Artist Case Study – Holden Hackney

     The artist I chose to do my case study on is Steve Gadd. I chose Gadd because he is a remarkable drummer, one of the best ever. I also see the potential for me to follow a similar career path. Gadd has done it all. He studied traditional percussion in classical settings from a young age, while also exposing himself to the jazz scene playing with well-known names like Chick Corea and Dizzy Gillespie from a young age, and dozens of other well know names over the course of his career.

Interviewer: What makes you and your work unique?

What makes Steve Gadd’s work unique is his ability to create the most immensely phat pocket for the rest of the band to lay into, all while contributing great feel and embellishment to the music being made by whatever musicians he is playing with. He is also one of the most, if not the most, transcribed drummers ever. His playing has attracted the attention of every drummer who is anyone. His solo transcriptions of are the most produced, most purchased, and most played.

Interviewer: Do you have a brand or artist statement?

Gadd’s brand is his band, “The Steve Gadd Band.” From my research I believe his artist statement is simply to always be the best. With that attitude and statement, his success was created.

Interviewer: Do you have a mission or vision?

Young Gadd had a mission to become a professional musician and follow in the footsteps of other greats he looked up to. I’m sure he had a vision coming up, at this point in his life and career though, he’s made it and he’s doing what he wants to be doing.. that’s the mission.

Interviewer: Do you have career goals laid out for the next 5-10 years?

After recently winning a Grammy for “Best Contemporary Instrumental album,” His plan for the next 5-10 years would be to continue touring his album and playing live, as well as continuing his heavy schedule of studio and session work.

Interviewer: What do you do and what are you doing?

Gadd is a world-renowned drummer, producer, and legend. He plays drums for his own bands, as well for other musicians/bands in the past such as Steely Dan, Chick Corea, and many more. He also plays and has played on many studio sessions. He currently is touring with Eric Clapton, Paul Simon, and James Taylor. As well as playing live with his band and retaining a busy schedule of studio and session work.

Interviewer: How are you connecting and building audiences and how do you market to them?

Along with his reputation; he uses social media, his website, and an online merchandise store to build audiences and market to them.

Interviewer: What opportunities are you on the lookout for?

I believe Gadd is on the lookout for opportunities to play his album live, or play with any big names on big projects, live or session work.

Interviewer: Did you look at someone else’s career to make a path for your own and if so, what was it? 

Gadd absolutely looked up to people before him for inspiration and guidance into establishing his career. He has said before that his inspirations coming up and until now include names such as, Buddy Rich, Elvin Jones, Tony Williams, and Rick Marotta. He also had an uncle who was a drummer in the Army, the same branch he eventually was drafted into where he played drums as well.

Interviewer: How do you fund your work?

Gadd has a merch website where he sells his brand, as well as many records and royalties I’m sure he gets from everything he has done in his career, along with pay from live performances and more.

Interviewer: How did you initially get funding? 

At the age of seven he began taking private lessons, with this in mind, I’m sure coming up he had financial support from his parents and on into college at Eastman. After college he was drafted into the Army, so he received funding from that, and after that he began working as a studio musician where received funding, and the rest is history.

Interviewer: What networks or organizations do you belong to and which ones have helped you the most?

Gadd belongs to the worldwide network of top-notch drummers and live/studio musicians. He is one of the most accomplished names in the music business today and for the last 20-30 years. I believe the compilation of all the networking, experience, and work throughout his career is what has brought him to his current level of success.

Taylor – Performance Experience Responses

  1. At my next performance I want to feel prepared. My biggest issue is over complicating things in preparation for the show and then feeling really bad if they don’t come together in time. I love feeling like I’ve done all I can to prepare (technically, mentally) for every performance I do. Especially when it is a show under my own name. I want to walk on stage and feel comfortable and feel that I can trust all of the gear I’m using. That way nothing will get in the way of me connecting with the audience.

2. I want to come across as open, comfortable, and honest to my audience as I can. I want to be myself, I want to be as real as the music I’m performing is. I don’t write music for hype or to sound marketable. My music is a reflection of my emotions and I often make it to push me to learn new things. I want my music to be interpreted as a reflection of who I am, but at the same time I don’t want my music to be all that defines me as an individual.

3. I haven’t done this intentionally but I would like to! My next two performances are on March 16th at a house show and the 17th at rain dogs.

4. My performance anxiety really depends on what role I have in the performance. When I’m playing horn in the back row or even guitar for Bobby Kid, I feel like I’m part of the performance but I’m not the entirety of the performance, so I usually deal to little to no performance anxiety playing in ensembles or with Bobby Kid. However, when I perform my solo set or even with my band, I feel so much more pressure to be perfect and to make everyone happy. Here are my specific symptoms:  

  1. Physical: I get sweaty and my hands get clammy. Sometimes my legs feel wobbly.  
  2. thought patterns (self-talk): Sometimes thinking through the tech and talking myself through “if this goes wrong here’s what I’ll do.” or sometimes in the middle of a song I’ll have an “OH SHIT” moment but know that if I just stop playing it will be obvious but if I keep going nobody will notice the mistake
  3. Feelings: I think to much about how other people interpret my set, so I feel anxious to be myself sometimes (which is just so dumb) However, I also feel a rush of adrenaline often and it feels great most of the time.

5. Taking a deep breath really helps with my anxiety. It’s not just the act of taking the breath that helps, as much as it’s the thought of remembering to do something I do involuntarily every day, but doing it with intention and letting my mind relax and be quiet.

