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.......

Today's Paradigm and The Working Musician

The self-proclaimed guru of the music business sits cross-legged on an Indian pillow.  The large rug beneath him is in a Mandala design.  Sitar music plays softly in the background.  All ears are tuned to him in expectation of his next words.  He slowly lowers the hose from the Hooka he has been inhaling from and softly speaks:

"Basically we all live in a paradigm that started with dialogue. When you were a baby and learned your first words the paradigm began. You know how your internal dialogue is constantly going during your waking hours? Well that is because this reality is based on those words. (I know, do not get too excited. I am not going space cadet on you. Just relax.) Those words make up this paradigm. We all are in agreement as to what those words mean and represent. For instance a car is a car to me and the same to you. However, if you took some kind of recorder and recorded your thoughts all day and then replayed those thoughts to someone else here is what would happen. Most of the thoughts would be in line with the other person's beliefs. Some though would be outside of what that person is thinking on a day to day basis. The thoughts that are within the same way of thinking are the basis of today's paradigm, or reality. Those that are outside of the other person's thinking are yours and belong to a personal paradigm. That personal paradigm is influenced by some degree, great or small, by the paradigm at large.

Here's what that does to us. Depending on how much we desire to belong to today's world, how much we desire to be popular or accepted, our actions are proportionately influenced. Without getting lost in this entire psychology let me explain what happens to the musician. He is caught up in a very weird state of affairs.

Besides self-preservation, most of our actions are motivated by four main issues. Those four motivators are food, sex, money, and acceptance. I know most musicians have noticed how the other sex is attracted to the performer, and money is good, but for the musician the main motivator is acceptance. He is driven and influenced by his desire to be accepted by music fans and other musicians. Because of the over whelming power of the existing paradigm the musician does not do what it takes to build a more powerful paradigm. You see, instead of buying into the prevailing paradigm and just self destructing, the musician can build a paradigm that the world buys into. You can be crazy as a bed bug and the world will love it, but you have to have a foundation that allows you to be crazy as a bed bug and build a big business. You see once a musician sells out to the world view of what a musician should be he is confronted by the absolute shallowness of the whole affair. The world is fickle. And the musician seeing this after many years feels there is no recourse, so he gives the world what they seem to be wanting. And that is self destruction. Ever notice how the musician goes down in flames as the world applauds? It does not have to be that way. You can create a paradigm that is structured in a way that actually profits from what the world seems to be wanting and at the same time grows stronger because of the set of rules it is guided by. And as it grows stronger it profits more, the world buys into it more, and it grows even stronger still.

Here is the starting point: You have to understand the paradigm that is world today. Here is my view on that. This is my view and I am not a professional in these matters. If you are a psychologist then you would have a field day if I let you play with my brain for a day. I learned to treat the paradigm in one way in order to build my own paradigm another way. The way I treat the paradigm is this. Everyone you know or will ever meet is just a kid who is in the third grade on the school playground. All social interactions today are based on this dynamic. Good business is not. But bad business practices are on this level. If you truly understand what I just wrote you will go a long way in your relationships in the world today. You see on the playground there were bullies, those being bullied, and those just trying to stay out of the way. You may be dealing today with someone who was bullied a great deal and is trying to overcome that feeling of helplessness that is still guiding and influencing his decisions today. Love everyone where they are, but try and understand that there is an underlying dynamic that you may be caught up in and have very little control over. You only have two options, now or anytime. You can take action, or you can walk away.

However the trick is to bring that person's dynamic into your own paradigm. You can do this with other musicians, band members, fans, and club owners. You have to understand the dynamic going on at the time. But first you have to make your paradigm yours and the stronger. And because you have been given a paradigm, much like a download in a computer, by your parents, friends, relatives, teachers, and the world at large, you have a great deal of work ahead of you. But it is worth the effort. Trust me.

Changing the paradigm.

You are what you think. However, and more important, you are what you believe. That belief is influenced in one of two ways. Positively in relationship to our wants, needs, and more important goals. Or negatively in the same areas. You have in your mind two very powerful guardians waiting to be called upon. And these guardians are dedicated to the job of letting you have what you really believe. If today you believe negatively then the negative guardian comes forth and protects that belief. If today you believe positively then the positive guardian comes forth and protects that belief. They do not judge right or wrong. They only protect that belief at all costs. And they are very, very good at their job.

