We were lucky to catch up with Brandon Vogt recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Brandon thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights 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?

Yes I am currently supporting myself via my creative work.

It has been a long process to get to this point in my life. I was born and raised in small Midwest towns with no musical family members or anyone that earned a living as an entrepreneur. I started playing guitar when I was 18 and was immediately obsessed with it. Not knowing how to make a living playing the guitar I went to college and received an accounting degree. It wasn’t until I had saved up some money in my early 30’s that I was able to quit my day job and pursue music full time.

After quitting my day job (insurance adjuster), it took me another 9 years before I was able to earn a living completely on my own. (I worked at a music school, teaching guitar lessons, house sitting, and teaching yoga). Since May of 2022 I have been supporting myself through teaching, writing and performing music in Kansas City Missouri.

The biggest milestone was a spiritual awakening experience I had when I was 29 that gave me the courage to pursue my dreams. Up until that point, I was wanting to pursue a career in music, but was riddled with fear and anxiety. Other milestones were finding work as a guitar teacher, writing my first album and forming my band (Satori). The latest big step was leaving the Music School I had taught at for 8 years to build my own community of students and start a YouTube channel teaching guitar and music theory.

I don’t think the process needed to be sped up. I believe that everything that has happened has been part of a bigger process that has produced who I am today. The part of me that wants to speed up that process is not an ally. I enjoy my musical career more when I am grounded in the moment and taking it one step at a time.

Brandon , 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 guitar player that loves to write and improvise music. I also really enjoy teaching people how to write and improvise music. I believe that creating anything is important to living a high quality life.

There are a few things that I am most proud of. When it comes to performing, I love to improvise and really get into a jam that lifts a room full of people. When the band and I are able to lock into an improvised jam, the energy in the room is wild. It feels like its the reason everyone came out that night. It can be very inspiring for all involved. I also really love to teach people how to improvise and write music. It is a very healing experience for my students. When they open up and start to improvise for the first time it is a really wonderful thing to experience.

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.

I think everyone can be creative. However, I understand that many people are not able to tap into this part of themselves. I would like to let them know that they can. This is part of the struggle in understanding a creative person if you are not able to access that part of you. In order to be creative, you must be sensitive, vulnerable, and open minded with no agenda other then allowing the creative energy to flow through you. I am the most creative in my home by myself. There is no judgement from others and I can just be in the flow. I am able to access it in public when performing, however this has been a long process. I am still allowing myself to get more comfortable being vulnerable in front of crowds. People often think that if you are creative, you can just create at will. This is not my experience. I have to feel safe. Also, marketing, advertising, negotiating pay can all make a creative person want to vomit. I am able to promote myself to an extent, however it often feels like I just wish someone would take care of that for me. I often forget to promote shows and forget to let people know what I do. When I am socializing with “non-creatives” and they hear I’m a musician, they have a long list of things I need to do. They are all typically very good ideas and I agree with them, but I never do any of them. I never feel like doing any of it.

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

I feel like I’ve had to unlearn just about everything. I was told to finish high school, go to college, get a job, buy a house, get a wife and have a family. My father did all of that and died of cancer when he was 59. Never got to retire and for the most part was pretty stressed out from all of it. Growing up in a small town and seeing all my friends do the same thing, I just went with the flow. I made it through High School and College and got a day job making decent money in my 20’s. My soul was unimpressed. I drank a lot and was a functioning alcoholic until the anxiety and depression hit critical mass. Then I had a spiritual awakening and quit my job. That’s when I started unlearning everything. Unlearning people pleasing, co-dependent relationships, my relationship with money, and how to treat my body. It can be somewhat overwhelming and challenging but always worthwhile. I am happier and more fulfilled then I have ever been and its not even close. There is still more to “unlearn” however it has gotten easier as I have grown and matured through all of it.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://brandonvogt.wixsite.com/bvogtmusic
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/musical_yogi/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bvogt.vogt
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@brandonvogt822
• Other: https://open.spotify.com/artist/0Jp4Z4wEkHklxI8Wk446TW

Image Credits

Taylor Carter

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/taylor.caarter/