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

Elliot, appreciate you joining us today. What’s the best or worst investment you’ve made (either in terms of time or money)? (Note, these responses are only intended as entertainment and shouldn’t be construed as investment advice)

The best investment was made was investing in myself and my education. I decided to go back to school and get an Associates Degree in Micro Computer Specialist back in the day. Basically I got tired of delivering pizzas and being a “struggling artist”. Learning about computers and web programming allowed me to created my own website and increase my web presence. Learning how to register a domain name all those years ago helped me solidify and control my name “Elliot Holden” in Google searches not matter how your spell “Elliot”. I don’t want to talk about my worst investment because I no longer own the Apple stock, LOL. But also investing my own home studio has been a BIG help in being able to produce my own music at “anytime”.

Also another big thing was learning how to live on a BUDGET which eventually led to being a home owner.

Elliot, 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 go by the name Urban Guitar Legend and I’m an American guitar instrumentalist (and actor, when the opportunity arrises). I most recently appeared in the Tyler Perry film “A Jazzman’s Blues” (2022) on NetFlix. I like to describe my music as Hendrix being produced by Dr Dre. My musical style combines Rock, Blues, Classical, Jazz, Hip-Hop and Middle Eastern music.

I’ve had the opportunity to open show for such acts as The Derek Trucks Band, Snoop Dog, Robert Cray, Tab Benoit, Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Adrian Belew, Erykah Badu, Sonny Landreth, Porter Batiste Stoltz and many others. I was also featured in Guitar Player Magazine’s Spotlight.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

Yeah back in 2011 I decide to change up my musical style and start focusing more on song composition instead of just guitar licks. Incorporating more diverse sounds like hip hop and world music. I’ve done some really interest covers of other artists like Drake, Lil Durk, Cam’ron, J Cole etc. Also when I decided to go back to school that was very important because I kind of had to put my music on the back burner while I learned a new skill but it all paid off in the end.

Are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

Yes, I wish I had a crystal ball to know which stocks were going to be valuable, LOL. But seriously, I wish the Internet was around back when I started. I could have gotten up to speed on my music publishing and other music business stuff. For example, I would have gotten into writing for “other” artist earlier on in my career. I’m been fortunate enough to have one my songs placed on Q Parker’s (of 112 fame) album. The song I co-wrote was called “Force M Hand”. I did end up joining the Grammys and I even attended the Grammy Awards in 2017 and 2018. Those resources have always been around but the Internet has made me more aware of all the opportunities out their.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.UrbanGuitarLegend.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/urbanguitarlegend
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/urbanguitarlegend
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/urbanguitarlegend
• Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/urbangtrlegend
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@urbanguitarlegend

Image Credits
Libra Cordero Drew Stawin