Being a musician has never paid my bills, but it’s my dream and I just can’t let go of it.
I work whatever dead end job I need to work to make rent for the month, and keep myself in beer and smokes, and then I spend all my free time writing and performing.
I will play whatever bars or taverns around time want to give me an open tab, and it never translates to any kind of payment beyond that. Then one night I get a weird job offer, after I finish my set. A local HVAC contractor was there at the bar, and asked if I could write a jingle for his radio ad campaign. I laughed, thinking he was joking, and besides I don’t know anything about air conditioners to write a song about! Then he told me how much he would pay me for it, and I believe my response was “I’ve always wanted to write a song about an air conditioner.” He was a very cool guy, and gave me an overview of heating and cooling systems in general, telling me not to worry about the details too much. Basically he needed a catchy tune that included the name of his Heating and Air Conditioning business, and nothing else really mattered. It took a couple of weeks, and then I brought my guitar down to his HVAC offices and just played it for him and his crew. I threw in a 10 minute guitar solo for free, even though I knew it wouldn’t be part of the HVAC tv advertisement.