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Location: Michigan | I have known many talented musicians over the last 40 years and all of them who tried to pursue a carrer in music tell me that it isnt just how good of a musician you are it is being seen in the right place at the right time by the right talent agent and alot of luck is what is needed to make it big in the music industry.
I happen to beleive this .I think we all know somebody who is an outstanding musician who tried to make it professionaly and ended up having to make a career out of another job
( house painter.janitor,plumbler,carpenter ),and so on for a living .They are playing in a weekend band and alot of them have more talent then then Eric Clapton does.( Im just using him as an example ).
Is this the truth or is talent the most important thing to have to make it in this industry?
What do you think ??? GWB |
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Posts: 10777
Location: Keepin' It Weird in Portland, OR | Totally True! See my note on the "Credit where credit is due" thread.
Today, on NW 23rd Ave in Portland, OR, there is an older gentleman who plays a mean resonator for spare change. |
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Location: New South Wales, Australia | G'day GWB...I'd be lucky if I had any talent :D ...but I think you're right. Talent will only take you so far, after that, you need all the cards to fall your way. Right place at the right time.
If I had the choice I'd rather be talented than lucky. |
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Location: Michigan | Ozwatto What time is it there ?? GWB |
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Location: New South Wales, Australia | 2.25pm GWB...Easter Sunday afternoon |
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January 2007
Posts: 672
Location: New South Wales, Australia | Kids are full of easter chocolate and have crashed and burned so I'm sitting here in relative peace and quiet waiting for the football (rugby league) to come on TV.
Time zones are confusing...are you about 14 hours behind us? |
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January 2006
Posts: 1487
Location: Michigan | Right now it is 1:01 AM in Detroit Michigan Sunday Easter AM. I just got back from a pre Easter party down the block.
Everybody have a great Easter Day !!!! GWB |
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Posts: 7247
Location: The Great Pacific Northwest | I don't know about the "right talent agent" but yes... it takes more than just being a great musician. In fact, it doesn't take being a great musician at all, but that helps. A career in music is like any other career really. Basically, like with any career, you are a commodity. Marketing, talent, presentation just like any other job. |
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Posts: 2491
Location: Copenhagen Denmark | ....and the ability to speak/stand-up for yourself...being thick-skinned is also needed..
( a boob-job might help )
Vic :cool: |
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Posts: 2793
Location: Atlanta, GA. | Get out on the road. Make a name for yourself. Open doors that would normally remain closed. Be willing to make sacrifices.
It's called "paying your dues".
Most people don't have it in them to follow their dream . |
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November 2005
Posts: 1126
Location: Omaha, NE | The bass player in my band played on the road with a major country act for three years. He also did ten years as a studio player for a major label in LA.
He will tell you that being able to play is a given. At that level, everyone can play. The guys who succeed are the ones who can get along with others. There are egos everywhere, and if you are easy to live with day to day, you have a huge advantage over high maintenance guys. |
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Posts: 3411
Location: GA USA | Originally posted by cholloway:
It's called "paying your dues".
Most people don't have it in them to follow their dream . I see a lot of wisdom in that, chollo. Probably because it describes me. I didn't have it in me. Now that I'm getting closer to 50, I see that dream outrunning me faster and faster. So I get my kicks watching my kid jump off stages.
I just read the cover story in Bass Player, about the bass player for Fall Out Boy. Apparently he's the most famous bass player in the world (sorry, I can't remember his name off-hand). He openly admits in the interview that he and his band aren't good enough musicians to play the songs from the albums live. They make no bones about it. In their case, it's not talent, or skill, or musical determination. It's charisma and a haircut. |
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Location: Athens, GA & Gnashville | Talent, luck and TENACITY!! I would say that more of the latter allowed me to make my living with music. |
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Posts: 2804
Location: ranson,wva | i guess im pretty well screwed all the way 'round...ive got verry little talent and even less luck. but i could give 2 shits less what anyone else thinks about my playing or singing for that matter....
i think if i would have started when i was younger i may have acutualy went somewhere with my playing and singing...but then again who knows....jason |
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Posts: 386
Location: nyc area | I think this story puts in perspective... I was playing a small blues club in Hanau, Germany...the club owner took us out to dinner before the show and told us....
