We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Eric Hagen a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Eric, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Do you wish you had waited to pursue your creative career or do you wish you had started sooner?

The thought of “should I have started sooner” or not is something I think about often. As a musician, being young is a key selling point. Most artists start out as a young adult, say in their early 20s. The industry expects that. You’ll be hard pressed to find a “successful” artist that started later in life. But there are pros and cons to both.

Starting out younger has it’s advantages as far as image and freedom. You’re much more marketable as a young adult. And you also have a lot of freedom. You may not have a career, a spouse, children etc. But it also comes with risk. If you don’t “make it” as a creative, you may find yourself in your 30s or 40s with little to show for it. No career, no savings, no family…

Although I played music as a young adult, I chose the “safer” path. You know, the one where you work towards a career and have a family. I always thought in the back of my mind that if I could get to a place financially, career wise, I could get back to playing music. And I did. I bought a business and I allowed myself the financial stability to get back to playing music on a regular basis.

That comes with sacrifice. It’s much harder being recognized, being marketable, being relevant as an older musician. (I’m 41). But, I wouldn’t change it. I wouldn’t have the family I do now. And that’s the thing that brings me back to earth if I ever have regret in my chosen path.

Eric, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I am an Americana music artist. I’ve always had a love of music. I used to go through my parents record collection as a young boy and want them to play the “Apple” records. Which, now I know, were The Beatles records on their Apple label.

I wrote some of my own music as a young man and played a lot of bars and clubs. Mostly playing cover songs for drunken crowds. And that could be a lot of fun at times. However, when faced with the fact that I would soon be a father, I decided that going into the music industry was just too risky. I took the safer route and worked on my career.

I got into the medical field and over the years worked towards my goal of owning my own business. Partly, so I wouldn’t have to work for anyone else, and also with the idea that I could one day get back to playing music on a larger scale. I figured that with owning my own business I could afford myself the freedom and financial stability needed to support my family with also supporting my creative ambitions.

I’ve been at that for about 3 years now. I got started post COVID. I’ve put out records independently, I’ve signed with a label, I’ve opened for and shared the stage with some well known artists. I have my own professional recording studio where I can not only work on my own music, but help others with their dream as well. Which allows me to be home more yet still satisfy my thirst for creating music.

This year I was nominated for 4 Josie Music Awards. The Josie’s are one of the largest independent music awards in the world. The awards show is held at the famous Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, TN and I am very proud of the fact that my name will be called from that stage. Whether I win or not is another story. But to be recognized for my songwriting amongst some of the best in the world is very gratifying.

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

Share, Share, Share. Fans/Followers of artists, musicians, creatives etc. can do a lot just buying sharing their content. Liking posts is nice but it doesn’t help artists with the algorithm or expose them to new followers. If you really enjoy a creatives content, the best thing you can do is like, comment and share it with others. It provides legitimacy to new followers. If they see that you, their friend/family member/fan like that creative and share their content, they are more likely to do so.

As a musician, I saw so many people in the audience taking pictures or video of a performance. But then I don’t see as many notifications of being tagged in posts etc. Don’t forget to tag the artists in your posts. It helps spread the word!

Oh, and buy their art!

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

Being a musician is hard work. It really is. I know that when you look at my social media, or any independent artist for that matter, you see a lot smiles, good times, accomplishments, big crowds…. But, the reality is there was a 6 hour drive to get to that gig, there was loading and unloading of gear, there were hours of rehearsal, there were empty rooms.

Truthfully, when I tell people how much work it took to play music for an hour people often ask why you would even do it.

And that’s just it. It’s that one hour that makes it all worth it. The total release from all stress and complication. Just for that moment. I don’t have to think about anything else. I don’t have to worry about anything. For that short period of time, you just get to entertain. You see people enjoying your story, your performance. The energy and lift it gives you is hard to describe.

That is the most rewarding aspect of being an artist to me. Most of us are troubled and tortured souls. And those few moments in between all the turmoil… well, that’s the feeling we chase the rest of our lives.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.erichagenmusic.com
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/erichagenmusic
• Facebook: https://facebook.com/erichagenmusic
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@erichagenmusic

Image Credits

Ty Helbach Photography, Chris Bishop, Cindy Harris