There's only ONE YOU.

Nashville, TN is one of the destinations for talented musicians setting out follow their dreams as an artist, hired gun, songwriter, or touring crew member. As a guitar player, as most of you don't know, I was incredibly fearful upon my arrival, watching players far more advanced and sophisticated crush my soul almost every time I set foot in, take your pick, some iconic venue. I was a very decent player, hailing from Tampa, Fl, and the entire reason I left was to see if I was "good enough". I wanted to find out JUST how good I really was.

I almost moved back to Tampa 6 times.

I was defeated, over and over again. I watched players in my social media circles excel, both as artists and playing for artists, to the tops of the charts. These talented people were being featured on TV, magazine articles, and tons of master records millions would come to enjoy. How would I become good enough to be like them?! How have I not practiced enough to make a real statement?!

I didn't have to. Don't get me wrong, being around players that are better than me is a consistent practice of mine, and it tempers me daily, but in the end none of it mattered to where I wanted to be. I ended up in bands as a hired gun for a few years, did some awesome touring, saw incredible things, and met sensational people; some of which became like actual FAMILY to me.

None of it mattered. Here's the key: There's only ONE YOU.

I hear, usually accompanied with a smirk, "Oh? You're a guitar player, eh? Welcome to Nashville. We've got plenty of those laying around", or "Another one, eh? Well... good luck". I, quite literally, felt the sting first hand in a music shop in Donelson about two weeks after moving. I walked in the store to find some old men sitting in a circle and playing guitars while laughing and sharing stories and jokes. They would play a quick change 1 4 5 thing and then the same intro and ending for the musical piece each time. The pattern would be: intro/joke/everybody laughs/outro, then continuing with the next joke. Hilarious, until their gaze fixed upon me; the new blood in the water. When the laughter calmed down, I interjected with, "hey fellas! My name is Ben and I'm new to town. I play guitar and I'm looking for work". The largest of the old men, rocking himself with enjoyment, takes a swig from a Snapple, wipes his cigarette stained mustache and says, "you know, I think the Dominos Pizza on Donelson Pike is hiring.... but I hear the guitar player they have right now is pretty good!". They almost fall from their chairs laughing, and as I turn red from embarrassment, they play the outro, I laugh (nervously), thank them for the "good time", pay for my thumb picks and leave.

This can be very discouraging until you know the truth about YOU. How do you stand out in the ocean of incredible talent in a place like this? It's YOU; always was and always will be. Players will always play, but a person can shine as a person.

I came to the realization that the guy who gets the gig doesn't get the gig solely based on talent. The folks who are doing the amazing things are where they are as a result of their merit as individuals. Sure, they're incredibly talented, but it's the person that got the gig.

I mentor quite a bit and I use this analogy quite a bit.

Let's say there's 100,000 guitar players in Nashville, looking for work. Let's take HALF of them out because they just don't have the talent; maybe it's just not their purpose or haven't paid enough dues to know what a gig needs. There are always plenty of people who need to work on their craft, myself included. Now, we're at 50,000 incredibly talented/gifted guitar players. Let's take another 30,000 away from that who end up getting discouraged and moving back to where they came from. This happens a lot (me almost 6 times). Some of them, if they JUST persevered, could've done amazing things had they believed in themselves. 20,000. Now, let's take another 10,000 away and call those guys "super-talented assholes". These are the guys who are very very gifted, but they're not great with people. These guys drink too much, maybe into drugs, talk down to people, always late, non-trustworthy, won't learn the songs the right way, and have terrible attitudes. LOTS OF THESE; absolutely sure there are more than I accounted for. These guys get gigs once and never again, for good reason. Now, we're down to 10,000. Let's simplify the numbers down to a percent. That's 10% of the player population that you'd ACTUALLY WANT for a gig. Out of 100, that's 10 guys/girls. Keep going. 7 of them have gigs that weekend and can't make it, leaving 3 for an audition. All of a sudden, the scale of the task at hand becomes a whole lot less intimidating.

In Nashville, everybody can play. That's what we all came here to do, but there's more to the player and their purpose. You will always shine as someone people want to be around, knowing the music cold, attitude on point, and always on time. You'll never understand just how many folks you beat out just by being considerate.

You can't compare yourself to the players you look up to. They are different people with different pasts and skillsets, both as players and people. You'll get hired because of YOU! Stop worrying about how "GOOD YOU ARE" and start focusing on how well you ride on the bus, or more likely THE VAN. This is where the true colors are shown; where the metal is actually tested and tempered, and where people find out if they really want you around. Your talent may get you noticed, but your fiber is what keeps you employed. Learn the songs, go above and beyond, show up EARLY (15 min before you're supposed to), and most importantly (in the words of Dalton) BE NICE.

There are millions of guitar players, but there's only ONE YOU.

My pages: @abandcalledben everywhere. @BenMillerMusic on Instagram.

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