Delusions of Grandeur

Bill Llewellyn · Post by **Bill Llewellyn** » 14 Aug 2006 8:07 am

How many of you ordinary musician folk (you know....bedroom hacks like me) ever harbor hopes of being "discovered?" I know I kinda had faint hopes like that when I figured out how to make music (pre-steel) on a home MIDI studio in the 80s and slowly put together a couple original CDs. I even put them up on an online retail site. And waited. The response over the years (more than a decade) was, to put it mildly, underwhelming. No calls from the Majors, no cult following in Europe (or even Tasmania). Just a few CDs sold (or even just given away) per year.

The illusion, if a modest one, that there'd be some kind of market for my stuff was, if misguided, a pretty strong motivator at the time to keep hacking. Reality has slowly set in, and I basically don't try anymore. The romance and fizzle are gone, even though my MIDI gear (plus a psg nowadays) is the best it's ever been.

As a steel newcomer in '99, i never had any illusions.

I guess I'd learned the MIDI lesson pretty well by then.

Anyone else come on the music scene thinking they might make a splash only to walk away a bit muddy?

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Bill, steelin' since '99 | Steel page | MSA U12 | My music | Steelers' birthdays | Over 50?[This message was edited by Bill Llewellyn on 14 August 2006 at 09:11 AM.]

Bob Hoffnar · Post by **Bob Hoffnar** » 14 Aug 2006 8:37 am

Bill,
I guess I don't really think about it that way. I just like to play and sometimes there is a bunch of people there and sometimes not. When I have put out some music of my own its more just to get it out there and move on to the next thing. I don't expect anybody to like it. I am puting more energy into my own music these days and I'll do my best to get it going. To be honest my music is weird so my concept of success is pretty modest.
I work for quite a few people that just want to be stars and there is often a tragic undertow.

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Bob
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Bobby Lee · Post by **Bobby Lee** » 14 Aug 2006 8:40 am

It's a shame, Bill, because your keyboard CDs are really good!

I think that "making it" as a musician requires a really strong commitment to working full-time at it for several years while you're still young. During that time, the musician must learn how to balance home life (spouse and kids) with life on the road. Having musical skill is only one of several factors that go into a successful career as a pop artist.

Once you've passed 30 or so, the window of opportunity has closed. Musicians your own age have proven track records and accounts. You can't compete with that. The entry level positions don't pay enough to support your family. These are facts of life.

No big record company today is willing to take a chance on a part-time, middle-aged musician. Our musical skills are a blessing and an inspiration to our friends and fans, but pop stardom just isn't possible anymore.

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<img align=right src="http://b0b.com/b0b2005.gif" width="78 height="78">Bobby Lee (a.k.a. b0b) - email: quasar@b0b.com - gigs - CDs, Open Hearts
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Rick McDuffie · Post by **Rick McDuffie** » 14 Aug 2006 8:50 am

What b0b said, PLUS...

Don't depend on any "big names" to help you out as a songwriter or artist (before or after the "prime" age). The market has gotten so tight that even they are struggling just to keep their artist deals (and many have, in fact, already been canned). If they like your song, they'll want to be added as a co-writer for doing nothing, so they'll get a piece of the publishing.

I haven't had any aspiriations at stardom since I was about 16, but I did have a brief flirtation with serious songwriting in the early 90's. Now I just want to make good music and share it with my friends. Making good music is its own reward!

Chris LeDrew · Post by **Chris LeDrew** » 14 Aug 2006 10:11 am

Jeez, Bobby........that's really uplifting.

Some cold, hard facts there. The hardest part about it is that you're right. Being young and single is the ideal scenario for gaining stardom. As a 35 year-old songwriter with a young child, I could never accept a record deal at this point even if one was offered to me. A per diem and small weekly allowance, combined with a gruelling touring schedule, does not make for a situation conducive to supporting a child and paying the mortgage. I think it's important to savour the memories of all the great performances and travels. My band, Brothers In Stereo, got to play Toronto's 10,000-seat Molson Amphitheatre in 2004, opening for a headlining act. We got treated like gold, with a fancy dressing room full of great food and beverages. The audience bought a lot of CD's, and we got some national press. I consider playing such a venue to an enthuiastic response as successful. It's as much as I really need. It took me a long time to realize that a record deal mostly means being tired and poor, not famous and rich. Richness is in valuable experiences and lessons.