"Today is a lousy day. I do not feel like practicing." Up comes the negative guardian and does a wonderful job of giving you what you asked for. And it works in the opposite way as well. You must sell out to this fact. It is a fact and you must learn to control your thoughts.

Roy Gene Horne is a songwriter, musician, performer with over 40 years professional experience. He has written hundreds of songs, recorded, performed, booked, managed, and fronted his own band for all of those years. His music can be heard at http://www.littleroygene.com.

2 Huge Mistakes Made By Young Bands

I do not claim to be any kind of expert.  I have played professionally for over 40 years.  I have gone through what you are going through.  Some of the bone head things I did in the past are not relevant to today.  Times have changed a great deal. There are two things that I see everyday and consider mistakes.  One concerns a new venue that I did not have access to and the other is a mistake made from day one by just about every band I have ever known.  I will start with the latter.

Most bands get some material together and find a gig.  Right?  But that is what you are suppose to do, right? Absolutely!  You have to start somewhere.  But, even if you live in a huge city like Dallas, you have to make sure you have a plan in which you only play your home city maybe 2 times a year.  What!  How in the world are you suppose to do that.  I think that playing your home town should be promoted as something special.  Not just another weekend gig.  You have to reach a point in your performance that it will make it worth it to your audience to come out and see you. And when you reach that point you want to promote it and make it into something that will be talked about until the next time.  You can not do that if you are playing every dive in town that will pay you 50 bucks a head.  So how do you manage this?  Draw a circle around your hometown or the nearest large city in which you are currently getting most of your gigs.  How big a circle is up to you and your band members.  If you guys are working days, and at this point you really should be, then you have to take in consideration the time factor of getting off work on Friday and trying to make the gig on time.  There is no law that says you can not take a gig close by on Friday and another a little farther away on Saturday.  What you are trying to accomplish, besides making a little money, is fine tuning your act in preparation for your return home.  It is hard but worth it.  Fine tuning your act in front of your hometown crowd will only cause you to lose more fans than you gather and will give most venues a preconceived impression of who you are and what you do.  If you want the larger, better paying venue it is imperative to show how you can gather a crowd. Just consider it and see where you thinking takes you.

The second mistake I see way too often concerns YouTube.  I see a lot of junk on there that maybe should have been thought through.  Bands are way to eager to post videos with something like, "Check us out playing at ABC Club last Friday night.  The video is from and I phone and the sound is bad.  Why would you be so eager to post something bad?  Anyone can film you with their phones these days, but you do not have to post it on your very own YouTube channel.  Everything you post should be professional.  The more you post as an amateur, the more you are perceived that way. Be professional.  Look like you know what you are doing.

New CD - What now?

Here is the way I see this, and keep in mind I am one old and burned out musician. So what the heck do I know!  However, let me take you on this little escapade of mine and if you are in the same stage of the process maybe we can work this out together.

I finally finished my "Full Grown Man" project, as far as: recording, cover art, hard disc pressing, cover wrapped and bar-coded,  registering with a distribution firm, ASCAP, BMI..the whole deal.  I think the studio was the easiest part, for me anyway.  But it is what it is.  So, what now?

Well there is a ton of stuff out there basically telling me the same thing.  I am supposed to be building these electronic relationships through social media sites, tweet a little but not too much, blogging (such as this), becoming recognized on certain forums (don't get burned!), adding and offering some kind of value to the community (I believe I do that by staying off the streets at night most of the time), and on and on and on.  All correct.  But it is time consuming and usually I get sleepy when I try and concentrate.  So, as Granddaddy Charlie used to say, "Here's the deal."

This is "Long Tail Marketing."  You have to keep that in mind.  Back in the day, and now really also, the Record Companies only concentrated on "Short Tail Marketing."  Which you can also if you have a couple of million bucks to promote yourself.  The Record Companies put in the cash to promote an artist, (By the way that money is paid back by the artist through the sales of the record. Most musicians are so ecstatic upon being offered a contract that they do not realize they are really paying for the whole deal), and this short term promotion leads to air play, album sales, and concerts.  The artist will make most of his money at first through the concert venue.  He or she can charge phenomenal amounts of money to perform and with all the promotion hype people will pay unusual amounts of money on tickets.  And after the Label has retrieved it's original investment for recording and promotion they continue to get a cut of proceeds from sales as do the artist and the writer of the material. All of this is negotiable, however you have to be able to fit into the stream of what is considered a viable product to promote.  You have to have the sound and the look.  And that ain't happening to most of us.  But...

