My First Post
Well it's been about 10 months since I recorded that first demo with the band and began trying to score gigs around town. Things were slow at first, but around late March I began to see a considerable increase in bookings. I was sending emails and dropping off demos to any live music venue I could find. At first, I couldn't believe that people were actually paying me to play music... something I'd happily do for free at that time! The last several months I have been performing on average 2 to 3 shows per week. I've been having a total blast and at the same time working really hard and devoting a lot of time and energy to putting on a good show. I've begun to realize that getting paid to play music is absolutely necessary for performing artists. We spend money on equipment, spend an hour before/after getting setup and tore down, spend countless hours preparing set lists and practicing songs, and often sacrifice sleep because of the hours we work. At the same time, I have zero expectation of becoming rich and famous and am pursuing music professionally because I love it. I am setting goals for myself in music but also keeping my expectations low. I will continue to write more songs and perform as much as possible and just let God take care of the rest. In addition to the work devoted to my music career, I am still grinding away at my 8 to 5 Oil & Gas job which I am extremely grateful for. No matter how burnt out I get at my day job, I realize that it provides me the resources I need to live comfortably and pursue my passion of music at the same time. Heck, we even get out at noon on Fridays which works out well for the moonlighting musician!
We began recording my debut EP on August 17th at Stormy Cooper Media. It will feature 6 original songs and showcase some incredible musicians. I can't remember the last time I was this excited about anything! Working with the guys at this studio has been an absolute joy. Those first couple days we spent in the studio were two of the best days of my life. All I did was show up with the songs and Lyndon Hughes (producer) and the rest of the musicians brought them to life in ways I never could have imagined. I can't wait for y'all to hear it. We will get it up on iTunes and Spotify and any other platform out there. My primary goal with this first record is to get as many people as humanly possible to listen to it. I also will have a single, "Love Song To Write" that we will ultimately try to push to radio and see what happens. If nothing else, I will have created something that will last forever and that is a dream come true.
One of my favorite things about performing live is all the people I get to connect with. I've had the opportunity to connect with old friends in person that I would have otherwise only seen on Facebook news feeds. I've met some incredible local musicians and I've developed new friends at shows that I would have otherwise never met. I am so incredibly thankful for each and every person that has shown up and supported me. Artists cannot succeed without the support of their fans. Every single person that shows up to a show, buys a CD, Likes a FB Page, etc. is a part of that artist's success. There is an incredibly fast growing music scene in Houston, TX and I'm excited to be a part of it.
I will try and blog regularly and keep you all updated with what's going on!
Max