We recently connected with Monica Valli and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Monica thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with 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?

The past 4 years I have been earning a full-time living off of playing guitar! I was very lucky to have discovered my gift for playing guitar at a pretty young age. I started playing live music when I was 16. Unfortunately, back in those days, I was playing for “experience” and not actually getting paid. It wasn’t until about a year after graduating from college that I actually started making money in the music industry by touring around the country as a lead guitarist. Still, in between tours and musical opportunities I needed to make ends meet and worked at a retail boutique for a few years in Nashville… and absolutely dreaded it but it seemed like the only place that would keep hiring me back after each tour I came off of. One day, after steaming and folding my 400th blouse at the boutique, I realized I’m not limited to just using my guitar gifts on stage performing and I could totally teach guitar lessons during the day. I think I just had tunnel vision for performing live music that I forgot I could enjoy and make money with my guitar in other ways. So for the past 4 years, if I’m not on tour, I’m at home in Nashville or Austin giving guitar lessons during the day and playing local gigs at night. I’m also lucky to work with guitar brands that I love and create content on social media for them.

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

I started playing guitar in bluesy biker bars when I was 16 years old in St. Louis, MO. Those dive bars turned into beautiful theatres and venues around the country a few years later after being hired by various artists to tour with them as a lead guitarist and background vocalist. During the pandemic, I obviously wasn’t able to tour so I started songwriting and singing for the first time. When the industry opened back up, I moved to Austin, TX to really start focusing on my own original music. I am currently developing myself as an artist as well as still being hired as a lead guitarist for other artists

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

I think most hired gun instrumentalists are pretty resilient. I worked on my craft for about a decade with the dream of going on tour. And then one day I got “the call” and I secured a month long leg of a tour. And that’s it, I had one month of living my dream and I get back home and its kind of back to where I started, and that keeps happening after every tour- I get home after such a high and then its waiting for the next call, being patient, continuing to work on my craft and putting my name out there but you never know when the next call is coming and it can feel scary when a big percentage of this industry is “right place at the right time” or “luck”. But I think the harder you work, the luckier you become. There is constant restructuring going on in my head. Plan B’s, C’s, D’s etc.

I was so lucky to have toured for various artists, on various tours up until the pandemic hit and wiped out all live music. Again, our whole industry had to be resilient. Personally, I started restructuring again and started singing and songwriting for the first time and thought “what if I didn’t have to wait for another artist to hire me and I just took myself on tour”. So I’m currently developing myself as an artist while still enjoying the freelance guitar life.

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

Show up! Buy tickets to shows (and buy them EARLY) and then treat yourself to the band’s merch. That is the BEST way you can support your favorite artist. Also you can support on social media by following, engaging, and sharing music. You can also make donations through Kickstarter or subscribe to Patreon, etc. which is the most direct way to support.

You can support my music and subscribe to my Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/monicavalli

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.monicavalli.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/monicavalli/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYSAI_QCdysGNGET68_EAPg
• Other: https://www.patreon.com/monicavalli

Image Credits
Sean Mathis, Kylie Rebecca, Meera Rajahopalan, Andrew Morton