I just read a post over at The Working Musician about the secret formula for making it as a musician. And I think Cameron Mizell may have hit it right on the nose with this one. I'm gonna spoil it for you.
The secret to making it as a musician: Do something. If it works, do more of it. If it doesn't, do something else.
An oversimplification, of course. I have been doing a number of things (many of them involving watching episodes of The West Wing in rapid succession), and I certainly wouldn't call myself a successful musician. But the point is a good one. The only thing standing between me and a more lucrative musical career is doing the right stuff. And you can't recognize the right stuff until you're doing it.
I'm working on it. I spent a lot of yesterday putting together new charts for the new band; we've got our first rehearsal today, and I'm very excited! I'm producing an EP by Rabble Rouser, which is broadening my horizons and honing my recording skills. I've got a solo gig on February 24th at Rockwood Music Hall, and a Freestyle Love Supreme gig tonight. Some more FLS gigs are coming up, and I'm working on scheduling something solo in San Francisco in late May. (If anyone has any connections....)
I'm working on new material for a new project - not a new album, but new music nonetheless. I'm almost there, but I've still got some blocks to work out before I'm ready to really get started with it. Once I've got that one going, I've got another project or two waiting in the wings.
While all of this is happening, I'd like to revisit the basics. I want to spend time studying orchestration, but my piano and sight-reading skills are not up to snuff. I plan to spend some time over the next year building up my traditional piano skills (i.e. practicing the kinds of pieces most pianists played when they were 10 years old). I'm considering a secondary blog about the process.
I like process. I like doing things. I'm on the way.