Musician Tip 001: Be the best you that you can be.

Musician Tip 001: Be the best you that you can be. Sounds obvious right?

Yet so many musicians fail in this regard.

While we can point to a plethora of different reasons why this is a common problem, I would like to point to an obvious reason. We have the cart before the horse.

In our society we have begun to crave the power, fame, fortune, and all the other trappings of being a highly successful musical artist. No matter the cost.

The price we have paid? We now have a overwhelming amount of “pretty people” singing formulaic songs that seem to lack much depth or creativity.

Now don’t get me wrong, there are some that cut through.

Because of this focus aspiring artists have become imitators in their quest for fame, fortune, and glory.

They are talented, no doubt about it. However, they aren’t being that beautiful unique self in which they were created to be.

Be the best you that you can be

Nashville, TN is known as Music City USA. However, underneath the surface it is also the city of crushed dreams.

If you walk down lower Broadway or down Music row or maybe even stroll through Franklin you’ll be able to pick out aspiring artists. Not because they have that “it” factor but rather because they look like the “mini me” of whoever is hot and famous at that time.

For instance, several years ago the likes of Jason Aldean and Brantley Gilbert were at the top of the Country Music food chain. You would see hundreds of Jason Aldean and Brantley Gilbert lookalikes running around lower Broadway and Music Row.

The female singers are no different.

They all look the same. They right similar songs with similar structures. Shoot they even sound the same!

And record labels pass on them.

Why? Because they already have a Jason Aldean. They already have a Brantley Gilbert. The world already has a “enter your favorite artist here”.

They want folks who are unique, who have found their own style on all fronts: musicianship, vocally, lyrically, and even fashion wise.

Imagine for a second that the most sought after job in the world was that of McDonald’s fry cook. People are lined up around the corner to be the next fry cook. Applications are pouring in.

But they only need a couple of people to make fries.

That is similar to how a record label operates. Only in this case, it is a reality.

Is it the big record labels fault?

Part of the marketing of their artists is the over glamorization of that “rock star” lifestyle. There’s something about that lifestyle that draws us as human beings, and ultimately listeners, like moths to a flame.

Does that make the record labels wrong? Absolutely not! They figured out what sells records (which is more than the point listed above) and they have fine tuned that and work it hard.

After all, selling records is the business they are in.

Again, I don’t think we can put our finger on one thing and say “ah, that’s the problem!”

Yet we can say this, with confidence. We need to find our voice. Our style.

Think of someone like Slash. When you hear him playing guitar you know it.

Why?

Because he spent his whole life focused on his love of music and found his voice via his guitar style. Slash isn’t the greatest guitarist of all time but when you hear him play, you know it’s him.

Any of the greats are that way if you think about it. Yes, they are super talented. I would never try to imply otherwise.

However, as Garth Brooks has expressed over and over through the decades, “there are others out there that are way more talented than I could ever imagine to be…” Yet Garth Brooks is iconic because he found “Garth Brooks” along the way.

Are you get what I’m saying? If you really want a shot at one of those slots on a record label roster, find your voice. Be you, not an imitation of someone else.

Musical Middle Class – a reality

Let me leave you with another thought. Those folks that you hear on the radio and who are on TV all the time, they are basically the “power ball lottery winners” of the music industry. And it is an isolated, lonely existence that drives folks mad.

However, there is a huge amount of money to be made making music. In Nashville we call it the “musical middle class”. People making a living making music. Raising families, paying their mortgages and bills, etc all via music. All because they have figured out how to “be the best you that you can be.”

A growing number of artists, NEELY included, are using platforms such as Patreon to make music. Their followings are growing like wildfire because they are unique and just as talented as anyone you’ll hear on the radio.

Check out this article about our Patreon page and see what we are talking about.