It's a tough world out there if you're a musician
making a living at your craft. And you should go for it! Although it can be tough your passion is what counts in this world. That old saying, "in the end you can't take it with you", may seem obvious and somewhat trite but it's true. If you own 100 houses with gold plated walls it makes no difference if your heart is not happy and your passion isn't satisfied.If you do decide to make a living with your music
then it's a good idea to think outside the box. In order to generate more income you may need to start playing some solo gigs, sans band. That way you can keep all the money! But if you don't sing, don't have a drummer
and only play one instrument it's tough finding decent paying gigs. Most venues hiring entertainment want a full sound with at least one instrument and some vocals.I have a good friend who is a guitar player but was having a tough time getting gigs. He didn't sing and played only acoustic guitar
. He then had an idea! He figured if he taught himself to sing, even if it was mediocre, it would help him get more gigs. so, that's just what he did. Although his singing isn't the "best" it works and he did start receiving more gigs! He then thought, "what else could I add?" He recently had seen a guitarist using a STOMP BOX
. A stomp box is a small wood box with a pick up inside which when stepped on it generates a great bass drum/wood block tone. He started playing gigs with his new Stomp Box
and lo and behold the audience enjoyed his music more than ever. Now he can essentially be a one man band. He plays guitar, sings and plays a drum part.Adding his voice and using his feet to provide rhythm
was a fairly simple learning curve and by doing so he generated 3 times the amount of gigs! Now instead of generating 500 per month through gigging
he was able to earn $1500.00 per month! That's quite a raise just from adding two simple things into his act.