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

Hi Colin, thanks for joining 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?

Yes, I have been fortunate enough to have been able to make a living working as a full-time band leader/harmonica player/lead singer in my own band. Colin Dussault’s Blues Project. I formed the band in 1989 on my 20th birthday and have worked full-time as a musician ever since. The only exception being the “war years” as I dubbed them, when we were forced into isolation due to the Covid-19 Pandemic.

In addition I also had some success with a few T-Shirt designs that sold very well and caught the attention of the buying public.

When Covid hit I created an Etsy Shop creating “Promo Posters” for some of my favorite albums from the 1950’s and 1960’s. I thought about my favorite lp from a band like the Left Banke and wondered what a promo poster for their release might have looked like hanging in the windows and on the walls of a record store back in the day. This morphed into creating full discography posters showing all of an artists LP Covers. etc.

As far as success and how it was attained, I would simply say hard work and focus. I grew up moving furniture for my families moving and storage business. (I still do side jobs from time to time as it is good money). I took that yeoman-like work ethic that I learned from long days in a moving van into my band work. We would sometimes do 2 or 3 gigs in a day.

When you work for yourself you have no “time off.” I took typing in high school and enjoyed english class. Those skills and my work ethic all helped me succeed. I have been able to manage and book myself and the band. I am able to type up contracts and thank you letters. Solicit work, gain sponsorships etc. through those skill sets. That is another piece of the creative puzzle. If I could not do that I would have to hire someone else to do it for me.

I don’t really know that the process could have been “sped up.” Success is really just a matter of survival. It takes time to procure, secure and maintain business relationships. It does not happen over night. I have had accounts with wineries and local bars/clubs that went 15 and 20 years. We all built our businesses up together. As time went on, crowds and followings grew and we got small raises along the way.

Colin, 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 child I grew up in a musically rich environment. I was born in 1969. My mom dad were both 18 when they had me. My dad was in a professional band called Audi-Bad00. They had a record deal with United Artists and released one 45 rpm single. So I grew up with music and bands and records all around me. Aud-Badoo came out of a few Cleveland bands that broke up and merged. The Tree Stumps (which at one time featured Michael Stanley aka Michael Gee) and the Blackwelles merged to form Audi-Bad00. (Ginny Nims was in Audi-Badoo). Her Brother, Walt Nims wrote “Time Won’t Let Me” which was a hit for the Outsiders. He also penned hits for Sonny Geraci. Additionally, Ginny’s sister sang back up for Garth Brooks!

As I grew up I gravitated towards my dads LP collection which was pretty eclectic due to his having friends who worked A&R for a few of the major labels. In addition to my exposure to the obvious greats (Elvis, Beatles, Stones, Who, Kinks), I absorbed the sound of the Tiffany Shade, Left Banke, Frank Zappa, Country Joe & the Fish, Al Kooper, The Blues Project, Woody Guthrie, Arlo Guthrie, Quicksilver Messenger Service, Paul Butterfield, the Yardbirds and many others.

The Yardbirds were a big influence and hearing them got me into playing harmonica and singing. From there I learned about the real stuff via Muddy Waters, Howling Wolf, Sonny Boy Williamson, Little Walter, Buddy Guy, Junior Wells, Otis Rush, Willie Dixon etc.

I have a scrap book that my mother kept on my dad’s band. It had newspaper articles and posters, flyers and other minutia from the mid to late 1960’s. Among them was a flyer and info about my dad’s band accompanying CBS Records Recording Artist Al Serafini to the Steel Pier in Atlantic City New Jersey on a tour.

Years later I was attending a wedding and Al Serafini and his band were the entertainment. This must have been around 1985. I remembered his name from my scrap book and introduced myself. He remembered my dad and asked if I played an instrument. I had been toying around with the harmonica in my bedroom up to this point. No one knew I played. I drove home, grabbed my harmonica and sat in with Al Serafini much to the bewilderment of all in attendance. From there I began sitting in with a band called the Delgado Brothers band (which eventually featured Becky Boyd on lead vocals). This led to me forming my own band with some people I met in Lakewood at Daystar Boutique. Alden Kimbrell and Jimmy Feeney. Jimmy still plays guitar with me some 35 years later! He is still my lead guitarist.

