Dreaming of stardom can be a trap. I’m all for following you heart, and I believe that the biggest challenge facing mankind is small thinking, but even so, dreaming of stardom often traps musicians and artists into dead end lives of quiet desperation. Why? Because dreams of stardom muddy up the important distinction between a job and a life.
Despite the fact that you are fortunate to generate income “playing” music, at the end of the day, you are making money so you can eat, drink and be merry with a roof over your head. And I HOPE with some great friends and some free time to enjoy them. Dreams of stardom blind many people to the importance of a life and gazillions of opportunities to make a living using their music.
The night the Gibson/Miller Band won our ACM Award for New Group of the Year, I met an amazing drummer playing for the band at the after show party. While everyone was taking turns sitting in and jamming, he and I struck up a conversation. When I asked him what he wanted to do, he said: “I want to play in a killer club band.” I was stunned. I remember thinking, this guy is living in L.A. and he’s a GREAT drummer, and all he wants to do is play in a club?
Luckily I didn’t say any of that outloud (I encouraged him instead), because I soon realized he was pretty smart. What he was really saying is that he wanted to make great music with an excellent group of people in an atmosphere of appreciation and then go home each night and sleep in his own bed.
Brilliant.
Come to think of it, some of my greatest nights of playing were with club bands – and I made good money too. But, just like I said above, my dreams of stardom kept from appreciating what I had and they CERTAINLY made me act stupid with money because I thought “someday I’ll make tons more when I’m a star, why should I save and invest now? This is just a temporary and fun way to get better until I make it big!” But I digress.
I could make several points to wrap this up, but I’ll just make two:
- Don’t underestimate the joy you can find in doing what you love and making a decent living doing it.
- Do what YOU want to do, not what you might feel the world expects you to do (it took a lot of confidence for the drummer to share his dream with me).
Here are some stories to inspire you:
How a Starving Musician with 78 Cents Started a Million Dollar Business
The Richest Piano Player You’ve Never Heard About
Dream big, but enjoy your life.
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