Jim Cohen · Post by **Jim Cohen** » 14 Aug 2006 10:26 am

No big record company today is willing to take a chance on a part-time, middle-aged musician. Our musical skills are a blessing and an inspiration to our friends and fans, but pop stardom just isn't possible anymore.

Well, aren't you 'Mr. Cheerful'?

John McGann · Post by **John McGann** » 14 Aug 2006 11:58 am

Pop stardom doesn't seem to equate much with musicianship. You can be a pop star and not know a minor chord from an ironing board.

Being able to play and enjoy music is really it's own reward when you get right down to it. Lotta folks out there would LOVE to just be able to play a simple tune, but haven't gotten it together for whatever reason...

the musician must learn how to balance home life (spouse and kids) with life on the road.

oooh, good luck with that!

Record labels/ the traditional "record deal" are almost extinct. Soon, when you drag yourself on the road and come home a bloody pulp, you'll have 100% of the product profits in your hand, since the old "recoupable from your royalties" scam will be gone the way of the pterodactyl...
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http://www.johnmcgann.com
Info for musicians, transcribers, technique tips and fun stuff. Joaquin Murphey transcription book, Rhythm Tuneup DVD and more...

[This message was edited by John McGann on 14 August 2006 at 01:03 PM.]

Mike Shefrin · Post by **Mike Shefrin** » 14 Aug 2006 12:11 pm

Mommy, Mommy, when I grow up I want to be a guitarist!
Now junior, you can't do both!

David Mason · Post by **David Mason** » 14 Aug 2006 12:37 pm

Successful stardom seems to require a pretty huge ego and a real commitment to impressing people - these somtimes occur in concurrence with talent, sometimes not. There are many, many "big stars" who reached a point where they hated the way that their financial success interfered with creativity - I could make a somewhat cogent argument that it even contributed to the deaths of people like Hendrix, Garcia and Parker. There's something really creepy about reading interviews with George Benson, where he talks about what a nice car he has and his big house and such - and he'll even mention that he got the same sensation talking to Wes Montgomery about the "successful", M.O.R. path.

Bill Llewellyn · Post by **Bill Llewellyn** » 14 Aug 2006 1:20 pm

b0b, thanks for the kind words.

There's a lot of heart, soul, and time in those CD tracks. You know how that is, you've done that (and successfully!) yourself. I guess composing & recording music is like raising a kids....you want them to grow up, spread wings, and just fly.

Oh, and I was and am by no means looking for the "big time" or for music even to be my main gig, ever. It has always bee a hobby at least, and an avocation at best. That's all I can muster. I think most of us know how extremely hard it is to do make a living at music, and we have an awful lot of respect for those who do. But I guess because of the recently opened avenue of expression provided by MIDI tools, digital home recording, and the Net as distribution, it's just too easy to get the idea that, "Hey, maybe I've got something here--this stuff might catch on in some way shape or form." But it doesn't necessarily turn out that way.

I also completely agree that making music in itself is a big reward. It's a huge privilege, whenever and wherever it happens. Maybe for those homemade efforts I need another form of inspiration rather than hoping for kudos from Algeria....

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Bill, steelin' since '99 | Steel page | MSA U12 | My music | Steelers' birthdays | Over 50?[This message was edited by Bill Llewellyn on 14 August 2006 at 02:24 PM.]

Dave Frye · Post by **Dave Frye** » 14 Aug 2006 1:46 pm

Iknow how you feel Bill,from all the years of hard knocks i put in! But there are guys out there still tryin! From personal experienc, i overheard a young fellow talking the other day about what,s gonna happen to them when the win the big talent contest and "Get signed"! The fellow wasn,t very good but he had lot,s of guts! Dave Frye

Eric West · Post by **Eric West** » 14 Aug 2006 1:47 pm

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR>To be honest my music is weird so my concept of success is pretty modest.

