Voice from the Keys 2

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The second of Kenna Ross’s blogs on her experiences of being an aspiring musician (see the last one here).

All about the Music – Money and Music

Some say being a musician is the best job and some say it’s not a real job. If you want your career to be that of a life long musician, you are probably going to have to do without and invest time and money into your future. I’ve only been part of the music community for a few short years but in that time I have found that most of my money is directed towards my career. For example – equipment, every musician that wants to do well has to have the right equipment and is always looking at what else is out there.

I have my piano at home but also my electric piano for gigs but I need a number of accessories such as leads, stand, bag and the very important trolley to get it along the road. Taking a heavy, cumbersome piano to any gig doesn’t sit well in public transport so I’m always on the look out for a sleeker option as well as relying on friends and family to act as roadies. Recently, we’ve started drawing attention from small venues who want to book us. As they don’t have their own sound systems we are looking at buying our own portable one, something we see as a sound investment.

Talking about gigs – if you want to be noticed locally you have to do free gigs such as charity events, open mics and local galas to get your name around. Whilst these are really enjoyable and great experiences, you are not going to get noticed straight away for paid gigs so this could take a while.

So, initially, you have to invest money into being a musician and may not reap any financial rewards and this is where some people can give up. However, if you really love performing and making music you will keep going and carry on. This can be difficult without a supportive family and I’ve been really lucky in this respect.

I like nice clothes and socialising with my friends so I have had to find other ways to earn money such as part time jobs. I’m also looking at available funding for aspiring musicians as I’d like to do more recording of our music. I hope in that the future that I will be able to earn more from music than I have spent on it so far but I understand that the ground work has to be put in.

Today I read “Don’t give up, great things take time” and I thought it was a message that could be shared with aspiring musicians everywhere.

I’m looking forward to a number of up and coming gigs, including playing at Beautiful Nairn Nights on Monday supporting Chuck Hawthorne. I’ve been following Chuck’s progress around the country with Rob Ellen and I’m looking forward to meeting him and listening to him.

Next week ‘Carma’ are playing at Belladrum on both the Friday and Saturday on the Burke n Hare stage and Hielan Coo Stage. We’re looking forward to playing some new songs, a taster can be seen below;

I’m also going to be playing a solo piano slot in the VIP Heilan Coo area so I’ve been busy organising which pieces to play. We’re playing at 1 p.m. on Burke n Hare and 4.30 p.m. in the Heilan Coo area. Fingers crossed the weather is good!

To find out more about Kenna, please check out her bio below.

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Kenna Ross
Kenna Rosshttps://kennaross.wordpress.com/
Kenna is a passionate musician who recently graduated with an honours degree in popular music. She has been playing piano in bands since 2015 but has been a solo pianist for a lot longer. It was Kenna’s love of the local music scene that brought her to write for Inverness gigs in early 2017. You’ll see her covering festivals and gigs; you may even see her playing them too.

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