We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Benjamin Caleb cgp a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Benjamin , appreciate you joining us today. Can you open up about a risk you’ve taken – what it was like taking that risk, why you took the risk and how it turned out?

The biggest risk I took in my life was to leave everything (studies, jobs and work opportunities) to dedicate my life to music, because where I live, music is not a real job, there was no room for a music career, and it was already difficult for other local musicians to pay their bills, it was even more difficult for me, because I had chosen to perfect myself in a foreign style of music (music from the United States) which had no place or market. I wanted to give up many times, but no matter what path I took, it always brought me back to one thing, the music. Then i realised that i had no choice but to let that flame burning in my heart, no matter how hard it is i must create the market for it. Somehow, that’s what made me feel alive.

Benjamin , 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 am a professional guitarist 5 years ago now, it all started when I saw a video of Tommy Emmanuel my mentor on YouTube, everything he did made me lose control, his way of playing, of moving, of tapping his foot. in short, he fascinated me a lot, and since that day, I decided to be like him and make it my life.

I play guitar for living, doing gigs here and there, i play for people in studios, I write songs for other artists, i teach guitar and sometimes I sell guitar accessories. In short, i play guitar and people get happy, that’s my job.

The thing that sets me apart from other musicians, is first of all my style and my way of playing, i’m an African guitar player who play the American fingerpicking music, something rare among African or American guitarists. There is also my passion for music that sets me apart from others, i have hours of intense practice, which can range from 10 p.m. to 10 a.m. and sometimes more.

My greatest pride is certainly when my work has been appreciated and admired by great renowned musicians like James Taylor, Joe Robinson, Gary Levox, Kirk Fletcher, Tommy Emmanuel, Adam Jones, Emil Ernebro, and many others. For me it is proof that I had made the right decision.

Playing music or listening to music is the best thing of my life, and I want people to feel it, and to forget their daily problems even for one hour.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

Building an audience on the networks is never easy, it’s a full-time job, I’m going to answer it because i’m building my audience too at the moment. I will explain myself in 4 steps to follow.

1) Know what to offer: make known through your posts, the nature of your work, it allows people to be regular on your account and to understand what you do.

2) Post regularly: 2 or 3 videos per week are enough to keep the attention of people, who once interested, become subscribers.

3) Offer better content along your posts: improving the quality plays a very big role, it’s all about surprise, a subscriber who is always surprised is a loyal subscriber, and subscribers like sometimes see you grow.

4) Be creative and use hashtags: it helps us to always attract the curiosity of people who then become new subscribers, hashtags help us target a wider audience, who, once interested, could subscribe.

Looking back, are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

When i started, i learned everything by my self, so i wish i could have a good guitar, an internet access, a guitar camp, a master class or a teacher to show me things, and I wanted to have a music experience (see concerts, play concerts, being in touch with mentors and fellow musicians) so i wish I could leave Africa for live it.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://instagram.com/bencalebcgp?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/benjamin.caleb.31
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/channel/UCmTry_tihHdVV8OhBOpsqcw