‘I like every kind of music besides country.’ As soon as someone says that to me, I instantly know a couple things about them – one: they have terrible taste in music, and two: you don’t like every kind of music if there is one you don’t like, and three: we will never be friends.
Who only listens to one genre of music anymore? Thank you YouTube, Spotify, and as much as it pains me to say, Top 40 radio for expanding the palette of music fans everywhere.
I’m always surprised when I ask musicians what band’s they are listening to these days that they stick within two or three genres. You can be a hardcore fan of maybe three to five genres of music. But you can appreciate hundreds of variations in style!
Learn to be a student of talent, skill and ability across multiple genres of music.
What makes someone a great performer in country music? How is that different from a great crooner performance?
What makes someone a great writer in pop music? What are the parallels with great rap lyricists?
How can the honesty of singer/songwriters influence the precision of a world-class vocalist?
As you follow talent you will begin to see similarities in approach, execution and passion that will serve you in whatever genre you are pursuing.
Don’t be a snob.
It’s really annoying, and we’ll never be friends.
Become a fan.
Because we’ve all got things to learn from the most unlikely places.
Let’s be fans together, email me here.