Where do one start?
it's not as bad as many think...to be a pro muso anywhere in the world, i have travelled to many countries and if you have something to offer musically you will find gigs.....
i even just came back from overseas to jhb about 9 months ago now and was working enough pro gigs to survive within about 2 months ... so the work is there....
here are the "buts" 1.as a musician anywhere in the world you need to have the "artist" mindset.... in that you not in this career for money bt for the art..... since only a few people make BIG money in music....and not neccessarily the best musicians either ...but being popular is sometimes not about skill but about appeal.
2. again finance related if you after the big car and all the gadgets.... rather keep music as a hobby .... since times can get tough...and even top line pro's have "dry spells' they always end but if you have R15 000 of debt a month you in big trouble.....unless you do what us pro's do and save for rainy day's.
3. be unique.... who wants another guitarist however skilled if he/she sounds like the guy down the road or the guys in every other band..... stand out somehow...and thats worth more than being the most skilled....
4. market yourself endlessly .... i get work through other people passing on my card or hits on my website
5. be professional cos thats what you are now.... you arrive on time, your gear is in good repair, you get a good sound, you only do very short sound checks.... you play an exciting interesting repetoire...you be minimal fuss to the venue.... they rehire muso's who do these things listed....cos they don't need to stress out about a drunk muso with bad sound and a boring repetoire who started 20 min late and takes overly long breaks....
6. so what i'm really saying is if you want to be a star ...you have prob 00.5 % of a chance to be top of world charts.... but if you love your art enough to want to do it fulltime, you can be a "wworking musician" and do the small intimate venues, and maybe never ever be on the radio, but you can earn a living by it...
7. and remember there are many avenue's to go down.... i perform about 4 shows a week i teach music as well and i do sessions and write music for film /documentaries ....and there's plenty of other avenues too... like if you read music you can play in show bands .... and many many more...
so it's not all bad...... but i would say if you can be happy doing anything else as a career and play music part time...DO IT ....it will be easier..... but if you are like me and from 16 wanted nothing more than to tour the world and play music ...DO IT i have and in my 20 yrs as a pro musician had hard times but i have never had to work any other job except music ever....never waitressed a day in my life..... or worked in corporate world...and thats in all my travels to about half the countries on this planet and thats just proof it's possible....
peace and light
Keira
