Country Joe McDonald – HuffPost 7.13.12

Mike Ragogna: Joe, do you have any advice that you’d care to share with new artists?

Country Joe McDonald: Well, this is a strange era to be a songwriter, singer, and performer like I am because people look up to and admire people who perform other people’s music. But if this is what you want to do, all you have to do is do it. That’s it. Get yourself an audience, satisfy that audience, and continue to do that. That’s all there is to it. You’re also going to have to work at it. It’s work. Even Janet Jackson’s first concert wasn’t in a stadium. Ninety-nine percent of people in this business have to work at it, and they have to do it every day. For most people like myself and Woody Guthrie, we didn’t have a choice. We just did it and couldn’t stop doing it. And we were surprised that we were actually making a living doing it. (laughs) But you won’t find out if it’s your calling until you’ve done it and you’ve succeeded at it. Then go ahead and do it. There’s an audience for everybody. It happened about 15 years ago that the mix got so incredible that there isn’t a genre to describe every type of music anymore. But you need an audience, and you’ve got to go out and get them. That isn’t something that a manager, an agent, or a record label can go out and get for you. I mean, it won’t fulfill you in life, but I’ve at least avoided having a real job for a very long time. (laughs)