There’s a musician that I met some years ago who changed my life: his name is Voyce McGinley III and he’s one of my best friends (you can check out a video that we did together by clicking HERE). Besides being an unbelievable drummer, superb musician, and an undeniably kind and humble heart, he has a way about him that always results in him getting more gigs. I mean, it’s ridiculous. I remember going to a Return to Forever concert with him and separating at the intermission for about 20 minutes; I came back to our seats with half of a beer and he came back saying, “Sweet, I just booked enough gigs for the rest of the month.” I was blown away – How did he manage to do that?!?

I’ve never asked him his secret because I’m pretty sure I already know what it is (when you’re the best there is, you’ll get a lot of work), but one thing I started to do was watch him closely and pay attention to what he does when we hang out. Every time we’d go grab some food, play a gig, rehearse, or teach a class I’d always make note to observe the master in his natural habitat. And here’s what I’ve found:

He’s always looking for a gig.

I’ve never found anyone more hungry for playing music than Voyce. We’ll be at a restaurant, and if we are enjoying the food he will pull the waiter over and say, “Hey, you guys need a band here.” Sure enough, one week later we’d be playing there. Or someone will come up to us after the show and say, “Man you guys rocked!” This same person would end up becoming a life-long student of Voyce (no matter what his instrument was) that very same night. The point of the matter is this: his skills of music are matched by his skills of being a salesman.

And to an extent we all need to be that ‘salesman’ if we want to make music our career. We all need to possess this quality, whether we’re playing casuals, bars, recording studios or full nation-wide tours… We have to know how to market ourselves and find new work. Because unlike many other industries, show-business has no guarantees. You may have work today, but it can slow down to an unexpected halt at any moment.

So if you’re looking for work my advice to you is to be like Voyce; don’t wait for gigs to come to you, go make them happen! Don’t wait for the phone to ring, start dialing it now. There’s plenty of artists, bands, venues, managers, booking agents, and promoters out there looking for people just like you. And if you keep your eyes peeled for gigs you’ll end up finding them almost everywhere you go.