The Art of Creating Your Own Opportunity

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I recently wrote an article as a guest blogger on Pop of Colour about Maintaining a Steady Gigging Calendar Without Actually Having Gigs. If you haven’t already, go and check that article out. You’ll get some tips on how to keep a full schedule and diversify your gigs without having to depend on traditional booking channels. I was moved to write that article because I meet a lot of artists who would love the chance to play in front of an audience but have a hard time getting gigs and/or keeping a steady calendar. I was in the same situation when I first moved to Charlotte.

When I moved to Charlotte, NC in 2010 right after my decision to pursue music full-time, I had just gotten laid off from my corporate job. To say that I was under pressure was an understatement. I was completely overwhelmed. If launching a new career and moving to a new city wasn’t enough, I also had just gotten married and neither of us had any family or friends in Charlotte. It was a whole new ball game and the struggle was real. But I had to pursue my music dreams somehow, so my first order of business was to meet new people. I scoured Craigslist, checked out Meetup.com, did some volunteering, and made friends. My first couple of shows consisted of an open mic, a church event, and a house concert. Although, how I managed to convince someone to let me come into their home and sing my songs to their friends without much experience is beyond me.

+How to Book House Concerts
+How I Booked My First Winery Gig

The point is, I started from scratch with nothing – no contacts, no friends, no shows, and no experience. Needless to say, it was tough getting gigs. Not only did I not have any established relationships there, but there was an overall lack of venues willing to put singer-songwriters with no following on their stage.

“Creativity is more than just being different. Anybody can plan weird; that’s easy. What’s hard is to be as simple as Bach. Making the simple, awesomely simple, that’s creativity” – Charles Mingus

— The Crafty Musician (@IndieArtistsDIY) July 27, 2018

That’s when I learned a very important life lesson. The best opportunities are the ones you design for yourself. 

In his book, ‘Make it Reality: Create Your Opportunity. Own Your Success’, Cris Abrego, says that “getting past your fear is an essential stepping stone to making your dreams and goals a reality.”

Well I was fresh out of fear and had gone onto a new level of thinking. Necessity. Out of sheer desperation, I decided to produce my own events where I would be a featured performer. I networked with some fellow singer-songwriters and before I knew it, I had the workings of an Artist in the Round Series. I hosted the first one at my house, and amazingly, we had a full house. It was a huge hit! So, I networked with a few venues and made a case for letting me host an artist in the round series at their place for free. That’s when the Charlotte Singer-Songwriters and Poets Circle was born. We had an event every other month featuring 4 singer-songwriters and a poet sharing a stage doing what we love. This ensured that I would have a way to perform in front of an audience consistently. The experience gave me the stage experience I needed, allowed me to meet new people, and gain new fans.

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In that same year, I also did a show at a school, a charity event at an art gallery, and hosted an album release party, all shows booked without using traditional booking avenues. Even to this day, I still find myself exploring alternative ways to book shows when I have holes I need to fill in my schedule. Music venues don’t dictate our art. We do. We often get stuck in the pattern of thinking that we depend on venues, record labels, managers, and talent buyers to make us known. But we do that ourselves by making bold moves and taking risks. That’s the lifestyle of an artist. We’re here to challenge societal norms, traditional ways of thinking, and facilitate change. We disrupt patterns. It’s only natural that we end up applying that principle in our own career paths. Our livelihood depends on it.

[bctt tweet=”Opportunity is not just for lucky bastards. It’s for anyone who wants to seize it.” username=”IndieArtistsDIY”]

I think it was Oprah who said something like, ‘show me a problem, and I’ll show you opportunity.’  Opportunity is not just for lucky bastards. It’s for anyone who wants to seize it. Sometimes you have to get creative in order to make it happen. You’ll see in my guest post over on Pop of Colour’s Blog, how important it is to rely on your creativity to produce solid events and gigs for your calendar.

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Check out my guest post over on Pop of Colour (How to Create a Steady Gigging Calendar Without Actually Having Gigs) and take a look at the 5 ways you can still have gigs on your calendar in spite of not having any luck getting gigs.

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