting to understand the targets a little better....I'm always trying to figure that part of the equation out. And as some have said, maybe I'm just too stupid to quit. I just started writing two and a half years ago, and I've already written 120 songs (with another 60 songs in the idea stage)....I don't wanna sound like I'm bragging, I'm not, and some of those songs suck, but it does tell me that I'm made for songwriting....whether I'm good or not.

[mojobone]

I think being a musician is kinda like being gay. We're made this way, and if there were any choice, we'd choose something easier. Whether the marketplace needs or wants our particular flavor of talent is another matter entirely.

[ggalen]

jamesgmusic said: "There is a definite fear that I may not be good enough, but after school, and the years I have put in, I know I dont want to stop. But something has to happen for my family and me."James,If you have been financially struggling doing music full time, and have to stop full-time music to do other work to pay basic family bills, there is no shame in that. It's admirable to do what you gotta do.If you are doing music part time, that seems to be most of us, I think. As far as being "good enough"...well:1) There are highly talented musicians who play a style of music the general public won't pay to see.2) There are untalented musicians who find an audience who likes what they do as an entertainer and will pay to see them.Do we EVER know if we are "Good enough"? Who's the judge?The masses? Our friends? Our family?How about if it's you? If you are thrilled with what you do, then it is good.Whether others will spend money on it depends only on their personal tastes. It often has little bearing on how good you are, really. (See #2 above!).I wish you all the best, James, as you play you music and follow your dreams.Music can be a tough life much of the time when it comes to making a living.All the best to you and your family.

[jamesgmusic]

You guys are great, I appreciate all your time. I did give up music full timewhen my daughter was born. I was mainly a drumset player, quite good to be honest.But I really have a passion for guitar, writing and singing, so for the the past 5 years orso I have focused on that.If anyone has some time to check any of my sites and give some opinions that would be great. I did do all the tracks myself in a home studio but you will get the idea.Nothing there is less than 3 years old, I had to sell the studio and havent recordedanything new yet.After studying in school and being around great musicians my whole life, I guessits hard for me to look in a mirror and say Im good at what I do.But im trying.ThanksJames

[anne]

James - maybe its something in the air - I've been feeling the same way a lot lately. Money is tight, do I spend more time working (my own biz, which has come to a screeching halt) or do I spend more time working on music (which has larger payoff potential down the road). What to do, what to do....Then I remember the excellent advice of Dave, Matto, Vikki, Steve and all of the other wonderful people I have been fortunate enough to meet and hang out with - just keep going forward and don't worry about making it in a year - give enough time etc etc. I joined taxi with no plans to record anything myself - it was to promote a singer I was working with. Then I started to realize "hey, I can do this" and got my first forward - I had a 4 year time frame in my head when I started writing - that it would take at least 2 years to get a forward. So, I'm way ahead of that schedule, but now wondering if I have the patience to go 4 years. I know once I can relax about the world and economy and even about getting my house nice and clean, and put all that effort into my music, it will come together. Just needed to express my thoughts. I hope that this somehow helps, to know that this is something we are meant to do. Whether pro or not, just keep doing it : )