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

Jake, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Looking back on your career, have you ever worked with a great leader or boss? We’d love to hear about the experience and what you think made them such a great leader.

One of the best bosses I ever had was a man named Randy Morgan. When I was younger I worked 8 seasons at a place called Morgan’s Outdoor Adventures. We mainly rented canoes, kayaks and rafts on the Little Miami River in southern Ohio. Randy was part of the second generation of this family owned business that had started around 1964.

There’s a handful of things that made him a great boss.

For one, Randy had been working there with his family since he was a child. He started from the bottom doing all the dirty jobs and entry level duties until eventually growing to own and operate the business. I think this is huge in the sense of knowing how to do EVERYTHING that is required to keep a business running, from the bottom up vs a boss being granted the position without having learned the ins and outs. He was always able to help and explain a task no matter who was asking and would never ask anyone to do something he wouldn’t do himself. We admired that.

Another thing, he would figure out and understand who his employees were as people. A lot of employers will look at you as just another badge number with the only communication sometimes being via email or voicemails. Randy understood that everyone had their different personalities and interests and would adjust his social interactions with everyone accordingly. Whether that was offering the shy quite one a book or giving something to the active and restless person to fidget with in their down time. I think this is a great quality to have in general even outside of a business setting. Understand that everyone is unique and different and lead with openness and understanding.

The list could go on but lastly, he always said thank you. Whether he had asked you to pull a van around the driveway or spend a full day on the river cutting out fallen trees. He would always say thank you when you were done. There are so many small tasks that need to be completed to keep a business running and they can so easily go overlooked. Saying thank you goes a long way and it is a habit I still maintain to this day.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

The short version is I started playing music at a young age. Piano, saxophone in the school band, started a band in 8th grade, band all through high school and then the beginnings of my current project Rockstead began in college. After college I made the decision that playing music is what I wanted to to do with my life so I really went all in with leading the band and taking on important responsibilities like booking, finances, social media management and advertising as well as being the primary songwriter in the group.

Rockstead is an original high-energy rock/reggae band and we now travel playing shows regularly across the midwest, southeast, east coast and Florida. I think our group offers both a heavier, aggressive side to the current American reggae scene as well as relatable honest lyrics.

At this point in our careers we’ve played in countless amazing venues and locations and have been able to open for legendary bands along the likes of Steel Pulse, The Wailers, Sticky Fingers and a slew of other awesome groups in the reggae and U.S. festival scenes.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

I think a big thing that helped build our reputation was staying consistent. Over the years we’ve continued to push forward and play shows even when things like member changes, stolen equipment and natural disasters got in the way. Having a mission and problem solving when it doesn’t go to plan doesn’t go unnoticed.

Also just growing and improving as musicians and songwriters. Practicing our craft and going out and recording great songs and playing great shows is the name of the game.

Making friends is a big one too. We’ve been in the game for awhile now and just being out supporting other groups and being a good person goes a long way.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?

I think many non-creatives tend to overlook the hard work and INSANE amount of behind the scenes energy that goes into making a music career happen. A lot of people roll with the idea that a good song is made, people like it and then it gets big when in reality there is generally 10 years of effort in that come up. There are hours and hours of practicing your craft, countless nights of moving equipment and driving while making little to no money. There is tons of time being spent on the computer on social media promoting yourself and sending hundreds of emails connecting with venues and festivals. All the while most musicians have one, two or even three other jobs that they are having to work to make the dream possible. It’s not easy but it’s worth it.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.rocksteadband.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rocksteadmusic
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rocksteadmusic
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/rockstead

Image Credits

Betty Johnson
Colleen McLean
Luke Kalinoski
Glimpse of Light Photography