When you start working as a musician you have to learn to accept a few things. We call it "paying your dues" because not all of these things are easy, let alone glamorous.
Most of us grind in bars, restaurants, honkey-tonks, breweries, etc. While these places can be really awesome places to play, you often become little more than background noise. That can be difficult. You get up there and give your heart and soul, and often times you're doing it for people who aren't there to see you. That can be nerve-wracking.
I am diagnosed ASD, so I tend to get extremely over-stimulated very easily. I have fairly weak social skills, and as someone who isn't into a party lifestyle, or even cares to drink in public, this can become incredibly overwhelming.
While I'm certainly not knocking audiences or these businesses, I'm simply expressing that we have to deal with certain things that we don't necessarily expect when we embark on this journey.
There's a fairly natural belief that we are all broke, drunken, drug-addicted partiers, who are simply playing for change and a free drunk. While this is certainly true in some cases, the fact of the matter is many of us are incredibly passionate and this is a job. It's a job that we love and are fulfilled by, but a job.
I believe the majority of us are adamant about maintaining a level of professionalism that transcends the seemingly perpetual reputation that our industry has to endure. We just have to accept it.
All that said, we know that we are going to be bombarded with requests from time to time. We work hard on our sets, and most of us aren't jukeboxes. It seems people believe that music is easy, and we should just be able to play anything on demand. Untrue.
We deal with people yelling above us, which can be incredibly distracting and for someone like me... cripplingly overwhelming.
We deal with folks interrupting us, bumping into our equipment, trying to commandeer our instruments and microphones... many many things.
I think these things arise from the general public's inability to take us seriously. They are trying to have a good time, and it's our job to facilitate that, so we have to be as understanding as possible. This job requires thick skin.
If we didn't love it we wouldn't do it, though.
I feel like there is a certain level we strive for that allows us to be the reason the crowd is there. A level of recognition that comes with a certain respect.
If you want to do this, you have to learn not to take yourself too seriously. You have to roll with the punches. You have to be a dancing monkey for awhile.
For those who truly love and support what we do, thank you... so damn much.
For those who are there for any other reason than to listen, thank you, too. I hope we help you have a great experience. Just please... keep in mind that we are working hard.
Really hard.
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