Career establishment suggestions from Bill Littleton: Okay, there are books galore on how to get into the music business but, guess what? I don't know what's in most of 'em because I haven't read most of 'em -- the few I have read are pretty cut and dried but, hell, we're talking about MUSIC; we're talking about a power that has rallied armies and seduced reluctant lovers for many millenia! Maybe today's establishment thinks the music business is a recent comer on the world front but that's not true and the deeper understanding you have of this ancient power, the better you can serve it and the better it can serve you. So here's a simple list of things I have observed most music business new comers to have trouble with and we are inviting others to add their own lists of advice nuggets, so come back to visit from time to time and see who has joined us.

Meanwhile, here we go.

1. There is no career without the public's participation in your income. $50,000 from a backer or twice that in an advance from a record label (if you insist on fantasy) does not mean you are in the entertainment business; it merely means you have been given an opportunity. When people buy records or tickets or teeshirts (in which you share the profit), you have a career; not a day sooner. I overheard somebody ask Danny Shirley of Confederate Railroad when did he realize he had "made it" -- "Oh, I haven't worried about 'making it;'" Danny replied, "My goal was to make a living playing music and when I got to making enough money in the clubs to pay my bills, I was there -- everything that has happened since has been extra." Believe me, that is a very healthy attitude. If you won't be happy with anything less than a platinum album or a CMA award or some such arbitrary measuring mark, that's okay, but leave off your bitchin' about how unfair The Business is untill I'm not around, please; I don't wanta hear it.

2. Ah, The Big Question!! Should you move to Nashville? I asked Johnny Bond that same question in 1964; actually, I was planning to move to Nashville and got to thinking that L.A. might be a better idea. His answer: "The major entertainment centers in America today are New York, Nashville, Miami, Chicago, and Los Angeles. If you want to work in the entertainment business, you should move to whichever of those areas you are the most comfortable." Thirty-five years later and I've never heard a more succint summary. For a bit of updating, today's technology is such that you may not have to physically move, especially if you're more interested in songwriting than performing, but you should spend enough time in whichever area you are most comfortable to establish comfortable relationships. This IS unquestionably a relationship business.

3. Wherever you move, get a map. The music business in New York is no longer all in the Brill Building, nor is it in Nashville all on Music Row, etc. If an address is off the beaten path, professionally-minded people will provide directions, but they will expect you to know the major streets and key intersections. Some of Nashville's streets turn quaintly because once upon a time a big tree or a big rock was in the way and the trail turned -- property lines later got so set that it was easier to widen and pave the turning path than to straighten it, even after the tree died. Therefore, when somebody points out to you that a street has one name on one side of a cross street and another on the other side, take note and don't let the change throw you. Critcial info for Nashville: Only Avenues are numbered on the west side of the river and only Streets are numbered on the east side; therefore, if somebody refers to 16th Street and you know they're talking about Music Row, be careful of what other information they give you because they probably don't pay much attention to stuff -- 16th Street is way over in East Nashville and 16th Avenue is in Music Row. Trick streets: "McGavock" is a downtown street south of Broadway AND a long street in the Opryland/Donelson area AND a street in East Nashville (once upon a time connected by a ferry AND a street near the old airport. If you're not sure which McGavock, ask! The same goes for Old Hickory Boulevard, which literally circles the city -- know the key intersections as starting points for directions. There are others, but you should find them on your own. By now you're wondering why this is so important. The only people who can do you any good are busy people and if you tend to get lost and run late every time you go to a new office or meet somebody for coffee or lunch in a new restaurant, they become less inclined to find out how they can help you. Good advice: don't be more trouble than you're worth. Be where you say you'll be and do what you say you'll do. It's simple professional courtesy.

4. Don't go begging for "a break." Doctors and lawyers prepare for their careers and then they make themselves available to potential clients; entertainment, as Larry Gatlin has been known to point out, is another form of "heart surgery." Study your capabilities and push them in the directions you're most comfortable. Singing or playing out of "home genre" might help you pay a bill from time to time, but put your focus on the music you love -- listeners who may not "like" your general type of music may like the love you communicate for it; don't laugh: Loretta Lynn and Tammy Wynette knocked out droves of folks who would look you in the eye and say "I don't like country music." What's important is that they like you. Get the folks in your home region coming out to whoop it up and then you have a service to offer to "the big guys." One of the reasons it's so hard to get in to see major label people today is that most of the people who have come to them in the past have been unprepared for a major deal and listening to everybody became a venture in dimenishing returns. So prepare yourself and don't wait for a break -- just get out there and find folks to entertain; the better you get at that, the more people who can help will find you.

5. As you build your local following, be sure that it's YOUR show and not your heroes that they're getting into. I remember a vocal group who used to tear up crowds with "Elvira," and I suggested they drop the song from their show. Hell, they thought I was crazy -- that was their "best" song. "Nope," I said, "you guys aren't getting that applause; the Oak Ridge Boys are, and they don't need to feed off your show, they're doing well on their own." Was I right? Maybe, the group didn't get a deal and have been dissolved for years now. Doing cover songs is unavoidable, but do them as your selections of the the wonderfully rich and varied standard repertoire -- not as "It's time to do a Marty Robbins song." In short, find out who you are, what you do best, who is the best support team for you, and do it.

Written By: Bill Littleton the bridgeworks.....E-Mail:<billandconnie@juno.com>