Erin Davis & Vince Wilburn – HuffPost 5.27.14

Mike Ragogna: What advice do you have for new artists?

Erin Davis: The advice I would have for new artists these days is try to write what you write, don’t try to write what everybody else does. Just explore playing live as much as you can, get your group together and get tight with rehearsals and go play live. I’ve seen a lot of bands that are able to get shows but aren’t good at playing live because they don’t know what to do, they don’t know how to listen to each other or how to work in a club environment or even a larger venue. The last thing would be to get your social media numbers up because that’s how it’s working these days.

MR: Yeah. Vince, what about you?

Vince Wilburn: Don’t go on American Idol. Don’t go on these TV shows. Like Erin says, man, you’ve got to play. You’ve got to go through the trenches. You don’t want to be a one-hit wonder. I’m so sick of these artists who are in it for the money and then they’re out. They’re in for one album and then you don’t hear from them anymore. Think about longevity, think about starting at the bars or the clubs or whatever and play music with people you like to play with. Don’t be with these f**king put together bands, I hate it. I hate it, hate it, hate it. Play. You’ve got to play. Don’t autotune, it’s horrible. It bastardizes the music and people who want to be creative. That’s a whole other topic, man. Erin and I have the Miles Davis House in Austin, and man the bands who come through there just kill it. They play and Erin and I just smile, man. We’re high-fiving each other. We had Lucinda Williams, it’s like, “S**t.” It doesn’t get much better than that. All these bands are killing. That’s where there’s a disconnect: There’s a disconnect between true artists and one-hit wonders. We love the true artists, the artists that are in the ditches, social media, grinding, playing, hitting all the clubs and the bars and paying their dues. Does that get my point across?

MR: I think so! [laughs] With American Idol and The Voice, sure, they’re fun to watch, but I think it also teaches generations of kids who are going to go into music into thinking that’s how you do it.

VW: Yeah, and they go in it for the money. Money is great, we love money, but love music first. If you kick ass on your instrument or you’re singing your ass off, the money will come. Shit, Bruno Mars was doing Elvis impersonations in Hawaii or something, but it prepared him for where he is now. I just used him as one example. He can share with you his struggles. His brother plays drums in the band, his brother was a police officer, he stopped playing drums to join the police force, and then when Bruno picked up he quit the police force to play with his brother. And he can play! I don’t consider Bruno Mars a one-hit wonder, but what do I know?

MR: I would never put him in that category.

VW: He kicked ass in the Super Bowl halftime, that’s enough for me. Dig this, Kanye West had to come up through the trenches, trying to get his demo played until Jay gave him a shot, and now look at Kanye West. He paid his dues. You’ve got to go through the trenches.