You step outside into the icy autumn. Let's make sure the van starts up. Today we're expecting an 8-10 hour drive to Laramie. For some reason the club manager insists that the band arrives at 4:30pm despite the 8pm doors. You decide to take the first shift at the wheel. Very generous; the rest of the band is still sleepwalking.

Everyone is a little concerned that the band fund won't cover the gas for this drive, but this gig has potential. Gary from Bitty Tone Records started following the band on Twitter two months ago and he lives in Laramie. A quick coffee and gas stop by the freeway and you are on your way.

You've made it.

Tonight, after driving over 500 miles you'll load about 300 pounds of equipment up a spiral staircase and then spend about six hours killing time before playing.

The set was cut short and Gary was a no show. You were fortunate enough to meet a really sweet couple that was willing to put us up for the night. You'll send them a postcard from Florida three weeks later.

You've just experienced a day on the road.

Despite the monotonous work and financial burdens, you may continue and repeat this same process over and over for years. What is it that motivates you to continue being a "musician" when it can seem that playing music is a small percentage of the work?

Why?

In this column I hope to gain some perspective on what drives musicians to do what they do. All musicians, on the road or not, put a lot of muscle, sweat, time, concentration and extremely repetitive work into their projects. I'd love to hear from a wide range of experiences on this topic.

By looking across genre, success levels, age and culture at the work that goes into music, maybe we can learn something that heightens our appreciation. What is it that keeps musicians making music? This answer is likely unique and very precious to each of us.




And the band plays on...

---Aaron
(Listener Advocate)

Emotion drives everything we do. Working musicians want to be recognized, admired, and thought of as someone different from the crowd. Maybe you wanted (still want?) your father to recognize your talent. Sure music is a special language that pays rich, satisfying dividends in and of itself. But to answer your question after you accurately portrayed the real-deal, we hope for fame or just enough cash to avoid the day-job that we think guarantees obscurity and boredom and misery. The irony is that working musicians seek emotional connection through music, yet we get so little of it on the road. We keep going b/c the next gig has "potential" - for what? A contractual obligation that takes from what little money you have now AND your intellectual property and persona image? And yet when such a deal is offered, it's snapped up in a heartbeat. After all we are told it's an attractive life style: "Party everyday!" "Livin' the dream!" "I know I've got talent and it feels really good when someone else thinks so too." When those expectations are not fulfilled, it's no surprise that we hear about drug abuse and other self-destructive choices (suicide in some cases) among working musicians. Granted, not all working musicians are drug addicts, and not all of us are emotionally desperate, but an honest answer to your question must include the deep desire to stand out.

Yippie Kai Yaaa!

Aaron,
Great start, I'm intrigued. If you find the answer, let me know. I'd write more but I'm off to a local casino to drag my pedal steel, etc. to a central stage and play for 4 hours through an odd headphone arrangement of "ambient" stage sound to an assortment of gamblers and drinkers for $100 (good money) and a shot at the buffet. I don't really even need the money, so...what's up with this?
Dad

Ahhh life in the van

definitely NOT glamorous!

Nice blog!

i love the guitars! love the band setup! AND the sleeping stuff you got there.

I really enjoyed reading this article, keep up writing such interesting stuff.

@Jeff - Thanks for the great response! You've hit on some really important points here (seeking of emotional connection, recognition and individuality, avoidance of a 'day job' and loss of freedom that can come with actually 'making it'.) I hope my future blog entries can elaborate on some of these aspects of musicianship and also find some positivity in it all.

@Dad (he really is my dad) - Gotta love those casino gigs! Thanks for sharing that scenario.

I've followed the blogs of a couple of bands I like as they toured the country. I thought their entries were very interesting and had me longing for such a road trip myself.

I admire all musicians for dedicating themselves to learn their art and then to keep at it in spite of the difficulty of earning a living performing music. Many of you touch me deeply.

So I hope we get more entries from musicians here, I'd love to hear from some others.

rly nice i enjoyed reading:)))

i enjoyed as well thanx

Aaron,
I'm turning my son onto your blog as he is a young musician in the band "Revengeance" and is about to hit the road. Thanks again.

