Talent, skill, luck, and work,,,

THIS

I think it was BB King that said “If you wanna learn your ‘tone’ lock yourself in with a guitar until you can’t see the frets straight and your fingers are bloody from playing all day everyday,,,  Then you will have your tone”

Skill,,,   Skill is from WORK,    you work at it, you get it eventually,  (and why I am just a mediocre bassplayer,,,)   when you  have skills, the talent MAY follow.    SRV had mad skills, but his TALENT,,,   without a question,,,   My Grandpappy,   Mad skills, but zero talent,  could play anything, but it was like listening to a recording, no heart, no soul, but mad skills.    Talent is more than just the practice, its something from deeper inside, and not everyone has it.   I think that is why I never really pursued the four strings like I did other aspects of the industry.   Hell, that lighting girl I mentioned, Sarah, mad as a hatter bass player,,,  I know my limitations, and there are things you CANNOT fake and talent is one of them.

But by the good lord, I have a voice,,,   Maybe I am only a parrot, but when I sing, people stop and listen.    Its why I did my own voice overs for ads when I was still “breaking in” while doing the bar scene.   Never recorded an album, but my voice has been heard all over the greater Cinci metro area at one time.

some people are gifted with talents.  Some have to work very very hard at them, but they all share that one thing, SKILL and those have to be worked at,    And sometimes, you get lucky and they pay off.  

When I was mixing in the bars, I used to help young bands out with motivation talks, show them how we could make them seem bigger than life with thier little 25 watt amps (Hide them behind the stacks faced to the band and miked up.  there were usually a few Marshal stacks on stage and made them look ‘more pro’ ), and tried to push them towards originals, not cover bullshit.  But I warned them, that it was work, drive and perseverance that made people successful.   And I also told them that for every ‘guitar god’ they knew by name, there were 30000 that they didn’t know with equal or better skills, but no drive or focus

And sometimes it is a matter of luck,,,   Being on the right stage at the right time when the right producer walks by, or being in the right studio when some major band is there and being overheard.  

Or like Bob Segar, getting seen by a secratary that thought he was ‘hawt’ and  kept slipping his demo into the bosses mail slot,,, (dunno if thats true or not, but its the myth I remember hearing,,,,)   Totally talented but needed that extra help from outside to be noticed, and the world is a much better place for it.

and you also have those that have the talent, but no desire for that level.   You have even heard one  of their tunes, everytime you hear a Micky D’s commercial,,,   I worked with them at a local gig in Louisville: they covered “spirit of Radio” by Rush,   Her singing and him on acoustic, and they NAILED IT, including the percussion, bass line and main riffs.    All on one guitar.

Or these guys.

lost my hearing b4 they hit it, never worked with them,,,,

These are the people that locked themselves away and played till their fingers bled,,,,

The man in the very first video,,,   He has a talent too.   I suggested his books here and if you watched his vid through, his writing style is similar, but he has the ability to take several ideas and boil them down to their essence,,,    And package it for sale,,,

I think that last is what a lot of talent is missing,,, how to package it,,,   sometimes you just get lucky

and sometimes you make your own luck,,,,

but what you never get around is: Ya gotta do the WORK,,,

(but, and maybe more importantly; You have to WANT IT,,, with every fiber of your being,,, )

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