Quitting to Play Guitar - An Update

Maybe you were there when I submitted about playing guitar for a sold out crowd or about touring the country playing guitar on the street. Well, it's now been about a year since I left the corporate world to try my hand at becoming a full-time guitarist. There has been no shortage of struggles, disappointments, and triumphs through it all, and I thought the fine denizens of /r/guitar might appreciate some insights I've gained related to playing music for a living and 'following your dream', if your dream happens to be playing guitar.

First, some vital stats:

• I'm 37
• I have a college degree in Philosophy
• I live in Colorado
• I have no kids
• I am not married
• I have no debt whatsoever
• I own a car outright
• I am in terrific health
• I'm kind of on the fence about turtles...I mean, I kind of like them but honestly I think newts are cooler

Anyway, the above list should help to explain how it is that I was able to do what I did - namely, leave a salaried job with benefits to just start playing guitar all the time, hoping that things would eventually work out and that I wouldn't end up being the poster child for all of the reasons why it's a bad idea to pursue a lofty dream like being a professional musician. Realistically speaking, if I had a kid, a wife, a lot of debt, or some other such burden, quitting my job to play music wouldn't have been half as feasible of a prospect. In hindsight, it took a lot of fucking balls and regardless of how it all shakes out in the end, I'm damn proud of myself for having the courage to do it.

First, I want to share with you a few of the negative things that I've encountered as I've taken this path. They're not all insurmountable, but they are definitely a change from the comfortable, cushy corporate life that I used to lead:

• The chicks, record deals, band invites and fame did not suddenly fall into my lap. As it turns out, the saying is true: "Just because you want something really bad, that doesn't mean you deserve it."
• I found my limit of how many hours I can play guitar in a week. That limit is 35. Any more than that and I start to develop overuse injuries.
• Speaking of playing-related injuries: I have had to deal with ganglion cysts, numerous blisters, torn fingernails, numbing in my fingers, a back problem due to the uneven weight that the guitar puts on my spine for all those hours, etc. It really is amazing how my body starts to break down after that 35th hour or so. Maybe it's age...probably...
• I wasn't suddenly cooler to my friends and family. In fact, they were all worried about me. They still kind of are.
• I have re-learned something I knew a long time ago, but had forgotten: youth and looks can and do trump talent. A fucking LOT. That is to say, a younger, better-looking guitarist can sound half as good as I do and there is a very good chance that this dude is going to get picked over me for a gig or even SESSION WORK! Yes, I'm completely serious. It happens. Which leads me to my last, notable challenge...
• The money fucking sucks. To be fair, I'm saying this against a backdrop of a 16-year sales career that was very lucrative. Going from six figures to about $29,000 was...character buliding, as my dad would say.

And honestly, that's really it. I intentionally left out some of the more typical downsides that come with being self-employed - managing your own time, finding gigs, marketing yourself, etc.. All of that notwithstanding, I wouldn't change a thing about how my life has turned out. Even though I make a quarter of what I did in my prior career, I'm happier, more engaged, better connected with others, and I feel more aligned with what I was put on this earth to do. Compared to where I was this time two years ago - flying from client to client, working on Excel spreadsheets on the weekends, going to industry trade shows...UGH. I now wretch when I think about that life.

And so there's a lot thas gone RIGHT with all this. Here are just a few more things that I'll put in list format just because I like lists and this post needs at least three of them, right?

• I'm now the 'house guitarist' for two restaurants in Denver. It's steady work and my employers are fantastic people.
• I still play music on the street, only now it's even BETTER. Having the confidence that comes with being a full-time musician has spurred me to experiment with my playing, resulting in grooves and sounds that I never thought I was capable of producing.
• I can sleep at night. I'm kind of being hyperbolic...what I mean is that I feel good about what I'm doing with my work. It's a creative pursuit that is also a service to others - I think, at least. This feature of my life makes every day so much more...liveable.
• My old coworkers and business colleagues haven't gone anywhere. They've actually all expressed great curiosity in all this, and they'll be there if I ever decide to return to the corporate space again...something that is HIGHLY unlikely.
• I've found love. Since pursuing this dream, I've fell in love with an amazing woman. I genuinely don't think this would have happened if I had stayed in my soul-sucking, white-collar job. I was so miserable with myself and my 'professional trajectory' that I couldn't really love someone. Now I can and it's pretty damn liberating.

