yeah, i said it. actually, this is something pierre says a lot – especially when we’ve been working on a song for hours and just can’t seem to figure out that missing guitar part. or when we’re driving back from a show at 3am, knowing full well we’ve got our day jobs to go to the next day. it’s easy and more entertaining to talk about how much fun music is and how it frees the soul and is this wonderful form of self expression…and it is, to be sure. but don’t kid yourselves…music is hard. really hard. that is, if you want to make a career out of it.

as most of you know, i do have a day job…and i really wish i wasn’t here right now. i’d like to be at home working on a new song i started on last night. a song about the boston tea party, with plenty of little jabs at the british and a greedy king thrown in there. but, alas, i have to make a little money to survive, and music doesn’t completely provide for that, not yet anyway. nope, at this point in my life, i eat, drink, and bleed music simply because it’s something i have to do – it’s who i am. and yes, it is an extrememly hard thing sometimes to work tirelessly at something and not necessarily know if it’s going to pan out as a career…but nothing risked, nothing gained, right?

but don’t feel sorry for musicians…we should have known what we were getting into. my dad did warn me that it was a “one in a million shot”. and, besides that, it is a very rewarding thing in a lot of ways. i love being a songwriter, getting to explore ideas and, in my case lately, a lot of history and some very interesting people, all through song. and i am having the time of my life writing and recording these new songs. but make no mistake: music is hard work.

i hope you guys are having a great week and i promise i’ll be posting some of these new demos soon!

johnny