Quitting your day job??
[Posted June 27, 2023]
If you’re a musician or songwriter who’s been told, “Don’t quit your day job!”, that’s not always the best advice. What if your day job could be another kind of creation: any kind of business in which you can be your own boss. For some of us, that’s what has provided the flexibility to pursue music on our own terms. It all depends on whether or not you’re a good fit for successful independent work, and can find joy in also doing something other than music while still leaving time for performing, recording, writing, or all of the above.
To find out if you’re well equipped for independent success and, if you are, how to make it more productive and satisfying and avoid the pitfalls, check out my new book at www.noboss.me — or click on the cover image. And may the force be with you!
What? No Facebook page??
[Posted June 22, 2023]
People often ask me, “Where is your Facebook page? Or your Instagram? What — you’re not on TikTok? Not even tweeting? Seriously??
It’s neither an accident or laziness that accounts for that. It’s my personal belief that it’s time to stand up to the tyranny of social media. LinkedIn is great for business and professional career networking, and social in general has enabled many things otherwise impossible — especially for online entrepreneurs and for musicians and authors trying to build a following. (Disclosure: Yes, I do belong to one private Facebook group of musicians, perform at venues that promote events on social, post the occasional lyric video on YouTube, and confess to having tweeted once or twice about my latest book before closing my Twitter account when Elon Musk went politically off the rails while also sending all those employees packing who were unwilling to sleep at the office.)
But what has social media wrought? Endless screen time. Pressure to communicate too often and at moments when there isn’t something substantially relevant or useful to say. Massive distractions in classrooms. Bullying. Avalanches of misinformation and conspiracy theories, exacerbating political rancor, racism, LGBTQ+ discrimination, gun violence and terrorism.
Frankly, I’d rather use the time for making music. I hope you enjoy mine.
Why folk rock classics aren’t
just loved by Baby Boomers
[Posted June 17, 2023]
Yes, I used to have more hair…
It was the first time I noticed it. Some years ago I played a family-oriented outdoor gig where the audience was primarily Gen X and Baby Boomers but also quite a few teenagers and twenty-somethings. On the way there, I was wishing I had learned some more songs from the ‘90’s and early 00’s so the kids would be more engaged. But playing mostly folk rock classics from the 60’s and ‘70’s, I was surprised by how many young people were singing along or mouthing the words of Neil Young, Paul Simon, James Taylor and Carole King.
It was just another testament to the enduring power of those singer/songwriters. But it was also underpinned by the seismic cultural influence of the ‘60s and ‘70s. Psychologist and author Ronald Riggio wrote an interesting short piece on this that’s worth a quick read. Enjoy!