Show life: a check-in vid (aka some feelings 1hr before performing)

Hey...not sure how to categorize this, but it's a little disparaging about the music industry around here, which I'm realizing maybe can't even be called that (since most people can't afford to do it except at the hobbiest level, i.e. making $$ another way) and it's not really related to the 444 Hearts challenge, so I can't really categorize it that way (as a 444 Feelings vid)...I hesitate to share more about this, but I think it should be known so people don't get the wrong idea about what a musician/writer's life is like. There's almost NO money outside of major cities...and by that I mean NYC and probably L.A. and only for a few. It's wayyyy beyond the level of hard financially than anyone ever said to me to try to talk me out of pursuing it...if I played cover gigs, or in a wedding band, it'd be a different story perhaps. Well...here we go. Gotta keep telling this truth. I wish people wanted to pay for music, but why would someone pay for the cow when they can have the milk for free? Isn't that the saying? People used to buy records, it was fun...CDs, tapes, vinyl...now that's a rare thing, and everything is free to stream or look up on YouTube. Even great classical works, reposted everywhere, free and not even by the original owners. "Study music" everywhere, ripping everything off, it's all over and all free. Recorded technology stole our relevance, we are unneeded, except to record that track one time...and only if it's the best, then if we're Pharrell we make $19K for Happy...like ALL Happy streaming on Spotify, I think. Some absurdly low amount for a worldwide hit. I just hate it, and yet there's no solution. Go buy something from a musician or actor...please :) they need to feel the love, in dollar form. Otherwise we feel irrelevant, tolerated, low-worth if not worthless...it's painful. 50-70 years ago, being a musician was a real life path, financially. Even if dirt poor. Now it's "Hey you, invest your own money in gear, recording, performing, travel, etc" and maybe we'll give you gas money to get here. Except the rare bar gigs, etc... I know some people make it, but even those, I've met some of them, many are dropped from labels and booking agents within a year or two...it's a short lived fantasy for most everyone, with more debt than income. Sigh. So, collective population, um...help? Or don't. That's fine too (seriously). But just know that's why we're so sad and feel so conflicted about following this path.

xo Jess

performing)