Re: [Harp-L] how do I become a real pro?

[Richard Hunter <turtlehill@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Iceman wrote:
<Those in the past that we look towards, in the harmonica community, have  
<mostly been people with a fire inside them that needed to be expressed - without
<concerns for becoming famous. Most, in their lifetime, found limited fame and  <fortune. A few were able to rise above keeping their personal integrity - 
<Muddy  Waters, BB King for example. However, I can't believe that Muddy or BB
<sat  around in the formative years trying to figure out how to become 
<superstars.  They spent that time and energy on playing the voice within <themselves at every  opportunity they had.

This is only true up to a point.  Successful artists, like any other successful business person, pursue highly-paid work--in other words, they think a lot about how to make a good living from what they do, not just how to make better art.  In fact, it's tough to make art that lives up to your full potential if you can't make a good living at it.  Making a good living from art means thinking hard about how you will distinguish yourself in the marketplace--just as any business person has to think about how his or her product or service will be distinguished from others.  

Charlie McCoy is a well-known harmonica player (among other things for which he is well known).  He told me in 1980 that when he came to Nashville, he was a stone-cold Little Walter fanatic.  He realized pretty quickly that Little Walter's style wouldn't work in Nashville, and so he created the style that became the archetype for modern country harmonica. Was this an artistic triumph?  You bet.  Was it driven by commercial considerations?  That's what Charlie said.  I don't doubt it. In fact, I admire it. You don't have to spend much time with Charlie McCoy to figure out that he is as smart as he is talented.  It takes a smart guy to figure out that it's time to change what you do if you want to stay in the business.

John Simon, the theater critic, once said that Beethoven and Mozart, like all great artists, made their art without consideration for commerce. The historical record clearly says otherwise.  Beethoven re-arranged many of his compositions for whatever instrumental ensembles were popular at the moment.  Lots of people playing clarinet? Re-arrange that violin sonata for clarinet and piano, and get it out there before tastes change.  Mozart's letters to his father show that he didn't write another opera at one point in his career because he had other pending commissions that paid more.  Monet was once advised by his agent that a particular very large painting would bring in a lot more money if it were cut up and sold as four separate pieces.  What do you think Monet did--stand on principle and refuse to compromise his sacred artistic vision?  No, he brought out the knife and starting cutting.    

So how do you become a superstar harmonica player?  Work hard, of course. Almost every successful person works hard, and all the ones who are successful over their working lives do.  Be different--don't play the same stuff everyone else plays, but know how to play the same stuff everyone else plays in case you have to prove it sometime.  Develop other skills besides playing the harmonica: in particular, learn to sing, which is the most important musical skill for making a living, and learn to write great songs, which is the only way any musician makes a very good living over the long haul.  (It was writing "Bluesette" that made Toots Thielemans financially independent; it was "Low Rider" that made Lee Oskar real money, not playing with War.)  I notice that Jason Ricci sings a lot more than he used to, and he's worked hard on his composition skills since his first album.        

Finally, stay tuned to the music of your time.  Know what's selling in the marketplace, and make your sound and style current, especially if you're a young player on the way up.  If there's no real role for the harmonica in the style that's popular, invent one.  That's what Charlie did.  

All styles rise and fall--don't get stuck in a style that's falling down if your goal is to be successful in the music business, as opposed to just a great musician.  It's not shameful by any means to be a great musician who's not very successful in the business, but you get to play with more of the great players of your time if you're successful at the business as well as the music.   

Regards, Richard Hunter  
latest mp3s always at http://broadjam.com/rhunter