7 Signs You Found Your Musical Soul Mate

There are so many fish in the sea, how do I know when I've found the right one? This doesn't just apply to romantic relationships: it can be equally hard to find other musicians who you "click" with. Here's what I've enjoyed the most about some of the great musicians I've had the privilege to work with over the last few years: 

1. They are focused on making great music.

Yes, they're fun to hang out with, but they're focused more on making high quality music. If your friendship doesn't have this as a central theme, you've found a great friend, but not a particularly helpful colleague. 

2. They listen to you when you play and adapt. 

Great musicians don't monologue on their instruments, they carry on a conversation. When you find someone that responds to your playing in an interesting way that inspires you to up your game, you know you've "found the one". 

3. They are a ton of fun to be around. 

Make sure you like your musical colleagues, since your music will reflect what you're feeling toward each other on a personal level. You're going to be stuck with this person a lot in small spaces (touring or studio work). Trust me, it's miserable to be in close quarters with someone you don't click with for months on end.  

4. They hold you accountable when you're not doing great work. 

Great musical friends will say in the nicest way possible "that was crap. You're better than that." when you're not bringing your A game. You need people in your life to help you up your skills, and having someone you trust to do this is absolutely vital to your future success. 

5. They're honest with you about how they feel. 

Great musicians communicate really well, and a big part of that process is being honest about what you're feeling. Surrounding yourself with positive, honest musicians helps encourage openness, and brings out the best in everyone involved. 

6. They don't mind suffering a little bit to make great art. 

Suffering can include long nights in the studio, driving to an early morning radio gig, low pay for interesting work, etc. You want to work with people that are fiscally smart, but keep the end goal of creating great art as first priority. 

7. They get along with your significant other.

Let's face it: if your wife and your music friend fight constantly, it's going to be hard to collaborate. Making sure your music friend gets along with the really important people in your life is vital. 

Former American Idol finalist Joe Banua and yours truly at a gig in St. Louis this last month. Joe embodies everything I talk about in this blog: I always play great when I play with him. 

7 Reasons I'm Excited about Apple Streaming Music

Apple announced last Monday that they'll be offering music streaming via iTunes. Critics have mostly complained about what Apple is offering, and while I admit I was a bit disappointed with a few things, I think there's lots of reasons for musicians to be optimistic.

Here are 7 reasons I'm glad Apple is entering the streaming market, and why it's good for musicians: 

1. It's Apple.

I'm a hardcore Apple fan, but even if I wasn't, I would still trust the company that created one of the best income generators for independent musicians  ever to be a player in the music streaming game. 

2. It's paid subscribers only.  

Unlike a lot of other services (cough, Spotify, cough) people only get to hear the tunes if they're paying for it. This gets people into the mindset that music should be paid for, not streamed free of charge. 

3. Integration. 

Unlike other 3rd party music streaming services, Apple will be integrating your subscription music into your iDevices. For instance, Instead of launching an app and searching for music, you could simply ask Siri to bring up music by your favorite artist. 

4. It locks in casual music listeners to paying for music. 

With the average iTunes account spending 12 dollars per year on music,  a monthly streaming subscription will essentially lock consumers into buying 10 albums each year, or spending 1200% more than they currently are spending. That's a big win for musicians in my book.  

5. It forces Spotify to compete for music talent. 

Spotify has been able to negotiate pretty crappy deals with many musicians over the last few years, mostly because they didn't feel like they had a choice. By having Apple pull a chair up to the negotiating table, musicians and labels get to be a bit more choosy about setting prices and offering exclusive content. 

6. It's a better pay split for artists than the original iTunes deal. 

iTunes download sales only give 50% of the selling price to the musician. Apple's streaming service gives artists 70% of the revenue.  

7.  Streaming isn't going anywhere anytime soon.

I'll admit it- I wish we could go back to the mid-90's when people hung out in Borders Books on the weekends, searching through stacks of CDs, and then dropping $18 for each treasured album. Sadly, those days are over. I believe Apple is making the jump at the right time, offering the best deal they can to artists and consumers, and waiting to see if it flops or rocks. Either way, I'm glad Apple still recognizes that music is valuable, relevant, and an important part of their customer's lives. 

The Big Texan, 72 Oz. Steaks, and Asking Permission, Part 1

Sarah and I recently took a trip out to Arizona for a little R&R, and on our way out of town we couldn’t resist stopping by our favorite western restaurant, the Big Texan. This place serves real buffalo meat burgers up with vittles and old-western charm, but it’s real claim to fame is a free 72 oz. steak to anyone that can eat it in an hour or less. The Big Texan’s just the kind of tourist trap that’s perfect for kicking off a vacation. 

The day we stopped in there was a weather-beaten old cowboy serenading tables with Hank Williams tunes. Not surprisingly I love music, but I hate it when it’s being played 6 inches from my face while I’m trying to wolf down a sloppy buffalo burger. Sarah hates being put on the spot even more than I do. We hunkered down in the booth and kept eating. 

Halfway through the sloppiest buffalo burger we'd ever eaten we heard “afternoon- would you like a tune?”. I looked up in shock. The Hank-hollerin’ cowboy had been on the other side of the restaurant less than 5 minutes ago. I thought I had time. Time to prepare. Sarah was staring at me like a rabbit caught in a fence, eyes wide, telepathically shrieking “I just want to eat in peace. Just say no, JUST SAY NO.” 

I turned to him and said, “that’d be nice”. 

To be continued. . .