By: Bruce Wawrzyniak
You’re in entertainment and you’re nervously watching your
bank account as compared to the monthly bills that for some reason don’t seem
to stop coming in. (I know, how dare they
keep sending those, right?) You keep
working hard and are hoping and praying that music sales will (finally) pick up
and/or that more fans and followers will buy merchandise. You’ve tried crowdfunding, Patreon, an
electronic tip jar, and anything else you can think of to make being a
performer your full-time job.
But still it’s a case of, “Show me the money,” right?
Stop it.
No, I don’t mean stop being an entertainer. Keep writing songs or jokes or movies or
whatever it is that you do.
However, do it with the knowledge that all those you see who
you think are just doing music for their career are actually involved
with other ventures too. You’d be wise
to take a page from some of these folks.
For example…
On Episode 222 of “Now Hear This Entertainment” when I
interviewed Scott Page,
a multi-instrumentalist who has performed with Supertramp, Pink Floyd, and
Toto, he talked about also being CEO, President, and Co-Founder of Ignited
Network. And then I saw him in Anaheim
this past January at the Winter NAMM Show where he was – being a speaker.
“Gimme
a break, Bruce. I’m a ‘starving artist’
and you’re telling me to suddenly be the co-founder of a company or become a
speaker?!” Not necessarily.
On
Episode 238 of NHTE I talked to drummer Mark Schulman, who was calling in from
Australia because that’s where P!NK was touring. But playing in her band isn’t all he
does. He takes being a speaker to
another level because of the structure of his talks, but – wait for it – he
also has a book he can promote.
Still
maybe a little too lofty? Okay. Let’s come at this another way.
When
I interviewed drummer Chad Cromwell, it was because he had come onto my radar
as a drummer for Joe Walsh. Good gig,
right? But even musicians like that aren’t
exclusive. More recently he has been
playing on Kenny Chesney recordings and you’ll see social media posts where he’ll
refer to other artists that he’s working with, sometimes even in a producer
capacity. Heck, on our interview he even
talked about having played with Neil Young and Mark Knopfler, among others.
Then
there are the folks who are helping others in a teaching capacity. For example, singer/songwriter Whitney Doucet
had been on Episode 59 of NHTE, but it wasn’t until she and I chatted prior to
my hitting the Record button for what would be Episode 272 that I found out that
she also gives voice lessons. And
similarly, Chris Donohue plays bass for Emmylou Harris (and has performed with
many others), but during the pandemic I saw him posting about giving lessons
online.
And
then, yes, there are artists like Shannon Lauren Callihan who I sat and
interviewed in Music City – right across the street from the arena where the
NHL’s Nashville Predators play and where she gets a steady paycheck from for
her full-time Monday-Friday 9-5 job. I
see how tremendously popular her episode of NHTE has been and the fact that she
has 118 thousand Instagram followers and it’s easy to assume that she’s doing
music full-time. But folks, exhale, and
breathe that sigh of relief that you can stop putting so much pressure on
yourself and do something in addition to your entertainment pursuits – and be
okay with it.
Tweet
at me to @NHT_tweets with what you’re doing in addition to your singing, your songwriting,
your recording, your acting, your comedy, or whatever entertainment pursuit you’re
mainly focused on. Alternatively, use
Facebook, LinkedIn, or even email to continue the conversation.
I am a manager and publicist, running Now Hear This, Inc., an agency that has served clients across the U.S. ranging from music artists to authors to small businesses and even an Olympic athlete. Since February 2014 I have also hosted a weekly podcast (“Now Hear This Entertainment”), which has gotten listeners from 153 countries around the world. Find more about the company and the podcast at www.NowHearThis.biz. I am also a national speaker. Visit www.SpeakerBruceW.com for more information.
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