Even if you don't plan on doing Nashville, all of this advice works just for getting your life in order.

Having that one person who believes in you is essential to success. Thanks for these videos

Every year we'd watch the Spring migration of hundreds (thousands?) of new musicians, showing up in hopes of making their mark and every Fall there would be a massive migration of musicians leaving town, deciding it wasn't for them. Being an independent musician is not for the faint of heart. You're in essence starting your own business. So many of your tips are spot on for how to prepare to do that. The competition is incredibly stiff and you need to be extremely talented, versatile, adaptable and great to get along with. And it will be a reality check for a lot of people who aren't as good or even as charming as they thought they were. A lot of Nashville musicians are super cool because they're really good at self-evaluation and making the adjustment on how to be both a better musician and a better person. It will also humble you because no matter how good you are, there's always someone better than you and you have to learn to cope with that and not be discouraged. Just do the best you can do, be the best version of yourself you can be and if that's really what you're supposed to do in life, it will come together for you. Thanks for sharing these great tips!

“Don’t have your name in the neck.” was a personal attack. My two Sadowskys and three Fenders laughed audibly at my two Ritters. As always, full of wisdom and spot-on.

My great uncle moved to Nashville in the 50's from the Northeast. I went down there with my wife the 2nd year we were married in the mid 80's. Before going to Printer's Alley and Ryman Auditorium (O.G. Grand Ole Opry). We went to visit my grand uncle for lunch. He had his friend come over who told us he was the Chief of Police, and was going to give us a ride around town in his police car after lunch. I am thinking to myself, this is going to be like riding around with Andy of Mayberry. Wow, we were both surprised how Nashville was a real City. Definetly do your homework. Tho Nashville was not the musical mecca and epic center it is today. It certainly was an eye opener, as well as an ear opener.

Im 45 and making the move ..I really wanna stay busy playing Broadway for a Living so I know thats my ultimate Goal . I found that is what moves me and it makes sense because I am a Jam Band kinda Guy , There is peace in knowing Your Goals and Expectations. Your Channel helps so much and I Thank You Kindly ..Please keep it up

Love your videos; just discovered them. I’m in Nashville (not music biz) and I really had no idea what goes on with studio musicians. I am glad folks like you and others continue to make great music, but my goodness….what a hard way to make a living. Look forward to future YT videos!

I keep coming back to your channel...I'm not even a country player per se although I grew up with country music and my Sister and B in Law played with big Canadian acts. I come back because I love to hear you talk about what it takes do be a pro in the business and make a real living. I have to say my hat's off to players trying to even just make a solid living in the music business. I only ever played in weekend bar and college bands and just for fun...the pay barely covered Beer and gas money...let alone a new set of strings once in a while. All you players out there you have my utmost respect.

Lot's of wise advice. I'm 30 years in Town and remember when our band drove around Davidson County, doing exactly what you suggested. Twas a very different world here then. Cost of living was super reasonable. We're the wave of folks who've kinda "hit the lottery" with our homes. Still the best practical, musical classroom and song writing situation, in the solar system. (FYI Prince's is the origional hot chicken. In case it comes up in conversation when you're here. lol)

If folks don’t listen to anything you’ve said before, they better listen to this video. You’re a smart guy moving here with 6-9 months income . That takes a ton of stress off. Planning and preparation is half the battle. I like your advice about learning tons of songs before you move. Many have a timeline goal as well if they’re young. Say if I haven’t made it by early 30’s, get a career job and do music on the side so one could start a family and a future. The only thing worse than being a broke young musician is being a broke old musician. Nashville hasn’t been as kind to elderly musicians as hot young ones.

I was lucky enough to have a successful producer hip me to work in Nashville back in the 90’s, there was no social networking back then, I learned real quick you had to be an excellent reader, 6 figures saved up and not have any dependents, I was trying to commute from Chattanooga but that wasn’t the way to do it, good luck to all with their dreams and endeavors, remember to have lots of cash saved up, great videos and kudos to you young people trying to play music for a living

Another great video Nicky! As a Bassist I always have a P Bass with me no matter what! Leave the pretty stuff at home and make sure it's passive or at least switchable. 🎸🎸🎸🤘🤘🤘

Class act. I am not intending to move to Nashville, nor to live off music (Been called a drummer at times), but - I enjoy your videos because your core philosophy applies in many other places, and in many other industries, including software design consulting! -- which is my main gig. Cheers from the FL swamp!

