Bret Alexander

THE REAL GIG: If you want to keep making music, you must find joy

THE REAL GIG: If you want to keep making music, you must find joy

Many years ago, I remember standing on the side of the stage talking with a crew member of The Marshall Tucker Band; we were playing a radio-sponsored show with them at an outdoor venue. We were in the middle of our first tour as a major label act, and I was chatting with him about […]

 Bret Alexander

THE REAL GIG: Musicians, heed the wisdom of ‘Jack and the Beanstalk’

THE REAL GIG: Musicians, heed the wisdom of ‘Jack and the Beanstalk’

I have an old friend named Gene. He’s in his 80s now, and I haven’t seen him in quite a while. Gene was an ad agency guy who I became friends with at my first studio job. He was crazy creative and, on some days, just plain crazy. I loved hanging with him. When we […]

 Bret Alexander

THE REAL GIG: A musician must be a jack of all trades to make a living these days

THE REAL GIG: A musician must be a jack of all trades to make a living these days

For pretty much all of the 1990s, I played with one band. One band. That was it. When the band wasn’t playing (and we played a lot), we were rehearsing. When we weren’t doing either of those, we were making a new record. We made a new one approximately every 18 months. Between albums, we […]

 Bret Alexander

THE REAL GIG: There’s no overnight success, so prepare for the miles between the moments

THE REAL GIG: There’s no overnight success, so prepare for the miles between the moments

I met with a band a few years back about doing a record. They were asking me for advice about getting out there, how to “make it” and all that. I suggested they get out and play live, maybe go to a few open mics, meet some people, make a recording, then another recording, etc. […]

 Bret Alexander

THE REAL GIG: Why music becomes white noise – the death of the craftsman

THE REAL GIG: Why music becomes white noise – the death of the craftsman

Last week’s column certainly got a debate started, which I welcome, so this week, I want to go a little further down the same road. I talked about casinos and tribute bands and the death of clubs in the new environment. The big record deals don’t happen anymore, for the most part, and the ones […]

 Bret Alexander

THE REAL GIG: The rise of tribute acts and the long, hard road for original musicians

THE REAL GIG: The rise of tribute acts and the long, hard road for original musicians

A few weeks ago, my pal Joe handed me a newspaper clipping. Just to get my opinion on it. It wasn’t a political editorial or anything like that. Nothing scandalous. It was a weekly live entertainment listing for our area. If you look at a Northeastern Pennsylvania live entertainment listing from 2016 as opposed to […]