Celtfather: How I Made It As A Musician (Patreon)

On July 8, 2005, I quit my day job and became a full-time musician. I haven’t looked back since. I “made it“ as a musician.

How did this happen? Was it hard work? Was it practicing a lot? Was it adjusting with the times?

Yes to all the questions. However, my success goes all the way back to second grade.

I am listening to Akimbo, a new podcast by author and thinker, Seth Godin. He just pointed out the root reason why I have been successful as a musician.

One of my biggest memories from second  grade, aside from that first girl crush, was answering questions for the teacher. I think it was math that did it.

There was a Vietnamese student in my class named An. He was amazing at math.

I was doing pretty good myself. But not nearly as good as An.

I remember the teacher would ask the students to answer a question. An and I were the only two, or at least the fastest two to raise our hands to respond.

The thing was, An was much better than I was. He usually got the answer right. I on the other hand…

I’m stuck with a memory where I was the first person to get my hand up. I didn’t know the answer. The teacher pointed it out. She made a comment about how I was constantly raising my hand without usually knowing the answer. She stop calling on me.

I think that was the last time in my schooling that I really answered a teacher’s questions out loud.

It wasn’t this failure that predicted my success as musician though. It was that I tried.

In Seth’s podcast, he recounted a story about how he started a quiz game club. He organized everything, but he didn’t even make the team.

The reason, he realized, was that he had a buzzer problem. In order to win on a quiz show, you have to be the first to hit the buzzer. You might not know the answer. But you have to be the first.

That one and a half seconds will determine whether you even get a chance to answer the question.

That was me in the second grade. Often, I didn’t know the answer when I raised my hand. Many times, I figured it out by the time I was called on.

This is how it is in the music business too. You have to take leaps of faith. Sometimes you will get it right and see great success. Sometimes you fail miserably.

I have released 23 albums since 2004. Most musicians refuse to even try to release an album. They fret and worry if it’s going to be good enough.

Guns n Roses was on top of the world in the 90s. Then they stopped. The band had divisions. It took 10 years for the next album to come out. They had become irrelevant.

That is something that has never worried me. Show me any album that I released, I could probably tell you what I don’t like about it. I could nit pick intonation problems, lyrics I wish I changed, etc. Some of these I even recognized before I finished releasing the album.

At some point, I realized that you have to let go. You have to keep progressing forward. You have to keep raising your hand even if you don’t know the answer.

MP3.com, ezines, blogs, podcasts, live streaming videos... I have pursued many paths both on- and off-line.

Right now I find myself charting into new waters, with very little success. I don’t yet have the answer.

But I raise my hand anyways.

If you’re trying to make it too. Raise your hand. Release something against the grain. Don’t worry about perfect. Just keep trying.

Thank you for listening. Celtfather Music & Travel was produced by Marc Gunn. Thanks for joining the Gunn Runners Club.