Used to live in the area. Not a musician myself, but all of this is sound advice. ;)

Cool - nice to listen, lots of practical advice for some of us who might feel like we're stuck as lazy wanna be people that just keep watching youtube vids and never really get around to actually doing all of the amazing and practical things you recommend. Thanks for capturing so much good stuff in a short video. Maybe do a video on your perspective of the Nashville 'Christian' music 'circus', the way you see it - that would be interesting to check out. We moved from CT to TN (rural, NW TN) about 2.5 yrs ago and I work from home - non musical work, but I play trumpet for fun and I love it, but I can't read charts that good, ha ha - so I'm screwed when it comes to being a real trumpet player, but who cares, I'm enjoying life and my kids like listening to me play. Have a great day and keep up the good work, Nicky V.

I have no interest in moving there, but I really enjoyed this video! Thanks for sharing this with us!

Thumbs up for "FSO" alone. So true!

Great advice for any creative career. Thank you.

New Subber! Just watched your " Hellion" vid. Truth is needed!

Love your videos. Great to hear the real deal information from someone who is currently doing it

Great information, Thank you!

great stuff. very good points

I have always enjoyed learning from you. You have helped me out a ton. Thank you

The thing that surprised me about some of the Broadway bands was that they had their phones mounted to the mic stand. They were staring at the phone reading the chord charts.

Again, another great video of great information in a brief, bright and relevant manner. Great stuff!!

I like to play solo Acoustic originals !! 👍

Good advice for self employed people wheither they are musicians or in any other line of self employed line of work. If you get paid cash deposit the money in a checking account. That way if you do have to apply for a loan you can use bank deposits as proof of income. Good advise from Nicky V. That's also coming from a guy who has helped people that are self employed get the car loan they needed to continue their dreams. As Always TRay's Diggin' It. (Now retired after 46 years in the car business and going to work part time at Bass Pro Shop). PS...The janitorial jobs were already taken at the local Guitar Center. Damn.

Fender Shaped Object. That's outstanding. 😂

Really enjoy your content. Liked and Subbed - Cheers, from Texas

Great insightful video Nicky. I would be cool if you could do a video about all your guitars and gear

haha FSO amazing, thank you for your videos and time!

Great video. A no nonsense and straight to the point video. Nice

FSO. Love it!😊

FSO. Amazing and true in Austin too

I would say just do it,,,come to Nashville if you want to give it a shot,,,in Hollywood I was the best songwriter of the night,,,in Nashville you won't be,,,but you will fit in somewhere,,,

I have had nothing but good luck in Nashville👍

Great video. I would have recommended Thai Kitchen in Berry Hill tho ;) jk. Baja is great!

Such great advice!! Awesome info on this channel!!

This is gold!

so excellent. nice production values.

Great info!! Now…. Back to da woodshed!🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶

Before I can get into some music gigs (hopefully I can), what do you recommend someone do? I saved up a few months worth of of rent/food, but what 'day job' should I get? Service industry? Serving/waitor? can people survive in Nashville like that? Thank you!

Solid advice, again!

What would be the best time of year to come just knock around Nashville for a month or two? I don't see myself moving anywhere. Cheers Nicky!

Really enjoy your videos. Thank you for posting. Please tell me what app do you use to download songs to learn I currently study with a well-known guitarist, but we don’t work on songs. I don’t know many covers and seem to have a hard time learning them as I’ve been working on the second half of the guitar solo for sweet child of mine for a while now Learning the chords to a song is obviously much easier than learning all the solos and melodies. So much to remember, how do you do it?

Nah I say go somewhere smaller a college town and start your own scene .. like they did in Athens ga chapel hill Seattle Austin .. i grew up during the great Athens ga music scene and it was way more fun ..

Great video! Is the idea of a FSO so the musician blends into the background?

I wish our music was played in Nashville. Thanks for the info!! :) No Serial Killer.

Great info!

Thank you very informative

I visited Nashville about 5 years ago. As a drummer I couldn’t believe the number of female drummers there were. They totally had their chops together. The other thing was, is that most if not all could sing lead and/or do harmonies. That is important no matter what sex you are, you are bringing something else to the table. This will help you get gigs. So work on developing your voice. If your are at multi talented musician with other instruments you’ll be valuable. But really the bottom line is that you have to know your stuff and be better than good at what you do. The talent calibre is off the charts there.

FSO!!!! Love it!!!

I love this

Great advice Sir.

Im not moving to Nashville. I moved from Greeneville, Tennessee back to Indianapolis, the pay scale sucks in Tennessee!

Is there a scene for Rock... Indie... Garage.... that sort of thing in Nashville? Is moving to Nashville more for someone aspiring to get into session/hired gun work than it is for singer songwriters who want to perform? Oh and great info on your channel btw!

