There are many ways to put together a full-time music career in Dallas, and you don't have to be Post Malone to do it. The first thing to keep in mind is that being an artist means that business will mostly remain fluid. You may be on a string of gigs that dries up for a bit, and you're back waiting tables for a month to get by. This is a feature, not a bug. You are still a working musician.
After hours of practice devoted to mastering an instrument, refining their tone and working on material, how do artists get to the point where they can commit to music full-time? And what does that look like in Dallas?
We spoke to a handful of full-time musicians who shared some insight. Some of the common themes among their responses, like honing your playing skills, can seem obvious. So does the idea of embracing the social sacrifices — missing possibly every family event. But what we learned is that the ability to read a room and "hang" in any given situation and having the social skills to get along well with people might be the most important factors in getting hired, and more importantly, hired again.
How to Make It in Dallas Music
Simone Nicole has performed in DFW for 16 years, full-time since 2019. As most musicians doing solo gigs, Nicole plays a mix of originals and cover songs. It took her a while to get to a steady schedule, which for her means 3–7 gigs a week."I'm just now figuring out what the secret is, if there is a secret," she says. "There's no blueprint, which is what makes it so cool and so challenging."
For Nicole, having an engaging personality is mandatory if you want to stand on a stage, sing your songs and expect people to pay attention. But it's also vital to building trust and rapport with the promoter and venue staff, which is just as important, as is fostering relationships with other artists.
"If you want to play full-time or just be a musician in general, it takes a lot of networking, so going out to other artists' gigs and supporting them and going to open mics is helpful," she says. "I think the networking is the most important part because the more people see your face and see you out there performing and stuff, the more connections you'll make. Putting yourself into a supportive community of artists is very important."
To that end, Nicole has started a singer-songwriter group called "Songbirds of Fort Worth" that meets every Monday from 10 a.m. to noon at the Southside Preservation Hall. It's free, and anyone can attend and perform. Arguably, a slightly easier way to get people to pay to see live music is to play songs people already love. Like it or not, tribute bands can be extremely popular if you can find the right niche. Jerry Saracini has worked for over 20 years building and keeping together multiple tribute bands. Saracini's roles range from playing drums to booking and managing various bands. Among them are Forgotten Space, a Grateful Dead tribute; Me and My Monkey, which nods to the Fab Four; and Who's Best, a tribute to, you guessed it, The Who.
"At any sort of regular time, I would say it's usually about 12 to 15 shows, usually a month," Saracini says of the demand.
Keeping any band together is a challenge and getting along with each other is key, according to the music scene veteran.
"Like every tool, it develops," Saracini says. "Having a workable personality, people [should] learn and grow and change and adapt their personalities to a work situation." Another solid way North Texas musicians can get paid to perform is in church. A solid church gig can mean a weekly income, and it's also a great place to meet other musicians. Multi-instrumentalist Emsy Robinson Jr. says he makes most of his living by playing music and teaching, which he's done for over 10 years. He is a longtime member of Colab and has played with over 50 bands, in addition to solo gigs and studio sessions. And he's played plenty of church gigs, which Robinson says can be rewarding in more ways than just a paycheck.
"Playing at church can be a multitude of things for musicians," he says. "For some, it's a place where they can practice their faith alongside their gifts, and for others, it's a consistent paycheck away from the hustle and grime of bars. And for some, it's where you can do all of the above as well as network yourself with full-time touring musicians."
Robinson does offer some advice for those hell-bent on making a living only through music.
"If there's a viable path, go with your gut feeling," he says.
In other words, it's OK to take non-music gigs to get by in between your music gigs.
Patrick Smith may be the quintessential working musician. He gigs and tours with many bands, does session work, plays church gigs and also teaches. Since he switched from guitar to bass in 2010, he's been working in music almost non-stop. But that didn't happen overnight. Smith and a drummer friend, "slowly started finding venues we could host jams every week," he says. "They didn't pay well, but it was fun and it was some sort of income."
Along with offering many hours of added practice, these jams introduced Smith to the scene as a solid bassist and a person who could learn material fast. When speaking about how to get session work in DFW, Smith says there are ways to become the first name on a producer's roster.
"What happens is producers, engineers, studios here, they end up with 'their' guys for whatever reason," he says. "You got to just get in with those people, you got to get in with those studios or you got to do something that, you know, you're visible to other musicians, 'cause those are the people calling you."
After putting in the work and getting in the room for the gig, there's one truly important factor, according to Smith.
"A big part of it, too, is the hang," he says. "I would say in music, your ability to be a good time in a room could potentially be more important than your actual talent."
There are many avenues to achieve a full-time career as a musician. As with any artistic industry, it's a people business. The impressions you make are the key to everything. How you carry yourself on stage, in a session and even online can be the reason you will (or not) be recommended or hired for a gig. And the friends you make along the way are the last piece of the puzzle. That's not to say you need to be an extrovert to be successful.
As Smith puts it, " You just need to be a good hang."
