It was the Fall of 2002. I was living in an apartment on Riverside with my friend, Jason. My brother moved in with me. He was living on our couch while looking for a job in Austin. He'd hooked up with a high school buddy who was now an Amway distributor.
I remember sitting at our dinner table as they presented the case and asked, "What are your dreams? Big cars, a house, expensive stereo? Wouldn't it be cool if you could...?"
Somewhere in there they inspired me. Deep down inside I remember being a kid. My mom's old record player was playing, "I Gotta Know", the B-side of "Are You Lonesome Tonight" by Elvis Presley. I was pretending to be Elvis, singing my lungs out.
I was hooked. I signed up with Amway and started going to the conventions and spending too much money.
I bought my first electric guitar, an Elektra. I chatted with my friend Johannes in our United Campus Ministry organization at UT about jamming. Plugged in my guitar into that tiny Peavy amp. I had written a few songs over the previous two years of college. They were crap, but we enjoyed jamming to them as well. I was resolved to become a full-time musician.
A couple years later and too much money wasted, I finally left Amway, but the seed was planted. I had a brief spell with Johannes in my band Skander. It didn't last long, so I found a band that wanted it... Conversion Factor. After a reorganization, I left the band and they became Plow Monday. I started managing them, and booking gigs.
It was around 1997. My brother decided to started a website, the
Texas Musicians Network. I joined up with him and started using some of those web skills I learned at work. It got me deep involved with the local music scene.
I started learning how to promote music. I started reading and studying music every day at the Texas Department of Health. I spent too much time on it. Eventually, he website became too much work to maintain, and another costly business venture.
Soon, I started up my next band, Breastfed. Our first gig was in December 1996 at the Voodoo Lounge. I wore a painted milk mustache and played guitar (not very well). We had a temporary drummer, but after adding a guitarist "Black-eyed Billy" and seeing I was serious, he joined up full-time. Billy didn't work out, so we got a new guitarist. He was decent songwriter and fan of Sheryl Crow, but had the lead guitar ego which ultimately ended the band.
I picked up the autoharp and started writing songs. In 1998, I recorded a solo album "Ichabod's Geography", quit my job and started managing and booking bands full-time... It was another disaster, but I was learning a lot. So by the time, the Brobdingnagian Bards had started in January 1999, I'd had seven years in the music business and finally had a decent understanding of the biz.
I look back. Twelve years in the business. I've learned a LOT. Yeah, there's still a lot to learn too. I've a strong grasp of internet promotion and building fan bases, starting businesses, and developing a profitable products. I've learned a lot about performing in front of audiences. I've learned a lot about friendship.
I find myself frustrated though. I look at bands and musicians who still don't get it. And often, I don't have the ability to explain the whys. I know what I know. Much of it is intuition now. I just
know. But I can't seem to get my point across so they will know.
I guess they just need to do the same. Spend lots of time learning about the business. Listen. Study. And mayhaps one day, they'll look back and do their own reflection on how far they've come.