I know Vince Gils neighbor it's almost impossible to not know someone who knows someone and I know a lot of people,,,

I'm assuming you were suggested because I watch Tim's channel. Overall, this is great advice in general for any move & employment but especially for Nashville. I've got to ask a question. I watch a livestream of a local Nashville resident that walks bar to bar on Broadway. He streams so all of us that don't live in Nashville can watch the bands, people, etc. One thing that I noticed almost immediately was the choice of songs that band's choose to add to their set list. How did this happen & why those songs? I hear the same songs over & over again. I've named it the "Standard Broadway Setlist". Are these songs currently popular with the college crowd? Was this decided by the bar owners because it's the same in every bar except for AJ's or an older bar. I heard "Don't Stop Believing" the first time around but here comes round two. Ha... I know you know what I'm referring to. I would love some insight into this. Thank you, new sub!

Really interesting content Nicky! Just a quick question, do the majority of musicians come to Nashville to work as session players or is there an original band scene that becomes a draw for guys looking to form a band?

Back to the bus gig video. If you're riding a bus for weeks at a time your studio circle will get smaller and smaller, to the point where people won't call to see if you're in town. Plus being on the road means you're SINGLE, and may not have a home to come back to. Lastly, lets admit it. Being on the road sucks.for these reasons and many more

Why not Vox flavored amp? Just as versatile IMO and a staple in country just as much as any Fender amp IMO.

Great Video. Have you mentioned tour rates or fees in any of your videos?

Does well known club singer, Dianne Sherrill still sing somewhere in Nashville?

Get your head examined?

"You don't have a boss telling you what to do"... not totally accurate if you're a sideman in someones band, or a hired hand in a recording session. Might be nice to think you don't have a boss, and he's just your friend or whatever... but you'll do whatever he says. Unless you're the star... you're gonna have to serve somebody.

I don't think I could get one - two years of rent saved up without robbing a bank lol

Nashville with out rhinestones it's closer thank you think throw your records in the sea and listen to them sink Jason Ringberg

Always move to a city that's overflowing with guitar players and pretty much everyone is trying to do the same thing you are - ?!?!?

It would be really hard to memorize stuff that you don't want to listen to in the first. 👍

This came down my page.. am I moving soon? 😊

What happens if all 22 of the songwriters are in the studio expressing the importance of the riff after “pickup truck”. Can you laugh?

It sounds like the Nashville music scene is boring as heck, conformity is king, and creativity not appreciated. I've not been there.

Who'd want to play on 'songs' these days, anyway? The soul has been knocked outta all creativity - PPl have NOTHING to say, etc I can go on & on... Absolutely no creativity in today's artistic world

Stay up to date on the radio sounds horrible lol

I was there for a year it was so overrated.

What do you do when the act you play for decides you don’t have a gig anymore?

Whose albums have you played on? Any guitarist worth his salt, is way ahead of that anyhow. sounds like your encouraging homelessness in Nashville.

I cannot stress this enough. Make sure you get your act together, I mean really get your ducks in a row before you move to Nashville. You're gonna need a big stupid looking hat and make sure you have the most common guitar ever made. Your gonna need to learn about 600 songs to get strung out on alcohol and meth.

Before moving to Nashville do this. Change your mind and DO NOT move to Nashville

Do you have any tips for ethnic people moving to nashville or considering it ?

Sounds like the most important thing to do before moving to Nashville is have a lot of fucking money

Back in the 80s playing hair/glam metal on the sunset strip we had to have the long flowing locks.......when we got older the body says NO!!!! My advice Nick......get a damn haircut.....

How in the world is anyone averaging 6.5k a month playing music?

You say that you're a studio musician then talk exclusively about touring.

Don’t.

Also, don’t move to Nashville. 😂 jk come on what’s one more. Lol

As a Nashville native, don't move here. We are full

Ai is writing songs and people will accept them. The public can’t tell the difference. Human songwriting is over.

F Nashville. Go to Clarksdale, MS where the real music is.

I would say just do it,,,come to Nashville if you want to give it a shot,,,in Hollywood I was the best songwriter of the night,,,in Nashville you won't be,,,but you will fit in somewhere,,,

I would say just do it,,,come to Nashville if you want to give it a shot,,,in Hollywood I was the best songwriter of the night,,,in Nashville you won't be,,,but you will fit in somewhere,,,

I would say just do it,,,come to Nashville if you want to give it a shot,,,in Hollywood I was the best songwriter of the night,,,in Nashville you won't be,,,but you will fit in somewhere,,,