About Vinnie James Expertise As an RCA recording artist, with a Grammy nomination, a charting single and several years of worldwide touring under my belt, I would be happy to take all questions regarding this category. You can visit my MySpace profile for more info at: www.MySpace.com/vinniejames.
Experience RCA Recording artist. My discography includes: "All American Boy," "Storm," and "Songs for the Long Journey," which was just nominated for best Americana album of 2007 by Jim Pipkin of HickoryWind.org. I've been involved in the music business, as a participant, (not a wannabe), since the late 80's.
Education/Credentials Two decades of real and consistent participation in the industry on a worldwide scale.
i was wondering how and what it takes to get discovered in the music world.
i have been playing guitar and bass just over 10 years now, i play and
practice everyday getting better by the hour. i play mostly in A, E and G. my
guitar style is Rock/Blues, Rock n' Roll and a little bit of heavy metal. so far in
my acquiring taste for this music i've learned different types of playing style, so far i've aced Steve Ray Vaughn, got jimmy hendrx down to a science, mixed
up and complicated eric Clayton, figured out glenn tippton, got angus young
down, and so on, what I've done is i've mixed all the styles i've learnt over the
years into one signature sound. i play a texas special strat, black with a
maple neck, crunchier and has a hell of allot more bite an crackle than a
standard strat. but my main question is, how in the world can i get discovered? i live in the middle of nowhere, small town up in the north. the
closest big city from were i live is Vancouver, and its 2 days away. unless you
consider grand prerie big (2 1/2 hrs away) so there's no one out here who'll
listen to me unless i play blue grass and country, and i've grown sick of that
crap, so if you can, please please tell me were i can record or get discovered
in some way.
Ryan.
Answer Wow Ryan... that's a huge question... getting "discovered," is something all musicians are trying to figure out, and it's different for each musician/group/artist... I'm going to share with you what I've discovered as a recording artist on RCA, and also from kicking around the music business over the past many years...
The most consistent way I know of for getting an artist "recognized" as an artist is to get the public behind them... It's rare these days for a company to invest dollars into an artist that is "unproven" in the public arena... Even when I first signed with RCA/BMG, it wasn't easy... but it was definitely easier than it is today... Record companies are struggling to stay afloat and just don't have the resources to find and produce music on the scale they once did... so getting "discovered" by a record label if a hit or miss thing... but there are other ways to make a living and get your music heard...
I know you mentioned you live in a small town... but the great thing is, if I'm not mistaken about this... you live in Canada...
Canada is one of the most progressive places to live in terms of assistance for people in the arts... and I don't just mean theater... I mean all the arts... This is something you can look into with councils on your local level and then branch out to those people in the larger cities... do a search on the Internet for "arts grants" in your area...
There's another thing you definitely don't want to overlook... When Don Henley wanted to get into to music, he teamed up with Glenn Frey and the Eagles were formed... they became a team... don't ever overlook this as a possibility... if you're a talented musician, there are others out there who are looking for you to show up one day and form a team... think about all the great bands... read their stories... most of them were like you.... great musicians on their own... and struggling to make something of their talent on their own... then, one day... George Harrison shows up... or Steven Tyler... or Art Garfunkle... and the next thing you know... you've got the Beatles, or Aerosmith... or Simon & Garfunkel... don't overlook other possible great musicians in your area... and think about placing a small classified ad in your local paper... it's cheap... and you'd be surprised the number of musicians out there looking for a good band to be in... of course, be selective... not everyone who answers the ad will have a high level of raw talent... but the great thing about an ad is... you can take your time... and really be picky...
Many people don't know, but I started out in a band called Rumbletown... and even though I saw myself as a solo artist... that band experience was the beginning of my career... and many of the contacts I made in the music business, I made while playing live with that band...
So in summary... I would look into arts grants in your local community and then in the broader community of your local cities...
Secondly... I would consider the notion of forming a team... a band... but I would be careful to be picky... have patience with the process and really wait for the right players to come along... once you've found a group of people who really enjoy each other... then experiment... and be open to whatever... even in terms of members of the band... don't limit yourself to what you may "think" the band should look like... be open and flexible... you just may end up with a cellist, a muted trumpet player and a harpsichord... but at the end of the day... it could be this combination that is different enough to get the attention of a pretty bored public...
One last thing... decide ahead of time what you're after as a musician... Personally, I'm a songwriter first.... it's more important to me to leave behind a body of groundbreaking songs than to make a fortune in the industry... you may want something different... but whatever it is... decide now... do you want to make a million dollars? It may not be necessary for you to write deep songs... just songs that sell to the masses... do you want to be remembered as a groundbreaking songwriter (as I do)? Then you won't worry about having to find another way to make a living... I think you can see where I'm going with this... once you have a clear vision of who YOU are... then you can begin to take that "you" out to the public... and it will be the honest "you."
Well Ryan... I hope this helps... feel free to ask further if something else should occur to you...
