Being prepared!

A good musician is prepared for all sorts of things! You never know what to expect while on the road or going from gig to gig. I’ve had to play gigs in the dark due to power outage (good thing I had a couple of flashlights) and a wedding ceremony in Nor’easter weather.  I’ve been caught in a blizzard and 10 inches of snow getting to a Christmas-time gig (Good thing I had a shovel and a pair of boots in the trunk!).

What kinds of things should you keep on hand with you as a performing musician?

Flashlight, Extra Water, Snacks/Food (We like some of the freeze dried foods/snacks), cell phone, camera, lip balm

I always keep some basics in the car as well (especially during the winter season).  I have a sleeping bag or bivy sack, extra water and food, extra set of clothes, extra pair of socks, winter gear, car repair gear, Important contact names and numbers, and a portable jumpstart battery.

Also a good idea to have roadside assistance (AAA) and be equipped to change a tire or do basic repairs in a pinch.

Here is a place that you can get lots of items that will help you be prepared on the road and at home for those litlle emergencies that happen!

http://preparednesspantry.blogspot.com

When Illness Strikes…

What do you do when you are sick?

It happens to all of us. We are about to go out on stage or get in to the pit to do another show or play a few services in church and sickness strikes.

Many people have a nervous kind of sickness that they have to deal with on a regular basis. Sometimes it is a flu or a cold that you just can’t shake. You have a fever or are having trouble breathing. These things don’t typically add to the quality of your performance.

More often than not performing through a sickness or illness is a must. For a freelance musician it is often difficult finding a substitute that you can trust to do well at the last moment. For an orchestral player there may be a bit more flexibility if you have an extra player who can step in.

In my career with only couple of exceptions I have just had to push the sickness aside and proceed.

For me this has worked with varying success. Often my performance is diminished and I am in survival mode (play as well as I can and get home and to bed!). Strangely in some of my more intense performancs when I was under the weather my mind and body were in a genuine state of relaxation (or exhaustion) and I’ve had some of my best performances.

Whatever the case I am a big believer in proactive care. That would include good rest and diet, exercise, and a daily routine of natural/homopathic care including a Good Multivitamin, Extra Vitamin C, D, E, Fish or Krill Oil, Colloidal Silver, and Garlic. When you start to feel symptoms of cold or flu utilize ColdCalm and/or Sambucol.

Much more on this in future posts!

Why do I need a website?

The personal website has become 21st century version of the business card.

For performing musicians having a place on the internet where you can send people to learn more about you and your services is becoming more and more vital.

In many circles it is simply expected that a working musician has a web address.

The important thing to remember is that it does not have to be a large and complicated website. Start with yourname.com or some variation and do a single page that tells people about you and how they can contact you.

Beyond the basic site you can then build in audio, video, pictures, bio, contact page, links to your colleagues, blog, podcast, and much more.

More details to come in the next post…

Raising Your Profile

When I work with musicians both professional, part-time, and amateur more often than not they all have something in common.  That is they are not marketing themselves to the outside world.  Sure, some carry their business card and a few have a website.  There are a few with a demo or even a CD they have recorded.  The real problem is that they do not have a cohesive plan for raising their profile to meet their own goals.

A professional musician does not automatically get playing jobs.  The phone isn’t ringing off the hook for their services.  More often than not the person hiring the musician has people that he or she works with and knows.  Going with an unknown or a new player is often not the first choice for the music director or contractor.

A part-time or amateur musician can really benefit from raising the profile especially if they want to acquire more playing jobs or move from volunteer work to paying jobs.

Word of mouth has its place and can be very helpful.  The bottom line is that the musician needs to take steps to get out there and make themselves known to the world at large.  That means developing and implementing a cohesive marketing plan and implementing it.

I have recently launched a service to address this very important need in the musical community.  The service is called Musician Advice.  I work individually with each artist (professional or aspiring) to create a cohesive marketing plan tailored to their specific goals and offer a full suite of services including website design and implementation, business card/postcard promo design and print, demo and full CD production, and one-on-one consulting on a wide variety of related subjects.

Please feel free to visit the website:

www.musicianadvice.com

You can also contact me at:

james@trumpeter.com