But that’s probably ok as long as you keep going.
You don’t need to be perfect to still deliver on the promise.
While the audience might be there to hear all the correct words, odds are they’re there for something else. The feel. The experience. That thing you do to the room when you’re on stage.
That’s what you can’t let drop. Don’t let a few missed lyrics get in the way of a great performance.
It’s reasonable to show up to a Nashville bar and expect to hear country music.
But when the agent books a pop rock band instead, no one is happy.
The band wonders why no one is into it.
The audience wonders why this band is playing.
The agent needs to be a better matchmaker next time.
New Hum Love playlist on Spotify and Apple. This month there’s a song from the current top streaming artist in the world and an artist with 111 monthly listeners. It’s a miracle.
It’s very unlikely that your next thing is going to be the hit.
But it needs to be good enough to be…or at least good enough so that when someone takes the dive on your music they’re delighted to find this one.
Booking a hotel room isn’t hard. Neither is driving to Atlanta. Or making sure you didn’t leave anyone at the gas station. And it’s easy to glance in the back seat to make sure you have you guitar.
Each step is easy.
But putting it all together for a twenty date tour is hard. And the only way to have a twenty date tour is to put it all together.
Similarily…
It’s easy to sing the verse. And then punch in to sing the chorus. And get a few takes of the bridge. But singing it all the way through start to finish is a different exercise.
Similarly…
It’s fun and easy to sit down and do a pretty good job singing a song or two. But an entire set? Ten or twenty songs? You’ve gotta be next level.
Once you have the skills the next skill is putting it all together.
In the music business people love talking about working together.
People love scheduling meetings, getting excited, making promises, getting emotionally attached, talking about plans, dreaming out loud, and then talking some more.
And then comes the contract.
This is the inflection point.
For all the talk, how is the working together really going to work? For all the warm fuzzies, what are the compromises? For all the potential, what is the reality? And of course…what does the money look like?