The Art of the Sideman's Side Hustle

"Living the dream." It's the ultimate goal in your career; to make your work and your passion one and the same. For many musicians, this "dream" arrives when you can make a living solely through music, without the need for a day job or secondary income. But since the onset of the digital age in entertainment, what once was a prevalent career path is becoming more of a pipe dream. Record labels' budgets are decreasing, recording studios are downsizing, and the desire for "exposure" has saturated the market with an influx of musicians willing to play for rates well below minimum-wage. Salaried positions, the epitome of stability in our field, are few and far between, and can take decades of networking and reputation-building to earn. So in such a volatile field, how can fresh, unestablished musicians find a path to steady work?

For many of us, the path to success is, in fact, to utilize several paths at once. This methodology probably sounds familiar... consider another example of a high-risk, high-reward industry: the stock market. A stock broker will tell you that diversifying your portfolio is a key to stability; if some of your investments are down, maintaining a wide range of other stocks and bonds will help mediate those losses. The professional music world isn't so different. Some gigs are high-risk; they take a lot of sweat equity and creative energy, but have the potential to turn into chart-topping shows that send your art around the world. Starting a band, composing music, or working as a sideman for a brand new artist, for example, are generally higher-risk endeavors. On the other hand, weddings, cover bands, corporate performances, or tours with already-established artists are much less of a risk, but consequently lack the opportunity for upward mobility. Fortunately, as a freelance musician, you don't have to be exclusive to one of these types of opportunities, and can diversify your musical portfolio to utilize each to their advantages. If you have one project that is artistically fulfilling but isn't paying your rent (yet), you can fill the gaps in your calendar with those less-committal, "stable" gigs, generating the cash to keep your lights on without robbing you of the time you need to be creative. In time, your passion project may develop into your primary gig, or it may not, but those low-risk jobs can always pick up the slack should you decide to change directions or even abandon the passion-project for another. And avoiding financial dependence on a single band or artist is not only fiscally prudent, it also eliminates a dangerous stressor between you and your colleagues, so that you can continue to focus on what's most important: the music.

Diversifying your "assets" isn't the only way to increase your odds of success. In addition to investing your musical skills in a variety of projects, you can also invest in yourself in order to become a more- appealing hire to future clients. Think for a moment about all of the different people required to put on a show, or to make a quality album. In addition to musicians, there are lighting and sound engineers, producers, arrangers, tour managers, contractors... the list goes on. Each has a particular set of skills that gets them hired for the job, skills that are an integral part of making the production a success. For an artist or music executive, there is an obvious advantage in hiring individuals with skills in more than one of these fields; individuals that, when need be, can assist their colleagues on the job to keep things running smoothly. As a result, having at least a basic knowledge of fields such as sound engineering, lighting, photo/video production, or luthier/instrument repair is one of the most consistently prevailing traits I see in musicians who "get the big gigs." Being a great guitarist may earn you an audition, but being a great guitarist who knows how to run the band's monitor console (for example) gets you the job.

And as a working musician, the skills you need to build this versatility are probably already within your reach. At any given rehearsal, session, or performance, you will be working alongside professionals in these various disciplines, so don't be afraid to take time watching them work, asking questions, and learning a little bit of their craft on-the-job. Whether it's helping to patch lines, setting up lights and backline, shadowing an engineer and learning to run the console, or spending some extra time in a recording session to pick up on some tricks from an experienced producer or arranger, the "fake-it-till- you-make-it" philosophy actually goes a long way here. At the very least, your colleagues will appreciate working with musicians that "know the lingo" and respect the jobs they have to do, but it's also likely that you'll begin to develop some real skills in one of these fields. So consider taking some time to explore educational resources online or in your community that can help you hone that craft. Before you know it, you may find yourself as an equally hirable candidate for engineering, production, or instrument tech positions in addition to your work as a musician.

