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Hi,
I have a major dilemma. I am a singer songwriter. I have been writing songs for six years. My dream is to continue to collaborate and write songs, record albums, play shows and hire session players, be in a supportive music community, and collect royalites off songs played on TV or Film. I moved back to San Diego three months ago from the San Francisco Bay Area to pursue my musical endeavors. I have taken time off work to take music more seriously. It has been a rough unconventional road. Sure, I have booked a lot of shows. I made it on an online TV network. I am playing at the Del Mar County Fair in June. I launched a web site. I made it on pandora radio. I am about to send three songs to a music publisher in Hollywood for review. So, I have some irons in the fire. But, I am not the 8 hour singer songwriter and/or musician. I need another creative part-time outlet that pays while I try to get this one off the ground. That is not the major dilemma however. I am alone. I have no friends. I do not feel a sense of musical community here. I do not relate to the people in San Diego. The cost of living. The traffic. The money and sex driven lifestyle. I feel disconected from the world. I am depressed. My two best friends are moving to Austin this summer. They want me to come. But, I am afraid to leave something I started. I want to believe I can transcend the life here and find a few good people to collaborate with and play music. Whereas in Austin I know for a fact that I will have my best friend to collaborate with on songs. It is also cheaper and they say it is more supportive. I also have a hunch that I will like the music scene in Austin and the people. I have been there before and it was great. It is just the pain of moving again. Especially from family in San Diego. I feel like I will give up on my dreams at 26 if I stay in San Diego. I am not inspired. I feel like I will have to switch directions and discover another creative outlet here. But, I don't want to give up either. Some say I should endure and give San Diego time. It could take a year or more. Some say I should move on. Thoughts? What is the role of our environment in creative work?
Hey Nick!
So what did you do? ;) I've heard Austin is one of the greenest cities and would be intrigued to go there too!
Family is great, sometimes overrated or not supportive of one's dreams, so if friends and collab partners are in another city, at least you could go there for a visit and see what it's like? It's true you can get inspired (almost) everywhere (my inspiration are usually people) and do collabs online these days too, so hmm? Some people get a job like delivering newspapers or something, depends if you like driving around? Microlocation is still very important for me too.. Great job with getting on Pandora radio and the online recognition etc!! - At 27, you have most of your life still ahead of you, so whichever you decide(d), next year you can do something else too!