Being aware of the WRONG opportunities
Are you dying to get into a band? Would you take a position with almost any band, as long as you could get on stage? Think carefully about your options... not all opportunities are the right ones!
...
Recently, I met up with a musician friend I hadn't seen in a while. I'm keeping names secret to protect the innocent, so I'll call this person Daniel.
Daniel used to play in several different bands at a time, some of them for joy and others just for the money (and most definitely NOT for joy). I knew that he didn't like all of his bands, but my jaw dropped when he told me that in some situations, he had cultivated the ability to read while playing gigs.
As in, read magazines. Out of boredom. During high-paying gigs!
Talk about detachment from the music!
But Daniel started to find that his detachment from the music in one band affected his ability to be in the music in other bands. Even when he would play with bands he loved, he found it more difficult to keep focused on the music, even though he wanted to be 100% there.
In other words, when measured against his priorities, some of his bands were the wrong opportunities. He placed a higher priority on musical enjoyment than on making money from gigs, but for a while his actions didn't match his priorities. (Daniel is now focused on playing only with bands he loves, and the issue of focus has gone away.)
...
What are YOUR priorities, and how do your opportunities match up to them? Are you putting yourself in the right places to encounter the right kinds of opportunities? (Craigslist is only one place to find music opportunities, and it's far from the best, but it's where a lot of people look.)
- If your top priority is excellent musicianship, find musicians better than you who are willing to play with you.
- If your top priority is original songwriting, take a songwriting class or go to songwriting workshops until you find a good co-writer. (Yes, you can write on your own, but there's nothing like an honest second opinion to sharpen your skills.)
- If your top priority is gigging as often as possible, find an active band (probably a cover band), apply for overseas or cruise ship gigs, or learn to play solo and then play wherever you can.
- If your top priority is making money, pursue wedding/corporate cover band work.
- If your top priority is creating or building an original rock band, contact Rockstar Mindset. :)
- If your top priority is enjoying the people you play with, regardless of what or how often you play, then find opportunities through friends and connections.
...
If you need any ideas for how to pursue the right opportunities, feel free to contact me.
(c) 2010 Adrienne Osborn
Adrienne Osborn is a vocalist and performance coach based in Colorado. For more free articles and tips, visit http://www.PerformanceHigh.net.
gigging in Singing and Life 
Reader Comments (5)
Shameless plug for Rockstar Mindset!
Seriously, they do an above excellent job, and I truly think that it is a no-brainer!
Ok, let's get to the meat of my comment: I made only ONE good choice, i.e playing music.
I never did it for fame, and all the bucks I/we got went to charity for every band I played in.
Looking back, I have the embarassing feeling of having played in bands that suck. All of my bands sucked, but for different reasons (cf. the article "an analysis of suck" by Tom Hess).
I have no regrets whatsoever. I just wonder what it would have been and what it would be if...(insert a wish here).
I haven't the right mindset, people I played with didn't either.
I didn't even know there was a big picture!
I have put performance on hold to dedicate myself to other activities, yet after 25 years spent eating, drinking, breathing and dreaming music, quitting for good is not an option!
Thanks once again for a clear, to-the-point article.
Much love,
JB
Thanks, Jean-Baptiste! I appreciate hearing your story. And yes... shameless plug. Because I have such deep respect for the people at Rockstar Mindset and the high-quality service they provide.
Plug again! I discuss very often with Draven and he's truly unique.
At first, I discovered RM and wanted my band to get in. Answer:" we're not going to spend one buck for this! We can do it by ourselves."
We disbanded. I "recovered" and discovered the MCMP... You know the rest of the story.
Just a disclaimer: I didn't enroll the MCMP to "try" it. The fact that I'm no more in means that I need a breather.
Again... Rockstar Mindset is nothing but excellence. There's also Tom's RBSC but it's different. Tom is different! :)
Until next comment. Bedtime here in Göteborg!
That's a great story... Thanks for sharing (and thanks to "Daniel" too). I never "reached the level" of reading magazines while play... ( WOW how you do that? ;-) ) but at some point (being lucky and in the right place the right moment) I was making tons of money playing stuff I almost hated. In locations I hated. This situation consumed me so much that for these 1,5-2 years I could not write a single song or piece of music... and that was not a good think for my soul...
No sometimes I do think on the amount of money passed by my hands those days, but I also very well now why I haven't kept (or invested) a single penny ...
Bottom line "if it doesn't feed your soul there is no point in doing something"
Wow, Panos. Yes, sometimes the costs of certain "opportunities" are very well hidden until long after the fact!