The short and sweet on me is that I come from a musical family and have been playing in bands since I was 17. I have 2 wonderful, musically talented sons 16 and 20 pursuing their own music goals.

Early in my music career I think I played mostly for myself but what I didn't really appreciate so much until later was the wonderful effect that creating music in front of others has on those people.

I see now that the band is a family and that you really have to be there for the other members musically, emotionally and in the many ways that make up life on this earth. The sum is truly greater than the parts and magical things can happen between the players on any give night regardless of how many people are there in the room during the performance.

One of the things that helps me is to keep the music fresh and create it newly each night for that space, for those people, on that night. If the band has fun and creates an aesthetic energy among themselves then others will join in and share in what is being created.

Oh, and be true to your own goals... the rest will come around.

I just saw the Honky Tonk part... I never used to like country but my best friends like it and I've grown to love it...

Hi Aaron-

I love this! Theres been some many times I've wanted to be able to accurately describe to my family ( 2 kids,wife,mom,dad,cousins,friends,etc..) what its like when I go out on little 2 week-ers or 3 day-ers.
Its seems like pure insanity to take off with barely enough dough to do anything with, much less travel and come back with less than what I left with.
I think I do it for three main reasons in an effort to keep this condensed.
1) The pure unadulterated high of performing something we've created out of thin air and the resulting thunderous accolades from the 6 1/2 people there listening to us.
2) Its the only thing I truly "know" how to do inside and out.
3) The excitement of playing music to someone who has never even heard of us.

The third reason is a double edged sword though because you never know who's going to enjoy the music and who will absolutely hate it.

dave

Great interesting article. It's surely a tough life traveling on a van. It's sheer determination to drive such long distances. I admire that sort of mindset.

Thanks for sharing.

Just wanted to step by and say that I love road trips like that.

made a couple of them by my own to see some small bands and would do it ever and ever again.

Junge Mode f�r Sie und Ihn

Best wishes

this ROCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

allow me to give you guys a little different perspective: i often visit las vegas w my girlfriend to see her parents and to hit the music scene, be it the fremont experience, lounge acts or major headliners. as a non-musician but a big fan of music i see some very special people with immense talent playing their hearts out. what never fails to strike me is the sad fact that some of these great people will never "make it" and the wonderful notion that we are witnessing the "next big thing" before they become a major act. what they all have in common is that they are doing what they want and love to do. i would gladly trade my job as a fire captain in a major city to have the talent and guts to make music and touch people as only musicians can. keep up the good work, you just never know, the right combination of breaks, the right people in the audience and you are on your way to being an "overnight" sensation. you know, the one who has worked for years and years to get where you are. i admire and salute musicians with the guts to hit the road and put themselves out there for all to see. as a fan that is where the magic lies, in the talent of people. keep hitting the road, all who dare to play air-guitar, sing in the shower and play imaginary drum sets would love to be you, and may you get that big break and become the "next big thing".

Yeah ,i like it so much.

Hi,

You are true. Music is a sole world and entering into the world is something great. You and your dad is so lucky.

My newest blog, complete with Christmas music ideas: http://bit.ly/6V61Ce (Look here for future posts on the topic I began here.)

Great read! It really remember me on my young days, we experienced similar stories..:)

yeah...i think what makes musician keep making music is they LOVE music. But every musicians have different reasons (just like you have said). Monotonous routine absolutely able to give boring feel...i felt it too...

In high school I started runnin with some older guys who happened to play guitars. We would hang out and there would often be several guitars/players around. The music they produced was beautiful, and I wanted to be a part of the chemistry that was clearly circulating amongst the musicians. I started playing religiously seven years ago. I sometimes question the price of being a musician, but when I'm on that stage and everything is grooving there is no better feeling. You are in, you are necessary, you are creating. Sometimes I'm surprised that the sounds coming from my amp are made by me. Music feels good, and when you see a stranger in the crowd that's totally emersed in your music you feel like a king.

Besides, having worked in a cubicle, traveling around the country with your friends isn't all that bad.

Really liked this piece- brought back memories of back in the sixties when I was on the road plenty with my "mates". Thanks for the great mood.