No Reason NOT to Collaborate

I was sad recently to hear about a hardworking musician that I know who isn’t currently working in a band environment.  While this person isn’t someone I am in continual contact with, I do know that there had been some good things happening for the group this person was with, including bookings in one of the “big three” U.S. cities for music.

I won’t hide from the fact that I’ve always said that you shouldn’t be in a big hurry to start or join a band right away.  There are factors such as schedules, egos, splitting the pay, and more that don’t come into play when you stick with being a solo act.

However, my blog this week is for those who are past that stage and for one reason or another suddenly find themselves on the outside looking in.  Take hope in knowing that all is not lost and you don’t have to give up just because the project you were with is over.

Back when I first started “Now Hear This Entertainment,” if I knew that so many guests would talk about people that they’ve met and how they’ve met them (to work with), I would’ve kept track so as to have an accurate count.  Suffice it to say, it has been a lot.

Mind you, it doesn’t have to go to this “extreme,” but, many people that I’ve interviewed have talked about co-writers, musicians, producers, and more that they’ve ended up collaborating with in other countries!

Everyone likes to joke about Al Gore having invented the Internet.  Regardless of its origin, the Web has become a tremendous asset for the worldwide music community, making it all of a sudden not feel so big at all.

Yes, guests have actually told me that they’ve linked up with someone because of Facebook.  Most people probably think it’s YouTube, although that seems to be more the “getting discovered” site for, say, casting companies.

In the case of NHTE, early on I knew that the show had to be on SoundCloud.  After all, that’s where musicians “hang out” online.  And indeed, I have seen the show get listeners from over 125 countries on there.  So yes, I am practicing what I preach.

We have the Facebook group so that people can meet and talk to each other online there, regardless of time zone or location.  And certain groups on that social media platform are specifically tailored toward playing matchmaker for musicians looking to join up with others.

Collaboration is a big theme on “Abbey Ridge Live,” the live, online, in-studio concert series that I am the Associate Producer of and is readying for its second season.

There’s no reason to be an out-of-work musician in this day and age.  Do your thing solo while you mine the above platforms and it’s just a matter of time before you are teaming up with one or more artists.

Talk about your experiences doing so here.