International Blues Challenge - Memphis - 2014

Well, it is almost upon us.  I will be representing the local Blues Society at the International Blues Challenge held in Memphis every year.  This year's dates are January 22-25.  The 22nd and 23rd are the quarter final nights, 24th is the semi-finals, and the 25th is the grand finals.  Hope to represent well and maybe make it to the finals.  But that is hard.  I think there are some 200 some odd acts this year representing over 35 different countries from around the world.  You would think that if you are from where this stuff originated you would have an edge, but that ain't so.  So many acts from so many countries and a whole lot of them have been listening to the cold, hard-edged, ragged ol' blues for a long, long time.  And they have been playing them blues to large crowds in their countries.  Seems that this original American style of music has a world wide following.
But even with all that, it comes down to the judges and their interpretation.  I know a guy who has got vocals to die for.  He writes great tunes and plays good guitar and harp.  On a scale of 1 to 10 a couple of years ago he got all 9's and 10's in the quarter finals except for one judge who gave him straight 5's.  And that blew him out of it all.  And this guy just teamed up with Garth Hudson of the Band along with Neil Young to do a CD entitled "Canadian Celebration of The Band".  This guy has been nominated 5 times as vocalist of the year in Canada's Maple Blues Awards and 3 times for Lifetime Achievement Award.  And, the National Association of Rhythm and Blues DJ's gave him the song of the year twice, and in 2007 he won the best Jazz/Blues Album of the year.  And he did not make it to the semifinals.  So.....with that said I just hope to represent my area well and meet some cool folks.  Maybe even see you there on Beale Street.

Today's Paradigm and the Working Musician - Part IV

Question: How many psychiatrists does it take to change a light bulb?

Answer: Only one, but the light bulb must really want to change.

There are three essential elements for change. First you must have a burning desire to change. Second you must be willing to change. And third you must be willing to make the effort to change.

Change what? You can change anything about yourself or your situation. The whole deal is the paradigm. You are a musician caught up in the paradigm of starvation. I know. It is extremely hard for a musician to make a good, solid, dependable living. To do this, make a living, you must change the paradigm. Everything so far we have talked about is just that. But the real key here is this. As long as you stay the way you are, the paradigm has more power than you and you will get what the paradigm dictates.

This change requires focus. I am not talking about changing your music. Although, while we are here, you should be thinking of a niche. In today’s world niche marketing is the thing. With so many people on the internet all selling something, those that are successful have developed a niche that is convenient and useful for the people who shop and buy. In the music world a niche is a must. You are going to have to set yourself apart and sell that difference. Most of the time that difference is original music. However as in the case of Beau Dean and the Rock-a-Billy Kings I was trying to show how a niche can be a kind of music that has potential for fan growth. But back to the change we were talking about. The days of just playing in the clubs and hoping to get discovered are past. Oh sure it does happen. And you should be aware of the potential of this event. However with everything that is available today it is important that the modern musician change the way he thinks about his business and utilizes everything at his disposal for the benefit of his career.

We all know thee way the music business was in the past. Big, big companies controlled what was released on the airways and that dictated the sell of records. There was not a venue large enough for you to use to circumvent this power. You could be a great band but your career was 100% at the control and whim and control of big business. There have always been outlaws who did not play by the record companies rules. Buddy Holly, Willie Nelson, Tom Petty to name a few. But still the release and distribution of their music was still controlled somewhat by some record executive. There simply was not available the avenues of today.

Today the paradigm has shifted and this course is getting you ready to take full advantage of that shift. This shift is painful to big business. They are just now beginning to throw their weight around and trying still to make life impossible for the independent artist. But try as they may, Pandora’s Box has been opened. You have the internet and you can sell your tunes one at a time to anyone, anywhere, at anytime of the day or night. They could be in Japan or Australia. And all of this is at your control. However you have to have the fan base and capital to pull it off. That is what we are trying to accomplish.

