Skip to main content

A Man of Many Hats

Ahoy!

From the first day I started playing bass in high school I knew I wanted to be a musician. Not everyone around me was as excited about this life choice as I was. For the past 20 or so years I have been asked what it is I do for a living. I've shared on this blog the different ways I have labeled myself over the years, in particular, that I am a self-employed musician, not an unemployed musician. I have made my living wages from music endeavors for years now. There have certainly been times when I've had day jobs, but only as a short term fix while my music life was in flux. Today I want to share yet another way of expressing yourself to those pesky relatives when they complain that you “need to get a real job.”

Today's advice is simple: You are a musician. That's it. You don't have to label yourself as a teacher, performer, youtuber, and anything else that comes with your daily life. Being a musician means you are all these things and probably many more. A colleague of mine was explaining to someone recently that he had three jobs: a high school teacher, private teacher, and a weekend performing musician. To me he has one job: he's a musician. I don't label myself as a teacher even though by day I do teach in a high school. I don't say I'm a studio musician even though that's part of my evening routine. I am a musician and as such I wear many hats. This is ok, and it's the norm these days.

Don't feel the pressure of having to justify yourself by saying you have more jobs than you do. You have one. You're a musician, and a darn good one.

Until next time,
Heard

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Music Bowl's First Summer

Greetings from The Music Bowl! I'm The Wonderfish. Summer is upon us! We here at The Music Bowl want to let you know what's bubbling to the surface in the next couple of months so you don't miss any of the music goodness. What's coming up? 1) NEW POSTS Next week, we'll introduce our "Half of the Year Hear" where you can check out some of the year's new albums with us. Fin Favorites start this month! The Wonderfish will introduce you to films about music that you won't want to miss, such as 20 Feet From Stardom , It Might Get Loud , Whiplash , and Sound City .   What is summer without summer concerts? We'll be discussing summer tours and festivals - the pros and the cons, yes, but also the sheer joy that is meant to take place. 2) NEW SHOWS Heard has some gigs!  I have some gigs!  Yes, there are even a few Heard and The Wonderfish gigs this summer! You can keep up with our show schedule on our website . 3) NEW SONGS &...
Post a Comment
Read more

An Introduction From The Wonderfish

Greetings from The Music Bowl! I'm the Wonderfish. This is our first week posting, so some introductions are in order. Let's start at the beginning, shall we? Our story begins on a street called State. Heard set sail from Europe when he was just a wee lad. His family settled in the small village of Dolgeville, which is in upstate New York in the USA. As luck would have it, and unbeknownst to Heard, his family moved into a house on State Street, an infamously musical street in the town. Historically, quite a few residents from State Street used their musical abilities to make a living, but that is a post for another day. Heard's new neighbors happened to be one of those families. Enter the Wonderfish. That's me, I'm a Wonderfish! My younger sister and I were raised in a musical family. I knew from an early age that I would learn how to play musical instruments. I had my first drum set at age 4 (thanks, Dad). I also knew that someday I would be a writer because I ...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Wonderfish Presents: 2017's Best Albums

Greetings from The Music Bowl! I'm The Wonderfish. In this final post of the year, we look at the albums that most captivated me, The Wonderfish, in 2017. Honorable Mentions: As Heard mentioned, we saw a year of excellent music. There is just no way I could listen to all of the album releases. However, I will say I listened to a fair share of 2017's new music. First up are my honorable mentions. These are the albums I both thoroughly enjoyed and listened to repeatedly this year. Fleet Foxes -  Crack Up Ryan Adams -  Prisoner Rhiannon Giddens -  Freedom Highway Foo Fighters -  Concrete and Gold The War on Drugs -  A Deeper Understanding U2 -   Songs of Experience Ani DiFranco -  Binary Chris Thile and Brad Mehldau-  Chris Thile & Brad Mehldau Runner Up: Kendrick Lamar -  DAMN. Words that come to mind when I think about this album:  poetic, compelling, magnetic, storytelling, innovative, rhetorical ...
Post a Comment
Read more