Yesterday I saw some posts highlighting a blurb by an “LA Times contributor” talking about the difficulties associated with being a musician.
“Singers and Musicians are some of the most driven, courageous people on the face of the earth. They deal with more day-to-day rejection in one year than most people do in a lifetime. Every day, they face the financial challenge of living a freelance lifestyle, the disrespect of people who think they should get real jobs, and their own fear that they’ll never work again.”
The quote goes on to provide some inspirational epithets – so inspirational in fact that the same quote can be found from a few weeks prior, but speaking about “Actors” instead of singers and musicians.
Bad internet researching aside, the quote does hit a few touchstones for artists. As you know, it is undoubtedly a challenging lifestyle for the vast majority of artists. There are rejections, constant financial battles, and doubts cast both internally and externally. Learning how to handle these pitfalls and challenges with joy and grace is a big part of what being ‘a professional’ is all about.
One of the things that my students find fascinating the first time they hear it is this – playing music is the easiest part of my job. Sometimes great music becomes the reward for the struggles.
Tomorrow night I get to play F Scott’s with the band from Falling Up (minus Matt): Bruce Dudley, Jonathan Wires, and Josh Hunt. We’ll be playing some of the CD’s tunes along with some standards and a few brand new ones. This an example of a gig so rewarding musically that getting paid practically feels like a bonus. I hope that you’ll come out and join us from 7 to 11 (no cover)!