And I know you know about youtube for example but you must have the mindset, the change of mind, to know how to take advantage of youtube. This mind change is probably the easiest to accomplish once you learn the value of the media.

By far the hardest change within your thinking is the real crux of the matter. And it involves you deleting everything that stands in the way of you accomplishing the goal of being a professional musician. If it is some influence from the outside of you it must be eliminated. This can be drugs or even friends. Whatever it takes. Any thing that is not furthering your career is detrimental to your goal.

Now with that said, I am not saying go out and get rid of all of your friends. Just do not put any stock into the ones who are not one hundred per cent behind you. Here is our attitude: I am going to the top of the mountain. Top of the mountain or dead on the side but I ain’t coming back down. And I am not letting the world or friends or family or anyone or anything bring me back down. Period.

This is the change that has to take place. As easy as it is to say, doing it is quite another thing. It is a daily battle. Focus is the main thing. Focus and intensity. By bringing my focus and burning desire into play, I will notice how much of my time that could be productive to my cause is being wasted on habits that are leading nowhere. We all have bad habits. I am now talking about habits that will keep me from reaching my goal. To notice this day by day is a great accomplishment. Our everyday living has put us to sleep. And it is with great effort that I awake from my slumber. It is not comfortable. Change is not comfortable at all. But if it takes some kind of change on my part, if my day to day living habits are keeping me from reaching my goal, then I must make a decision. I must decide to keep on doing what I am doing. Or I have to decide how bad I want to play music for a real living.

All of this is to get you to think for the next week. It is a way of setting up the next and very important lesson. Thanks and I congratulate you for hanging in there.

Be Cool

Roy Boy

Today's Paradigm and the Working Musician - Part III

I was a hippie, a product of the 60’s. I could tell another hippie very easily. If I saw a guy with long hair driving an old Volkswagen bus with a peace sign painted on the sides, I knew exactly what he was about. We had a sort of communication of the counter culture. That is branding. I know you hear that a lot. And I know you have heard that branding is more than just creating a good band name and logo. There was an entire identity of the counterculture that pervaded the country. This culture had more or less a single identity. Or I should say a single consciousness held by many thousands of young men and women. We were one. Long live peace and love. Well your band is the same.

There are three ingredients to the identity of your band. The first is based on a mission statement. I bet you never thought of that. You need to change the way you think. Your mission statement includes the bands values, vision, and ethics. This prevails all of your performances. You have to have a purpose that includes giving to others. Such a purpose involves, for the most part, in really understanding the audience and fans. If you really understand what is going on in their dynamic then your band’s purpose may involve what they are wanting instead of your motives being based upon money or the band’s business advancement. Money and advancement comes more easily if you, as a group, are committed to the happiness and well being of your audience. It is amazing how many groups miss this. So the group’s responsibility is to exude this band-ideal. You have to totally embody your values in your behavior toward others. You have to show as well as tell others what you stand for and then follow through with your actions. This will bring you much love from fans and club owner’s alike. This is the band to audience dynamic. And it is controlled by a set of values that you control, not a club owner or an audience. Please get this right. You are in control of all dynamics.

The second ingredient is the bands collective self image. If the band is happy and positive then the collective image of the group will be just that. But if the band dynamic is off, as it sometimes is, then it needs to be addressed immediately. There are always underlying issues that sometimes never get taken care of. They boil and boil until the smallest thing will bring about a break up. If you are all committed to this process and are all on board for the duration, then it is to your group’s benefit to make sure that you have honest bitch sessions. Remember to set some ground rules and never ever leave a session, no matter how long it takes, with anyone feeling slighted or not understood. You have to have full agreement in your group’s thinking and beliefs. And please remember that this over all band image is extremely affected by how well you are performing in your marketplace. This means how your music is not only perceived by the group, but also the perception of your product by the fans, crowds, and club owners.

