Stunting Musical Growth

I recently recorded a blues duo CD with a friend of mind. In the duo I'm playing a hybrid kit which consists of congas paired with kick and hi hat. We've been getting rave reviews but I had a conversation with a guy that mentioned that he and some so called blues purist felt that congas have no place in the blues. Now I am a musician and I am blessed to have the opportunity to travel the world playing various forms of music in many different situations and one of the things I continue to strive for is growth. This statement about congas having no place in the blues only shows ignorance of the history. Even though the blues is an American musical art form, it definitely draws it's inspiration from Africa in form and concept. The blues grew out the slave fields and the hurt, pain and hope of our ancestors that were stolen from where.... AFRICA. So to discount the inclusion of congas or anything African in origin is just plain dumb. This also explains why this generation is having problems connecting with the blues. All forms of American music are influenced by the blues but these so called purist are not leaving the door open for the next generation to take the music to a new place. The truth is that the blues is not just a form of music constricted to a particular set of chord changes but it is a form of expression that is as individual as one's personality. In the blues you can do no wrong. If you feel it then play it and that is your story, your experience, your blues. I do respect the point of view of some elders but I ask them to please allow this music to grow. I am evidence of what can happen when you leave the doors of creative growth and expression wide open. I was raised on the blues and it is the under current of all I do. Whether I'm playing hip/hop, jazz, R&B, reggae, salsa, funk...etc, it is my understanding of the blues in form, concept and historical tradition that gives me my THANG. So don't stunt the growth. If you don't dig it, just move over to another lane because we are moving forward in this one.

The Truth

All Rights Reserved by Airtight Productions 2011

Staying Inspired

One the hardest things to do as an artist is to stay inspired. Well let's just say it can sometimes seem to be the hardest thing. What we have to realize as creative people is that we are very sensitive to all kinds of influences and stimulation. The type of lives we live and the way we think are always at the core of our inspiration. True inspiration comes from living your life full out. Don't just talk and plan your life away, you have to live it. Living life full out will allow you to draw inspiration from all facets of the life experience. Whether it's good, bad, happy or sad, you can draw from these things to inspire your art. You have to make your entire life an inspirational experience. This means that you have to monitor every relationship or interaction and you have to decide how you want to process the experiences you have. For instance: we all have issues from time to time but we can choose to grow from them and be inspired or we can choose to be consumed by them and have our inspiration quenched. It is all truly a mind set. When your mind and soul are clear, you can connect with inspiration. This simply will enable you to seize every moment and capitalize on every idea without belaboring it's inspiration. Staying inspired is truly just having unshakable faith in what you want and not allowing any negative energy to invade your space. Now go and seek your inspiration by knowing that it is truly all around you. Just be still and listen.

The Truth

All Rights Reserved by Airtight Productions 2011

Sacrifice

The key to moving ahead in this industry is understanding the fact that you will always have to make sacrifices to to achieve your goals. No matter where you are in your career, you always have to give up something for something else. You can't become so attached to where you are that it makes it hard for you to get to where you are going. This is much easier said than done. For every new level you achieve there is the fear of the unknown but you have to embrace this fear. One of the main things we constantly have to sacrifice is our comfort zone. When a new opportunity comes, it usually requires us to change our entire way of doing things and this can be hard to do because we have become comfortable doing things the way we know. There can be no growth without sacrifice. Part of growing is to be uncomfortable so that you can move to a better place. It is about experiencing new things, situations and making new relationships. Once you begin the process, you find that it gets easier and easier. You just have to stay committed to working and doing things everyday to build your career in a new environment and raising the bar. Sacrifice is good and constant. It keeps us in touch with our own truth. So stay focused and don't be afraid to make sacrifices. It's just another part of being successful.

The Truth

All Rights Reserved by Airtight Productions 2011

Making Your Hard Work Pay Off

One of the hardest things for creative people to figure out is how to make our hard work pay off financially. As we have stated before, this is a business first and foremost, and we have to start to put our focus on the business ALL the time. If we spend all of our time in the studio creating, when is there time invested in going out to let the world know what we have created? We can't do it all ourselves. We need a team of people to help us but how do we build that team if we are not aggressively pursuing it. I'm speaking from experience because for a long time I was one of those studio hermits. I've written thousands of songs and made and played on tons of records only to go from one creative situation to the next but not really putting in the time to let the music industry know my value as a producer, songwriter, musician, engineer and consultant. What I discovered was if I never wrote another song, I had enough intellectual property to shop to any situation, whether it's movie sound tracks, scoring, commercials or even sitcom themes. I just had to began to split my time and invest in making relationships to let people in the industry know what I have to offer and get some of this music placed. I still spend a LOT of time creating but I am always aware of also staying focused on getting the music in front of the right people to help push it into situations that will yield creative and financial success. Focus on doing the same for yourself. Let's make this creative gift pay off.

