Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Austin Addams. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Austin, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today The first dollar you earn is always exciting – it’s like the start of a new chapter and so we’d love to hear about the first time you sold or generated revenue from your creative work?
This is a funny story.. When I first moved to Nashville, I didn’t have any music jobs lined up. I had a few friends from college who moved to Nashville a few years before I did and were working in the music industry but that was it. I had a lot of free time that I spent going around town finding guitar shops. One day I was just playing some guitar off the wall at a random shop and an older gentleman introduced himself and told me that he was a music producer in town. He told me he loved the way I played and would like to have me stop by the studio tomorrow and play on a Texas blues shuffle that he was working on. I pretended to not be new to town and said, “let me check my calendar.” I show up the next day with a fender Stratocaster and a fender twin ready to rip on a Texas Shuffle. I walk into the studio control room and find the music producer smoking what I thought at the time was a funky smelling cigar. Keep in mind I was only 22 years at the time and was pretty sheltered by the Christian community growing up. Safe to say I never smelled cannabis before. The producer then hands me a classical guitar off the wall, that was missing a string by the way, and told me that he wanted me to sound like Antonio Carlos Jobim. That’s a pretty big ask and not exactly a Texas shuffle! As I’m desperately trying to get this random guitar missing a string in tune he literally puts a set of headphones on my head and says “alright let’s get one!” This song is absolutely wild. Not a single section was repetitive. No music chart. He just wanted me to noodle around. We proceeded to do this for 5 more songs on this janky nylon guitar. I left feeling pretty defeated that day. I felt like I played terribly and was thinking I didn’t have what it took to be a session player in Nashville. Funny enough, that producer called me that night and asked if I could come back the next day. Been working on sessions for the last 7 years in Nashville and have never experienced anything like that since.
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 back background and context?
Fresh out of Liberty University in 2016, I moved to Nashville to chase the Nashville music dream. I truly never expected to be playing professionally full time. I just loved music and guitar and wanted to be around the scene. The Nashville music scene is incredibly competitive and can be difficult to break into. I was very lucky to have a few people open the door for me early on. I spent the first few years touring with various country acts in town. Although I loved my time on the road, I always dreamt of being a studio guy. This is much harder to break into compared to touring. It took some time to develop the relationships with producers but more so took a lot of time to become proficient as a session guitarist. I’ve been keeping busy in the studio for the last 4 years. I’m still touring here and there. I get to be a little more selective about the tours I commit to now. I wear a few different hats in town as a full time musician. Most of what I do is session guitar playing. However, I am currently touring with Sasha Sloan and Luke Grimes. Their tour schedules aren’t that demanding so it allows me to keep working sessions in town. I also do some producing myself when a project comes along that I’m passionate about.
What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?
For me, it’s seeing the artist or producer get excited about something I played on their record. There is not a better feeling. However, I did get to play Madison Square Garden with Sasha Sloan recently and that definitely felt great.
Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?
I think one of the more difficult aspects to being a professional creative is that the business is inherently subjective. The way you play, perform, look, the music you make is all subject to someone’s opinion. This can be difficult when you’re not advancing the way you’d like. Sometimes you won’t get the gig you want for reasons that are completely out of your control. Maybe the music director has a long time friend that he wants on the gig regardless of who’s technically “better.” Sometimes an artist will choose the player who he or she likes to hang around more. Again, regardless of who’s better.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: austin_addams