In "Long Tail Marketing", instead of being a flash in the pan of some Label Guru, you can slowly promote yourself for years and years using the above mentioned vehicles. And, if you were to graph it out, instead of a quick spike and fall that the music industry lives on, you would show a steady climb over a 10 or 20 year period.  If you are lucky you could compare numbers and you would be in the ball game because you are already ahead in that you do not owe a Label millions of dollars for their recording and promotion expertise.Of course you are behind the eight ball in terms of ticket sales, but the actual product sales numbers might surprise you.  You can now record your own music for a nominal sum at small but worthy studio, or do it yourself at home.  The key to all of this in my mind is that wonderful venue: Youtube.

I think without a doubt that this is where the independent artist can promote effectively to his hearts content.
And I will write more on that next time.

Why Did The Band Break Up?

Why did our band break up?  We were really starting to gel.  I don't understand what happened.  If the answer to this question was that the musical styles and ideals do not jive then you are one lucky dude.  Because usually that is not the answer. If your musical styles do not jive and you see no future, then breaking up was the logical choice. But sometimes, and usually most of the times, musical style is not the culprit.

You have found each other at a club listening to a good band. You know some of the members of the band and they introduce you to someone who plays a killer guitar. You are a bass player, you know a drummer and voila, you have the start of a band. You get together, play and soon add a keyboard and it just goes from there. You spend hours upon hours getting the equipment right, the sound right, the vocals right, everything is falling into place and then....it just disappears. Why?  I believe that the start of the process was never really addressed as it should have been. And the specific part that was missing, that caused the demise of the group, the part that was never even discussed were the goals, dreams and aspirations of the other members.

The goals of each individual have to be in line with the entire group. Most musicians just want to play music. And if you are good enough to play on stage with the guys you are with then a common bond occurs in which there is a false sense of security. However, it does not take a lifetime for the real motives behind the music to come forward.  Why would you not want to bring those motives into the forefront before wasting all of the time and effort? Why would you not want to know if you are all on the same page business and career wise instead of just music wise? It is puzzling.

I was recently communicating with an outstanding performer from the upper Northwestern part of the U.S.  (By the way her name is Lucy Hammond. You should check her out at lucyhammondband.com) We have a lot in common in that we both put careers on hold to raise children.  She has jumped back in with both feet but the musicians she has been working with, counting on, and putting so much of her resources into seem to just want to stick their big toe in.  Now there is a huge difference between the both feet, all in mind set and the "let me just stick my toe in and if it works then I will be all in," attitude.  While she is sacrificing everything, the other players might not be on the same sacrificial level.

Most people that I have known that front a band take on the management roll also.  Not by choice I would say, but they are usually the responsible party.  Band members that are all in become part of every negotiation and are willing to sacrifice by decision because they have bought into a vision.  Band members that just want to know where and when to show up usually take no more interest in the gig than this one motive revealing question: "Do we get free drinks?"  That kind of shows what is going on.  This is a business.  You would not be a partner in any other business enterprise and ask a question like that.  Mixing art and business is extremely delicate.  One usually kills the other.  It is an extremely difficult task to manage.  My hats are off to those who can.

This Songwriter's Secret - How I Wrote Over 1,000 Songs

Who knows how songs get written. Sometimes the song comes from a dream, sometimes from a remark that someone makes, sometimes from an event. At any rate songs come from somewhere. I found a way to connect to the source of songs. For me a process began with my very first song at age eleven. I have used the same process for over forty years. I do not know if this process will work for others, but it has never failed me.

First I get my attitude right. This has nothing to do with being confident or positive. You can be very negative and write good music. What I do is tell myself that I am no more than a vessel. I try and become the perfect witness to the process. I do not believe the songwriter should be the judge of the end product. I would have canned at least half of the songs I have written if that were the case for me. Let others judge the value of the song. But remember that judgement is influenced by their life history. So I do not put much stock in their judgement either. I mean I like it when people like a song I wrote. But I am not bothered if they do not. At any rate just write the song and let the world take care of their part.

Next for me is always the absence of theme. I never sat down and intentionally wrote a song about a certain event or subject. I always felt that if I tried to write about something I was putting too much of my first attention in the deal. By first attention I am speaking of everyday consciousness. I promise I will not get too heavy into this. This is how it works for me. I could no more sit down and write a poem and try to make a song out of it then I could dunk a basketball. It just is not in my realm of reality.