The Truth

All Rights Reserved by Airtight Productions 2011

Professional Musicians & Arts Education

One of the most obvious things in the music industry today is the lack of true expertise, nurturing and education. There is a lot of misguided talent out here and it is our responsibility to fix these issues. As you may know, years ago, the government cut all arts funding across the board. This resulted in the loss of band and other arts related programs. Those schools that still have programs have to operate on a less than shoestring budget and with the whole country being test crazy, the emphasis on arts in zero. What we have to do is to see the constant parallel between professional musicians and arts education. As professional musicians and products of some great arts programs, it is up to us to partner with arts councils and alliances to take our knowledge and expertise into the classroom. Now this doesn't mean that you become a traditional teacher but if you look at it, we are always teaching or learning. This is what life is all about. Each One Teach One. If we want to see these children become better artists and musicians, then it is our responsibility to step in and help this cause. Each of us is the product of positive nurturing and mentoring from our musical elders. We have to learn how to take the things we've learned from performing on stages around the world into the classroom. If you think about it, music is only a small part of what we have learned. We are teachers of life skills. These children need to know that the arts are a gateway to truly having a successful existence in life. The arts give a child the ability to contribute something new and beautiful to the world. The lack of art will only result in darkness because they will create one way or the other. It is up to us to help assure that the future of arts education is sustained. Make a call to your area arts commission or arts alliance and start to inquire about the grants that are available for us to go into the classroom and help these children be artists. Arts is vital to life's vision and where there is no vision/art, the people perish.

The Truth All Rights Reserved by Airtight Productions 2011

New Markets

The hardest thing to do in this industry is to keep reinventing yourself. In order to get different results, you have to do something different. As artists/musicians we have to always focus on new markets. This can happen at even the smallest levels. If you are a local star and you realize that you have topped out in terms of your earning potential, as is the case in just about every scenario, then you have to look at breaking new ground. I mean even if you just expand your shows within a three hundred mile radius in either direction, it will still be growth. Look at it this way, if you are selling music on the Internet all over the world, then why are you not following those sales up with live appearances in those markets as well. The ironic thing is that the people in your local market most of time are the last people to actually BUY your music. People will tell you that you should be doing more shows in your area but to what outcome. If you book your calendar full with dates in your local town, what time do you leave to invest in expanding your career and garnering new markets. I know that we have to make money to pay the bills and such but it's a catch 22 because as long as you are just doing your local thing you will never really make enough to survive on and if you do you will almost exhaust yourself mentally, physically and creatively by having to do all these small paying gigs just to make enough to have a comfortable income. Keep in mind that success in truly all about sacrifice. For every new level there are new sacrifices to be made. You have to choose just how far you want to go. The sky is not the limit...there is no limit just YOU and what you decide you want and are willing to work and sacrifice for. It's all about being known in as many markets as possible, whether it is performance venues, radio stations, media outlets and so forth. This is the only way to truly grow your career and wealth. Focus on expanding to new markets and go get your success daily.

The Truth

All Rights Reserved by Airtight Productions

Your Art & Your Health

I'm just coming to the end of a ten day fast/cleanse and man it feels great. As creative people it is a must that we take care of ourselves physically. There is definitely a direct correlation between your art and your health. Most of us neglect our health because we are always busy getting things done so we don't work out as much or at all and we don't eat right. We also suffer from a lack of sleep and for some of us you can add alcohol to the mix. It is rather ironic because being in this business is really like being a professional athlete especially if you are a performer but I guess we are all performers whether it is on stage, in the studio or in the board room. Like an athlete, to perform at our highest ability, we need to be in shape. We are also in an image driven industry so your appearance can make or break you in a lot of situations. Our health can also contribute to or detract from our creative ability. Your brain needs proper blood flow to operate at its highest level so if you are not eating the right foods and getting the proper exercise to stimulate this process, you are simply stunting your creative output. Trust me, no matter how good you THINK you are, you will be much better if your body is operating at its optimum and don't let people tell you that it's your age. Look at some of the greatest performers of our time that performed at their highest level well into their senior years largely because at some point in their life they began to see how important good health was to their longevity. Face it, our quality of life is directly connected to our health. So let's not sabotage our success by not doing the most important thing and that is taking care of our personal health. Stay healthy and create your success daily.

The Truth

All Rights Reserved by Airtight Productions 2011

No Pay, No Play

One of the most irritating things about this business is the something for nothing attitude that some people have. Nothing in life comes easy and it shouldn't. This is the only way to appreciate anything. It is not only the fault of those that try to get over but it is the fault of those who ALLOW people to get over. I admit to being guilty of this crime. The new rule has to be... NO PAY, NO PLAY. Like most people, I've always believed in helping people achieve their goals. My view is that people have and continue to help me so I should do the same. The only difference is that the people that help me only do so because they see that I am already helping myself. I won't ask anyone for anything that I'm not willing to do myself first. In most cases, I will do it all myself just to show the value of what I have to offer. If you want to be in this industry you must decide how much you are willing to invest and never expect anyone to invest more in you than you are willing to invest in yourself. If you want to make a record then save your money or find a way to raise it. If you can't raise it all yourself, at least put in half with an investor. Sometimes we can create situations for people that we think will help them but we are really only exhibiting co dependent behavior by not making people responsible for themselves and their career. For instance: I will have super talented artists who want to do a project but say they don't have any money. I will make an offer for the label to co sponsor their project and some of these people won't put one penny of their own money up to help produce the project and wonder why they are not having any success. Let me tell you a big secret. You are what you do. If you are the type of artist that never wants to invest in yourself, then you will never advance your career. You must pay to play. Studios cost money. Even though someone is helping you, their expertise and time is very valuable and you should respect it by contributing financially to the development of your project and career. If you don't, just understand that he that pays is the owner of everything. Yes EVERYTHING , the masters, publishing and copyrights. When you don't invest in yourself you set yourself up to become a statistic so your something for nothing attitude will turn on you as it has thousands of artists before you. Don't become a statistic. Decide if this is what you really want. If so just be ready to work and sacrifice because the reward is great for those that want and are willing to work for it. Don't be a user. Believe in you at all costs and start claiming your success daily.

The Truth

All Rights Reserved by Airtight Productions 2011