We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Ben Hans a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Ben, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Let’s talk about innovation. What’s the most innovative thing you’ve done in your career?

For me, as a drummer – being able to downsize my rig to a two piece or sometimes one piece drum set/percussion set up has allowed me to work with musicians in an acoustic and semi-acoustic setting where a full drum set player would not be able to… Playing musically with less ‘stuff’ has led me to become an in demand drummer for many touring acts.

Ben, 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?

I’m a musician based out of Nashville, TN. I play drums and percussion as well as write instructional percussion books for Hal Leonard Publishing and Troy Nelson Music. I teach private music lessons here at the Nashville Music Academy at Sangtuary and also online.

I’m a product of school band programs, studied percussion in college and perform in many genres of music. I played all over the upper midwest for 20 plus years and put out a jazz album – Ben Hans Trio ‘Drums! Bass! Guitar!’ during that period. I taught in two college music programs in Milwaukee, WI and then I decided I wanted more performance opportunities out of my music career and in 2017 I moved to Nashville on the recommendation of Kip Winger, whom I’d been playing with since 2010. It was a great choice, which has helped me become an in demand touring musician out of Nashville. Currently, I tour with Kip Winger, Acoustic Trixter, Eric Martin the voice of Mr. Big, Anthony Corder the voice of Tora Tora, and next year I’ll also be performing with Tony Harnell the voice of TNT.

I think that the key factors that have led me to being a musician that lots of people want to play with have been: being versatile, being easy to work with (I like the term ‘Drama-Free’.)…being reliable and being open to adapting to change. I also really like the term that my mentor, Jazz Guitarist Jack Grassel used to use when introducing me to audiences from the stage…”Cliche-Free”… I think that is a key element in a musicians success. Be yourself. Don’t try so hard to be someone else or copy someone else.

Does your business have multiple or supplementary revenue streams (like a ATM machine at a barbershop, etc)?

For a musician, I think having multiple revenue streams is key. For me, I wear lots of hats during a regular week. My music teacher hat, my writing/composition hat, sometimes also music a proofreading and editing hat, and then capping it off with live performances and the occasional studio session. I always think of live performances and studio sessions as rewards for practicing my instrument all of those years…

So yes, absolutely, any musician wanting to get into the music business, I’d strongly suggest having multiple revenue streams. This will make it possible to have a CAREER. Gigs come and gigs go. I’ll always have a gig – a show – a band to play in, and for me these groups that I play with change and evolve over time. However, having the skill set to teach music, write music, these are key elements that allow me to have constant and residual income. I know musicians that quit playing or audio people that left the music business and/or sold all their gear during and after the Covid 19 period because they couldn’t support themselves with other music incomes. So they’ve completely changed their lives and left the music business. Well, that means there is more room for newcomers!! So get moving!!

Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?

There is a great book that really inspired me many years ago called “Making It On Your Own” by Sarah and Paul Edwards. I found the book at the public library and took notes from it which I later included in my lecture, while teaching collegiate Music Business classes. Much of the context of the book eventually became credo. Here are a few quotes from this great book:

“…in your business, every one of your customers has to fire you before you’re out of business”

“..There’s nothing more rewarding or more empowering than knowing that you can support yourself by creating something valuable from nothing.”

“…experience makes you effective, and experience is built on a history of corrected mistakes..”

“…those who are easily discouraged may give up before they get a chance to make it…”

“…Nothing produces success like results. If you produce results for people you will be taken seriously. You will get repeat business. You will get referrals. The better the results, the more seriously you will be taken, and the more your personal power will grow. Then you’ll find people actually going out of their way to support you…”

“…to be taken seriously, you will have to throw what money you have in the direction you want to go. Your success will follow…”

“…success changes oneself into more of all they can be…you can’t achieve success and maintain it for very long without becoming more of what you’re capable of being…”

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