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

Tony, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Can you take us back in time to the first dollar you earned as a creative – how did it happen? What’s the story?

The Neighbor’s Bistro in Waukesha, Wisconsin – December 2000… Some friends from school and I started our first band when we were freshmen in high school. We practiced in our guitarist’s basement, in our drummer’s dining room, and in my parents’ garage, until the police showed up on account of the volume. We practiced a lot and started to get pretty darn good.

My friend, Greg, played trumpet in our group. His parents ran a little restaurant downtown – The Neighbor’s Bistro. After hearing us play, they offered us an opportunity – our first gig outside of the school talent show. They were going to pay us, it was expected that we’d arrive early, start on time, help promote, etc.

We PACKED the place with friends from school and each of our families came. We played a two hour set and got paid $100 which we split six ways among the members of the band… the best $16 I ever made.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your background and context?

I write, record, perform, and teach music. Something that is unique about my story is that I am a professional guitarist and I was born with one hand. I taught myself to play by building a homemade adaptive cast on my arm out of a really tough tape called “Gorilla Tape.”

When I was first starting out in the music biz, I’d pack my 1998 GMC Jimmy to the brim with my PA system, guitar, and CD’s to sell. I drove that thing all over the United States playing every coffee shop, dive bar, and open mic I could.

As I started sharing my music and story, I started getting phone calls, emails, and Facebook messages from people all over the world who had differences and disabilities. Lots of parents who had kids born with hand/limb differences like mine began inviting me to their communities. My music venues started shifting to where I was visiting schools, churches, hospitals, summer camps, you name it!

I’ve now been to 47 states and dozens of countries singing, speaking, and striving to be encouraging to others… Music became my Mission.

Is there a mission driving your creative journey?

Music coupled with service is very important to me. I want to be excellent at my craft, and I want to use the gifts, talents, and abilities I’ve been given in service to others. I frequently partner with non-profit organizations benefiting youth, veterans, the disability community, etc. to bring awareness to their causes.

I work with Camp Blessing Texas in Brenham (a Christian summer camp that serves people in the Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities community). In the summer months, I lead worship services there 7 times a week, and the rest of the year, I get to be an ambassador for camp, and get to shout far and wide that this camp changes lives.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?

There are a couple of things I’d say here…

1) I’ve been a professional musician for 14 years. Some members of my extended family still don’t understand what I do for a living. They work in factories, or have more traditional 9-to-5’s and when they ask about my career they are confused by what I tell them.

2) One thing that people who do not work as creatives frequently say is “It must be so awesome that you just get to play music for a living!” It’s always said from a posture of respect and maybe even admiration. One thing I say every time I hear that is: “Yes, I love music and there’s nothing else I want to be dedicating my professional life to, but it’s a TON of work.”

Making music accounts for a fraction of my time, but there are taxes, emails, P&L statements, LLC documents, there’s tour booking, band management, social media, marketing, graphic design, web design, merchandising, PR, etc.

Successful creatives are entrepreneurial small-business owners.

I think it’s also just good for creatives, non-creatives, and everyone else to remember that not everyone will understand, know about, fully care, or engage with everything you ever do. In life we attract some people, we repel others, and I just like to put it on myself to be the best communicator I can be.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.tonymemmel.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tonymemmel/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tonymemmel
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tonymemmel
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/tonymemmel
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/tonymemmel