Going to College

College, for a musician, may cost you your career in music.   

I went to college.    I majored in music at the University of California, Santa Cruz, for two years.    Personally, I loved it there.  I met  fabulous, lifelong friends and had a great time.   However, I decided to focus on film scoring, which UCSC doesn’t offer, so I needed to transfer.

I was thrilled to be accepted to  Berklee College of Music in Boston.     Professionally, it was what I needed.  There were challenging classes, awesome teachers, and amazing student musicians.  I spent two years there, working  hard and learning a lot.   

College was generally a good experience for me.  It enhanced my musical skills, exposed me to people from around the world, allowed me time to mature, and maybe most importantly helped me find my musical niche.  Prior to going to Berklee,  I played various music genres  including rock, blues, electronic, cinematic, and even some rap.   At Berklee, I met some friends, Jordan Tarrant and Johnny Nicholson, who played  Americana/folk/rock music and I fell in love with a genre.  I found my calling. 

After college, I came home and with great enthusiasm and seriousness  began to  build my career in music.   So, why would college cost me my career?  Well, twice, since leaving college,  I have been told that I am almost too old to have a chance in the music industry.   Wow!  Really?  I’m better prepared as a musician, more mature as a person,  and have more depth in my songwriting; but now, in my twenties, I’m too old to succeed?   

Something is wrong with this picture. 

College for a musician?  I personally recommend it.  I am hopeful that I will find an audience for my music, even if I am SO old that I need a shave now and then.

At This Moment

So where am I right now in my music career? 

I’m young enough to be completely optimistic.  

I’m  lucky enough to have an incredibly supportive family, a network of fun and creative friends, and fabulous fans. 

 

And I’m crazy (stupid?) enough to head into a career where the odds of success are slim, the pay is minimal (unless you make it big), and the competition is intense. 

 More specifically, I’ve been working on building a music career for two years.  I began by writing a few songs and playing open mics.  Now, two years later, I am  headlining one of the biggest venues in my county, playing at a large wine festival (on the main stage), and just finished playing at the huge Stagecoach Country Music Festival  (in the family and camping areas).    I have some fabulous international fans.  I am in the process of recording an album.  I have two song placements, one in a commercial and one in a T.V. movie;  and I have won numerous “Best Song”  and “Best Performance” awards in local competitions.   I’m having fun and generally pretty happy.

On the other hand,  I am doing everything pretty much on my own including;  writing and performing music,  recording (including engineering, arranging,  editing, producing, etc), designing, ordering, and distributing posters and t-shirts, booking gigs, social networking (twitter, Facebook, MySpace, Reverbnation), web design, writing a newsletter and this blog, producing music videos, and even burning my homemade CD’s that are presently for sale.  I obviously don’t have a silver spoon or a team of people.  It’s very slow going.   

Lady Gaga researched fame and does what works in the pop world (extreme costumes, wild behavior, lights, dancers, etc.)  It’s a little different  in the Americana/folk genre.   We all try to write the best songs possible but what else can we do?  Chime in.  I’d love to hear from you.   What works?  What doesn’t? 

I’ll tell you more of my journey in the next blog.

Calling All Songwriters/Musicians/Artists

O.K world… Here I go.   I am writing a blog.  Who am I and why am I writing a blog?  Well, my name is David Luning and I am a 24-year-old aspiring singer/songwriter/artist/guy currently working full-time and super hard to create a career in music.  I realize that there are millions of us out there in the same situation and that is exactly why I decided to write this blog. I figure that perhaps we could help each other out.  I might be a little further along in my career than some of you and I know that there are tons of people further along than me.  Perhaps we could start a dialogue, share connections, ideas, successes, and failures.  Find out what works, and what doesn’t in this crazy world of  music.   So here’s my proposition.  I’ll tell you what I have done (and if it has been helpful or not) and I would love to hear  from you.

In my next blog I will begin by telling you where I am currently in my musical career, and then in future blogs I will backtrack, telling you what I have done in the past (the good, the bad, and the downright stupid).

I truly hope that you find this blog  helpful  and I hope to hear what you have to say about your own findings!