People ask me all the time what it takes to be a working musician.  Most of the time what they really mean is what does it take to be a “star.”   I generally have to explain the difference to them and hope they understand that, while, yes, I still have stars I am chasing, the reality boils down to doing a good enough job on a gig so I get another one.  The same reality can be applied to almost any profession in the world.

Chasing stars –or maybe just trying to have money in your bank account – requires exactly the same behavior, at least initially:  do one thing every day that gets you closer to your goal.  One thing.  Only one thing.  One. Thing.

Maybe it’s calling a potential buyer…or just getting on the internet to find out who the buyers are.  No, you don’t have to quit your job and starve and live in a van just to follow your musical ambitions (at least not all in the same week). Do the one thing, make the one call, talk to people who know more than you do about what it is you want, follow through, start the momentum.

Because the law of physics means that momentum feeds on its own energy.  One thing will become two or three things…and, then, more than you can count.  And soon you’ll be doing what you have dreamed of doing…maybe not in the same exact form you envisioned, but you will be in a different place than where you started.  And what you will have learned along the way is really why you did it in the first place.

Gwen Hughes was voted “Favorite Jazz Artist” (Creative Loafing), and has sung anywhere they will let her for over a decade. NARAS Board Governor 2008-2010, serving on Membership Committee, GA Music Advisory Committee; Advisory Board member, GOC Music/The Lowery Group; recent tours in Eastern Europe and North Africa created music clinics for children & adults, as well as concerts with local musicians in the regions; named Artist in Residence, GA Music Hall of Fame, 2009; bandleader, RETRO JAZZ KATS and CONTINENTAL DANCE ORCHESTRA, playing 200 dates a year; 5 albums on FAIRFIELD RECORDS, with placement in film, television and online media. Visit Gwen's website.
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