The final ingredient is the total sum of the self-esteem of each individual player in relation to the sum total of the image of the band. You know the old story. Some one just does not feel like they fit in. And honestly sometimes they do not. This is where you have to be honest between each other. And I have to tell you. If you have someone in the group who is not as committed as you, no matter the playing ability, you have to let them go. This is so hard. I struggled here until I looked at my career as being in the balance and then you just have to make a decision. It is easier to put up with someone who is very talented and make excuses. But that one person can be replaced. And you are trying to make this a profession, not a high school gang of buddies. Treat it carefully.

Fear is the greatest problem of the band dynamic. Fear is the greatest problem of the human life. Fear often sets our comfort zone. We tread close and dangerously to the outer limits of our fear but do not make many break throughs. I am not talking about stage fright. That is something that all musicians have to overcome. How you do it is strictly personal. Just be careful with the alcohol and drugs. I am not going to preach. You should be smart in your day to day life as well as your stage life. I am talking about the fear of rejection, which is probably the main motivator in our musical lives. It is a monster that is often hid by enormous egos in our line of work. Be humble and thankful and treat all with respect. Do not be afraid to succeed as a professional musician. Your fear will hold you back from what is possible for you to obtain as an individual or group. Confront the fear of rejection and fear of failure by your positive thinking, speech, and actions.

Because of your multi-dimensional mind you can make your life into anything you want by simply really deciding to do so. When you really decide you will not entertain any thought contrary to the belief of success. When you really decide to be successful as a musician then your actions will positively reflect that decision. If you are making decisions that are not in line with the utmost and higher calling of musicianship, then you have to diagnose the problem. And that problem lies within the belief system of one or more members of the band. This is heavy stuff, but it is the way things get done. Do you not realize that this is exactly what is going through the minds of coaches of professional sports teams? The athletes are all given material along these same lines. The professional athlete is the same as you. They have had to program their minds for success and you do to. They started at a young age. When they played little league baseball everyone would comment on their talent. They believed in their talent. Every decision they made in their young lives was geared to become a professional athlete. They programmed their thoughts as a baseball player. They identified their self as a professional baseball player. And nothing was allowed to get in the way. You have to have the same mind set. If you take this thing any other way you will not succeed.

There is a law of habit that you should give notice to. Ninety five per cent of the things you do are because of a deep seated habit that you have developed. Newton’s first law of physics states that an object at rest tends to remain at rest and an object in motion tends to remain in motion unless acted upon by an outside force. You have to be that outside force. You have to bring your energy into your beliefs and get your business in motion. It is easier to keep momentum going than to let it die and try and get it going again. Get it going and keep it going. Whatever it takes. Just do it. The good news is that whatever you want to change you can change. You have to develop the habit of success. And yes that is a habit, just as failure is a habit. Practice being successful.  

Be Cool,

www.littleroygene.com

Competition - Whatever

Part 3 of the 12 part Today's Paradigm and the Working Musician will be out tomorrow. Thanks to all who have been reading. Hit me up with questions if you have any.

I am not very competitive. I have never felt the need to be. I used to drive one band I was with crazy. We would find a special gig paying good money, pending approval of audition. Normally I do not audition, but when the affair is a fireman's ball and they want just the right band, and the money is outstanding, well you just lump it up and go audition. What used to drive the other band members crazy was I would call our competition and inform them of the opportunity. I always did this without thought. I like other musicians and I know what they are going through and if they are a better band then let the chips fall where they may. I lost some good gigs this way. But that is just the way I am. Well now I am going to do some competing.

First my new CD, "Full Grown Man" was chosen by the Spa City Blues Society as their lone entry in the Best Self-Produced CD of the year competition held by the International Blues Foundation located in Memphis, Tn. That is International. While I am excited by, and honored by the tribute, I am pretty sure that Internationally there is some major competition out there.  So, not being competitive, I will sleep well knowing, Hey, what it is is what it is.  Proud to have been nominated.  Thanks to the SCBS!

