Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Gina Machovina. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Gina, thanks for taking the time to share your stories 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?

I was 50 years old when my my musical passion finally became my full-time work. What a blessing to now have all day and all night available for playing and singing. I reside in a tourist town that has 5 million visitors a year. Music is a big part of the community, so there are art fairs, wine tasting venues, restaurants, farmer’s markets, film festivals, and resorts, all desiring entertainment. Having moved here to Sedona, AZ seven years ago, I am now playing 25 plus gigs per month, often 2 in one day. Needless to say, it is easy to keep the chops sharp with such a work schedule. I am so glad I decided to accompany my guitar with vocals 20 years ago. It prepared me for this musical town. Some fancy restaurants want just classical guitar, while other gigs want classic rock tunes to which I add vocals. And thankfully, I am even able to employ other musicians for some gigs; such as a flutist, violinist, percussionist, bassist etc…

This is what I really wanted! Not to work at my waitress job all day, only to practice for a couple of hours at night in preparation for the handful of shows I had that month. The only practice now is learning new songs, working out originals and teaching my husband the tunes on the bass guitar, which he has recently taken up to accompany me.

Our duet is especially well received. We play acoustically guitar and bass with vocals and harmonies. It is a super relaxing sound and folks really relate to the song selection, very nostalgic for music lovers.

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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

When I was 13 years old, I was in love with Rock and roll and went to concerts in So California every weekend if possible. I especially loved Led Zeppelin, Rush, Ronnie James Dio, Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Yes, Pink Floyd, U2, Fleetwood Mac, and so many others. Guitar especially intrigued me, so I took up classical lessons as well as learning the electric guitar. Going full force into something has always made sense to me, and I really wanted to understand the instrument and play well. I got a BA degree in guitar and lute performance from the Univ of California~Irvine where I studied with John Schneiderman, an amazing player of many stringed instruments. During this time, I also wrote and performed with my original Metal band ~ Rising throughout So California. My ex – husband was the singer… so when we became ‘exes’ I decided to sing. Luckily, I used to sit in on his vocal lessons, and I had taken good notes, now applicable to my new endeavor as a ‘singer-songwriter’.
At this time in my new musical aspirations, I had 2 little ones, so my musical intensity took a back-seat for about 15 years to my life as a happy mom. I thought home-schooling made a lot of sense, so my performance life was set aside for several years. But I continued to write music and practice my vocals.
I started performing again more and more frequently as the kids got older, in Northern California and Oregon. My money came from waitressing, and I dedicated my free time to writing music and getting my fingers back in shape, and learning cover tunes with vocals. Gigs were a handful per month, not for much money, but because I loved playing so much. I recorded my first CD in Oregon ~ Mirrors, which has classical pieces as well as some originals on electric guitar with vocals. I think it was only 1 month after the release of this cd in 2014, that I moved to Sedona, AZ, and began playing guitar as a profession.
Here is the most fun part of my musical experience lately…
My awesome husband Alberto, who has encouraged me so enthusiastically over the years, especially while learning to sing and play at the same time… which I thought I couldn’t do, but he pushed me to keep trying… Alberto took up the bass guitar 5 years ago. For 15 plus years, he has always been my chauffer and roadie to all shows, and we joke about how as I would be playing, I’d look over at him and he was just relaxing under an umbrella, reading or chatting with art vendors… and I used to get mad cause I was working so hard. So I thought he needed just one more job! Any way, he went full hurdle into the acoustic bass. It was very intense as I wanted him backing me up at gigs, so he had to be performance ready. And my originals are quite complex, so he took a lot of heated instruction from me. But he realized the benefit, and that we had to condense many years of my experience into his lessons. He plays amazingly well now, and accompanies me at most gigs. I had purchased a looper that I use often …. which you can record a rhythym track on, live, and then play it back so soloing over it is possible. And it is possible to create lots of tracks, so it could sound like an orchestra, or a full band. You can even add rhythmic tracks. This is good to use if you are a soloist, but one thing that has always bothered me is hearing a big sound, and looking up and seeing only one performer on the stage. Not to dis anyone, as there are some really adept performers who have no other recourse, but Al was my opportunity to have another person behind the music. Not to mention it is really nice to have someone else to communicate with while on stage. He is funny and always wants to just be ‘back-up’ to me. So my ‘brand’ is still Gina Machovina (and friends), but people come up to us after a performance more and more often asking Al about his bass, or when his name is going to appear on our ‘sign’. He says he has ordered a new sign that says ‘Alberto~ oh, and Gina too”
We have so much fun now that I feel like I am still on vacation in Sedona after 7 years of living and performing here.

Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?

The biggest influence in my life came during my hiatus from music, while raising the children, when I came in contact with the teaching of Vernon Howard. My husband Al introduced him to me. He was an incredibly prolific author and speaker, offering lectures in Ojai and Los Angeles for decades, 4 days per week, and only charging $3 per class. What he spoke of was incredible and life changing for me and those who applied the exercises to their lives. Have we not all felt that there is something we should be here on this planet to learn and to find out about. And isn’t it interesting that we go after goals, attain the family or job we think will make us happy, but always the pain and unfulfillment continues? Humans are not supposed to suffer, yet we have become in a very strange way, addicted to our sadness and misery.
Vernon Howard was the clearest writer and speaker on this human tragedy and on the hidden, yet deep and persistent longing we all have.
I would encourage any one reading this to do yourself a favor and check out any of his books. The first one I read was “Mystic Path to Cosmic Power”, but they are all excellent, and get to the heart of all human misconceptions.
My life completely changed when I encountered and worked with the principles as laid out by Mr Howard… this could be considered the Fourth Way, for anyone familiar with George Gurdjieff. Vernon Howard’s teaching is so understandable, for people of the 21st century.
The first great lesson that I learned was that I liked being sad, and that my identity was all wrapped up in unhappy experiences throughout my life. But that is not who I really am, my essence is much higher and destined for cosmic understanding if I can just walk away from the fondness for suffering. This is a huge pill to swallow, but possible for anyone who is seeking something beyond what the ‘world’ has to offer. Our parents didn’t know any better and society has degraded to such an extent that humanity may well be extinct by 2030. There are answers and practical solutions to all of mankind’s woes. As Vernon Howard emphatically asserts, “There is a way out!”

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

I used to think that if I had the career I wanted or the loving family I thought I deserved, that I would be fulfilled in life. But I look around me at all the miserable yet successful people, and they are as desolate, if not more so, than before their lives went as they thought they should. Just look at the majority of famous musicians, actors, politicians etc….They may say they are happy, but look deep into their faces, and you will see a lot of pain there. ‘ It has been said that this Work, the Fourth Way, is not for everyone, and as I have been studying this for over 20 years, I see that this is because the majority of people are content to do nothing, to not shake up the mix and see that they have failed miserably. Only God is good, and as long as we think that we are special, we can’t see the beauty that is beyond our lowly lives. There is a way out of the misery, but one must leap in to the void, and decide that no matter what, I will be a decent person. And how can I be decent if I have anguish within. I can only act out what I hold dear. So it is my lifelong goal to root out all that is indecent, miserable and unholy. It is a painful experience, but the pain, if endured, will bring about the rescue from a life I have been asleep to.
I can only say that I have a lot of work to do on myself, but I have never been happier in knowing that there is higher way to work towards. And the beautiful thing is that I don’t have to change my husband, career, place of residence to change what is broken within. I can use every experience, moment to moment, honestly looking within, and discard all that doesn’t serve a pure and innocent existence.

Contact Info:

• Website: ginamachovina.com
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