So here is the process. I would sit down with a guitar and simply let my fingers do the walking. Always waiting for that time when a little lick or chord progression took over and refused to leave until I addressed the fact that it was here to stay. If that lick never came I would change guitars. If nothing came from that then I would change strings on all the guitars and start over. I would do this until I had a little "diddy" to work with. Then I would play that thing over and over until a word or line came to the forefront. Then I would simply play that over and over until the song took place. Once it gets started it can not be stopped. I have nothing to really do with the process but the actual sitting down and playing and letting my mind wander. I seem to have a knack of letting my mind wander. I never forced a song. I have hundreds if not thousands of parts of songs that I refuse to go back and try and finish. For me a song has to finish itself.

Anyway that is how I do it. I really think the separation of myself as much as possible is the key. And at least that way I can always say, "Don't blame me, I'm just the guitar player."

Great night of Music for a Cause

I will be selling my new Album and 100% of the proceeds will be given to the American Diabetic Association. Many local radio and television celebrities will be on hand to help.

Seven Laws Of The Universe And The Struggling Musician

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 aneed 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. I 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 notgo 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.

That's it! I am through, finished.....

I am finally finished with my new cd.  It will be available online at itunes, Amazon, and others by the 16 of September.  I have posted 2 of the tunes here for you to critique:
www.reverbnation.com/littleroygene

Thanks,
Roy Boy

Bikes, Blues, And More Blues

I was way down on my luck around Austin, Texas in 1973. When I say way down, I mean down to nothing. I had a friend with me and all we had was my old 1954 Ford Pick Up, a guitar, a small P.A. system, and my dog. We were camped at the Lower Colorado River Authority park at the dam at Lake Travis. You can only stay a week or so before they come ask you to leave. We told the kind park ranger that leaving was impossible until we could come up with the money for gas. Gas had just gone up because of whatever happened in 1972 to raise the price of oil. It had gone up to a staggering.40 a gallon. My old truck held 16 gallons so it would have taken all of $6.00 to fill it up. Couldn't make it happen. Anyway, the kind ranger let us stay.

One day I was sitting around playing my guitar when this guy comes up and tells me he owns Lake Austin Lodge, not too far away. He says he's got this family reunion booked for over three hundred folks and they want some entertainment. He said they must be the partying type because they have requested two dozen kegs and one hundred cases of beer. He ask me if I would play for 50 bucks. Well, yes I would be glad to oblige Sir! See you Friday night.

Friday my friend and I load up and head for the gig. They have this real nice stage area and their own P.A. system so I don't have to set up my gear. I get everything ready and then... Rumble! Up comes about 200 Banditos. It just so happens that the family reunion is the Texas Banditos from every chapter in the state. They immediately throw the owner out of the bar area and start shoveling out beer. The owner is frantic, but hey what are you gonna do? A stream of bikers keep coming in. I do not know how many finally show up, but it is a lot. And these ain't no weekend warriors. They are the real deal.

My friend freaks. "Let's get out of here, now", he is frantically begging me. No, I tell him, we need the money. "Then give me your keys" he says. And that is what I do. He runs to my truck and speeds away. Now I am alone, just one guitar and one worked up audience.

I am on stage trying to figure out how to begin when this old man comes up from nowhere and ask me if I know how to play Tennessee Waltz. He pulls out a harmonica and smiles. I tell him he had best leave when this huge biker grabs the harp from the guy and starts blowing the blues. It is an A harp and everyone and their brother can play blues in E on the guitar so away I go. Well this guy is named Terry and he is the Sergeant At Arms for the whole gang and he adopts me on the spot. We play and play and play. Nobody gives me any trouble because Terry likes me and is one bad dude.

When it is all over I try and find the owner for my 50 bucks. I find him in the kitchen area and he does not look too good for wear. Seems he challenged the situation and lost on appeal. He is not giving me a dime. I come out of there and Terry asks me what gives. I tell him I am broke and this guy won't pay. "I got that" he says. He takes a trash bag and goes outside and tells every one of his brothers to give at least 20 bucks to the pot or he will do bad things to them. They all cough up something. He gives me the bag and says put it anywhere you want, no one will touch it. "Now let's you and me party."

