Music is my career and my path, my inspiration and my artistic voice. Sometimes, it's a job; other times, it's pure pleasure!
To be able to write and record songs, full-time, with no other income stream.
Convincing people that their neighbors are more important than their tribe.
Ugh! Too many to even consider a "most" memorable. I'm a slave to late-'70s radio pop, but from "formative" years I'd say that Helen Reddy's version of "Delta Dawn" and "Detroit Rock City" by KISS rise to the top of any such list.
How many characters can I use? KISS, the Bee Gees, Cheap Trick, Devo, Twisted Sister, Cheryl Wheeler, Sweet and Slade and PC69 and Rush and…well, you get the idea.
I'm a professional musician; I can't afford to wait for inspiration.
A sense of self-empowerment, that it's possible to rise above the temptations of "victimhood" and stake your own claim in the world. That peace and love and positivity all outweigh fighting and hatred and negative self-sabotage.
Like it's what I was born to do.
I have no idea what this means. My own PERSONAL reality is that I write and record music with my lifelong partner, and try to get that music to the ears of as many people as possible.
Pretty decent platform for self-promotion and discovery of new music.
Dealing with the minutiae of the business aspect: filing copyrights, claiming performances at ASCAP, finalizing music for reproduction and distribution…can't we all have assistants?!?
I support good new music that I discover, local or otherwise. I buy it. I spread the word to other people. I review it across multiple platforms.
Self-determination and imagination. The scope of those two things are the only limitations I know of.
1) Aviator Shades, from Vancouver, BC 2) Black Belt Theatre, from Milwaukee, WI 3) The Lansing Unionized Vaudeville Spectacle, from Lansing, MI 4) Jayde Vox, formerly of Shanghai