What I Learned My First Year as a Full-Time Musician

I remember receiving the phone call that began my professional career as a worship leader. I was singing at a summer camp in Texas. It was Monday morning, July 28, when the assistant manager at the restaurant I worked at in Nashville called to inform me that I had been fired. When I got off the phone, I was stunned and in shock. I had 2 performances scheduled and 1 month in savings, a 4 song EP, and a 12 hour drive back to Nashville. In a daze, I stumbled into the chapel on campus. "Jesus, it's all on You. I need a miracle".

Twelve months later, I've had a #2 record on iTunes, performed in front of 15,000 on the main stage at Lifest, and landed a spot opening for 2 major Christian acts on a packed, fall tour. This year has been the wildest ride of my life. Here are the biggest lessons I’ve learned as full-time worship musician:

1. God’s Law NEVER violates God’s will

It’s a mantra I repeat to myself each time I get anxious about an upcoming bill or expense. God cannot lie. He will never forsake or abandon me. He is faithful. I'm confident that life as a worship leader is where God is calling me, yet oftentimes, in order to be obedient to that call, I must take big risks ...risks that look to the outside world as downright foolish: starting a trip when there's not enough money to get home, flushing my savings to pay for a photo shoot, being honest in a business dealing where the norm and the easier thing to do is to be dishonest...

Yet every time, when God has asked me to give him everything, He has returned onto me seven-fold. When circumstances were impossible, God provided. Each. And. Every. Time.

Whatever your big dream is, pursue it with reckless abandon. If it's truly God's will for your life, everything - from bills to family responsibilities to your daily business practices - will be provided for, because God cannot lie. His will for your life will never violate His law.

2. Stop seeing other musicians as competition, and start referring to them as either friend or “Standard Bearer”

In the beginning, I was deeply intimidated by artists who were better or further along than me. At parties I wouldn't speak to them, I'd certainly never ask to hang out with them, and I feared ever having to share a stage or play a venue that they had previously played. But then, one day, I watched this guitar player I knew get the chance to meet a world-class player. My friend's reaction astonished me. "Dude," he began, "I am such a fan of that last record you put out. I've been trying to learn that rift, but I can't quite get the finger pattern down. How did you do it?" I watched the two musicians bond and at the end of their discussion, my friend's skill had improved and he had also endeared himself to the professional. Today, that friend is playing full-time and enjoying a successful career. 

The truth is, we're only going to be as good as the company we keep. If you want to be a better player, spend time with the better players, learn from them, be mentored by them.  See them as either a friend or the standard bearer for how much more you need to learn and strive for. This is also a truth when looking at musicians rising below you. If a newer act is having momentum, rather than fear that they'll eclipse you, befriend them, and then step up your game. 

3. Persistence and work ethic will always beat talent 

One of the most trying experiences I had this year was on a flight next to another new, Christian artist. As the plane was taking off he said, "I don't understand why you're having such success right now. I mean, no offense, but I'm a better singer than you, a better musician and I'm a really good songwriter."

That comment was the crack that quickly opened the flood gate of insecurity. I began to get really anxious before performances, convinced that it was only a matter of time before people realized that there were better singers out there, better writers, and better musicians. 

Before the year had passed, that artist on the plane, frustrated by his lack of growth, gave up the dream, left Nashville and moved home. I watched worship leaders change genres, hoping to find more success in pop music, only to attend a party and hear that they were quitting too, and starting graduate school in the Fall. 

I remember a coffee date with a struggling artist, one who I had identified as better than me. "Well, have you reached out to media outlets in your niche?" "No," he replied. "How often are you updating your social media and writing new songs?" "Eh, I don't really like doing those things," he responded. Then he looked at me, "hey, how did you book that gig two weeks ago?" Confused, I responded, "I called and asked. Have you ever asked anyone to let you come and play?" He looked down at his coffee cup, "no." He still hasn't been able to quit the day job. 

The biggest lesson for me was that this business has never been about being the most talented, because if it were, I certainly would be out of a job.

No matter where you see yourself on the talent spectrum, keep trying, keep moving. You're only gonna get better, and your fan base will only keep growing.

4. There are NO gate keepers 

I’ve seen a lot of Christian musicians (especially in the Catholic market) really sabotage their chances of success this year because they THINK certain publishers or promoters are the “key” to success in the market. They focus all of their time and energy trying to get their attention, impress them, to "be chosen."

Here's the hard truth, the thought that any one person is the gatekeeper to your success is a myth. It’s not true. We live in the digital age - your "big break" can be anywhere and sometimes you've got to make it for yourself. Even more often, you're going to need a string of "big breaks" to ensure continued success.

Your leverage as an artist is not the label guy but your fan base - and nothing will motivate that big business player to work with you than recognizing that you are leading a proud and excited fan base. 

Which brings me to my next lesson,

5. More than labels, radio promoters, and managers, the FANS are the most important person in your life. Treat them accordingly. 

They are literally the pillars who hold you up and allow you to live the life of an artist - without their support, you would still be working as a bartender. If the idea of strangers wanting to get to know you frustrates you, if you have to keep “your privacy” and refuse to update your social media, if you don’t want to do the meet-and-greet after the show, then please, find a new career. 

These guys are your best friends, your allies, your cheerleaders. Love them, thank them, and always treat them with the respect and dignity they deserve.

6. If you’re not regularly facing your demons, you’re not doing it right

If you spend a lot of time with me, you've heard this a bunch: That which is most sacred is most profaned. The enemy attacks things in the order of how holy they are. That which is most holy gets attacked first, with the most intensity and ferocity - and everything else get attacked according to the degree of its holiness.

In the human experience, what makes a person holy, but fidelity to God's will. Your faithfulness and obedience to God's call is both what makes you holy AND what the enemy is most attacking in your life.

Meaning: if your call in this life is to be a musician, than this path is going to be a minefield of anxiety, doubt, fear and insecurity. 

But why is this so?

As I try to make sense of it I've come to think that it is through the wounds of Christ that we are healed, and thus, as persons made in Christ's image, it is by facing our own wounds that Christ heals us. God doesn't just want you to be a successful musician, he wants you to be a holy one, one without fear, one without doubt, one living fully alive. But love can only cast out fear if we first face it.