Now another part of the competition pie.  Spa City Blues Society will also sponsor one Band and one Solo/Duo act to compete in the International Blues Competition held in Memphis last part of January, 2014. I have thrown my non-competitive hat into the Solo/Duo part of the competition with a young blues guitarist named Grayson Goff.  That competition will be November 3. Gonna have fun no matter what and not worry too much about results.  Just the way I roll.

That's a bunch of competing for a non-competitive, old worn out musician.

Today's Paradigm and The Working Musician - Part II

This is the second part of a twelve part mission. Cacophony. Have you ever had the occasion to be standing outside the door of a junior high school band room? All the little ones have their new instruments that their parents want them to learn to play. And none have a clue what is going one. The sound is: cacophony. God bless the school music teacher. We need more teachers who can do this job. So why are we talking about a discourse of sound? I will get to that. Right now let me congratulate you for still being here. Remember in high school physics you saw how the eyeball worked? Or you may have seen it in biology. But anyway, remember the photo of a tree on one side of the poster and an eyeball on the other side. The poster shows how the image of the tree enters the eye and is actually projected upside down on the back side of the eye. The brain does its marvelous thing and inverts the tree back to normal. You never know that this process is being done, it is just one of the things our brains do. Well in the same way all information that comes to you, whether from conversation, television, paintings, and music has to filter through the same brain path. And this brain path is filled with emotions, feelings, thoughts, fears, and beliefs. All of those things influence the outcome of what you perceive. It is a powerful thing. Let me explain. We all know about the physical laws of the universe. Gravity is gravity whether you understand it or not. You can not deny gravity. And it has no emotion at all. It fulfills the law it defines without taking into consideration good or bad. If you jump off of an object that is three hundred feet high you will fall at a certain rate, another physical law, and you will impact the earth at a determined force. It does not matter one iota if you believe that to be true or not. Well there is another kind of immutable law and that law is a mental law. Mental laws are in effect all of the time just like physical laws. If you are unhappy or if you are not accomplishing what you would like to accomplish you are tampering with the mental laws. They have a more subtle appearance than physical laws. But they are there none the less. The first law is the Law of Control. Basically this law says you feel good about yourself to the degree you feel you have control over your life. When you are whacked out it is from a feeling of loss of control. If you have ever been in a job that you believe you can not quit and you have a jerk of a boss, then you have some anxiety building up because you feel you life is controlled by your job and your boss. That is a bad feeling and almost everyone is in someway dealing with some issue. The thing is that the force that is bugging you can be external or internal. The only way to alleviate the anxiety is to take control of your mind. Self mastery is the only viable exercise to harmony and happiness. You have heard it since Kung Fu was a television show. No one can cause you distress unless you allow it. You really always have but two choices: take action and change the situation, or simply walk away. Because of this law you have to know exactly what you want. If you know exactly what you want your focus becomes very pointed. The question is this: Am I holding myself back with a feeling of helplessness or am I taking daily action to obtain what I really want? Truthful self examination is required. The second law is the Iron Law of the Universe. This law is more commonly known as the law of cause and effect. Here it is in a nutshell, and I will tell you beforehand that it is so simple that most people miss this entirely. Thoughts are causes and conditions are effects. Your thoughts are the cause of your condition. And everything you are is the result of a thought by you or someone else. You are what you think. If you do not want to be where you are at this moment then you have to start by changing the way you think. What is really great about this law is that by believing it, really believing it, you take control of all other aspects of your life. The Law of Cause and Effect applied correctly will bring you in harmony with the Law of Control. Every aspect of your music and your music career, success or failure, can be explained by this basic law. Simple as that. The third law is the Law of Belief. Whatever you believe, with emotion or intensity will shape your reality. Your beliefs are a filter always editing out what does not conform. It is this way. You do not necessarily believe what you see, but you see what you believe. If you are to be a professional musician, you must believe with everything that is in you that you will succeed. You must have a belief that no matter what happens you will keep going forward. Always working toward you goal. Never, ever even consider quitting. And keep moving forward. You have to develop a belief that is separate from the paradigm of “being in the right place at the right time.” That paradigm is placing your entire career in the realm of luck. You might as well try and win the lottery. Get the luckitis