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

Justyn, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Learning the craft is often a unique journey from every creative – we’d love to hear about your journey and if knowing what you know now, you would have done anything differently to speed up the learning process.

I spent a lot of time trying to learn songs as a teenager. After picking up my first instrument, the saxophone, I quit after about a week. Eventually, I convinced my parents to buy me an electric guitar at age 15; I would spend hours learning whatever information I could get my hands on, from magazines or things a family friend had scribbled on legal pad. I only had about a month’s worth of lessons from a local music teacher before eventually doing most of it on my own. We eventually had an internet connection but it was dial-up, meaning it was painfully slow and trying to stream music and videos the way we do now was impossible. Sending an email could take 45 minutes. That restricted my learning to be mostly by ear in the beginning. I would eventually use my experiences from music classes at school (which I had quit entirely) to start reading music on the guitar, and it would take me six months or so to carve out the guitar parts to Stairway to Heaven by Led Zeppelin, my first reading project. From there, I was able to bull**** my way into college and finally Musicians Institute for a short year of world class instruction and what seemed like non-stop music education. I would eventually move home, and from there I started saying yes to every music project that I was offered.

I would have sought out a real music instructor sooner. I would have tried going to more instructors. I think the passion I had for guitar made it easy to put long hours into it; however, my approach to education outside of my house should’ve been more well rounded. I grew up in a small town so we didn’t have many guitarists, but that doesn’t mean you can’t pick up other instruments and learn things about music that aren’t necessarily centered around guitar. Having patience and the will to continually work on a piece of music or exercise until it’s as good as you could possibly play it is the most necessary. You have to find enjoyment in that. Even growing up in a rural community, with fewer musicians to play with and even fewer opportunities to play, you can excel if you really want it bad enough. I think that is true for any pursuit, and people will find a way if they really want something for themselves.

Justyn, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

As a musician, I really stick to the fundamentals. I am a live performer, a side musician for hire, songwriter, and private music instructor. If you need a guitarist in the genres of blues, rock, funk, soul, R&B, country, or Americana, I’m your person. I also have a small roster of students at any given time, where I teach everything I know to all skill levels and all ages.

I love music and I love sharing it with people, whether it be through private or public performances, studio work, songwriting, or teaching. I have played multiple styles of music for many years and have lots of experience in the setting of live music especially. I’ve also been responsible for running sound and music at weddings and events and was featured in an interview with Brides.com a while back.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

I want my career to be sustainable. Some people think the music industry is all about fortune and fame but a lot of us simply want to make a living, pay our bills, go see the doctor once in a while, and spend quality time with our families. In the process of creating a music business that provides such things, you end up with employees who become friends and a whole ecosystem emerges from you putting yourself and your art out there. I want to build that system so we can continue spreading love and music. I’m driven by being my own boss, and being able to create my own life. I’ve had the “9 to 5” type jobs before and to me, those jobs are easier. Less hours, less work. But I never felt fulfilled helping build someone else’s dream. I wanted to build my own.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

During the pandemic, there wasn’t much to be had in the way of performance work. I was in a fortunate situation to be able to take some of that downtime and: learn to sing; work on my songwriting; and start crafting a brand for the new direction. This would require vocal practice almost every day, in addition to working out the usual coordination issues that come with playing and singing simultaneously. With some patience and elbow grease, I prevailed and was able to grow a new branch of my music career into something bearing real fruit. Fast forward to this summer, where I landed a spot at The Festival at Sandpoint opening for the illustrious Blues Traveler. It was a moment where I was able to finally steer the ship in the way that made sense to me and my own career. It was a slow start, but I had honestly never thought I would be a singer. It’s still a daily pursuit and something I work on constantly. I’m far from the best, but it shows that you don’t need a lot to pivot and put yourself out there. You need ambition, drive, patience… So when the right moment presents itself, you’re in a position to jump on an opportunity and make the most of it.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.justynpriest.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/justynpriest/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/justynpriestmusic/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@JustynPriest

Image Credits

Gordon Smith III, Robin Hankel, Mariah Flores, Mariah Flores