Rules and Restrictions May Apply

I'm sure Mommy and Daddy have told you at least once or twice that you can be anything you want when you grow up. Well guess what - they're right! But what they didn't tell you is that rules and restrictions apply towards musicians because there is no such thing as a verbal asterisk at the bottom of the page in tiny print. Us musicians have the tough jobs; we are the face of legitimacy and illuminating force for the people on society, relationships, and just truth in general - we're the real deal, man. No matter what people will tell you about their jobs and how much crazy hard work it is to sit in that cubicle and drink copious amounts of coffee, we are the ones that deserve the pay of a lifetime.

Of course I joke that anyone isn't a musician doesn't have to work hard, but the reality is that they do and that's why our job grows to be harder and harder, for it is our job as artists to entertain these people and constantly attract them to everything about our music and our personalities because that guy that complains about the shape of his cubicle or that he didn't get the memo on the TPS reports is the guy that may end up listening to our music or going to our shows. People are getting harder and harder to entertain, especially with the direction society is taking, because times are getting tougher and stress levels are going up and as a result of this, the entertainer has to step up his game and REALLY take the audience to a place away from their problems, or sometimes just the opposite - a place that we can all relate to.

These are all reasons that the young musician must focus on completely developing him-/herself in all aspects of musicianship (songwriting, performance, instrument chops, business, marketing, etc.) before expecting to make it as a successful and beloved asset of the music industry. I have no doubt that anyone that has an immeasurable passion for music and a desire to be successful will, in fact, be successful as long as there is an immense willingness to work accompanying these traits. As in anything else in life, music requires that you put in the amount of effort that reflects what you want out of it, and chances are that you will get that if you really commit to your effort.

What I'm really trying to say with this entry is that we are the faces of a new generation of music and that we are the ones that must entertain for a world today in which people hold sky-high standards for new heights in creativity and top notch performance. For those of us as young musicians that truly plan on taking up music for a living one day, we are nearly forced to develop and prepare ourselves to be the best we can possibly be and for that matter, make music that's the best that music can be. We are literally the future of music and the standards for this future can only grow from here on out.

So musicians, develop yourselves in every way you can - go to workshops, clinics, take voice lessons, read blogs, start meeting people and most of all just know who you are and who your music comes from because when you play a show, the audience bought those tickets to see you and hear you, your personality, and everything you stand for or love. You are the world that they can escape to, so make it a world that's easily accessible and then, my friends, you will succeed.