Lee Ritenour – HuffPost 10.5.12

Mike Ragogna: Lee, what advice do you have for new artists?

Lee Ritenour: Well, it’s very challenging for new artists today. There’s a lot more talent out there, there’s a lot more people trying to do it, there’s a lot more people coming out of the schools, vocalists and instrumentalists, all different aspects of music. There’s less work because the internet has kind of swallowed the business to a degree, like so many other things. On the flipside of that, people, I think, are listening to music more than ever, so it goes with us constantly. It’s in every establishment that we go in; music is such a huge fabric of our lives. If we didn’t have music in our lives, really, this planet would be in sad shape. It’s like the air we breathe, it’s so important. I think the musicians that are serious about making music out there today have an incredible talent. With all that being said, I think you have to be very proactive of making your own voice heard, so to speak. The business has been deconstructed and reconstructed and it’s not the same business as when I was growing up. You have the opportunity, if you have a vision of who you are and if you’re honest and evaluate yourself and listen to other people that are close to you evaluating you of who you are and what your strengths are, then you can almost design your career to go down that path. The music business is so wide open now that if you’re really sharp about promoting yourself and being sharp about the business and, of course, most important, being able to deliver the music and try to create an original style. All of those things can combine and you can make it in today’s world. It’s not easy, it’s not for the weak of heart. You have to have leather skin. You’re going to get a thousand rejections before you get one good one. It’s not easy. I always say, “The music calls us, we don’t call the music.” If you’re meant to be in the music world or be a musician or an artist or a singer or performer, usually, there’s a reason for that. It’s bringing you to this journey. So persistence and the other thing that I emphasize is that there is no insurance policy for musicians. The only insurance policy–I stole this bit of advice–is music education. The more education you have musically in every aspect, whatever your thing is, in every aspect, there’s no kind of music education that doesn’t affect you. Let’s say you’re a heavy metal guitarist and you study classical guitar, that can help you. If you’re a conductor but you study jazz history, that can help you. It doesn’t matter what it is. Music education can always make you better.