...I know sometimes your life can be hard, you're away from your loved ones and the living conditions are rough, but just remember many of us would give our right arm to do what you do for just one day....
The musi buisness is buisness... you gotta be smart, optomistic and have tough skin... but I've been having alot of fun over the last 30 years! |
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Posts: 10583
Location: NJ | well call it luck, call it being in the right place at the right time, call it a rich mommy and daddy, whatever. there are multiple factors that make it all happen.
one of the best guitar players I know was a trolley driver for the city of phila. he played chet atkins riffs like it was nothing. amazing. he played local bars and toilets and I sincerely doubt that the patrons knew the talent they were experiencing. he was also the most humble person I know.
I laught at people who will say for example kurt cobain sucks or neil young sucks or fill in the blank sucks. Sure much of their music is simple and easy to play BUT you must first think of that perfect simple line to fit the melody of the song to make it all fit and make it a popular hit song.
I have respect for guitarists with great talent and chops, vai, satrianni, yngwie, howe, blackmore, eric johnson, richard thompson but I have the same respect for the tunesmiths that can write a haunting or sweet melody and have MILLIONS Of people hum along or recognize their tunes. this is also a true talent or art.
so part of it is luck and part of it is talent and part of it is the great unknown. |
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Posts: 1320
Location: Round Rock, TX | One mistake that I believe a lot of musicians make is in thinking that the first requisite for a musical career is musical ability. The first requisite is the ability to entertain. ("Music industry" is just the shorthand term for the music oriented section of the entertainment industry..)
I just read an article, put out by Guitar Center, where they describe the final round of the 2006 Guitarmageddon contest. They openly state that the winner was not the best musician. The winner was a good musician that had the best shtick. They emphasized the point with illustrations of the shtick used by several of the great blues players - then went on to warn future contestants that, while musical talent is important, musical ability without shtick ain't gonna win. |
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Posts: 5881
Location: Colorado Rocky Mountains | My son is a drummer in a semi-successful garage band in San Diego (three CDs have sold out, one of their singles went to No. 20 in the San Diego rock charts, ranked in the top garage bands in the country for several years). When a record label was considering signing them, they insisted on sending a rep to watch them play a live venue. Talent was a given, and they had good looks, but the record reps wanted to see how they interacted with an audience. I would call this showmanship. |
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Location: Oakton, VA | Violinist Joshua Bell recently played for spare change at a DC metro stop ...
Joshua Bell |
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June 2002
Posts: 863
Location: Central Florida | I'm gonna go in a slightly different direction here...
I think another common mistake many musicians make--particularly younger ones--is in equating success in the music industry with "making it big." In other words, if you don't land the big record deal, or play the biggest venues then you're not successful. I've been fortunate enough to make a decent living with music for most of my adult life (nearly 30 years), and that's all I've ever wanted to do. I've never been distracted by the dream of being the "next big thing."
Nothing warms a musicians heart more than seeing people enjoy their music. I get to experience that on a (almost) weekly basis, as I'm gigging again after nearly a 12 year lay off. I'm also teaching guitar and working as the assistant headmaster for the fine arts school where I teach. I don't make a helluva lot of money, but between what I make and my wife's income, we make more than enough to keep my family fed, clothed and sheltered.
I consider myself successful because I'm doing what I love to do, and providing for my family at the same time. I feel I'm blessed to have the best of both worlds. |
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Location: Round Rock, TX | Well said, Jeff. Amen. |
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Posts: 12761
Location: Boise, Idaho | A couple nights ago we went to a Flamenco performance somewhere in Spain in a little place that I could never find again. They had 3 guitar players and 2 of them played so well and fast with both hands doing things I didn't know hands could do. The 3rd guy was good, but not incredible. I bet all 3 had day jobs and probably didn't make more than a couple thou a year playing guitar. If talent equaled money, those 2 should be richer than Mick Jagger. |
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Posts: 5576
Location: big island | aloha mark!
welcome home. good that you were able to log on and post a few times while you were in spain.
