
The other day I got an IM from a drummer who indicated that he really wasn't very busy and was looking for something to do. I admit I was a bit bewildered and assumed he was looking for paid work.
I distanced myself.
Singer-songwriters bump up against budgeting issues constantly. If you write your own songs, you may be reluctant to place them tidily into a genre pool. You might be thinking, "Well, I hope they are just good songs, ones everyone will like. "
You find a studio, engineer, maybe even producer, and you make your record. You negotiate to get the best deal you can afford.
But it doesn't end there. Now you have to represent your music. You will need to hire good musicians and book places to play. You will need to pay musicians for rehearsals and shows. You will have to promote your songs using a PR company, or endeavor to do so using your own contacts. You may decide you still need to make CDs: many indie radio stations still play them. You'll have to organize artwork, order product. Maybe even vinyl? You will need to find someone who can sell your merchandise at your shows.
Then there is the question regarding release. Do you opt to spring one single a month? You will need some kind of visual representation. Can you make your own video? Can you afford to employ a videographer?
You are entering into this world of music commerce with the idea that you will not make a profit. However, you might just get heard and seen, even if the life of one's release is about six months long, or so you have been told by industry promoters.
I have been on the receiving end, as a session musician, paid band member, producer and engineer.
But I have also been the Artist who pays out.
Here we are, a community that feeds on itself, which admittedly feels at times cannibalistic.
This is our Indie world. We swear we love it. We don't want those corporations owning our stuff or defining our artistry.
A drummer who's simply reaching out is just that. Maybe he just wants to connect.
We musicians are still trying to survive the pandemic, the lack of serious venues that promote our music, Spotify and the other merchants who benefit because of us but do not pay, and the plethora of technologies that make it seemingly easy for anyone to produce, promote and declare Artistry. In fact, it may almost benefit one more to be super-young and inexperienced, rather than the creator of 500 songs no one has ever heard of.
Are you still reading? You are thinking, when is this writer going to get to the point and tell me how we musicians can help each other? Is there a list of things?
I do like lists. And as this topic is going to be an ongoing series, I will leave you with one idea.
When a musician reaches out, listen. Have a conversation. Maybe it will lead to a jam. Maybe the jam will be disastrous, but I doubt it.
The first idea is that when creative people connect, something very good can come from it.
We are free resources to one another. And we have the power to change each other's lives for the ultimate better.
SO. I will find a way to be available to this drummer. We'll see what happens.
Ye never know.
When I was young(er) and just getting (re)started in music there was an older and established and accomplished musician who played around my city quite a bit. He was very generous in allowing me to sit in for a couple of numbers now and again. I learned a lot just from watching him run his band and his show. I was forced to step up the quality of my performance to try and be worthy of the stage time. Ever since then I’ve tried to pay that generosity back by having people sit in with me. Even if the performer is green and even if they are occasionally awful, it doesn’t hurt me a bit to give them a s…
Very moving and powerful, Feef. I don't know you very well except through Facebook but I love what I've heard of your music and I'd be honored to make music with you some day. Best to you always!