Do You Have Staying Power?

As baseball spring training winds down, the use of the phrase “staying power” is only getting started.  Analysts wonder how long into a game a starting pitcher can last.  They speculate on whether he has what it takes to throw complete games and be a consistent performer over a full season.

There are those veterans, of course, whose staying power is contributing to the legacy they’ll leave behind, perhaps to even include being memorialized in the Hall of Fame.

Over this past weekend I saw a broadcast of a music festival from last year that consisted of performers who were all from the 1980s.  Somehow, approximately 30 years later, their music is still relevant enough that fans turn out in large numbers, thus adding to legacies of music, instead of baseball, performers.

Then there is a pending Van Halen release, plus their appearance tonight on “Jimmy Kimmel Live.”  Established enough is a legacy that merits their also being on that same show tomorrow night.  Who else besides David Lee Roth could sit and do an interview of one hour and 46 minutes, as was the case with a podcast I listened to last week during a drive from Daytona Beach back to Tampa.  Amazingly, scores of people are that interested in what he has to say that not only can an interviewer fill up that much time with questions, but fans from the U.S. to Japan (where Dave has a residence) and numerous other countries happily sit for that long just to hear what he has to say.

And that brings us to you, the aspiring musician.  Where is your focus?  Are you destined to be a one-hit wonder or are you bound and determined to strive for stardom and be someone who the word ‘legacy’ is tied to (in a good way, of course)?

Study the greats.  Listen to interviews with them.  Read books on them.  And strive to be the best.  Don’t strive to do your best; but rather, strive to be the best.

Whenever you hear U2’s Bono interviewed, he always has something meaningful to say.  The guy could recite the alphabet and people would still hang on his every word, er, letter.  Hopefully you’re to the point where you’re getting interview opportunities.  Learn from them.  Use them as practice sessions and pay attention to how you come across.  Do you sound interesting?  Are your answers one word or, gulp, way too long?  (You need to be in the middle.)

Is your music something people will remember and still want to be hearing 30 years from now or are you just churning out songs for the sake of making music?  Think quality over quantity here.

The aforementioned upcoming Van Halen release will be a live album.  Are people having such a great experience at your shows that they’re something to consider getting professionally recorded?  Think about it.  If live performances are where you’re making your mark, then that might be the road that takes you to Jimmy Kimmel.  Be all about your music.  Don’t let it just be work for you.