It’s incredibly interesting to look at how our heroes plotted their careers and their lives out. As I get into middle-age, I think more and more about what is to come in the next 20-30 years, and what I can do to better prepare myself for a healthy and productive old-age.

Meeting Mike Mainieri this week while recording on Steve Smith’s new album really got me motivated to never stop pursuing what I love about music, and I touch on elements of that in this episode.

I also announce our book giveaway winner: John W! If you’re reading or listening John, please drop us a line at www.janekgwizdala.com with the subject “giveaway winner” and we’ll get your books off to you right away!

I would also love everyone’s feedback on something I mentioned in the podcast today: Doing an episode on musicians and their health. I’ve been working hard on that myself, and if people want to hear about it, I’m more than happy to share. If you have specific question, leave them below, and I’ll do my best to include answers in the episode.

Janek

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As an important and challenging record date in New York approaches, I’m sharing my process of learning difficult material under less than optimal conditions. Gone are the days of limitless amounts of time to luxuriate in, and I’ve been working on adapting to this new life as a dad, a husband, a small business owner, and bass player all rolled into the same 24 hours a day when I used to have with only one of these titles.

I’ll share progress from the studio with you this week, and let you know what my studio setup ends up being in terms of the signal chain, and how the session develop of this rare opportunity to spend 5 whole days cutting an instrumental album.

For anyone in NYC, I’ll be at the Bitter End with a trio featuring Cliff Almond and Nir Felder on November 30th at 9:30pm. You can get tickets HERE!

To close out our mega Black Friday Sale weekend, there are just a few hours of Cyber Monday left to take advantage of massive discounts at our store, and at the Bass Studio. Use promo code LIFETIME350 to get $350 off lifetime Bass Studio Memberships.

Like I said in the podcast, I’m doing a giveaway of three physical books for Cyber Monday. Bass Player’s guide to Pentatonics, Altered, and Site Reading. All three, for free, and I’ll ship them anywhere in the world. All you have to do is comment below with your favorite bass player and song, and you’re automatically entered to win.

I know this week has been super heavy on email traffic from me as I not only launch this new blogging and podcast venture on substack, but also let you guys know about our huge Black Friday sale going on right now.

It’s going to quieten down and be better and more consistently paced, just as soon as I figure out what that pace is.

It would really help me if you leave feedback in the comments below on substack, and I hope you enjoy this episode.

Tickets for the upcoming NYC trio show on November 30th are HERE

Our huge Black Friday Sale is HERE

Money is always a hard topic to talk about when it comes to making a request for a fee as a band leader. But so many things go into informing that request that are rarely talked about. This episode deals with the long list of items I recently discussed with my new agent as we plan touring for my trio in 2023.

Watch the new documentary "One Way Out"

Tickets for my upcoming show in NYC with Nir Felder and Cliff Almond on November 30th 2022 ARE HERE

Having put out a new album this year that was exclusively available through my website until now, I'm considering what my timeline for releasing the music and the documentary film to the general public might now look like.

Join the conversation in the comments of the YouTube video I posted along with this episode.  

The gap between what you feel you're doing and what you're really doing when you practice or play live can be huge. Find out where you are on that scale using some of the same techniques and methods I do to help my awareness and learning process.

This episode features content you can find in the LIVE ARCHIVE at Janek's Bass Studio.

For all other books, music, and learning material please visit our BOOKSTORE. 

We're starting out on a trial basis, and have a few realistic short-term goals to increase the visibility of the new trio, my music as an artist, and the amount of touring I'm able to do with the trio as a band leader.

Please get involved in the conversation on my Telegram channel and give us as many country, city, venue, and festival suggestions as you possibly can. I know I've asked for that in the past, but this time we might actually be able to capitalize on some momentum I have right now plus the hands on deck that are able to facilitate offers and reaching out to venues for booking.

Make your suggestions HERE!

It's a working episode today with a look inside my process for working on music I need to know for touring that starts next week. I go over several of the pieces of music I'll need to have 100% dialed in just 5 days from now, and show you where I'm at in the process, and how I go about making sure I'm as prepared as possible. 

The internet has changed the way we make, listen to, and store music as both fans and professional musicians. Today I talk about my latest solution in the plex server, with my windows machine storing my vast music collection on SSD's at home in the studio. We also get into the issue of artists taking some of our favorite music off of the major streaming platforms, and how we might buy that music, own the files, and self-custody them in 2022.

This is the company that built the machine I'm running my music library on: Steiger Dynamics

Do you have a question? Drop it in my Telegram channel