We were lucky to catch up with Justin Tibbs recently and have shared our conversation below.

Justin, appreciate you joining us today. 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?

Not a full-time living, but I have done financially well as a musician. I started out back in college with my own group and then slowly started playing out with more groups. My name soon started to get around with some of the more popular local acts and then I started playing with them. It defiantly took some time to get to where I am now. I had to practice a ton and play with many different musicians in many different genres of music. I don’t think I could have done anything that would have sped this process up, playing with everyone I could help me develop into the musician I am today.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

My name is Justin Tibbs and I’m a saxophonist from Akron, OH. I started playing when I was around 5 or 6 years old. I started because I had a cousin that played saxophone for a while and she would leave her sax at my house, so she wouldn’t have to practice. One day after she left her sax at my house again, I decided to put it together and try to play it. I somehow succeeded at putting it together and started making noise on it. My grandmother walked into the living room and asked if that was me playing. I nodded yes and then she said okay and walked out of the room. She told me later on that she knew from that moment that I was supposed to be a saxophonist.

I went through the normal band classes in elementary and middle school. I didn’t really want to be a musician then, I just enjoyed playing music. In 2002 I got an opportunity to audition for Firestone Highschool VPA (Visual and Performing Arts) program. That program was hard and a lot of pressure was put on the many students that were a part of it. Students basically had to special music classes if they were a part of that program and they also had to keep a certain grade in those classes. If a student did not get a C or better, they would be kicked out of the program. I worked really hard to make sure I stayed in that program. This was also around the time I was exposed to different genres of music I had not known of beforehand. I was exposed to Daft Punk, Led Zeppelin, Staind, Toto, Pink Folyd, The Beetles, Earth Wind and Fire, Aaron Copland, Bach, etc… So going to a performing art high school was eye-opening for me.

After graduating high school in 2006, I took a break from music due to being burned out my senior year of high school and decided to go into Presue a B.A. in Mass Media Communications and Public Relations at the University of Akron. I restarted playing music again after a year of not playing. I started performing with a rock band called, ‘Slight Resolution’. That band lasted for about 2 years and then we went our different ways. After playing in that band I decided to go back into music at the University of Akron. Around this time I went off the grid and start practicing intensely. I also started to attend a ton of jam sessions that consisted of anything from singer-songwriter music to jazz. I finished up my degree(s) at the University of Akron and started playing around Akron more consistently.

After graduating from the University of Akron, I was playing with a ton of musical groups. I was performing with acts such as The Brothers’ Band, The Ryan Humbert Band, New Wave Nation, Red House, Angie Haze, The SpeedBumps, The Jared Lee’s Project, Chromadrive, Thieves of Joy, Mr.Chair, Acid Cats, Bethany Joy. I also started my own group called, “JT’s Electrik Blackout” which got an opportunity to play with the Canton Symphony Orchestra for their Divergent series.

I’m currently playing with Angie Haze, Bethany Joy, and JT’s Electrik Blackout.

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

Society can best support artists and creatives by doing a number of things. First, they can do it by coming to our shows or events that we put on. This makes us look good to club/restaurant owners and they are more inclined to book us again or suggest us to other establishments. Second, buy our work. Buying merch at a show or an event help us to be able to continue creating art. Third, society should share our work on their socials if they like what we do. This helps spread our craft to different circles we might not have been able to reach before. This helps us gain new fans.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

I get to create something from nothing and have my audience experience what I was thinking and feeling when I wrote the piece. I have a few tunes like, “Time Watches You”, “3 A.M. Text” and “Sometimes Space is Needed” that are fan favorites, because of the backstories behind them. Many of my fans can relate to them. I think that is important when it comes to songwriting. The music should be relatable to the audience.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.justintibbsmusic.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jtibbssax
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jtibbssax
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/jtibbssax
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/Twizzy006
• Other: Bandcamp: https://jtibbssax.bandcamp.com Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/3gkdJutn6k7qLoyHT17gRd?si=EdJVfyCKTrGaYjOY9NKuQw Linktree: https://linktr.ee/Jtibbssax

Image Credits
Tommy Waters, Ashton Blake, Rachel Osherow, and Gracie Mervis