It’s free to be early
Hey, Nikki here.
When I was 22 and fresh out of college, Tyler Cain and his wife Meghan Linsey hired me off a CMA Fest signing to help build Bold Music Group, their studio and music experience business. He was my first boss in Nashville. (He’d call it my first gig.)
Tyler has spent about 20 years on the road and in the studio with Gavin DeGraw, Colbie Caillat, Big & Rich, Billy Currington, and many more.
His first paid music job was $12 an hour at Busch Gardens, playing the chicken dance dressed like Pinocchio and catching an 87-year-old singer named Bob whenever he fell…
Why this one matters:
In 20 years of touring, Tyler can remember getting one gig from an audition. Every other one came from a call from a friend.
So the question is: what makes someone think of you first?
#1 It’s free to be early
Tyler’s version of the odds: take everyone talented enough to make it, then cut to the people who show up on time, do their homework, and are good to be around. “Then you have a very small pool of people, and there is a need for those people.”
He taught me this one personally. At 22, I was on time or five minutes late, and he asked me to just be early. I was mortified. I’ve been early ever since.
Takeaway: The habits that cost nothing put you ahead of most people chasing the same work.
Try this: Pick one free habit you’ve gotten loose on (call time, texting back, how you talk about people who aren’t in the room) and tighten it up this week.
#2 Every opportunity starts with somebody
Tyler met two of his best friends on his first day at Belmont, and they’ve been throwing each other’s names into gigs ever since.
Once you’re in, he said, “your performance is your business card.” He’s watched plenty of people lose gigs over how they acted, and it was almost never over talent.
Takeaway: The people you do the work with are the people who will call you.
Try this: Pass one gig lead to someone you worked with recently. Those calls come back around.
#3 Remember you were Pinocchio
When he was first touring arenas in 20s, Tyler admits he got “lost in the sauce” and was trying too hard to look cool and successful in music. He tells a funny story of a three-year-old at a restaurant in Arkansas asking him and his bandmates if they were clowns because of how they looked.
More importantly, he learned his place as a supporting musician: “That’s not your glory. You’re there to work for an artist.”
Takeaway: Knowing whose name is on the ticket makes you easier to hire again.
Try this: Think about the last time your ego showed up on a gig, and decide now what you’ll do differently next time.
If you want the full conversation, watch Ep #72 of The Giggs Podcast with Tyler Cain.
SPOTIFY | APPLE | YOUTUBE
— Nikki
P.S. One line I can’t stop thinking about, a quote Tyler has carried his whole career: “If you have the wrong people, there’s nothing you can say. And if you have the right people, there’s nothing you need to say.”
