We recently connected with Redd Volkaert and have shared our conversation below.

Redd, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Have you been 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? Was it like that from day one? If not, what were some of the major steps and milestones and do you think you could have sped up the process somehow knowing what you know now?

I started playing at 14 in night clubs, filling in for other guitar players, eventually landing a few band joining offers locally.
Then went on the “road” with a couple of different bands for a week or two at a time
The hook went in then, I didnt care about the money, although it afforded me a car and guitars. I just had to play

54 yrs later I’m semi retired and still traveling and playing music as much as want to, probably 1/3 to 1/2 of the year anually

Redd, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I’ve always loved practicing and learning so that was a natural thing for me to put in 10 hours a day practicing
Once I hit the road steady at 17 I played 5 hours a night 6 nights a week and practiced 10 daily
Not much else for a young shy music nerd to do . . .

Meeting people all along the way, working with some old acquaintances from up to 10 or 20 years after meeting them, you build up a network of folks to work with. So staying in touch a lot helps keep that ball rolling

Most of the self employed music business is word of mouth, people talking you up and bragging about your level of expertise to other folks that can offer more and higher pay jobs/gigs

I think being punctual, clean living, articulate in every way, know your craft, have equipment that doesn’t break down and hold up the timing on a job is crucial, NEVER be late or the last to show up for work.

Believe it or not, these simple rules are near impossible for some to adhere to

Any resources you can share with us that might be helpful to other creatives?

When I started there were no cell phones, YouTube, computers, GPS, networking availabilities so yes, all of these would’ve made getting ahead in the game so much easier.

How do you keep your team’s morale high?

If you can do it without a team or help, do that, it’ll save you time, money, energy of not trusting snakes and the hardship/heartache that comes with all that

Be vigilant about social media, selling yourself, don’t miss an opportunity by thinking too long about a deal.
See what others are doing with regards of how they’re marketing themselves etc

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.reddvolkaert.com
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/reddvolkaert
• Facebook: https://facebook.com/redd.volkaert
• Youtube: Search: Redd Volkaert

Image Credits

Photo by Brio, Dan Mirolli