I work for quite a few people that just want to be stars and there is often a tragic undertow. -BH-<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Hoping Mr H doesn't mind quoting him, I could have said the same thing about my experiences. He's right on the money. (I don't consider his music wierd. It's very interesting, and good to my ears

)

The second part is one I've been compiling on an ongoing basis on a My Muse" "blog", with a final installment under construction.

The Illusion The Muse affords you can be the most thrilling, and satisfying thing in your life. You can use it to influence others, soothing, inciting, gladdening, saddening etc.

So easily, that "illusion" can influence you adversely, and become delusion. (I think others can agree, mostly with the help of mood altering drugs, and alcohol, but that's just MHO.)

In my case, I took to the bandstand, and not the studio. ( oh once in a while..) I've played an honest three plus thousand gigs, and at times lost sight of what made ME satisfied.

It's not "leaving a record".

It's not "being thought of as 'cool'".

It's participating regularly in Chaos, and having an active hand in helping pull pleasing music out of it.

I've tried to carry the good parts of that struggle into my "real" life.

I feel satisfied that I have.

It's all about YOU, and what you need to do to feel satisfied with what you do.

In regular course, as Bob correctly states, I sense a tragic undertow in those that I "back up". After dealing with a few hundred of them, I have come to think of what I do as "setting their struggles to music".

For Money.

In the process, I guess, setting my own to music.

Nothing wrong with "Delusions".

I think Will Durant said that we should respect eachother's.. .

EJL [This message was edited by Eric West on 14 August 2006 at 03:26 PM.]

Mike Perlowin · Post by **Mike Perlowin** » 14 Aug 2006 2:47 pm

Some people I know have delusions of competance.

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Warning: I have a telecaster and I'm not afraid to use it.
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[This message was edited by Mike Perlowin on 14 August 2006 at 03:47 PM.]

Tony Prior · Post by **Tony Prior** » 14 Aug 2006 2:56 pm

so Bobby Lee, let me see if I got this right..

No record company is gonna take a chance on an over 50 frump who has been a part time musician for 3 or 4 decades and plays an Instrument that looks like a Sewing Machine but everyone thinks it's a keyboard and its' whiney soundin'..

is that about right ?

or is there still hope for me ?

t

ps..I still have a good bit of hair, does that count for anything ?
www.tprior.com [This message was edited by Tony Prior on 14 August 2006 at 03:59 PM.]

David Mason · Post by **David Mason** » 14 Aug 2006 8:54 pm

T-Prior:

1) yes, that's about right
2) No, there's no hope for you
3) Nose-hair doesn't count, alas
4) re item #3, maybe we can ALL be stars at the old folk's home...

Bobby Lee · Post by **Bobby Lee** » 14 Aug 2006 9:19 pm

what D-Mason said.

James Morehead · Post by **James Morehead** » 17 Aug 2006 7:38 am

"Don't tell Mama I'm a guitar picker, she just thinks I'm in jail. It would break her heart---------" Brian Burns

Gene Jones · Post by **Gene Jones** » 17 Aug 2006 8:14 am

Once you've passed 30 or so, the window of opportunity has closed. Musicians your own age have proven track records and accounts. You can't compete with that. The entry level positions don't pay enough to support your family. These are facts of life.

Bobby Lee speaks the wisdom of the ages, and musicians aspiring to be an exception would do well by heeding those words.

My vision of sucess has been achieved.... that is, that I have been sucessful enough that I have always made enough money to "break even" and pay the costs of my steel guitar playing hobby. It has always paid for itself and never took away from my family.

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Rick Schmidt · Post by **Rick Schmidt** » 17 Aug 2006 9:01 am

"If at first you don't succeed, keep on suckin' till you do suck seed" Curly Joe

Wise words that I live by...

Bill Llewellyn · Post by **Bill Llewellyn** » 17 Aug 2006 2:10 pm

Hey, maybe I am a success after all. I popped my two home-studio CDs into my Mac, and iTunes went out and found one of them listed on whichever public CD database(s) it uses and named all the tracks for me. Wow. I'm famous.

Jim Cohen · Post by **Jim Cohen** » 17 Aug 2006 2:40 pm

Bill, that's a sure sign that you have "arrived". Congratulations!