Next day I get on the back of Terry's bike with my guitar and sack of cash and they give me a ride back to camp. They end up staying there 3 or 4 days. Texas State Troopers shut down the road going across the dam and just let the 3 to 5 hundred bikers do their thing.

They finally wave buy and Bingo! they are gone. The bag they gave me had over 2 thousand dollars in it and I wave Bye Bye to Lake Travis.

Roy Horne, aka Little Roy Gene, professional musician, songwriter, singer has performed for over 40 years. His music can be found at his website http://www.littleroygene.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/7955046

How To Handle Hecklers

There's not but ten hecklers in the world today. But they move around a lot. Consequently you will run into one of them every once in a while. Do not be discouraged. Here is a little advice on what and what not to do.

First and foremost, be good at what you do. Nothing invites heckling like an act that is not together. I can not impress upon you how important it is that you have your act down. Practice until you can do your act in your sleep. Better yet, practice until you are doing your act in your sleep. If you are really good, the crowd will not accept any negativity from someone out of place.

Second, show no fear. Bad crowds can smell fear. You have to be fearless on stage. You have to exude the confidence that shows you are totally relaxed and in charge. Slow down. Nothing shows nerves more than playing music too fast. Relax between songs. Read the crowd. They are constantly telling you what to do if you listen. And I do not mean they are telling you with words. Do not get lost with your stage fright. This is called posture. As far as I am concerned you should have this "cool" posture at all times. On stage and off. You have to carry this posture until it becomes a part of your persona. Ever wonder why people think musicians are so cool. This is the reason. Those that play a lot on stage and have been around a while develop this posture and carry it always.

Now to the nitty gritty. Do not fall into the trap of responding in like manner. Usually if you just look at the idiot that is giving you the "what for" and just smile until he has talked out, then you can simply ignore what was going on and continue with your act. People will recognize that you are being professional and will respond to you and not to the jerk in the crowd. Do not ever try to be funny at his expense. Just smile and shrug your shoulders. And by all means go on. Do not try and talk or play over the guy if he is loud. Just look at him like you are waiting for him to get it out of his system. Then play on.

Now the thing that throws a wrench in the whole deal. If the dude is drunk, you will have to make sure you have a good relationship with the waitress and bartender. Management that knows how to run a club will never allow this to happen to you. They will realize how this is so bad for business. Unfortunately, there are many club owners who should maybe be driving a truck. You can not tell them how to run their business, but you do not have to let a bad apple ruin your act. So here is where you might want to take a break. I have found that a good break song is worth it's weight in gold. For years I played Hideaway by Freddy King. People recognize this as a break song. It kind of takes the edge off of the stage. Play your song, get down, and....well this part is up to you. No matter what you can never be confrontational. Sometimes these things just have to play out. It's your gig though, not some jerk's.

KILL ALL THE LAWYERS

"The first thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers." Quote from Shakespeare Henry The Sixth. But in reality in today's world, the simple minded lawyer is maybe third from the bottom of the bottom feeders.  Right above politicians,(of which most are lawyers).  The bottom easily goes to the banksters.  They have that position sewn up.

What in the world does this have to do with music?  Well, it is the blues.  We are livin in the blues. The financial blues, the fiat government blues, the fiat currency blues, the collapse of the fiats blues.  Whatever. Uncle Rueben has plenty of moonshine stored and several caves on his property.  We know how to live on wild game, dandelions, thistle, and poke salad so we will survive.  But what about the music industry?  Well I really do not care about the "industry" of music but I do care about the independents.  The ones who are putting it all on the line with their own resources to make music for the masses.  So as far as music goes, we are living in a New World Order.  There has never been a time when you could distribute your own works world-wide.  We have YouTube after all.  And if you are a pickin you should take advantage before the banksters figure out a way to take that from you.  They will try.  But they will have to pry my YouTube password from my cold grey hands.

I make a stand. You should to. I will support those that are doing it all out of their garage. Big record labels are bankster owned and bankster run.  Give me the guys that play on vintage instruments, wear white socks and park in your yard.  I'll take them anyday.

ALBUM COVER DONE - CD RELEASE DATE 8/19/13

Professional Athletes Cheat - As A Professional Musician Can I?

What do you think?  Am I allowed to use Pitch Correction on my new CD?  Am I allowed to use Pitch Correction when I play live?  What do you think the expectations of the listening crowds are?