We were lucky to catch up with Wayne Riker recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Wayne, thanks for joining us today. 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?

At age 19 I locked in my goal to be a full time professional guitarist and guitar teacher. During my four years of college I formed my own band and began to practice twelve hours a day while minoring in Music. Upon graduation I immersed myself in the New York City music scene where I was fortunate to play with a number of high level veteran club musicians. At the same time I began teaching guitar as well. Now at age 71 I look back with no regrets as I have successfully made a full time living playing gigs and teaching, Mission accomplished all chronicled in my memoirs: 50 Years, 50 Bands, 50 Bucks on Amazon.

Wayne, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

As a working musician I was determined to adequately represent myself in a variety of musical settings, focusing on all styles that would earn income, including being able to perform solo instrumental arrangements. Expanding my musical horizons I was able to hit the stage in Rock, Blues, Country, Top 40, show bands and Jazz groups along with Big Band and Musical Theater gigs as well.. The key to success was always being 100 percent prepared, never expressing doubt about my ability, being punctual, dressed well, good communication skills and all equipment in good working order. As far as a my guitar instructional business, I didn’t have to advertise after three years in as my foot traffic was all word of mouth. I equate my success as never being late for a student, being fully prepared in lesson planning and never talking about myself, my band or personal issues, but always focusing on my student’s concerns.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

There are so many clichés for one’s journey through a challenging career, such as :”the road to success is littered with failure,” “if you don’t succeed, try try again,” etc., etc. So many moments of constructive criticism came my way over the years in attempting to be successful on myriad stage settings. Each time I met them with a competitive spirit and a dogged determination to rectify what I couldn’t execute on my instrument. The key is to accept what you can’t do in a positive light and focus on successfully turning it in to something you can do.. Luckily I worked with so many fellow “tough love” musicians that I am forever grateful for their straight forwardness’ and advice.

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

For musical artists there are a number of avenues of support nowadays. First off, attend local music events supporting live music venues. Buy the performers’ merchandise if available. There are now a number of sites to purchase merchandise and downloads of an artist’s music catalog, e.g., Bandcamp, Apple, CD Baby, iTunes and much more. Follow them on social media outlets for current updates, many have Artist pages. Although musical performers usually get paid a modest fee for a gig, it’s always good to pad their tip jar, which sometimes can add up to more than their set wage for their gig.

Contact Info:

• Other: [email protected]

Image Credits
Nick Abadilla, Steve Covault, Dennis Andersen