out of your life. You make your own luck by doing the right thing over and over and over. Believe and the belief will influence your actions. The cycle of beliefs works like this. The more I really, intensely believe, the more my actions are geared toward that belief. These actions in return result in positive growth in my profession which in turn enhances my belief which will in turn cause my actions to take on a more focused effect which effects my beliefs again, over and over and over. In the same way negative thinking does the exact same thing. It is a law of the universe. The opposite is negative thinking, bringing about setbacks, which bring about more negative thinking, which…..you get the idea. This is the key. I know you hear it all the time. I have seen the positive effects of this in my own life and I guarantee it works. You have to believe. The fourth law is the Law of Self-fulfilling prophecy. You get what you expect to get. This goes a little beyond the just believing aspect. What you really expect to happen will happen. Your mind does not know the difference between what is visualized and what is real. You do not get what you want, you get what you deep down really expect to get. Those that are going around saying “if it wasn’t for bad luck, I’d have not luck at all,” are correct. The fifth law is the Law of Attraction. At the time I am writing this there is a book out about this that everyone is talking about as if this were something new. But this is a universal law and as old as the universe. Let’s take music as an example. Have you ever taken a pitch fork, say and A, and hit it on you knee and placed it on the face of your acoustic guitar. The vibration of the fork will cause the A string of the guitar to vibrate. In short any vibration will cause a like and sympathetic vibration in something of the same kind. You need to watch what you say. Words are powerful vibrations. You need to watch who you are hanging with. A negative person will cause you to be the same. The more emotion you attach to a thought will cause a strong attraction to bring that thought into fruition. That is what is making all of this happen, and at a great cost of energy. If you learn to harness your beliefs and have the discipline to bring your thoughts into harmony, then you will receive what you are expecting to receive. The sixth law is the Law of Correspondence. Emerson wrote, “What you are shouts at me so loudly, that I can’t hear a word you are saying.” What you are on the inside corresponds to what you show on the outside. To be the musician you want to be, become that person/musician/performer on the inside. This does not mean to sell out to the world paradigm of what a musician should be. However remember that the crowds and the fans have a need that you will be supplying. Part of that need is to see the musician on stage giving up his heart on a platter. That is what they really want. Most of the time the musician feels so inadequate, maybe not in his musical ability, but in his lack of personal growth that he mistakes what the crowd is really looking for. They want the honest truth as told in your music. They want your heart on a platter in complete, non-fearing trust. This is why musicians create an on stage persona. It is a self preservation technique. They are creating a character that they are throwing to the lions and hoping for the best. And if the crowd loves this persona, no matter if honest reflection of the music or not, then that feeds the persona which grows off stage. Finally, knowing the truth deep within, the poor musician feels somewhat raped. He finally has nothing more to offer. The road to self destruction is paved along these lines. The seventh law is the Law of the Mind. Thoughts are things. First you have thoughts and then they have you. You actions are determined by what you are thinking most of the time. We have already said you are what you think and you are what you believe. This is similar except more in the realm of everyday, every minute thinking. What you are thinking will guide your actions. Sometimes those actions are not necessarily positive towards personal growth or toward our music business. Guarding our thoughts moment by moment may not be easy, but you can eliminate negative thoughts. You can also eliminate any thought of fear or doubt. This is so necessary. Fear of rejection is the prime motivator behind action or lack of action on our part. If we are afraid of failure we will act accordingly. Remember our mind and subconscious wants to fulfill what we are thinking and believing. Fear is ever present. To counter act fear you have to be prepared. You have to know your instrument and know your limitations. Sometimes bands or individual musicians try a little too hard to impress and step over the bounds of their musical ability. I am not saying playing it safe is what you do all the time. However when you go for it, I mean really go for it, you should know if it is the proper time, the proper song, the proper audience. You simply can not go for it in every song. Those are the mental laws of the universe. You need to take each one and see how your thoughts, beliefs, and words are affecting your health, your relationships, your business, your life as a whole. Your whole band should do this. Each alone and then as a group if you feel you have the guts. To become a band is to let down all the B.S. that we put up for the whole world. The crowd wants to see heart felt, non fearing honesty. It starts with a band having the same desires and beliefs. It starts with a band that is programming their minds for success. As Always, Be Cool

