I just had an incredible month! Sometimes my job is a combination of rewarding, fun, great music, great people, relationship building… and work!
While a lot of my work is helping independent artists (which I love a lot) and teaching (like at New Music Seminar, or Berklee College of Music, or Canadian Music Week), I also work with some of the most well known artists in the world.
While exhilarating, it can also be awfully stressful at times! At times I feel confident, like I belong, and they need me; at other times, I look around and see people who work with Pink Floyd, Pink, Prince (a lot of p’s here!), and I feel out of my league… because it’s just me. These guys are giants! Who am I kidding?
Then I hear a still small voice that says “you were meant to do this. This is your calling.” So I push on. And so should you! I don’t care where you are in the process. If this is what you feel you are called to do, what you were created to do, what you should be doing… do it!!
At times it may seem overwhelming. But find the courage to take at least the next step – it’s usually obvious. I often talk about “getting a vision for your show.” Well this is the place you need to have “vision” too. You need the faith and courage to take that next step, even if the vision is a little fuzzy. Then take the next step, and then the next step, and then the next step… at some point in the future, you’ll get that clarity and vision again. There are seasons for everything.
If I weren’t a Live Music Producer I’d probably be an interior decorator. I constantly have people come into my office or other rooms I’ve decorated and say “dude, could you come do my room?” What they don’t realize is that I don’t always have a vision for the room. But I do always have a next step, which leads to the next, which leads to the next… When it’s all said and done, it’s an awesome room. I love it and it’s a design that feels right and pleases the eye – and most people love it.
So I encourage you – have the courage and the faith to take the next step! And the next step, and the next step, and the next step… Even if you’re breaking new ground and going into areas where you’ve never been before. That’s exactly what you’re supposed to do. Don’t shrink away from it! You can do this. It’s not the end; it’s just the beginning.
Tom Jackson, world renowned Live Music Producer, has developed the Live Music Method, an onstage method to make your live show engaging and memorable, exceeding audiences’ expectations, creating fans for life. He’s worked with nearly every genre, impacting 100s of major artists such as Taylor Swift, Jordin Sparks, Jars of Clay, The Band Perry, Divine Brown, plus a multitude of independent artists.