We recently connected with Tony Red-Horse and have shared our conversation below.

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

I do make a living as full time musician, mostly from my band The Rocketz. It wasn’t always that way but in the first three years of our band (est. 2004) We were lucky enough to catch a wave of the rockabilly explosion and build a fair fan base from our first record. Touring revealed income potential and the ground work was laid for full time music as a career. You learn quickly and sometimes hard, to be spendthrift and prepared. You learn to maintain your vehicle so it doesn’t strand you or deplete your cash flow. Most of these lessons as stated earlier are learnt the hard way. While I have been able to earn my living with music it has been risky at times. Bands and musicians are never guaranteed work. The path I chose as a DIY (Do It Yourself) musician and band founder of The Rocketz is especially risky and can be stressful as well. I’m still a song writer looking for that big opportunity. We have a small footprint in the touring arena, I call us a dive bar headliner. The Rocketz continues to take advantage of that platform. I believe there is no substitute for bringing live music into the towns across America or other countries for that matter. I’ve learned that a touring bands performance income, at the grass roots level is not enough to quit your day job. Rather, it is only enough to survive on the road while on tour. It’s been said before and I can validate, merch is king! I have used merchandise sales to bring the band from survivability to profitability. The Rocketz goes beyond T-shirts and Cds. We seek out artists that we feel matches us well and hire them to create designs based on our creative ideas that we hope sets us apart. We’ve sold shirts to folks who don’t even stick around for the show, they see the merch table set up and are drawn to our products. We go deep into apparel for ladies and men styles. Hats, jackets, custom jewelry and more are all displayed and attractive to passers by at our merch booth. We also boast an elaborate on-line store and I have learned to push merch sales even when we are not on tour. What’s super important here is you have to be motivated to follow through. It really is a second business and you cannot just forget about it after tour. There is replenishment, inventory tracking and staging plus R&D (research and development) for new designs. Also, I teach. I can teach basic guitar and I can teach upright bass within the rockabilly, honky tonk and even punk rock genres. Teaching is a good income stream when you are not on tour. Local fans might love to get a lesson from a member of their favorite band or one of their favorites at least. Parents want to give their children a creative outlet to see if it sticks. 3 or 4 students, once week each, can really payoff a bill or even a car payment. There is another income stream that has proven to be a delightful and profitable surprise. Private parties can be huge difference in monthly income. You must own your own PA and usually you can negotiate private parties in backyards, garages, even big living rooms for 2x and even 3x what you get at venue charging a cover. In addition to that, most bands accept credit cards for merch, you can accept payment for the the event via CC and that allows you to charge more and the Clients/Fans to pay more and you still get to set up your merch booth and perhaps a tip jar as well! It’s not an easy road, this is just a high level description of what The Rocketz do to pursue music as a living, there is so much that goes into this, it is truly a full time job and more!

Tony, 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 am Tony Red-Horse, founder of the rockabilly/punk band, The Rocketz. I have been a musician for decades but once The Rocketz formed in 2004, we experienced some growth that allowed us to tour nationally and internationally. We have a couple of songs you might call “Hits” but at a very medium level, non chart level songs that our fan base absolutely love! We have toured the US from corner to corner, Boston, Miami, San Diego and Seattle and even Anchorage/Fairbanks Alaska. Also, we have UK, Ireland, Europe, Japan and Mexico under our belts. Among our peers in the rockabilly world were also known for our elaborate merchandise offerings! Hats, Lingerie, Jewelry, Apparel, Jackets, Vests and Hoodies.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

Thats a two part answer. There is no greater feeling for me to come into a town, we’ve never performed at before and see new faces singing the lyrics to our songs. That is so rewarding, because its proof that we touched and in return are being touched. That leads into the second part, where we also are able to earn a living doing this. It’s really the same in any industry, whether you sell art that you painted, candles that you made, clothing you made and then are able to earn a living from it, is rewarding.

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

On tour from Kalispel MO, to Salt Lake City,UT We hit a batch of black ice. The van spun 360 degrees then rolled three times in the highway median. Two of our band members were taken to the hospital. I called my insurance company and they handled everything fantastically! We had to rent a box truck since the van and trailer were totalled. We also had to rent a passenger car. The two band members who went to the hospital were treated for some non-life threatening injuries and released. We all went to a steak house afterwards to celebrate how lucky we were. We realized that we still had time to make to SLC and we hit the road! We didn’t perform but we made it the show and walked in to support the other bands on tour! Performing music and being into what we do, resilient and empowered is what we are.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://therocketzband.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/therocketz/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/therocketz/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/therocketz?lang=en

Image Credits
All photos Franseco Carucci except the Merch Booth. Merch booth credit is Tony Red-Horse