I set out to make a post that would offer a realistic view into the life of someone who took the risk to play guitar in lieu of chasing corporate success. My hope is that this gives you some food for thought if you've ever kicked around the idea of giving music a shot, like FOR REAL.

And you know, even if you don't throw yourself into it like I did, there is a middle way, as the Buddhists would term it. You don't have to cut-and-run like I did - do what you love and live a balanced life if that's your thing.

I just happen to like taking risks.

Stay true, guys.

• Agnostix

New video of me playing 'Canon' in Denver

Marijuana Madness! - The Colorado Pot Surge

Image credit: www.thedenverchannel.com

If you live anywhere even remotely close to the state of Colorado, then you've heard about the major waves being made by the booming marijuana business. Five years ago, it was unheard of to be able to walk into a brick-and-mortar marijuana dispensary - one built solely for recreational and not just medicinal purposes - plop down $20 and walk out with some of the highest-grade ganja available anywhere.

But now, it's become so commonplace that it seems impossible to drive more than a few city blocks in downtown Denver without seeing some advertisement or storefront showcasing deals on the many different strains of pot available through these new outlets. What was once a shadowy, black-market substance only attainable by those with a connection to a 'dealer' is now as pervasive as alcohol and tobacco. And, I would argue, it's just as accessible.

This new market is colossal. In fact, in August of 2015, recreational pot sales broke the 60 million dollar mark, and that's not even counting the revenue generated from medical sales of the drug. But it's not just the sale of the drug itself that is raking in fresh cash for Colorado businesses; there are newly-forming cottage industries surrounding weed that are cropping up (pun intended) seemingly everywhere.

There's Pyrex and glass smoking implements (pipes, bongs, hookahs).
There's rolling papers and blunt wraps.
There are marijuana grinders and custom-made storage containers.
There are cleaning products and even bong cleaning services available.

Image credit: MedicalMarijuanaBlog.com

And, the marijuana itself has been refined and reduced down to an extract known as 'wax' or 'shatter' (see image to the right). This is the newest advent in consuming the drug - the user subjects the marijuana extract to extreme heat using a red-hot prod in a process known as 'Dabbing', to produce smoke that contains much more THC than traditional methods of smoking pot.

In the wax or shatter form, the drug is much more concealable and less odorous, allowing for more covert methods of transporting and storing it.

What does all of this mean for the average Colorado resident, who may or may not himself indulge in marijuana? Well, one thing is for sure, it means a hell of a lot more state revenue for education and drug policy expenditures. It may take a few years, but eventually the public school systems in Colorado will start seeing some very real, tangible results from the legalization of pot.

It also means big-time increases in the tourism business that the state of Colorado has already enjoyed for decades.

There are cultural changes taking place, also. The typical 'stoner' stereotype that has long been associated with regular users of marijuana is changing. Now, it's not so unheard of for business professionals to relax by smoking a joint or two at the end of the day, in lieu of their few glasses of wine. Young, tech-savvy workers coming to Denver for jobs are bringing with them their progressive views of and penchants for enjoying marijuana. They're earning real money in a thriving city while being able to enjoy a pastime that is still wholly illegal in most other parts of the country.

I've personally been in Colorado for almost 10 years. I've never considered myself a 'pot-head', but I've enjoyed the occasional puff of pot every now and again. But anytime I decided to do so - up until now, that is - I was always paranoid about getting caught, or somehow being viewed as a lesser human being for enjoying the high afforded by marijuana.

Now with that tension gone, life in Colorado is all that much more enjoyable. I think I'll stick around for yet a while longer, still. :)

Ode to Following a Dream

The first time I played a guitar in a public place, I was about 16 years old. 

I remember taking my Epiphone acoustic to a local park next to a small lake just to see what kind of reaction I would have if I played fairly simple guitar songs for random strangers.

Nothing incredible happened. I didn't get any money from anyone. In fact, no one really even noticed me for the most part. 

Then life happened. I graduated high school, went on to college, got my degree and got a job in professional sales. Playing music in public took a back seat to board meetings, sales quotas, product presentations and closing the deal. At the time I thought that I was doing what I *should* be doing - earning lots of money, spending it on shiny things and ignoring this nagging voice in the back of my head that was telling me that I should be back at that park, making music. 

So, my bank and retirement accounts grew while my passion for playing guitar sat idle. This went on for about 10 years.

Then in 2008, I packed up all my things and moved from Atlanta to Denver. I had had enough of the south and I needed a change, and I figured Colorado was as good a place as any for a fresh start. Little did I know that upon arriving, I would rediscover the joy of public performance, in a very real - however unexpected - way. 

