by Jim Cathcart

OK, somebody had better stop me or I’ll end up with an entirely new career path.

Just joking, I still love speaking and helping people grow, and I’m finding more and more opportunities to play music as well. A few days ago I was in San Diego for a series of speeches and I added a one-hour “concert” where I played and sang classic Rock n Roll with the 500 attendees. And I just confirmed a repeat “gig” for Tuesday, May 4th, at Bogie’s Night Club at the Westlake Village Inn. I’ll be playing from 5:00pm to 7pm (just like I did 40 years ago when Paula and I were still dating!)
Here is the video evidence of last Tuesday’s show, April 27th where Paula joined me to sing and Dave Heroux joined me on guitar.

On April 8th I hosted the Sherwood Unplugged open-mike concert at my country club. We had ten people who got up and sang or played while 61 attendees joyfully listened and sang along. I’ll post an assortment of photos below so you can share the experience.

Guitar Center – Hollywood, under the leadership of general manager, Jason Vanderpal, loaned us 18 guitars for the night worth a total of over $100,000! Some were for us to play while others were just for the “Guitar Petting Zoo” where people could examine them in anticipation of buying one.

The music and the spontaneous harmonies made for a very fun evening. Thanks to all who attended. If you ever have an event where I can add some fun energy through music, please let me know. I’m now offering it as an add-on for any of my speaking engagements. This past two years I’ve had the opportunity to perform for and with folks in: New York City (Marriott Times Square), Phoenix (twice), San Diego (twice), Thousand Oaks, Macau China, Dallas, and Little Rock.

by Jim Cathcart

I’ve heard for years that we should “follow our bliss.” Never knew for sure what that meant but clearly it was similar to, “If it feels good…do it!” (The mantra of the flower child generation.) Being of that same Baby Boomer age group I certainly identify with the sentiment. But it doesn’t seem to be a good formula for generating income and paying your bills. Until you examine it further.

One of the imprinting moments for me was in 1978 when I saw Kenny Rogers on The Donahue Show (the Oprah of his day). Kenny was at the top of the charts with hit records, Tonight Show appearances and his own variety shows on TV. He had just published a new book titled “Making It With Music“.  That day Phil Donahue interviewed him about how to build a musical career and he interspersed musical performances with his interview. I told my wife Paula, “That is what I want to do!” Meaning, that I wanted to do speeches and seminars as I had been doing since 1976 but I wanted to sing and play guitar too.

A bit of background; when we got married in 1970 I was playing guitar and singing in clubs full time. I guess I was a “lounge lizard” because I played popular, folk, rock and country music at half a dozen venues around my home town, Little Rock, Arkansas. At that time my dream was to move to Nashville, get a day job to pay the bills, take music and voice lessons in the afternoons and then perform at night anywhere I could until I made my big break.

That plan didn’t even get off the ground before a new opportunity opened up. I joined the Jaycees (The Junior Chamber of Commerce) and became immensely active as a volunteer, chapter leader and committee member. Within two years I had won statewide awards for my works and was hired by the national headquarters to be in charge of Leadership Training for the 356,000 members in the USA. My music took a back seat as my world opened up and I was having a great time as a speaker, trainer and author.

But the desire to sing and perform still lingered. I played at parties and for my family but not much else…for almost thirty years!!! I could still play and did a passable job on the songs that I knew but, Man!, to take an entire generation off from performing is just begging for a “wish I had” later on. I’ve never been one to spend energy on what I “coulda, woulda, shoulda” done. So, let’s fast forward to the current era.

A few years ago our friends John & Len Dwight announced that they were hosting a “Hot August Night” party and asked if I’d bring my guitar. That’s all it took to let my genie out of the bottle again. I started practicing the Neil Diamond song that contains that lyric; Brother Love’s Traveling Salvation Show. As I played that song it led me to others and so I kept my guitar on a stand near my desk for convenience. The ease of access caused me to play more often and today, a few years later, I find myself playing every day. I’ve not only recaptured the joy of playing but I’ve also gotten MUCH better at guitar.

I’ve even found ways to tastefully include a song or two in some of my speeches and seminars. Some clients have asked me to do a complete performance of singalong Rock n Roll for their attendees. And boy is it fun! I’m having the time of my life. I recently performed in Macau, China at the Venetian Resort for a convention where I was the keynote speaker. Last year I performed in Phoenix, Dallas, San Diego and New York City. On Thursday of this week I’m hosting an event called “Sherwood Unplugged” at Sherwood Country Club in Thousand Oaks, California. It is an open mike acoustic guitar event complete with dinner, bars and lots of guitars. Guitar Center, Hollywood is providing a display of high-end guitars for a “Guitar Petting Zoo” and some rental guitars for us to play onstage. This four hour event will be the closest to a regular concert that I’ve done in years.

But is it profitable?

That’s the real question, if I follow my bliss and continue to pursue performing, can I make enough money at it to justify the time and energy required? The answer is Yes. One recent speech booking with a Nashville-based client mistakenly added an hour to my scheduled presentation and published the schedule with the error in it. As we talked about what to do with that extra hour I suggested we do a Jam Session with me on guitar and everyone singing along on their favorite tunes. The client jumped at the suggestion and now I’ll be performing as part of my paid engagement. It is more fun for me, more fun for the audience and I’m finding a number of ways to use the guitar to enhance some of my speeches.

So, what is your bliss? What gives you great joy but hasn’t yet shown you how to make money at it? Now might be a good time to start adding it to your life in little ways. Let the opportunities evolve as you pursue your happiness. We never know what the path will look like until we begin to travel it. If you could be doing more of one specific thing, what would that be? Do it now!

If you’d like to hear one of my songs, go to iTunes and look up “Riding Free” by Jim Cathcart.

Music>Rock>Jim Cathcart (it was #7 on the list when I last looked it up. Scroll down to find it)

You can also purchase it (for $1) from my Online Store here at Cathcart.com.