We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Dustin Saylor. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Dustin below.

Dustin , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Earning a full time living from one’s creative career can be incredibly difficult. Have you been able to do so and if so, can you share some of the key parts of your journey and any important advice or lessons that might help creatives who haven’t been able to yet?

For 14 years I have been able to work as a Full Time Musician. I have been able to make this happen by getting hired as entertainment for Wineries, Casinos, High-end Resorts, Corporate events and Private Events. What caused me to decide to jump All in? It was 2009 and I just tried out for American Idol, I was not given a golden ticket. That experience though made me question how committed I was to music. All of my favorite artist and musicians were all in, and at the time I was working as a bartender, going to college for music, and playing a couple gigs a month. I came back from my American Idol tryout and quit bartending and went into finding work as a musician. I was lucky because the restaurant I worked for hired musicians for their 3 bay area restaurants, The Restaurant was called Maria Maria. So I was able to get them to book me 3 days a week from day one. I then went to work finding work. I gathered over 2000 emails from wineries website in my area. I would send out emails monthly to them looking for work. I also walked into hundreds of places looking for anyone to book me. I am on a trust journey and had to trust that it would work out. The first 7 years of my music career was a lot of not knowing if i was going to make it. Things did level out though and I have found a good rhythm. I am forever grateful to everyone who has given me a shot and allow me the opportunity to be a working musician.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

I started performing at age 15 for my church youth group. It was something that I wasn’t really looking to do. I joined the church band playing the keyboard. At the time I figured, I had to be there so why not do something fun while I was at church. At age 16 I did commit myself to the church group and to my spiritual journey. That came with the call to be the music leader for my high school youth group. This shaped so much of my life. I was able to perform with my band every week and we were engaging in the deeper questions of life. It was truly a rich time in my life and little did I know I was starting my life path. From the beginning I wrote songs. As a child who had been adopted at 6 and had came from a very rough spot I had a lot of pain inside me that had to come out. Music gave me the space to express myself and help others feel connected. For me music started as a way to connect others to God through church music. My goal was to use my music to uplift people and give hope. I still maintain that goal but have also learned to embrace all aspects of what music can be. Music can be fun, light hearted, deep and heartfelt. Music meets us in every moment of our lives be it good or bad and I want to create music that can embrace all that live is.
I am most proud of the volunteer work i have done with music. I perform for Hospice patience that are on the verge of leaving this world. I find spending time with people during this moment in their lives very rewarding. My hope is that the music I play for them sends them off in peace and love.
My deepest hope is that the music I play brings people together to have fun. I want the music I play to not only be fun but to inspire anyone who hears it to be uplifted and filled with hope.

In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?

This is a tough question because their is so many different ways to be a creative. One of the best ways a local community can support their artist is to pay them fairly. Playing for pizza, beer and tips is great, but it doesn’t pay the bills. For art to thrive in any community artist need to be able to commit fully to their art and that means being supported financially. It takes a lot to get to the place to even be able to perform on a professional level to be ready to be hired. That could be years of practice, learning songs and what kind of artist you are. Supporting local art financially really allows for art to thrive and give life a local community in a beautiful way. Also go out and support local venues and events. Showing up and being there is a huge way people can support local music. Stream the music online. Recorded music is basically free to us all now and that is just a reality. So streaming the artists music you like really can them.

On a broader scale we need more variety. We need to allow for space for new artist who wish to be heard beyond their local communities to be heard. The internet is a great way to get started but as we all know it is just as hard to be heard on the internet than anywhere else. It takes major bucks to get major exposer and major corporations relying on TikTok views to choose who they want to support isn’t necessarily the best way. I’d implore them to actually get out and listen to artist live in a room. The major labels can go out and find an artist who’s vision they actually truly believe in. Most likely the best artist are not the ones who are crushing the social media game.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

The most rewarding aspect of being a performer is connecting to the people who are there at the performance. Having someone come up a appreciate what you do is great, but then being able to ask them questions and listen to their stories is something I am finding to be very rewarding. I am finding most people who come out to the places I play to be very down to earth, good hearted people who enjoy life. It truly is a joy to connect with the people at the events and in makes the whole experience so much richer.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.dustinsaylor.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dustinsaylor/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dustinsaylormusic
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dustinsaylor
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/dustinsaylor