I got fired from my dream gig when I was 23. It completely ruined my life for a while, but looking back on it, I learned some HUGE lessons about becoming (and staying) a pro musician. The cliffs notes version of the lessons are:

Never stop auditioningLook for the “gaps” in your situationPerception is realityYou Can’t Control Everything
Also- I'm pumped to announce that ProMusician.org is finally live! Check it out and let me know what you think!



4 Lessons from Getting Fired

This is a quick-hit of an episode about counting the true cost of becoming a pro musician- and then moving forward anyway!


Count the Cost of Your Music Career

After having a major touring gig as a musician, you'd think I would've figured out how to take the shortcut to more gigs at the same level. But what I discovered, even after succeeding once already, was that it was much harder than I expected.

So what about you? How can you anticipate what it will take to "make it" as a pro musician? And what can you do when things don't quite turn out as planned? Let's talk about it.


What I Did Immediately After Getting Fired

Does becoming a professional musician change our behavior- specifically in musical/professional situations? Or do we have to change our behavior in order to become pro musicians? Kind of a chicken or the egg type of question, I know. Well, I actually think we change our behavior first. 

The reason that the most successful pro musicians all seem to carry themselves in a certain way is not because they graduated some class, achieved some level of success and then decided "OK, now I'll start acting more professionally." Nope... Part of their success can be attributed to the fact that they already were behaving this way. So what about you? How can you unlock the superhero within yourself and become someone greater in the moments where it matters most- specifically if you're shy or introverted? Let's talk about it.

Here's a link to the book I mentioned in this episode: The Alter Ego Effect by Todd Herman


How to Get Past Being Shy So You Can Network

Today we'll discuss 3 different seemingly-unrelated happenings in my life, that all point to the same concept that will help YOU continue forward in your music career. Plus: what does chugging coleslaw in a high school cafeteria have to do with getting gigs?


It Only Takes One Connection

One VERY common challenge that most of us have faced, or will face at some point is this: 

How can I start charging people for my musicianship when there are tons of other musicians in my scene willing to do it for free?

Today we'll discuss 3 principles that will help you move from playing for free to playing for pay!


Getting Paid in a Scene Full of Freebies

There are many things in our music careers that can take time and effort in order to achieve or address. But today, we're going to talk about something you can do that is the opposite.

Let's talk about how to find more time to focus on music today. And what's great about this exercise is that it works for virtually anything that you'd like have more time to do, but can't seem to find the time for.


Take a Shortcut in Your Music Career

I'm going to tell you something today that might sting a little. And it probably will make some pro musicians out there kinda mad... But it's ok. This episode will help demystify some of the process of getting gigs as an aspiring pro musician. And if you're a pro musician and are feeling angry about me saying "Getting gigs isn't hard," I'll explain to you why you're wrong.


Getting Gigs Isn't Hard

I recently got to play a show with an old friend and we did things just like the "good ole days"... No tour bus, tour manager, or our own sound guy- or anything else that I got used to having as a professional musician. We just jumped in the car and drove 5 hours to play a show for a few hundred people. Doing things the old way got me thinking: 

What would I do if I had to start over in my music career from scratch? 

I came up with some ideas, and I hope that these ideas will help you in your journey.

Those ideas are:

Practice my tail off to get better at the basics.Post videos of myself playing along to music in a real context.Reach out to others for collaboration.

If I Had to Start Over

I recently sat down with a friend who plays for one of the biggest artists in the world. He let me in on something that (to me at least) was too cool not to share...


2 Secrets from the Very Top of the Music Business

The ONLY daily podcast just for DRUMMERS. We'll cover tips and tricks you can ACTUALLY USE- there will be no shredding or showing off here. But if you want to learn about how to become a drummer that other musicians want to be in a band with, or HIRE - this is your place!

Drummer Daily Podcast