I'm a session musician and live performer, both with bands and as a dep. Looking for sessions and dep gigs - I have perfect pitch and can tab chord charts in realtime, so can learn an entire set in the time it takes to play it through. Away from live work, I arrange and record string parts and can arrange and work with a producer to play all the above instruments, saving time, money and organisation! Take a look at my profile at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qFbOQI37cdg - this shows a lot of different genres that I do. Call me on 07890 444951 if you want my sounds on your record or gig!
Music is life - you'll never find someone who "doesn't like music". I can't remember not playing music (mind you, I can't remember much before I was about 11....) It gives me the ability not only to entertain and enjoy myself, but also pays for me to live. How lucky I am that my job is also my hobby..
Well I've toured Japan, France, Spain and the UK, so I've chased and caught up with some of my music dreams. I'd like now to play on more people's records - I just love the buzz you get from putting parts down in a studio and listening back. The client is usually happy....
Get shot of ISIS.
Pick up the Pieces - I was even lucky enough to work with Hamish Stewart on a record a few years ago..
I grew up with Ska (my Mum's record collection) and Django Reinhardt (my Dad's). I still listen to these two very different genres all the time. Luckily for me at school, there was a blues revival, and the likes of Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, Canned Heat and B.B. King whet my ear buds.... James Brown, the Meters, Dr. John, Rufus and Chaka Khan, Herbie Hancock.....the soul/jazz thing is my thing, but I've also got into many other genres by playing them at gigs - if a gig comes in on a genre you're not sure you like or not, it's no consequence - say "yes" to everything. It just furthers your music education, and you end up loving everything...
People telling me they like my sound..
Unity. Tolerance. The universal language of music transcends all borders. I jammed with people in Japan who had no English language, but you just see Am7, D9, F7, E7#9, and you're speaking to each other...
Buzzing. I drive home at 2am after a gig - most people fall asleep at the wheel - I have the gig still fresh in my head, so I get home and spend an hour listening to my iPod. Sleep isn't an option when you've just played your best in front of people.
The answer to this is complex: some musicians are happy to earn nothing and sleep on other people's floors. I did it for a very short time, and quickly worked out it wasn't for me. The reality is that you need to do lots of different things to make a living from music (I do - I pay a mortgage with it). Do a bit of teaching (not too much - it'll DO-YOUR-HEAD-IN), and if it all goes wrong with gigs one month, just make sure you're handy with a paint brush or can carry building materials. All musicians can carve out a living with flexibility.
Great! I've had messages from musicians from all over Earth...
People telling me that "I do it for the love of it" while at the same time asking me to play for nothing. My response: "is the guy with the portaloos doing it for free?"
I have former students that I mentor. They have a great time doing what they do, partly because I tell them that it will, and everything will be alright if they do everything musical that comes their way
Flexibility - if you write a tune that sounds dull, no amount of hype will lift it. Listen to the producer - he/she is the route to success. Accept criticism with good grace. Egos only ever result in failure.
Buddy Emmons and BJ Cole - the steel guitarists with the ability to play music that the steel guitar wasn't designed for. Awesome...