"well, i've never been to spain, but i've been to oklahoma..." |
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Location: big island | jeff,
right on, friend! thanks for sharing your perspective. |
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November 2006
Posts: 2241
Location: Simpsonville, SC | I have been going to local clubs for 30+ years now. I have seen great entertainers and fantastic musicians. I have been lucky to have conversations with many of them, they should all be shown your appreciation. Even though I can't think of one band or individual that went onto national acclaim, I can say say that most all of them were a huge success.
As Jeff stated, they all (to the last one) loved seeing the audience respond to their music and / or performance and even though they never became financially rich, they felt that they were rewarded in ways that money could'nt buy.
I had a customer that wanted an older guitar repaired for a friend. I had it fixed up this weekend by a local luthier and returned it to him today. My customer (non music related) pulled the guitar out and started to play it. (He has been in many bands over his many years) He soon got lost in playing many old tunes and I got just as lost watching his impromptu one man show. Just watching him reminded me of why I TRY to play a guitar. SUCCESS is the PLEASURE that you bring to yourself and those that hear you play.
To all of you that that perform...I Gratiously THANK YOU!!! You are all a great success. |
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Posts: 14127
Location: 6 String Ranch | Talent gets you to the door
Tenacity allows you to stay there till it opens
Luck gets you through it once it does open
More luck keeps you going once you're in. |
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January 2004
Posts: 627
Location: Cherry Hill, NJ | I respect the great skills of the guitar players you saw Mark, but hey, they didn't write and record "I Can't get no Satisfaction". It's being in the right place at the right time for starters, but talent is the key. Yes they're many many great musicians out there. But face it: Jimi Hendrix,Wes Montgomery SRV and other greats are gifted beyond most. So is John Lennon, Paul McCartney. Can anybody write like Dylan? Don't kid yourself, these greats are great because of their talent and ability. They also have the ability to believe in themselves. Most of us can see through the wannabees and one hit wonders. I respect and admire giftrd talent. |
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Posts: 4833
Location: Campbell River, British Columbia | Ah, but the world is not fair nor probably, should it be. If it were, Andy Partridge would be the rich darling of all the people who loved John Lennons work. For more or less similar reasons.
And NRBQ, and...well... you fill your own blanks. and know there's even more.
The Payolas
Pointed Sticks
Chilliwack
The Jitters
Helen Gone
.......stop me now. Somebody, shoot!
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March 2005
Posts: 12761
Location: Boise, Idaho | I wasn't thinking about songwriting as a talent when I wrote that. Mick was one of several names that could have popped into my head. Dylan is/was a great writer. He'd have to be to make it with one of the most irritating voices in the business.
I have a personal opinion that talent is 1% gift and 99% hard work, but don't get me started on that. I appreciate hard work. I don't have much appreciation for those who received gifts. |
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September 2006
Posts: 10777
Location: Keepin' It Weird in Portland, OR | I want Neil Young, Tom Petty and Bob Dylan to put out an album together.
Just for the sheer enjoyment of talented people with annoying voices getting together. |
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March 2002
Posts: 1380
Location: Central Oregon | With Fran Drescher singing backup. |
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Posts: 14127
Location: 6 String Ranch | Oh that would be special. |
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Posts: 2793
Location: Atlanta, GA. | "I've got a lawyer acquaintance" who told me he had an opportunity to invest in a local band when he lived in Myrtle Beach, S.C.
He's really sorry he didn't write the check for $10,000 now.
Sometimes it takes "backing" also. |
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Posts: 14842
Location: NJ | throw Springsteen into that band as well . . |
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January 2007
Posts: 69
Location: west virginia | Originally posted by Jason_S:
i guess im pretty well screwed all the way 'round...ive got verry little talent and even less luck. but i could give 2 shits less what anyone else thinks about my playing or singing for that matter....
i think if i would have started when i was younger i may have acutualy went somewhere with my playing and singing...but then again who knows....jason knowing you as long as i have jason as we have said before jason sing not say it you can sing you could make it far if you would take very little singing lesson's i'd be a fan!!! all the way |
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Posts: 7247
Location: The Great Pacific Northwest | Did someone say "Chilliwack" ?????
Success means a lot of different things to a lot of different people. |
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IS IT TALENT OR LUCK ?