Don't EVER Be Pretentious

One of the truest things to remember about this industry is you never REALLY know who someone is. It's best to ALWAYS treat everyone you meet with respect and honor. Don't ever be pretentious. The very person you choose to brush off may be someone who could really influence your career. I'll take it a step further. That person may BECOME someone important and have the ability to influence your career in a positive or negative way. I meet a lot of people and even though I've done a lot of things, I don't walk around spouting my resume. It's always interesting to see how people treat you when they don't really know anything about you. If a guy likes my playing, that's all that should matter but I've been in situations where a person would kind of give me the brush off until they find out some of the things I've done and then they become very friendly and start to try to pick my brain or pretend to be interested in what I have to say. This to me is very pretentious because if they were sincere, they would have treated me with respect regardless of my resume or what they thought I could do for them. It's always good to keep things in proper perspective. How can any of us have egos when no matter how much we've done, most of us are still struggling to make ends meet. We need as many allies as we can get in this business. There is never a place for ego. I mean I've heard guys talk about who they are and what they've done and how great this or that but they are working for tips in a local club. I'm not knocking playing for tips or doing whatever kind of gig to get paid. I'm just saying let's stay grounded and real about it. We are all living and working in this business and we all understand that there are ups and downs so the last thing we need to be is pretentious. Let's just focus on being great musicians and treat others with respect and honor not because of who they are or what they've done but because it's just the right thing to do. Enjoy the journey.

The Truth

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