Death Of A Dream

I don't watch much television, but one show I like in particular is a modern Spinal Tap-esque show called "Tenacious D". These guys are hilarious. They are good musicians/guitarists (the characters) who sing really cheesy (and therefore hilarious) lyrics, and they think that they are the greatest band in the world and they play "open mic" night every week.

They recently had an episode called "The Death of a Dream". In this episode they are disillusioned by someone, that their dream to be big stars is not ever going to come true, just like there's no Sasquatch; the Dream is a lie. Then when they are just about to give up all hope, and one of the guys has just thrown his guitar into a campfire (they're out in the woods now) they see Sasquatch run by and all hope is restored. They sing a cheesy song about it while happily chasing after the Sasquatch and. "all's well that ends well."

The point I'm trying to make is: You can't pay attention to what other people tell you about trying to be a rock star/musician. Any real musician is fueled by a desire to participate in what only a select few humans get to do: make music. The ambition to make money and earn a living as a result of making and playing music should always be secondary. If not, you may have many discouraging moments in
your musical career, because it usually takes a long time before you can actually earn a living. It's almost as long if not a longer time
investment than medical school and law school combined. I've been playing guitar for almost 19 years now and I'm just now starting to make a little headway in the biz.

There is nothing wrong with shooting for the brass ring at the same time. I have a saying, "If your team just plain loves to play football--why not shoot for the playoffs too? It will make you work harder and therefore a better player." Trying to make a successful living off of music is not a bad goal if it's not your main reason for making music.

On the other hand persistence and hard work usually pays off, even if it takes a long, long time. Over the years, I've seen many great musicians stop making music, after being disillusioned by their inability to get signed. Then I've also seen people get signed, who stuck around longer than anyone, even if at the time they weren't the most proficient players on the block.

If you love to play music and you know how exhilarating it feels, don't let money or anything else rob you of that. Just by being a musician alone, of any instrument, you have a gift that not everyone gets to have. We get to be makers as well as listeners. The rest of the world is listening.