We were lucky to catch up with Micah Jones recently and have shared our conversation below.

Micah, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Are you 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?

I’m grateful to say that music is my full time job, but it certainly hasn’t always been that way. By the time I graduated from college, I had just enough music work to make ends meet. Then, a few months later I got a touring gig that allowed me to travel around the U.S., play cool venues, and make some of my dearest friends. It wasn’t without its difficulties and sacrifices, but I really enjoyed it and felt like I had “made it” as a musician!

After the tour ended, I wondered what cool opportunity might come next. Unfortunately, what came next was… Nothing. It was January, no tour offers were coming in, and my local work had become more scarce as a result of my being gone the previous few months. Seeing the writing on the wall, I got a day job working at a guitar pedal factory that turned out to be a lot less fun than I had hoped. There was no natural light where I worked, and the work was so compartmentalized that I had precious little human interaction. After a few months there, I knew I needed to get out, but didn’t know where to go. My confidence had also taken a big blow going from the joys of touring to the monotony of my day job so quickly.

I happened to be playing a small Wednesday night service at a local church that April, and after it concluded the drummer asked me out of the blue, “Hey, would you be interested in a gig?” My eyes widened as though I’d been stranded in the desert and someone had asked me, “Hey, would you like some water?” He proceeded to tell me about a band he booked at Universal Studios Hollywood that needed a guitarist to start the following weekend. I was apprehensive about leaving the financial stability of my day job, but my gut told me to go for it. I haven’t had a day job since.

My career has taken lots of unexpected twists and turns in the years following, from stadium gigs to dive bars and lavish destination weddings to holiday parties in eerily remote trailer parks. Those experiences have shown me both the value of hard work and preparation, and that no one job defines you. The more you can be grateful for the work you’re doing today, no matter how flashy or mundane, the more you’ll enjoy your entire career arc. Not only that, but no one does anything alone. I’ve put a lot of effort into each opportunity I’ve been given, but those opportunities were just that: given. What a gift!

I’m not sure any of these ideas would have sped up my process, but I do think they would’ve helped me enjoy the process more. These days, what’s helping me speed up my process is being more focused and less critical–giving something my entire attention, making it, then moving on and trusting that it’s good enough.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I’m a professional singer, guitarist, music director, and producer based in LA, and I’ve been a part of the music industry for 9 years. I was raised in a musical family, and was encouraged by my family and friends to see how far my love of music could take me. When I left my hometown of Medford, Oregon for college in LA, I started meeting professional musicians who helped show me what a middle class career in music could look like–up until that point, my idea of success was based on rockstars and American Idol, and I had no idea that you didn’t have to be a megastar to make a living doing music.

There are two main components to my work: live performance and studio recording. The live side includes backing up other artists, music directing for luxury event bands and churches, and playing my own original music. The studio side primarily revolves around writing and recording original songs for sync licensing in TV, movies, and commercials, although I also spend time recording guitar and vocals for other artists and composers.

I think what sets me apart is my ability as a music director, whether live or in the studio. Because I’m both a trained singer and instrumentalist, I have the experience and vocabulary to communicate with everyone else in a band in a way that makes sense for them, which helps all of us work more efficiently. I also have perfect pitch, which helps me write and arrange music more quickly and identify and fix mistakes in the moment. It’s one thing to notice, “Hey, something during that Chorus doesn’t sound right,” and another to know the exact part that needs to be fixed or changed after one listen. My experience with wedding/event bands has greatly shaped my development as a music director too; that’s where I learned how to lead a band through song transitions in a way that keeps the music going the whole time, and create live arrangements on the fly to engage the crowd and/or make a song fit within a specific timeframe.

What I hope folks will take away if they’re just getting to know me here is that whether I’m writing and recording a song, supporting another artist, or directing a band, my goal is to do everything with heart and intention. Music has been the gateway to many of my life’s most beautiful and impactful experiences, and I want to do my best to help facilitate those kinds of experiences for others.

What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?

For starters, we can pay artists fairly for their work. I don’t think there’s some quick fix, but being more thoughtful about how we engage with art is a good start. For example, we can subscribe to whichever music streaming service pays artists the most per stream (at the moment, it’s Napster, believe it or not). We can buy more products directly from artists/creators rather than through third party online storefronts, where the storefront takes a cut of the artist’s profit. Not only that, but we can participate more in our local creative scene–there’s almost certainly a concert, street fair, gallery, or farmer’s market near you where you can buy directly from an artist AND get to know them face to face!

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

It’s pretty hard to avoid internalizing the idea that online engagement = success. After all, people with high engagement on social media often become “influencers,” get free products and sponsorship deals, and become celebritized. Sounds pretty appealing, right? It sure did to me, much as I tried to fight it.

Some years ago, I was really making an effort to become an “Instagram Guitarist” (coincidentally, I was also working a lot less). I would create several one minute videos of me playing a solo over an original or cover song each week, being sure to include a flurry of the most topical hashtags (it was a different time, I know). I got some good steady engagement over time, but nothing like the players I idolized. Then one day, one of my videos broke through and got several thousand views and several hundred likes. I was thrilled! Was this success?!?

The thing was, my moment of online popularity didn’t yield any offline success. Neither did any of the other handful of moments like it in the months and years ahead. I didn’t get more work, more money, a sponsorship, or “influencer” status. Sure, it was something I could point to as proof that I could play guitar, which was good as far as it went. But it didn’t substantially change my day-to-day life.

You know what did? Actually getting out into my local music scene and meeting people. I found a friend group I loved, and a scene that made me feel welcome and willing to contribute to its well-being. Those real, in-person connections were way better for both my professional and personal life than anything that’s ever happened to me on social media. I know it’s important to have an online presence as a business owner, but I’m grateful for the experiences that have given me a healthier relationship with “engagement” numbers and helped me unlearn the ways I connected those numbers with my idea of success.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://micahjonesmusic.bandcamp.com/music
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/micahjonesmusic/?hl=en
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/micahjonesmusic/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCloF1aqVCw5EoF8y7CGJKfw

Image Credits
Tyler Miles Crowd Theory Entertainment Bryce Miller Vidya Vox Lulan Studio