Life, Music, and Lessons - April 15, 2011
After 8 years of performing and recording I've decided to change my life focus a bit. It's no secret that the music industry is a hard, fast and competitive industry. I can say honestly that I worked very hard, met amazingly supportive people, and had many successes, which I will tell my kids about one day. Those things aside, taking something you enjoy and making it your career is not always easiest or best choice for everyone. The world around us is in constant evolution just as we are as people.
When I started to write music I didn’t have any plans for it. I remember having my weekend mornings with a pot of coffee spitting out terrible, terrible songs! I was proud of them at the time, but what really counted was that I was happy while creating them. Somewhere along the journey of trying to make a career of playing music I lost that love and it became a chore. I think career councilors who say “take what you love to do, and just make that your job!” should also say “just remember what you truly love about that thing, and don’t compromise that for anything!” It’s easy to loose track of things especially when times get hard. Making a living playing music is harder today than ever. (in my opinion) There is infinitely more competition than ever before, all using the same tools to gain attention from an audience who’s quickly becoming less and less interested in the skill and effort it takes to create original, meaningfully art. Wow that sounded really jaded but here’s a joke I read which really sums it up nicely.
A guy calls the musician's guild to get a quote on a six piece band for a wedding. The rep says "Off the top of my head, about two thousand dollars". He says "WHAT? FOR MUSIC?. " The rep responds " I'll tell you what. Call the plumbers' union & ask for six plumbers to work from 6 to 12 o'clock on a Saturday night. Whatever they charge you, we'll work for half." "I get your point" he said.
Now enough with negative part, and on to the positive. This is not a update to say I’m quitting music all together and moving to the mountains. Not nearly! It’s part to explain some of my frustration to people, and let them know what I’ve been feeling like for the last while. It’s a big and scary thing to venture on to new things in life, but as well it can be good thing.
Most people know me only as a musician, and like an onion everyone has many layers to who they are. One thing I’ve always found to be rewarding and inspiring has been teaching, be it music, math, business or sports. Over the last 5 months I’ve had the amazing privilege to help out with the Burnaby Mountain Secondary Boys Basketball Team. Many people can see no relation between sports and music, but both require skills that must be learned, and worked on. Helping with the team opened my eyes to expanding and focusing more on teaching. What better way to keep music in my life than to share the skills I’ve attained with others.
So there it is I suppose. I’m now offering an assortment of lessons/coaching.
Be it Guitar, Vocals, or a mix of both, songwriting, or stage performance. I want to share what I know with others. Maybe you want to sing a song to your girl/boy friend as a special surprise, be able to play one song on guitar while sitting around the camp fire, get up on stage at an open mic, or improve your songwriting craft. I can help with all any and all of those things.
Well it’s finally sunny out there and I should get some vitamin D while I can. Thanks so much for taking the time to read this, and showing support over the years.
Cheers
BK
When I started to write music I didn’t have any plans for it. I remember having my weekend mornings with a pot of coffee spitting out terrible, terrible songs! I was proud of them at the time, but what really counted was that I was happy while creating them. Somewhere along the journey of trying to make a career of playing music I lost that love and it became a chore. I think career councilors who say “take what you love to do, and just make that your job!” should also say “just remember what you truly love about that thing, and don’t compromise that for anything!” It’s easy to loose track of things especially when times get hard. Making a living playing music is harder today than ever. (in my opinion) There is infinitely more competition than ever before, all using the same tools to gain attention from an audience who’s quickly becoming less and less interested in the skill and effort it takes to create original, meaningfully art. Wow that sounded really jaded but here’s a joke I read which really sums it up nicely.
A guy calls the musician's guild to get a quote on a six piece band for a wedding. The rep says "Off the top of my head, about two thousand dollars". He says "WHAT? FOR MUSIC?. " The rep responds " I'll tell you what. Call the plumbers' union & ask for six plumbers to work from 6 to 12 o'clock on a Saturday night. Whatever they charge you, we'll work for half." "I get your point" he said.
Now enough with negative part, and on to the positive. This is not a update to say I’m quitting music all together and moving to the mountains. Not nearly! It’s part to explain some of my frustration to people, and let them know what I’ve been feeling like for the last while. It’s a big and scary thing to venture on to new things in life, but as well it can be good thing.
Most people know me only as a musician, and like an onion everyone has many layers to who they are. One thing I’ve always found to be rewarding and inspiring has been teaching, be it music, math, business or sports. Over the last 5 months I’ve had the amazing privilege to help out with the Burnaby Mountain Secondary Boys Basketball Team. Many people can see no relation between sports and music, but both require skills that must be learned, and worked on. Helping with the team opened my eyes to expanding and focusing more on teaching. What better way to keep music in my life than to share the skills I’ve attained with others.
So there it is I suppose. I’m now offering an assortment of lessons/coaching.
Be it Guitar, Vocals, or a mix of both, songwriting, or stage performance. I want to share what I know with others. Maybe you want to sing a song to your girl/boy friend as a special surprise, be able to play one song on guitar while sitting around the camp fire, get up on stage at an open mic, or improve your songwriting craft. I can help with all any and all of those things.
Well it’s finally sunny out there and I should get some vitamin D while I can. Thanks so much for taking the time to read this, and showing support over the years.
Cheers
BK