Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Josh Vietti. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Josh, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Earning a full time living from one’s creative career can be incredibly difficult. Have you been able to do so and if so, can you share some of the key parts of your journey and any important advice or lessons that might help creatives who haven’t been able to yet?

I’ve been earning a full-time living as a professional musician since 2006. I’ve always been practical and started out as a street performer. I recorded original music out of my apartment, pressed my own CDs and sold over 50,000 CDs on the street between 2006 – 2011. I treated it as a full time job, set sales goals and didn’t leave until I hit certain numbers daily. It was a grind and I would often start my day at 5am and end around midnight. I’d drive from Orange County, CA to Los Angeles and “set up shop” and build crowds and sell CDs. I’d even show up when it was raining, because that meant no one else would. When the rain subsided, tourists came out and I had the streets to myself. It felt like I was on the show Deadliest Catch and had all the fish to myself haha.

I had my first break in 2010 and was hired to play a violin street performer in an NBA All-Star Game Commercial featuring LeBron James, Dwayne Wade, and narrated by actor/rapper Common. In 2011 I had my second break and went on the Ellen DeGeneres show and was called by Las Vegas the very next day to perform at ARIA Resort & Casino. After that I started playing at major events, including Michael Jordan’s Celebrity Invitational where I performed for Michael Jordan and opened up for singer/songwriter Ne-Yo. That was just the beginning.

Since then I’ve performed in a commercial on ESPN that aired every Sunday on the NFL Countdown, then was invited to perform LIVE on ESPN’s Sunday NFL Countdown, playing serval songs throughout the show. I toured over 300 colleges across the US, then started performing at major jazz and wine festivals across the US, including the Catalina Jazz Festival, Jacksonville Jazz Festival, Seabreeze Jazz Festival and many more.

I have also dominated the event entertainment industry, landing gigs with companies such as Google, Microsoft, SpaceX, Lowes official Super Bowl pre-party event, the LA Dodgers and Dell Boomi.

Where I have made the biggest splash though has been in mainstream music. After my Instagram video of “Living My Best Life” by Lil Duval went viral, Lil Duval invited me to perform with him LIVE at New York’s Powerhouse in 2018 on the main stage with a lineup including Cardi B.

In 2019 I performed to a sold out crowd at the world famous Carnegie Hall in New York City, warming up the stage for international Latin comedy superstars Franco Escamilla and Gabriel “Fluffy” Iglesias.

Then I had the privilege of performing for the iconic rapper and record producer Dr. Dre at The Game’s 40th Birthday Party, and also performed LIVE with Houston rapper Trae Tha Truth opening for hip-hop legend Snoop Dogg at the House of Blues Houston. After the show Trae introduced me to Snoop and I did an impromptu jam session with Snoop to the classic song “Nuthin But A G Thang” by Dr. Dre featuring Snoop Dogg. That is easily one of the coolest experiences of my career. I am very grateful to Trae for the opportunity and introduction. He is such a solid dude. So is Snoop for taking the time to meet me and do a quick jam session. I’ve always been such a huge fan, so that really meant a lot to me.

In 2022, I quickly got the attention of major music festivals which had me performing LIVE on the main stage, in lineups consisting of artists like The Chainsmokers, Lil Jon, Breland and Loud Luxury.

Then I had his biggest break I’ve had thus far. On August 27, 2022 I met and performed for hip-hop legend and entertainment mogul 50 Cent at 50’s Tycoon Weekend in Houston, TX. I performed for 50 at his celebrity basketball game halftime show and also at Dinner with the Stars. Two month’s later 50 Cent invited me to perform with him on his 2022 European World Tour. I performed an original violin solo, then joined 50 Cent, Tony Yayo and Uncle Murda on the song “No Romeo No Juliet” as well as on the the multi-platinum mega hit “In Da Club” in front of completely sold out stadiums of 30,000 people + for two dates in Prague, Czech Republic, then Munich, Germany, Geneva, Switzerland, Milan, Italy and Jesolo, Italy. I am extremely grateful to 50 and also to Al Kashani for the opportunity. It has been life changing. I look forward to many more opportunities to work with 50 Cent and the G-Unit team. I have always been such a huge fan, so this has been a dream come true.