THE CLUB DYNAMIC - CONTROLLED CHAOS

First understand this one thing. As far as annual income goes, within the old paradigm musicians reach their full paying potential between five and eight years into their career. This is an average of all professional musicians at any given time. The maximum average of that income is less than eighty thousand dollars a year. Most never achieve that amount. However when you average in the player that is going full time, such as an orchestra musician, with all of the club musicians you reach a number close to that. You need to understand that the old paradigm is what we are trying to change.

The old paradigm said this: I will work in as many clubs as I can and barely make a living and hope that someone will discover me and I will make it as a performing artist. The clubs have not changed. I have been in this business for over forty years and I can tell you that the amount of money you can make playing in clubs today is not much different from thirty years ago. As a matter of fact, it is almost identical. Why do you think this is? To go there you have to understand the club and why you should not be treating it as your bread and butter.

Clubs sell liquor and food for profit. Simple. But the dynamic of what is happening is something you need to understand on a level that will allow you to make the best of your club playing days. And yes, you need to play clubs. The owner of the club has a lot to pay for. He has all kinds of liabilities out on the line. The least of which is the amount of money he has invested in the products that he sells. They are commodities that are replaceable. The owner has overhead and expenses and he wants to make a profit. If he could make more money without a band, he would be going that route. That is just the way it is. What you need to understand is that when you are scheduled to play starting at eight o’clock a lot has transpired before you even walk in the door to set up. The owner has arrived early to make sure the place is clean. He is tallying up the take from the night before. He always has a calculator running in his head. He is ahead on some nights and behind on others. He knows what he has to average to break even and he knows what it takes to make a profit. If everything goes good and according to schedule he is able to handle the evening. However this day he has one bartender on vacation, another he knows will no way make it on time, and a waitress who had a huge fight with her husband last night and is in no way going to be pleasant. He makes sure the stock is up to par and starts to call to make sure the whole shift is covered. He would love to be able to just leave it in the hands of a good manager but the last one stole him blind and he is having to shoot from the hip and does not want to see his investment go back to the bank. The ice machine seems to be broke and he needs to arrange for ice for the night and make sure he gets the dang thing fixed early next week. He doesn't serve a complete menu but does offer sandwiches and appetizers and it seems that in his bustle he forgot to get enough potatoes for the potato wedges that most of the crowd seems to love. He has an electrical outlet in the stage area that he should have had fixed this past week but did not and he wonders if the band will bring their own power strip. The last band did not and he gave them a power strip from the utility room in which he had the house music hooked up to and the strip seems to have walked off with the band. He goes to the utility room because he wants some music playing when the band is not and he notices that the music player is plugged in but the ice machine is not. How stupid can he be? No wonder the ice machine was not working. As he is trying to make a mental note to go and get a new power strip the waitress who is having problems at home calls and she is not going to make it tonight and may not come back to work at all. Seems her husband is accusing her of things she is not doing and does not want her to work at a bar anymore. While he is on the phone with her a kitchen employee comes up and tells him they are out of some kind of cleaner and he holds up one finger to say just a minute when the band has arrived and is setting up but has found that one outlet is not working and wants to know if they have an extra power strip.