Eventually, the skills you develop on tour or in the studio may evolve into what we in Nashville call the "side-hustle": a job that, while not your primary career focus, generates supplementary income without significantly hindering your main occupation. A side-hustle could be in literally any career field, but as a musician, finding supplementary work in the music industry tends to be most convenient. For example, many of the musicians I tour and record with moonlight as sound engineers. They keep the same hours and in some cases even work at the same venues, so that when calls aren't coming in for musicians, they can fill the void by picking up a shift running sound. Engineering is a particularly useful side-hustle because it also supports your work as a musician. If you can competently dial in sounds and record your own tracks, you can begin marketing yourself as a remote overdub musician, recording tracks from home or on the road and charging clients per hour or per track. This is something I myself do quite regularly, and it's a great way to build your engineering and playing skills hand-in-hand. You can also record your own demos and engineer the sessions yourself; start marketing these services to clients and you're well on your way to becoming an independent producer. All of these new income streams emerge once you start developing that side-hustle. And engineering is just one great example; a similar methodology can be applied to jobs like guitar/drum tech-ing, tour management, or booking. In all of these instances, you gain additional income when performing gigs are slow, ample opportunity to expand your networks within the industry, and you save some capital by being able to provide these services (recording, instrument setups, etc.) for yourself.

Another category of side-hustles deserves special attention, as it is particularly useful for musicians on tour, and that is remote work: jobs that can be completed regardless of your location. Life as a touring musician comes with an inherent amount of down time, whether it's travel days on the bus, airport layovers, or even time spent in the green room waiting for load-in, soundcheck, etc. Rather than letting all this time go to waste, a resourceful musician can use it to generate even more opportunity. Arranging/ composing, photo & video editing, and social media marketing are all fantastic ways to take advantage of this down time. These "jobs" enable you to set your own schedule, be flexible with your other commitments, and can be done literally anywhere as long as you have a computer. Planes, trains, and automobiles are no obstacle to a remotely accessible side-hustle. I can personally attest to this, having brought in a great deal of work for myself as a freelance string arranger. I can write and edit charts from anywhere in the world while still committing to a rigorous touring schedule. Tour buses and airports may not be ideal spaces for practicing my instruments, but I can slip on a pair of headphones and put in quality time on an arrangement anywhere that I have a few free minutes. Think back once again to the stock market. A smart investor knows that they can exponentially increase their profit by reinvesting gains from one investment into other assets. So if you're already making money for your time on the road, consider re-investing your excess down time into your side-hustle. It's one of the most efficient ways that you can, once again, give yourself more stability without putting an unnecessary burden on your already hectic schedule.

Comparing the artistic world of music to the shrewd business of stocks may seem like a stretch at first. But the truth of the matter is that successful musicians, the ones that consistently get and keep quality gigs, know how to treat their music like a business, and how to make that business worth their clients' investment. So in addition to developing your repertoire and musical vocabulary in the practice room, remember to develop your business to promote job security. This exact mindset has helped me, as well as many of my colleagues, to get our feet off the ground in the Nashville touring & recording scenes without sacrificing time to a non-musical day job. By diversifying your roster of projects/gigs, you mediate financial risk and keep opportunities coming in. Following my graduation with a violin performance degree, I was able to fill the gaps in my calendar backing up singer/songwriters on acoustic guitar, which required little time commitment, but helped me make ends meet for several months until I landed an audition for a full-time tour. By investing in yourself, you become a more hirable candidate for future work by learning the ropes of other jobs in the industry. On countless occasions, I have been chosen for gigs over other musicians because of my ability to assist with sound engineering, instrument/gear repair, and production/artistic direction. Playing multiple instruments, even if solely to communicate better with your colleagues, is also a huge plus.

Finally don't be afraid to reinvest the time and money you earn with your primary gig into a side-hustle, especially if it's work that supports your main job hand-in-hand. I currently draw steady income from touring, local cover gigs, weddings & private events, recording sessions (both remote & locally), and as I mentioned earlier, freelance arranging & sheet music copyist work. If I tried to source all of my income from just one of these many "hats" that I wear, I would have neither the comfortable standard of living nor the consistency of work that I have come to count on as a freelance musician. But again, by being a smart investor, operating several income streams, and using those successes to fuel more opportunity for myself, I have survived for nearly a decade in Nashville without the need for a day job. "Living the dream" today might look a little different than it did 30 years ago, but by building a diverse resume and being adaptable, it's still a dream worth chasing as a career musician.