If Jack White said...

Rockers!  Comrades!

  Happy Summer.  It's been hoppin' over here.  Went to the New Music Seminar in NYC to write for Dotted Music.  This interview just hit.  Beat Mickey Mouse in Times Square in a Cigar Box Guitar dance-off, and heaped Zumba taunts on him.  Ah, I love the Big Apple.

  I've been mulling an idea for a while that, if applied, can make each and every one of us rockstars.  Then again, so could most any idea in any self-help book.  It's the dedication and the application that count.

  However, the New Music Seminar gave me some fresh insight on it.  I tend to approach the business side of my music with a 1970's mindset of needing a cigar-smoking executive to say "you're gonna go far, kid."

  This emphasis on the value of approval doesn't fit my world for two reasons:

1.  That's not how things always work anymore.  The "new music industry" has many avenues to success now, from Vine stars to traditional labels.  But this is old news.

2.  In a crowded playing field, I sometimes think "ah, if Jack White only called me to go on tour, then things would change."  Perhaps you've thought something similar.  However, here's the deal:  If Jack White called me right now, I would have to put him on hold while I freaked out first, then realized that I don't have a show built that could play his tour.  So, the problem isn't with Mr. White.

  This is quite empowering.  There's no gatekeeper keeping me out in the cold.  So, time to throw all the junk out of the garage, and build that show.  It's the old "dress for the job you want, not the job you have" idea.

  This isn't to say that I'm just sitting around.  Well, I am blogging right now, but still, I'm plenty busy and work very hard.  I'm excited to tweak this for the long game, though.  And get that music factory going in the garage!

  So, just a few New York thoughts for you.  Stay tuned for more.  It was such an experience, from getting to interview American Author's James Adam Shelley, to jamming on the street, and of course, chatting with such a diverse and ambitious industry.  (Oh, and again, the defeat of Times Square mascots means that I'm the alpha mouse, and I take great pride in that.   #SupMinnie?)

- Josh