6. Often times my practice session turns into a writing session as I discover new sounds and begin messing around with them. Sometimes I let this distract me from having a productive practice or rehearsal. I feel like I get overwhelmed easily when it comes to preparing a set and refining it to be the best it can be. It helps me a lot to explain my process or goal to another person, and just by talking about it I begin to plan out things better.

7. When I’m practicing my own set I usually get everything set up, run a couple of songs, and then take a 10-20 minute break to relax and get in the right headspace. If it’s a rehearsal with all of my bandmates I like taking this time to listen to past rehearsal recordings or show them new songs I found that inspire me. After that I usually rehearse for 45 minutes – 1.5 hours, depending on how long the set it.

8. I find it most helpful to plan things in advance so I can approach the rehearsal or performance with confidence. If I’m rehearsing with somebody that hasn’t played the set before, I like to meet with them individually before the full band rehearsal. That way I will feel they are more prepared for the set and have a different understanding of the song. In a lot of ways the best thing for me to do is to talk to other people about my process. This helps me think it all through and I learn a lot about myself whenever I have to stand up for myself and support my opinion. Taking mental and physical breaks is very important to me.

Performance Experience – Kelly Wolfe

  1. The next time I walk on stage I want to feel over prepared and confident in what I can do. Confidence is something that I struggle with everyday especially when I’m performing. But, as an actress, I want to experience the same thoughts and emotions that my character would be in the moment and context of the scene I’m in. I can make this happen by doing the proper character analysis which will help me focus on the proper arc of my character.
  2. I would love to come off as professional as I can to my audience. I want to show my audience that I walk with a purpose on an off stage to move the story along. There’s nothing that bothers me more than someone who walks without purpose on stage.
  3. I have videotaped recent performances but I haven’t sat down with a mentor and watched it together. I have watched it by myself and it was very interesting to see my mannerisms and acting choices. But I don’t think that I’ll have time to sit down with a mentor to watch it especially since there are like 29 school days left. But, I have watched them with my parents who are so proud of what I’ve learned over my four years. The only downside is that they don’t really know what to talk about other than moving around from one spot.
  4. I do experience performance anxiety and i experience it with sweating, shaking, and butterflies in my stomach. Sometimes, my thoughts get a little wild and I second guess a lot of my lines and even my lyrics even though I’ve rehearsed them a hundred times. But, if i didn’t feel this way then it would mean that I didn’t care enough about what I was about to show everyone.
  5. I think I would work on the taking a deep breath intervention on handling anxiety. That seems like the most effective choice for me.
  6. I ALWAYS feel discomfort during my time in the practice room because of the fact that some people like to tear you down even though you are just practicing. Like I don’t even feel comfortable making weird noises to get to the nasal sound that I’m trying to achieve through my vocal warm up. I usually end up warming up at home just to do it without fear of others opinions.
  7. I do take breaks during my practice sessions for water or even to give my voice a break. The time of the breaks usually depends on what I’m practicing and what I have to do later. If I have a late night rehearsal then I try not to over-rehearse so that I’ll have the ability to perform properly later. 
  8. Some other things I can do to safeguard my performance health can be to not push my voice to hard. Some things outside vocal steps I can take are sleeping with a humidifier to bring moisture back to my folds. I also take ibuprofen before I go to bed as a relaxer for my vocal folds.

Artist Case Study

Abrien Nelson

Mark Snyder

Music Entrepreneurship

March 7, 2019

Artist Case Study

  1. What makes you and your work unique?

Will Smith is a Grammy Award-winning rapper, actor, father and husband.   whose success in Hollywood spans more than 20 years. But unlike many people who credit their career achievements to their unique talent, Smith says he credits his success to his willingness to work harder than anyone around him.

  • Do you have a brand or artist statement?

 “I had so much success that I started to taste global blood and my focus shifted from my artistry to winning. I wanted to win and be the biggest movie star,” he said. “I found myself promoting something because I wanted to win versus promoting something because I believed in it.”

  • Do you have a mission or vision?

Companies can spend a day or a month or months on this. Having a clear mission’s statement is critical. The important thing is remembering the mission’s statement is not so much to help you but to figure out how you can help others. Start by asking, “Why does X company even exist?” You’ll soon find out whether you’re building this company for yourself-or for others.

  • Do you have career goals laid out for the next 5-10 years?

No, he’s Will Smith.

  • What do you do and what are you doing?

Currently staring as Genie in Disney’s Aladdin.

  • How are you connecting and building audiences and how do you market to them?

Now, connecting with that relatable human emotion involves donning a wig and standing in the crowd at Coachella with his children, he says. He has to feel that emotion in order to understand what product he can create that consumers will want, he says.

  • What opportunities are you on the lookout for?

Through extensive research this was made unclear.

  • Did you look at someone else’s career to make a path for your own and if so, what was it? 

No Will Smith started his career as a rapper and slowly transitioned to acting starting with TV then Film.

  • How do you fund your work?

He formed an alliance with schoolmate and deejay Jeffrey Townes in 1981. They began recording as DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince and released their first single, “Girls Ain’t Nothing but Trouble,” in 1986. Later in 1988 the duo released the groundbreaking single “Parents Just Don’t Understand,” which went on to win the first Grammy ever presented in the rap performance category.

  1. How did you initially get funding? 

Will Smith used from one avenue of his career to boost other facets of his career.

  1. What networks or organizations do you belong to and which ones have helped you the most?

With his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, founded the Will and Jada Smith Family Foundation to benefit inner-city community development, youth educational projects and under-privileged children and their families. They hosted the Nelson Mandela AIDS benefit concert in George, South Africa. They also dedicated time and money to helping suffering families and children in South Africa. Smith took part in the America: A Tribute to Heroes charity telethon for victims of 9/11.

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