I suffer from clinical depression and during a particularly severe bout of it, I tore myself away from my one bedroom apartment, went into town and sat under a bridge, playing blues music on my electric guitar through a tiny, battery-powered amplifier. I remember closing my eyes and weeping as I played, letting my emotions spill out onto the fretboard. It was a genuinely cathartic experience.

I opened my eyes and what I saw dumbfounded me. 

There was money. Money everywhere. 

Singles, fives, and even a few tens. People were just dropping money all around me and I didn't even know it. It's at that moment when I realized I had discovered something truly magical. 

Ever since that fateful day, I have been playing blues and jazz-inspired guitar music on the street at least a few hours every week. This hobby turned into a full-time profession when, in February of 2015, I quit my salaried sales job to go on tour, playing my music in cities all across America.

This was a fairly risky venture. Sure, I had saved enough money to keep me fed and clothed, but to drive solo around the country with no real plan but to play music for strangers isn't the most calculated, conservative way to go about accomplishing a goal. But I didn't care. I was going to do it, and I did. 

My travels took me from Denver south to New Mexico, through Arizona, into Southern California and all the way up the western coast. I played guitar in a graveyard, in a cave (talk about killer acoustics!), at the beach, and in some of the most unexpected places you can think of. I collected so many incredible memories that it would be impossible to account for all of them here on this post. I will share with you just a few anecdotes here, but if you want the full story you'll have to wait until I publish my book about all this, which is forthcoming.

Monterrey, CA - I set up and played at a beach in this beautiful town, and as I was setting up a man approached me with his wife, and asked me what I was getting ready to do. I responded, "Well, I was going to play some music here," to which he replied, "Sounds good to me, let's hear it!" And so I began. About 20 minutes into my set, he stopped me and formally introduced himself. This guy was part of Herbie Hancock's band back in the 60's, and his percussion work is on more than one of HH's platinum-selling records from that era. I was stunned. I had just played music for a jazz legend and I didn't even know it.

Portland, OR - I picked a spot to play at a park in Portland. The rain seemed to have let up just for me, or so it seemed. I was feeling particularly romantic at the time, so I decided to play a tune very commonly heard at weddings: Pachelbel's Canon in D Major. Just as I was getting into my second or third trip through the chord progression, I look up to see a full bridal party walking straight toward me. I am not kidding...literally seconds after I started playing this song, a bride, her groom and all of the groomsmen/bridesmaids just SHOWED UP seemingly out of nowhere. I was totally gobsmacked, and so of course I just kept playing. After I was done, the groom came over and asked me if his wife had hired me. I told him no, and he refused to believe me. This is probably the most bizarre memory I have from the trip, and I still can't believe the timing.

I could go on here with at least another dozen or so stories about things that happened to me on the road. While it was an incredible experience, it did have to come to an end. And that end was in Seattle, where I did a capstone performance at Pikes Place market, to a huge crowd that paid me well over $500 in just over 4 hours time. It was an fantastic way to round out a glorious journey.

After defaulting back to Denver and still reeling from what I had just done, I knew that I had to settle back into the life I left. So, I began a job search and re-entered the workforce a few months later. Now, I'm back in the sales game with another full-time, salaried job, but things are different now. They're different because, in those few months I spent doing what I love, I learned more about life and love for music than I ever did in my prior 35 years on this planet. I learned about human connection, about serendipity and about courage.

In those short months, I put my soul on a platter for the entire western half of the US to see and I became a better human being for it.

I'd recommend it anyone. 

- Bret Dallas

New Rig Rundown video up!!

Check out my guitar rig for use in street performance:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nbvAnhRPjn0

Ever dream of leaving your corporate job to follow your passion? This guy just did it.

I am a 35 year old male who, for the past 15 years, has worked a steady, salaried job for some company or another. I'm unmarried. I have a dog, a little savings and a slowly growing 401(k). Life is relatively easy. 

But that's about to change. 

You see, for the past 5 years I have been playing soothing, melodic guitar music on the streets of Denver, Colorado and the public response has been nothing short of overwhelming. People genuinely love my music; I know this. I make people happy doing this.

I have been asked more times than I can count, "Why don't you go to _______? You'd kill it there!"

Vegas. Nashville. New Orleans. LA. San Francisco. Chicago. New York...all of these incredible cities that would just love to embrace a musician like me, if only for a few days.