From there we did local bars. This led to Mon Ami Winery, the Lake Erie Islands, weddings, country clubs, private parties, municipal events, rib burn-offs and other high profile gigs. We then landed a sponsorship and endorsement from Bud Light Beer. This opened my eyes to the potential to get other sponsors. So our busy schedule afforded me the ability to get local and national companies to underwrite our purchase of a band van, then a 12 passenger bus and a 6×12 tandem axle trailer that they all pitched in to pay to have wrapped in exchange for their logos being placed on the vehciles.

The same held true for sponsors and underwriters for our many compact disc recording projects.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

The most rewarding aspect of being an artist is the freedom to do what you want when you want to do it. However, you have to have discipline. Just because you work for yourself and work from home does not mean you don’t have to work. You have to get up everyday and devote most of your time to your craft. Be it returning emails, booking gigs, creating band promo calendars, entering band dates into your online website, returning phone calls, Keeping vehicles maintained, Getting new tires, oil changes, repairing or taking bus, trailer band equipment to repair facilities.

I think being self employed look glamorous but most successful self employed individuals work two and three times as hard as those who punch a time card for someone else. There is also the sense of failure that is constantly nipping at your heels. You know you are answerable only to yourself. So, there are times when it gets to be a bit much, but you just have to put your head down and plow through and work harder.

At the end of the day though, you know you control your own destiny and you can take some time off and enjoy things that others who work 9-5 maybe cannot.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can provide some insight – you never know who might benefit from the enlightenment.

As a “Creative” there really is no normal hours of operation per se. Of course as a musician we have to be at a gig at a certain time. I pride myself on always being early (early is on time, on time is late). I pride myself on the people seeing me loading in my band gear. My experience as a furniture mover serves me well in this regard both with packing, loading and moving heavy equipment and driving and backing in a trailer. I am able to drive long distances and do the gig due to my work ethic.

The muse hits us at all hours of the day and night. I could be laying in bed and have to get up and go to my office and computer and make notes or write or send off emails with ideas. My T-shirt designs all came about that way.

The first one that was successful was “Goosenecks.” The Cleveland Cavaliers were making three pointers and doing a hand gesture. I saw this and in the middle of the night sent the ideas I had to my graphic artist that I utilized. I knew it was good idea when he asked for rights to it. We agreed that if the Cavs or NBA bought it we would share ownership. The cav’s passed and did their own inferior version of the idea. We put ours out. anyway and sold quite a few.

The second T-Shirt idea exploded and sold several thousand units. It was “QUITNESS’ and was released on the day Lebron James left Cleveland for Miami. I had the idea back in 2010. I noticed Lebron giving up during a game with Boston and jotted down the idea. I then made some shirts. At some point my band was invited to appear on the Fox 8 Morning program. Coincidentally and unexpectedly our appearance was the morning after Lebron made his announcement on national television about leaving Cleveland. I had my band wearing Quitness T-Shirts on the number one morning show on the morning of the biggest breaking sports story in our towns history. I already had Quitness.com set up and had T-shirts for sale. I came home from the tv appearance with over 500 pre-sales. I had copyrighted my idea and had to fend off copious imitators. One of whom was Great Lakes Brewing who stole my idea and made Quitness Pale Ale and sold out of keg after keg of beer!

The Third T-Shirt that blew up was “Greetings From Cleveland, It’s Gonna Be A Riot” which I made after hearing Donald Trump speak in advance of the RNC being held in Cleveland. Again, that shirt just blew up and sold in the thousands! It was controversial and funny and who know then what we would be dealing with now. These shirts were successful due to a combination of being in the right place at the right time. Being a well known public figure due to my band and having media contacts that I cultivated over decades of promotion and band work.

The ideas all came while sleeping. While driving in my car and pulling over to write them down and at crazy hours of the day and night. There is nothing normal about being “creative.”

While others are working we may be sleeping. While they are sleeping we are working. Some days we may work two or three days straight with no sleep (when creating a CD or writing liner notes or making posters or writing and recording songs etc.).

There is nothing “normal” about what we do.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.colindusssault.com
• Facebook: Colin Dussault
• Youtube: youtube.com/watch?v=Y_I6Rac3czc. (John Adams Tribute vide0)
• Other: youtube.com/watch?v=KVtqZgfFKgQ. (Please Stay Lebron video) gmail: colindussault@gmail.com

Image Credits
Colin Promo Photo courtesy of Brent Lane Photography