I have also been climbing the charts as a streaming artist, with over 250 million streams on Pandora and over 30 million streams on Spotify. I have had several music placements in commercials for Acura, HBO’s NFL Hard Knocks and have performed on multiple albums with superstar rapper French Montana on songs such as Salam Alaykum, Losing Weight and Touch the Sky.

I love performing LIVE and always will, but now I am starting to segue more into a career as a composer for commercials, television, film and video games and also as a producer for artists in mainstream music.

I recently wrote original music for a national trucking commercial for DAT Freight & Analytics and it will come out in March of 2023 honoring Women’s History Month and highlighting female truck drivers. It’s super cool and I can’t wait for everyone to see/hear it. I’m so grateful to be apart of this amazing project.

What I’m most excited about right now is my upcoming original album called String God. It comes out next week, so be on the lookout!

So I guess I’ve been doing this full time for over 16 years now. It has definitely been an up and down road, but I never gave up and stayed consistent. I’m not sure what would have sped up the process. I believe quality takes time. I’ve seen a lot of people come and go. So I wouldn’t be swayed by quick fame. Easy come, easy go. I think you just need to follow your heart, create, create, create and release. Not everything is going to pop, but occasionally it will, and it will be big. Then you gotta keep going and growing, knowing when to invest in yourself. Nothing’s free. But also, spending money doesn’t guarantee results. The idea and polished product are most important, then you need to execute.

Josh, 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 think I answered most of this in the last question haha. But here’s a little more insight into how I got into what I do. I’ve played the violin since I was four years old. My family didn’t have much money growing up, but I was able to receive a violin scholarship when I was seven which allowed me to study with Mischa Lefkowitz of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. That’s where I got my formal training. I also had a violin donated to me by a French philanthropist. I was always good at it, but often didn’t want to practice and instead wanted to play sports, surf and do normal kid things. I’m very happy my mom recognized my ear for music and kept me in lessons though. It wasn’t until after going to college and starting a regular job that I started experimenting in Garage Band (music software) after work mixing violin and beats together. I instantly fell in love with the blend of violin and beats and became obsessed with writing music. That’s when I decided to try out my luck and pressed a bunch of CDs to test out if anyone would buy them. I drove from Orange County to Santa Monica, CA to the 3rd Street Promenade with a small amp, a box of CDs and my violin. In 15 minutes I built a huge crowd, sold all of my CDs, then got kicked out for not having a permit. That’s when I lightbulb hit, I figured out how to get permit, press more CDs, then I went to work. It didn’t take long before I quit my full time job and started street performing or “busking” full time.

In 2007 some rappers from New York saw me on the street and asked if I would do a studio session. I said absolutely. It was completely unpaid, but that’s where I first heard real gritty hip-hop beats and then started mixing classical music with them. That’s what got me hooked in hip-hop with the violin. I started getting invited to other studio sessions with hip-hop and r&b producers and easily fit in with that genre.

In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?

I think social media has done an amazing job of supporting artists and creatives. The world is at your finger tips. Just create something unique and authentic, do the best job you can of presenting it and upload it to Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, etc. These platforms keep popping up, so just keep track of what’s new and see how you can take your craft and build an audience.

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

2020. All my gigs for the entire year were cancelled because of the pandemic. I have a wife, two kids and LIVE events were how I paid the bills. I started doing free online shows on Facebook, Instagram and Youtube and did full-scale concerts from my living room and asked for donations. That really helped.

I also used that year of no LIVE events and recorded three albums and several singles and fully transitioned to a streaming artist. I noticed the decline in CD sales in 2017 and 2018. Then it was dead. But then I fully pivoted as a streaming artist in 2020 and it’s better than ever. There’s no overhead of physical CDs which helps a lot. I used to have to order 1000 units at a time, and the production was expensive and a lot work.

It is harder initially to make money streaming. When I started you got instant results from selling CDs for cash. Now we’re a cashless and streaming society. But once you do break, it’s actually a lot better.

Contact Info:

• Website: http://www.joshvietti.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joshvietti/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/joshviettiviolin
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/joshvietti
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/jvietti

Image Credits
Ben Shani, Gordon Lawson, Abby Hunter.