Observations from the Road - by Adam Larson

I recently toured the Midwest with my trio from NY, covering Texas, Missouri, Illinois and Iowa. From September 30th-October 18th, the trio performed and presented masterclasses/clinics at a slew of venues ranging from my former elementary school to universities and of course a slew of jazz clubs along the way.

I've noticed that especially at the collegiate level, students are often inquisitive about how to actually make their art successful; how to sustain creating their art. I've said this many times in masterclasses but I'm pretty certain that most students in a performance based, jazz specialized degree, do not set out to go to school for 4-6 years, only to do something completely unrelated to that specialization upon graduation. Sadly, that is the trend more often than not. I'm sure we all know someone who has got dark on the "business" and decided that they can't make a living out of their path and chooses to follow a different career path. Are people not allowed to change their minds? Of course they are, but, again, I would be willing to bet that most people set out to make music their profession and I think that as young musicians we can be doing more to ensure that we have the best chance of succeeding in that desire, especially while one is in school. I equate practicing, performing and composing as muscles that we have to learn how to develop to become great musicians. One muscle that could definitely use some more attention is the music business muscle. The more we develop this muscle, the better we become at it and our longevity in this career path depends on it.

Contrary to popular opinion, tours CAN and do turn a profit. I can almost guarantee that without management and a lot of hype, a young musician will have a hard time making much on a tour after all the related expenses, by ONLY playing clubs. I've found that seeking out educational opportunities to present masterclasses at universities and high schools, has increased earnings for myself and my band members significantly. This past tour, we did 28 things in about 17 days. From those 28 things, I would say 60% were in some way educationally based and the other 40% were strictly performances. A major key to the band's success on this past tour was the willingness to look at any and all scenarios that would provide for extra funding and hopefully spread the music to a varied audience. For instance, on more than one occasion we presented "jazz for kids" performances at the elementary and jr. high level, which exposed an entire demographic to the music and also came with the added benefit of padding the days financial earnings.

Seeking out non-traditional venues to perform and showcase my music has been very rewarding and has helped establish a relationship that has ensured that when I come back through certain areas, I always have a place to work. I would encourage anyone looking to book tours and opportunities for themselves to get creative in their line of thinking. There are people out there who are interested in the music; it's up to us to actively seek them out.