The Grateful Dead’s Mickey Hart – HuffPost 9.1.10

Mike Ragogna: What kind of advice do you have for new musicians?

Mickey Hart: Don’t do it unless you really, really want to do it, unless it really means something to you, and it becomes a necessity to play music. The music business if very difficult, it’s not just the skill to play music, but be able to survive in a world where music is not necessarily honored for the power that it has. It’s a very difficult industry. So, that would be my advice to any musician; unless you are driven, and you know it’s your love, and your destiny, don’t bother. Just listen to it, don’t make it a business (just) because you work really hard at playing music, if you know what I mean. You practice endless hours just to get onstage for a few. You travel all around the world, just to deliver that sound for a few hours. If you look at it logically, it’s not really a great payoff unless what you’re getting at the end is that goal. It’s that essence of what you really believe that you should do with your life on this Earth. That’s what I would say to any prospective musician.