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Emily Burns
As Peter Griffin would say, "Ya know what really grinds my gears?..." Well, this week I would like to personally share something that has a tendency to grind my gears from time to time and is something that I have constantly found to be a determining factor in people's success (or lack of), YOUR ATTITUDE.
When I first took on duties two years ago as the bandleader of a Top 40's band (The Rhythm Shakedown) on a cruise ship for Royal Caribbean I was sooooo naive. But looking back on it all, because I was so naive, that only meant I had an enormous opportunity to learn and grown and boy did I ever. I wouldn't trade the experience and knowledge I gained from doing that for anything in the world. So what does that have to do with attitude you ask? EVERYTHING. Since those days, maintaining a good attitude has become numero uno with a bullet in my musician's guide to surviving. I now live by the rule of a good attitude will take you far......Considering that only a VERY small amount of the musicians around the world fall into gigs where they work for themselves and make a substantial living at it, a cruise ship gig is actually not a bad way to make a living as a muscian and it's much more obtainable than say becoming Lady Gaga's guitarist, or relying on your your band's album going platinum. Cruise ship gigs and other gigs on land just like it (corporate parties, weddings, casinos, etc) are all feasible ways that a musician can make a decent and steady income if they so choose to. BUT-and get ready cause there's a big 'but' with this-the hands down, number one rule of surviving and sustaining a career doing these kinds of gigs is to have a GOOD attitiude! It may seem obvious to some, but I have seen, first hand, from my experience working these kinds of gigs, that more often than not, a bad attitude is the first thing that gets someone fired. In my time as the bandleader for the Rhythm Shakedown, I had to fire two different band members for this exact reason-bad attitudes that were causing the whole group's job to be in jeopardy. I have also seen this happen, countless other times, in other situations. Having a good attitude really goes hand in hand with maintaining a professional demeanor. If you always strive to present yourself, as a professional, the good attitude really has a tendency to fall in place right behind that. Being a musician is the same as being a business person-you are constantly trying to sell your product-yourself! And just like in all other forms of business, a good interaction may not earn you awards for being the greatest thing around, but a bad interaction will surely earn you a reputation that will spread far and wide. In short, stay calm and stay cool! Don't be a fool!
Till next time-
E
