[Harp-L] Encouragement... Get Noticed!!!

[Dick Anderson <dandyd55@xxxxxxxxx>]

Hi Folks,  I just had such an amazing week that I wanted to tell you about
it and to encourage more of you to get out there and audition, play, and
have fun!

One of my musician friends was at a show of a singer songwriter who is
pretty well known in the Colorado/New Mexico/Arizona circuit.  At the end of
the show, the artist mentioned that his usual fiddler would not be able to
make it to his next gig and that he was looking for someone to fill in.  My
friend upon hearing that gave the artist a glowing recommendation for me as
a harp player who could find something nice to add to the mix on just about
any song.  My friend shared my number and email.

Then he told me about this exchange and suggested that I get in touch with
the artist.  I'm not a professional, but I would jump at the chance to play
with someone of this calibre.  I waited a day or so and did not get a call,
so I went to the artist's website, pulled a few song samples, used the
Audacity program to record an audition mp3 demonstrating what I would play
in between his lyrics and even soloing in the parts where the fiddle had a
solo.  I really liked the tunes this guy had written and in about 2 hours I
had a 5 minute mp3 file complete.  I emailed it to the artist.

I hoped, but really never expected that the artist would contact me, ask me
to play the gig, pay me, and how much fun I would have on stage with this
seasoned performer.   Things went so well that he has asked me to play with
him again.

So, that's my story.  My one in a million chance to accompany a pro who does
100 shows a year.  The funny thing... I asked him if he would have likely
contacted me if I had just waited for an email or phone call from him.  He
said probably not since he didn't know my friend very well and he would have
just done the gig alone rather than go through the hassle of arranging an
audition with the possibility of having to say no.  Yet, without my friend's
contact, I wouldn't have known about the opportunity, and even if I decided
to contact the artist, my email might have been discarded.  The human
contact and the followup email was the key to my getting noticed.

So if you've been woodshedding, playing along with recordings, or working
out certain songs of certain singers/guitarists/groups in your area, take a
step.  Make a contact (at a show or jam), and follow it up with an email
audio or video of you playing their songs.  You folks all know how to make a
recording over a backing track or a YouTube video.  I want to encourage you
to take some action and get your talent noticed.  It worked for me.

dick anderson