After college, I was very much into the New Orleans funk thing. But all I was playing was wedding & tuxedo high-society gigs, where you played a little of this and a little of that – some jazz, some dance music, and then you went home.

I was doing well and making some money, but it didn’t make me happy.

Two friends / mentors, separately, offered the same advice that I took to heart, “Just be yourself. Do what you do best. And at some point — it may not be tomorrow, it may not be next week — someone’s going to recognize it and you can do very well with it. It may take a long time, but in music everything is cyclical. Focus on your craft. Get really good at it. And when the time is right, people will recognize you for being the New Orleans funk guy.”

Thanks Tommy and Joey.