Coming Up In The Clubs
When you’re coming up in the small clubs you can’t lean on production to look good and win fans.
There’s a few tricks you can pull off but in small clubs you can’t mask poor performance skills. It’s just too small. People can see.
And the good thing is (although it may be uncomfortable at the time), you feel that pressure on stage. The pressure to be better because you have to be if you’re gonna book this club again.
The small club is where you learn to fill a room with your presence and power. It’s scary. There’s no hiding. But when it clicks it’s real and you get to take it with you forever.
Terrible vs Amateur
An amateur is someone who is still learning, a hobbyist, someone who loves the process regardless of outcome and isn’t doing it professionally.
An amateur (or tinkering hobbyist) is never doing a terrible job. They’re simply doing it, and that’s the whole purpose. There’s no criticism.
It’s the amateur masquerading as a professional who is in danger of being labeled terrible.
When you tip into calling yourself a professional, it’s a posture of standing behind your work. Professionals put themselves up for criticism, and will get compared to others in the field. In every field there’s an unspoken undefined level that people believe you’re at if you advertise yourself as a pro. If you aren’t to that level, you might not actually be terrible…but the gap between consumer expectations and reality might get you that label.
»» If your intent is to go from amateur to professional, be upfront about what you can offer and what they can expect.
Pushing A Car Out Of The Snow...
is hard work.
Put your shoulder into it. Push with everything you have. Rock the tires back and forth. And repeat.
And then finally POOF the car gets traction…and what happens next…you fall down.
A few somewhat connected points…
You fall down when it gets easy because you’re so used to leaning in so hard. That ease can feel like an uneasy surprise, and cause some scraped knees.
When it gets easy and you put your shoulder into something and nothing pushes back, is there a purpose in pushing?
What do you like better…pushing or cruising?
If it got easy what stories would you have to give up?
If the things stay stuck how long are you willing to push before you walk away?
Too Many Grand Openings
And too many going out of business sales.
There’s a few furniture stores not far from where I live that seem to always be advertising one or the other. Back and forth.
A few things…
Starts and ends are exciting
If your only draw is deals and coupons, what does that say about your stuff?
The boy who cried Sale Prices!
Sustainability might not always be as exciting, but it’s more likely to always be there.
Artists and Musicians
Artists trade on point of view and magnetism
Musicians trade on skill and hang
Artists sign the checks
Musicians want the checks to be on time and to clear
Artists are building a gig
Musicians are playing a gig
Artists are the leader of the vibe
Musicians are keyed into the vibe
Artists have to do the meet and greet
Musicians can go hang on the bus
Artists are locked into the gig
Musicians have an eye out for a better one
Artists go through a season of over identifying with the gig
Musicians do too
Artists are laying it on the line
Musicians are helping them lay it on the line
Artists have a goal of emotional connection with the audience
Musicians have a goal of keeping the gig
Artists, at a certain level, are making money while they sleep
Musicians make money when they’re playing
An artists’s fear is that they are not enough without the admiration of the audience
A musician’s fear is that they are only as valuable as the size and status of the gig
Artists and musicians are so much the same and yet carry equal but different weight.