DIAY

I am a DIY artist, and DIY, as you may know, stands for "Do It Yourself." But for an artist in the position that I am in, it's really much closer to DIAY - "Do It All Yourself." Consider the things that I have to handle: organizing the band, rehearsing the band, writing out the charts, booking (or trying) the shows, setting up the PR, reaching out to PR opportunities, managing a website, managing a Facebook page, managing a Twitter account, managing a YouTube channel (which includes shooting and editing videos), writing this blog, overseeing the design and production of merchandise, building my mailing list, writing and sending a bi-weekly email to my mailing list, networking with other industry people. Plus I have all of my commitments for In The Pocket and a few other things like giving lessons and playing in a jazz band. But, wait, I'm sure I'm forgetting something. Oh yeah: writing songs. That one's only kind of important, right?

There's a great song by Jackson Browne called "The Load Out," about what it's like being on tour, putting on a show in a different town day after day. And there's a lyric that says, "The only time that seems too short is the time that we get to play." Well, for me it's the time that I get to write. With all these things on my plate, the task that often gets pushed off is writing new songs, which is very frustrating because that's one of the main reasons I got into this gig. And because writing - for professionals, anyway - is not something that happens only whenever you get "inspired." You don't do job only when you're inspired, and neither do professional songwriters. And I'll admit that my time management skills could probably use a little more work and discipline, but whose couldn't?

At the beginning of the past couple years I've made it a goal to work on a new song each week, and as of now that has yet to happen. Why? Because looking at my workload, its quite possibly an impossible goal. But I'll keep working toward it.