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Paul's Blogs about Music Careers, etc.
https://creekdontrise.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=207
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Author:  paulrace [ Wed Mar 16, 2016 10:57 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Paul's Blogs about Music Careers, etc.

As the cartoon below shows, you should treat every audition as if it "counts."

http://www.paulracemusic.com/career/alw ... -audition/

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Author:  paulrace [ Thu Mar 17, 2016 7:52 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Paul's Blogs about Music Careers, etc.

On the "Independent Christian Musician" section of our sister site SchoolOfTheRock.com, we have added an article on the reasons for various kinds of online engagement. http://schooloftherock.com/html/your_on ... sence.html

Author:  paulrace [ Mon Mar 28, 2016 4:56 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Paul's Blogs about Music Careers, etc.

Just added an article on using local newspapers and internet resources to track down potential places to play. There is work involved, but you may find it rewarding, if not encouraging. http://schooloftherock.com/html/researc ... _gigs.html

This article is in the "Independent Christian Musician" section of my SchoolOfTheRock.com site, but most of it applies to anyone who is, as Carole King says, "Lookin' for another place to play."

Author:  paulrace [ Thu Mar 31, 2016 2:07 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Paul's Blogs about Music Careers, etc.

FB popped up one of those 5-years-ago-today posts about an American Idol singer who totally blew a song thinking that she had to put her "signature" on it, but doing it in a way that exposed that she knew nothing about the song's context or meaning at all. (She sang "Benny and the Jets" wearing a sequined dress sitting on the piano and crooning it like a third-rate nightclub singer.)

That in turn reminded me that I had already written an article about wannabes who never bother to learn their craft, their art, or the history of their own genre.

http://creekdontrise.com/gen_music/musi ... annabe.htm

Author:  paulrace [ Thu Apr 21, 2016 9:01 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Paul's Blogs about Music Careers, etc.

This isn't a blog yet, but on another forum, I've been collecting ideas about "out-of-the-box" gigs - places to play you wouldn't ordinarily think of, but who feature live music on rare occasions.

http://schooloftherock.com/forums/viewt ... ?f=22&t=82

Author:  paulrace [ Sun Apr 24, 2016 10:33 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Paul's Blogs about Music Careers, etc.

Does “Make Your Own Kind of Music” Really Work?

Recently, I've been in touch with a lot of musicians who are pursuing some dream of success, or at least of affirmation. And a number of them are shooting themselves in the foot in more ways than I can count.

As you would expect, there are a number of youngsters who just plain don't know any better and another group of youngsters who think they're God's gift to music and that anyone who isn't in awe of their talents just doesn't "get it."

But I've also discovered that a surprising number of middle-aged or even retired folks who've already been successful in some other walk of life, and think that "transitioning" into a music career should be "a piece of cake" compared to what they've already accomplished. As though a successful lawyer could become a pharmacist with just a few night classes, or vice versa.

Why do I pay attention to such things? For three reasons:

- I was once a young person begging for guidance in my chosen field and getting no advice except that my music was "of the devil." And I want to do better by the next generation.

- A number of these people are my friends, and I hate to see them spinning their wheels.

- Amateur musicians that I barely know are constantly asking me what I think about their music, and, frankly, I'm afraid to tell them some of them what I really think. But I don't want to leave them completely without guidance or direction, as folks left me.

So I wrote an article that I hope some of them stumble across. The reason I gave this introduction the name I did was that I've recently run into a few folks who were truly resentful that "the music industry" didn't recognize their unique talent "as is" and the people they turned to for advice just kept telling them to work harder, get better, and write better songs, without recognizing them as the obvious exception to the "rules."

That's only one of the issues I discuss in the article "Stop Setting Up Your Own Hurdles," but it's one that I've been running into a lot lately.

Others include musicians who stop improving when they think they're as good as they need to be, geographic constraints, other interests sapping time from your family as well as your music, and emotional cycles that leave you less enthusiastic about your music some days than others.

You can blame the world for not recognizing your talent, but until you've stopped shooting yourself in the foot out of ignorance or stubbornness, nobody is really going to listen to you.

Check it out: http://schooloftherock.com/html/stop_se ... hurdl.html

Author:  paulrace [ Mon Apr 25, 2016 2:02 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Paul's Blogs about Music Careers, etc.

A friend asked for motivational posters, so here's one from me.

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For a full-page pdf, click on the following link.

http://creekdontrise.com/images/cartoon ... t_suck.pdf

Author:  paulrace [ Thu May 12, 2016 3:41 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Paul's Blogs about Music Careers, etc.

Another follow-up on the too-many-scams post. Every time I think I've covered the topic, someone else comes up with an "announcement" that they're being signed to a label and it will only cost them $20K or something. I've learned that once the money's spent, the only merciful thing you can do is say, "That's nice, let me know how things turn out." But for the rest of you, here are some tips on telling the good "helpers" from the "non-helpers."

http://www.paulracemusic.com/career/get ... aying-for/

Author:  paulrace [ Thu May 12, 2016 3:45 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Paul's Blogs about Music Careers, etc.

Here's an earlier post on bloodsuckers that prey on musicians:

http://www.paulracemusic.com/career/avo ... musicians/

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