Photo credit: Joe Del Tufo
Tell us about your tour vehicle. Any notable breakdown stories?
After about 200,000 miles I retired my Honda Odyssey and purchased a Toyota Sienna (AWD). It was one of the best days of my life buying that car. I had to replace the transmission on the Odyssey which was a huge pain–but I loved that car.
There were lots of funny stories and a few breakdowns, but the one that comes to mind was on a tour with my friends Ali McGuirk and Kevin Clifford. We stopped off at my dad’s house in Lenox, MA before a gig we had in town. Now I don’t lose things, EVER, so when I couldn’t find the keys to the car–it was a rare and very upsetting moment. Especially because we had a gig we had to be at in an hour. We looked everywhere, and I didn’t have a spare with me. Luckily we left the van unlocked and loaded all our gear into my dad’s Prius (a tight fit), and drove to the gig in a frenzy.
When we got back, we looked again in vain for the keys. Finally we call AAA and ask them to tow us to the nearest Honda dealership. My dad has this long, steep, epic driveway and at this point it was about 11:30 pm. Let’s just say that the tow truck driver was not happy when he tried to back in one of those massive tow trucks wearing his pajamas (the kind that can find a couple cars on the back). After a very unpleasant encounter, he took the car away to the dealership. The next morning, we are packing up the Prius to head to our next gig (my dad very generously let us borrow his car), and I hear Kevin from the other room. He had pulled up the retractable handle on my suitcase, only to discover my car keys hiding underneath.
How do you eat cheaply and/or healthy while on tour?
Food is one of the things that I don’t skimp on when it comes to touring. I would rather stay at a cheap motel and eat good quality healthy food than do the fast food thing. Although I will say that I do enjoy the grand slam from Dennys once in a while at 1:00 am.
How many strings do you break in a typical year? How much does it cost to replace them?
I almost never break strings (*knock on wood*). I have an endorsement with D’Addario, so probably $10 – $20 a year. I prefer old strings.
Where do you rehearse?
What’s a rehearsal?
What was the title and a sample lyric from the first song that you wrote?
Criminal Man: “I live to laugh, and I live to cry. I’ll live till I don’t, then I guess that I’ll die”
Describe your first gig.
My first gig ever was at a place called Nelson’s Candy Store in Wilton, New Hampshire with my band Uncle Fran’s Breakfast in High School. I don’t remember much about it, other than having a blast.
What was your last day job? What was your favorite day job?
Well, I run a music lesson business and teach guitar lessons (Princeton Music Lessons). It’s one of my favorite things to do. I truly enjoy every lesson.
How has your music-related income changed over the past 5-10 years? What do you expect it to look like 5-10 years from now?
My music-related income changed drastically when I started teaching guitar. I always told myself that I didn’t want to need to tour. Now I’m in a position where I am better off financially than I was before covid when I was touring all the time. I think of the money that I make from shows and records as “bonus income”. I plan on growing my lesson business and my music career year after year. I’m also in the final stages of a guitar book. Because I don’t need to tour anymore, I expect to do pretty well in 5-10 years from now. My financial destiny is not attached to the fate of the music business, and I prefer it that way.
What one thing do you know now that you had wished you knew when you started your career in music?
I wish I had known the toll that it would take on me psychologically. It’s not business that I would recommend to anyone as a full-time profession. I would highly encourage young musicians to make albums and dabble in the music industry, but not to rely on it financially. Go to college or develop another main, reliable source of income. That way you can keep music fun and not crush your creative spirit by the frustrations and disappointments from the industry.
I feel fortunate that I have had some luck and small success in this industry. But now that I am not relying on the income from it, I am enjoying playing music and being creative more than ever. It’s better to not stress out about the thing that you love. And as a solo artist, it’s easy for everything to become about , “me, me, me” when you are literally the brand and the product. I don’t like focusing on myself so much. That’s one of the other reasons I love teaching, and now being a dad. It shifts the focus to giving and getting outside of my own world.