And that is just the beginning. This is the guy you are dealing with. Most musicians show up, set up, play and have a good time regardless of the outcome of the evening. To most musicians it is all about them and their music. I am here to tell you it is not. It is entertainment. If there is no one to entertain guess what? It is about the club that has hired you making money and his customers having such an enjoyable time that they will return and tell others about the best club they have been to in a long time. This is what your job is about. It is not about the idea that you are an artist and that everyone is lucky to hear you and your band play your music.

I am not trying to be hard on you. It is just that it took me a long time to mature enough that I realized it was not all about me. And I am going to tell you the truth.

The club owner is not a bad guy. He just has a lot on his plate. He has been burned by so many bands that he wants you to prove him wrong when he starts off with the attitude that you are not in any way going to get the best of him. Your job is to make him money. You need to be prepared to the utmost for just that. The better you are with your business with the club owners the more gigs you will get and the more fans you will be able to build. That is what we are trying to do with the club experience. We are trying to build a fan base, not make a living playing in clubs. Now do not get me wrong. There are some big clubs in America that pay really good money. It is just that you are not going to be able to count on those all the time. If you are good enough to do so, then you have no problems. The majority of the bands have not reached that point with a fan base just yet.

So give the owner a break. Find ways to make his life easier. Remember clubs each have their own personality. You really do not run a club. If you are a manager or owner you just try to keep it from swarming on you. It is controlled chaos.

As always,

Be Cool

Roy Boy

www.littleroygene.com

www.reverbnation.com/littleroygene

THE NEW BAND & TRIBALISM

Tribe:  A group of people sharing an occupation, interest, or habit.  Such as a "tribe of graduated students."

Not only does that definition fit a band, it could also fit a group of fans.  Bringing them into the tribe is what it is all about.  Are you representing the tribe to the best of your ability?  Consider this about tribalism mentality:

(1) Minimal or no power structure, though there may be specialization.
(2) Everyone working for something bigger than themselves and their personal gains.
(3) No closed doors. 
(4) It’s a coordination of distinct and individual passions.
(5) The tribe is keenly aware of their “why;” often more than their “what” and “how.” (The members of a rock band may not be able to tell you exactly what their goal is, or how to get there. But they all know why they do what they do.)
(6) None of these criteria have to be enforced. In these organizations, it’s just the natural state of things.

Your tribe of fans can have the "why" but will never have the "what" and "how."  And really most bands start up without the "what" and "how."   So you are tired of hearing that you have to have goals.  And you do not have a clue of how to accomplish that goal you never set anyway.  Just get out there and play and see what happens.  Well in some ways that is all you can do, at first.  It is like this: To succeed in business, you have to be in business. Well that was some piece of higher thinking wasn't it?  But, here is how that works.

Most business men do not succeed in what they start out doing.  But the point is they start out doing business.  Say you start ABC Company and you are going to sell green widgets.  Well you get going pretty good but you are struggling.  But while you are in the business of making and selling green widgets you discover that the money is in purple hoops.  You had the infrastructure to make purple hoops all along but had no idea that people wanted them.  So you start making and selling purple hoops.  Everything is going good but you notice that you could be making more money if you made the purple dye for the hoops.  So you make the dye and increase your profits.  Then what do you know, the world beats a path to your business because everyone wants the purple dye you made.  Even more then the hoops.  So you change ground and start making purple dye instead of hoops and before you know it you are in the whole world wants your dyes of all colors business.

So how does this relate to music?  Well, too often as artist we place ourselves in the box we are in.  But, why do we have to worry about that?  Throw the damn box away!  The business man above had no idea he was going to be in the dye business.  As long as we stay in the music business, our true identity will come.  Our true calling in music will come.  I don't know if the world will beat a path to your door or not, but for me the main goal is just staying in the music business.  And the tribe gathers around courage.  And the tribe gathers around loyalty.  And the tribe gathers around honesty.  And the tribe gathers around uniqueness.  And the tribe gathers around.......