Music Is Not A Competition

The funny thing about becoming a musician in a new city like Austin is that most of the people you end up interacting with at shows, online, or wherever, are musicians too. Which is a good thing. There is something comforting about feeling like you are part of a scene, building relationships with people who are already “in it”. It makes the whole thing feel more real, more possible.

But there is a tipping point.

When all you see, day in and day out, are other people doing the exact thing you are trying to do, touring nationwide, playing festivals, growing on Spotify, selling out hometown shows, it becomes hard not to measure yourself against it. After a while, it can feel like you showed up late to something everyone else has already figured out.

There is a temptation, then, to turn inward. To become an island unto yourself, full steam ahead, focused only on your work, your progress, your climb. Like that is what it takes to catch up to the people you think are ahead of you. I have felt that pull, and I am trying my best not to fall for it.

What I’ve realised is, the only real strides I have made in my career have come through other people. Through collaboration, encouragement, and shared opportunities. Through the people around me who are doing this alongside me. Being a musician is not a competition. It is an act of building something together through shared belief that our music matters, and if my moment for success isn’t today, then I will fully support whoever’s time it is, and keep honing my craft so I am ready when my day comes.

And that means choosing, over and over again, to support the people around me for their sake, not for mine.

I have made so many great relationships in Austin. Mentors and collaborators and friends, the most important people in my life I have met doing this, and that is my sign to keep going. When I feel like my music is stagnant, or uninspired, it is these people who remind me that they believe in my music, even in the moments that I do not. Paying that forward is one of the most enriching and beautiful parts of my life.

I wasn’t born with a beautiful voice, or an innate ability to play my instrument, or a perfect understanding of songwriting and melody making. What I have is an overwhelming compulsion to continue working on my music and artistry. It is a latent and immovable piece of who I am, and when I recognize that same thing in others, I can’t help but stand on the sidelines and cheer as they make their way up, and only through this have I felt my own success. When those same people I admire are standing in my corner, or are on stage with me, that is when I know that I am working in the right direction. Everything else is distraction and gamified existence, ignore it, push it out, love your friends and make the best damn music you can make.

Everything else is noise, and not the good kind.

Thank you to Taylor Rae, Graham Webber, Caroline Hale, Casen Hutton, Jim Hampton, Caelin, Marco Gutierrez, Daniel Davis, Eric Harrison, Gordy Quist, Graham Wilkinson, and everyone else who makes me feel like a part of this wonderful community. You are some of my dearest friends and mentors, I love you all and I can’t wait to watch each of you succeed.

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Watch Sam and Taylor Rae’s latest Chill Country Session for their new folk duo, Lemongrass:

Follow Lemongrass on Instagram and TikTok. Check show dates at lemongrassfolk.com

• Category: Chill Country Sessions, Music