But as you probably know, having a salaried corporate job doesn't typically allow for more than a handful or two of paid vacation days in a year. Also, such a job typically isn't as fulfilling as a job that you are viciously passionate about - something that makes your heart sing every time you 'work'. 

But in America at least, most of us just do our jobs even at the expense of foregoing our true passions. After all, what kind of fool would do something as risky as quitting his cushy corporate job just to play guitar all day?

Well, I'm that kind of fool. 

I'm that kind of fool because I believe that if I truly do what I love to do, and if I work like an animal at it, I can positively change the world way more than I could behind a desk, making sales calls all day. 

I'm that kind of fool because I've realized that my purpose in life has nothing to do with meeting revenue quotas and it has everything to do with leveraging my creative talents to benefit others. 

Playing music had always been more of a hobby than anything else. But now, it's my life.

And I'm asking for your help.

The founder of social networking website SFX.IO, has contacted me about crowdsourcing a sponsorship to tour the United States, playing music in city streets everywhere. This is something that makes me weak in the knees with excitement just to even think about. I cannot even imagine the amount of joy that I would bring to public areas...city centers, parks, shopping malls, courtyards...the possibilities are endless!

But relying on the kindness of complete strangers to fund this? Could I actually, realistically hope for that?

This is where you come in. 

If you support the idea of pursuing a dream, if you yourself have dreams that inspire you to be more than just a corporate drone, consider sponsoring me on SFX.IO. $4.99/month is what I am asking. Here is the sponsor link. 

This kind of support will help me maintain my gear, provide food for me and Kulia (my dog), buy gas for my travels, and most importantly, it will help me give music to the people far and wide across this nation. If I get enough support, I might even consider a world tour!

If you simply want to keep up with me on this journey, feel free to follow me on Twitter and Facebook; I will be posting stories of my adventures as I pursue my true passion, and you'll be along for the ride.

You can learn more about me by visiting my main site. 

I want to be clear: I am not trying to get rich here. I am trying to build a way to bring great music to city streets everywhere, and I am putting my faith in the goodness of humankind to do so. 

Thanks for reading this, and I'll see you on the road!

- Bret Dallas (and Kulia)

A Near Death Experience in the Gym

Here's what just went down:

I picked a spot between two flat benches to do some dumbbell SLDL's. I started my set and - as I do - closed my eyes to focus on my movement.

Well, one of the benches beside which I was working was apparently already spoken for by a colossus of a lifter. I mean huge. This is the guy you stay away from for fear he'll spontaneously explode.

I didn't see him reacquire his bench until I finished up and noticed him lifting not inches from me. This was terribly awkward. I made nothing of it, however, and simply returned my weights and began walking off.

That is, until I heard him mutter something:

"Watch where you're lifting, bitch ass mark..."

He said this under his breath, and as I was wearing headphones, I don't think he intended for me to hear him. But I did.

What is a man to do?

I thought about his comment through the next few sets I had elsewhere in the gym...then I decided that I didn't want to just let this tension fester, so I confronted him about it.

"Hey man," I started, "I have a question for you."

He removed an earbud and gave me a look from the corner of one of his deep-set and bloodshot eyes.

"What?" he replied.

"Well, I just, you know, I saw you working out there I and I was just wondering - I had never heard the term before: bitch ass mark. What exactly does that mean?"

"It means a bitch," he replied, "You bumped me."

"I bumped you? Wait...what?" I said.

I had honestly no recollection whatsoever of coming into any sort of contact with this dude. Scouts honor. There was no bumping had, and I now found myself in a position where that needed to be understood.

He pulled out his other earbud and squared his look at me.

"You know, we can take this outside if you want," he said, "I will fucking fuck you up."

Adrenalin exploded into my system and I could tell that he himself was there already. This dude was right - he wouldfucking fuck me up. I felt like bolting...but I stayed myself.

"It's not about that," I returned, "I genuinely do not remember bumping you. If I had, trust me I would have immediately apologized."

At this point this beast of a man and I were gathering stares from others in the gym. The tension was pretty thick.

"You need to watch where you work out," he said.

"You're right. We all do - and if I bumped you I swear to god I don't remember it, and I apologize," I finished.

He mumbled something incoherent and began turning back to his weights.

"We good?" I asked, offering a hand for him to shake.

"Yea," he replied.

And with that we shook hands, he returned to his weights and I redeemed myself from being a bitch ass mark.