“I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves ..’ – Mathew 10:16

I’ve done some gigs with some musicians who are lazy. Lazy to not bother to learn the tune. Instead, blagging around silly dim-wited rifts. Not cool. If you don’t like the gig opt out. You do yourself no favor’s professionally. Just my two cents. I like to be generous however I need to keep my sh*t legit from now on.

And then you have the ‘Stunt Queens’. The one’s who try to fake it till they make it. Learn off you. Tread on your coat tail. Flattering to an extent but when it becomes plagiarism and theft, that’s a whole new discussion.

Trust me. I’ve seen it all. What about the ones who sabotage you to make their work look authentic. Lost count of times, when my mic was sabotaged to make me sound flat or wrong chords were deliberated played to throw me off the melody.

In cases where you are singing on a small stage without monitors or inner ears – you could be totally oblivious to this misdemeanor. It’s career suicide if you don’t now how to recover from this quickly.

Anyway. Point is. Be very direct. If need be; be blunt. If it does not feel right there is  a genuine chance that something is off. Just make sure it’s not you. Insist on your work not being misrepresented. There are demonic fcukwit’s and professional shark’s out there. It can be daunting for singer-songwriters who want to hear their own chord progressions or arrangement as close as possible to their work.

You have to learn to swim with them off shore and be the bigger shark.  I spent so much time playing the humility card to a great degree with the uttermost respect – until I turned up for a church gig once and the producers told me my humility approach will get me run over like a truck. 

They even went further to break it down and told me my daughters will walk all over me if I didn’t get firmer with matters. That’s when I got the memo. Ding ding ding! Light bulb !!! Self love ..’

Don’t let anyone demonize you for insisting on your best ..’ 

I will not even hate you, nor discuss you (further); for that would be a waste of my good vibrations. I’d rather take a nap and think of mince pies and ginger tea! When I wake, I’ll write me a new song!

Whats your view? Share this with someone! Pass it on. About time ..’

Àrèmúorin – Anthony Everest is a Jazz, Soul-R&B Multi Award Winning Indie Singer-Songwriter, Author, Producer. No1, 49+ Weeks, Jazz Charts.

(C) 2017 MercyfulGrace / Anthony Everest

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