We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Elliott Genther. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Elliott below.

Elliott, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Have you been able to earn a full-time living from your creative work? If so, can you walk us through your journey and how you made it happen? Was it like that from day one? If not, what were some of the major steps and milestones and do you think you could have sped up the process somehow knowing what you know now?

Earning a full-time living from as a musician is not rocket science, but it’s no walk in the park, either. Like anything, it can be a grind at times. At others, one of the most rewarding feelings. I will start by saying this…A lot of people might think of success in the music business as a one or zero, you either make it big or you don’t. The reality is that there is a “middle class” in our world. If you’re talented and you put in the work to build relationships, deliver consistently, and remain adaptable, it’s not unrealistic to make a respectable living singing and playing an instrument. I know this because in our little trio, two of us are full time musicians. One of us prefers a day job with the added bonus of a nice second income. But over these last 15+ years, we’ve gone from playing late night gigs for 70 bucks a person at dingy bars to signing NDAs and playing for former Vice Presidents and pop stars, and everything in between. Here’s the gist of how we got to that point.

First things first, your band has to have good chemistry. This obviously applies to being able to make good sounding music, but it’s just as important to have good chemistry “off the field”. Early on when finding your band, be selective. You’ll play gigs with folks and you either see the potential or you don’t. Keep looking and you’ll find a group where everyone seems to compliment one another or rounds an area out. In our little unit, one was a great front man who could carry a crowd and write one hell of an original song, one was a gear junkie would could troubleshoot a PA in a pinch and play just about anything well, and the last was a mandolin player would could be a little flashy and was good selling the band and playing diplomat. So in short, to make a living as a musician, you just gotta have a good band. It’s a simple concept at its core, but there’s a lot going on under the hood.

Another thing that almost goes without saying is that the market you’re in needs to have a demand for your product, and you need to understand and adapt to it, change with it, and be flexible (without being afraid to say no or set boundaries). We are a bluegrassy rootsy band in Charleston South Carolina. There is a niche for that here. Our city is a popular tourist destination, has a thriving food and beverage scene, is a popular destination for weddings and corporate events, and so much more. A well manicured acoustic set serves as a nice accessory to many of these spaces.

We cut our teeth early on in the bar scene. We were younger then. But the weekly gigs at our favorite bar gave us the space and freedom to meld as a band. We gave ourselves the freedom to take risks, we figured out what worked, we became closer friends thru the experiences we shared, and probably most importantly, we started making connections. For example, the owner of the aforementioned bar had a wife who was a wedding planner. I’m pretty sure that’s how we landed our first wedding gig. And in an instant, we had our foot in the door and we were no longer just a bar band. They paid better, naturally, and gave us invaluable experience by presenting different problems to solve. So early on, building your craft and relationships is key. One planner turned into a dozen, and as we showed up and performed well time and time again, as the years went on they would call on us for more gigs. We started to understand our market much more intimately and made it a point to test it out. “Do people pay this much for a wedding? They do? Really?! Let’s keep pressing the envelope and see how far we can take it…” That was our mentality, and it turns out an expensive bluegrass is much more affordable than a 10 piece party band from out of town. So we are getting paid really well and our clients typically feel like they are getting a good deal. Win win.

As things scaled, it became increasingly stressful and difficult to manage our business. So many gigs, so many details to keep track of. So naturally, we started to rely more a more on a local booking agency. Ultimately, we handed over a majority of our booking to them. We have a great relationship and they have taken so much off of our plates and kept our calendar full, and worth their weight in gold (they take a 20% cut).

So I guess our story is a pretty simple one. Find your tribe. Hone your craft. Build relationships. Be reliable. Pull in a trusted partner to help manage the nuts and bolts. That’s how we did it.

The last thing I’ll mention is that while we are a trio at heart, we have also built a network of musical friends and we rely on them. We change our band up from time to time. The gig calls for a drummer? We have one of those. Need a five piece, no problem. One of is out of town? Got a great filler for ya. Two high paying gigs you say? Divide and conquer. This approach has been instrumental, ahem, to our success.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

We are all 40 somethings who live in the Charleston area. Each one of us grew up playing music in some shape or form. I’m not sure how we found one another (I’m pretty sure it was Craigslist, which was like a dating site for musicians back when ha), but as the years when on this person knows that person and we have built a musical network.

In terms of our services, we are a band obviously. But we look at every gig as a problem to solve in a way. I think a big part of our success stems from our desire to make things as smooth and easy for our clients as possible. I don’t know how many times a client has heard me say “all we need is a plug for power and we’re good to go”. And I mean it. We are not afraid to walk into situation and make executive decisions if we are lacking direction, and we are not shy to offer our opinion, respectively of course, if we think we have a good idea. But we are also flexible, collaborative, and accommodating.

I think what truly sets us apart is our ability to read and adapt to a crowd. If people are leaning in to hear one another talk, we turn it down a bit. If we’re playing to a room full of people and grandma is really digging it, we hone in on grandma. What do you want to hear Grandma?! Bette Midler? We got you. The point is, we always try to make it special, to find the unlock. We’ve played corporate events where the CEO write our booking agent and says, “that was the most engaging and fun band we have ever had, and we do these events a lot!” Well, that’s because you guys were fun and engaging. We will always meet you halfway and them some. I can’t count the number of times we have turned a rehearsal dinner into wedding reception, or a corporate event into an HR nightmare. But for every knockout gig, there is one where we show up, do our job, everyone is happy, and we all go home in one piece. We will meet you where you are at.

So I’m proud of our little band. We play the music we want by and large. Originals, covers, you name it. Anything that we think might be a good fit for whatever moment we find ourselves in. I’m proud of the relationships we’ve built along the way. I’m proud of how much we have learned over the years and the wisdom we have gained from it. It has allowed us the ability to predict, anticipate, and truly provide a meaningful experience for our clients. All of the hard work we have put in and the experiences we have had, good and bad, have given us the ability to walk into any gig with the confidence that we can make it work.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

I’m not sure that I can speak for my musical friends, but personally the most rewarding aspect of being a creative is pretty simple. I could lose my job, my house, whatever, but no matter what life throws at me, deep down I know that if I can pick up a guitar and strum a chord and sing a song, I’ll at least have that. I had that when I had nothing, and somehow back then it was more than enough. Underneath everything else there is a kid who picked up a guitar for the first time and enjoyed the hell out of making sense of it. It’s an endless journey. And when the thought of losing everything crosses my mind, I’m not kidding when I say that one of my first thoughts is “Well, if that happens, I’d probably get some good songs out of it!”. That’s priceless to me.

How did you build your audience on social media?

The interesting thing for us is that our social media presence is pretty minimal. We have Facebook and Instagram and a website. But these are highly neglected and lazily maintained. The thought of putting a lot of energy into those spaces to grow our business is not daunting in and of itself, but if the end goal is to get busier, we are pretty busy as it is. Social media can and does play a crucial role in many businesses. But I will maintain that in the music business, especially if you are performing for a living, relationships are paramount. Showing up on time, being personable and easy to work with, and making an honest attempt to adapt to every crowd you find yourself in front of is more important than anything. A good social media presence might help you get hired once, but it won’t help you get hired for the next event your client is putting on.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.greenlevelsmusic.com
• Instagram: @thegreenlevels
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/greenlevels

Image Credits

These are personal photos that we have the rights to.