GUITAR
PRACTICE HARD AND... | James Duke
One of the most common questions I get when time I was happy to do it and had a blast. Other think we played a snippet of Leonard Cohen’s
I am talking to aspiring musicians is, “How times were some of the most embarrassing Hallelujah, so you know we were super cool. We
do I do what you do?” That’s sort of a loaded experiences of my life. Success or failure, I finished our set and I walked off stage like I was
question. I don’t think they actually want to learned something from every gig. One of the Keith Richards, just knowing we had crushed it.
know the ins and outs of my life that contain biggest lessons was to be a little more “choosy” I looked at that crowd of thirty people and knew
the struggles of being a freelance musician as about the gigs I took. I learned that from my we had blown their minds. I strutted over to my
a husband and father of three kids. That would Dad. Dad who was sitting in the back of the room
probably discourage them. So, I usually keep it and said, “What did you think, Pop?” Expecting
light and say something like, “Practice hard and all the adulation and high fives to start pouring
take every opportunity that comes.” While there
is some truth to that, there is also a lot more
that I learned the hard way.
It didn’t make
me rich and it
When I was growing up, I lived and breathed
music. It was my whole life. I had an insatiable
appetite for new music and was always on the
hunt for new bands to listen to. Music was
playing in my room day and night, whether I
was there or not. I wore out a lot of CD and
cassette players. When I started getting serious
about guitar, it got even noisier in my room. I’m
sure it was really annoying to everybody else.
I hadn’t been playing guitar for more than a year
when I started playing in a band at church. It
wasn’t long after that when I started my very
first band with original music (if you want to call
it that) and I was off to the races. We played all
over Florida and South Georgia. Every gig we
could get. One of which the band was invited
to be the special musical guest at a weeklong
asked him to change. We played our 20-minute
set, they all sat there, in their pews, staring at
us blankly. They didn’t clap when we finished,
think you should be a little more choosy about
who you play with.” I was offended and wrote
it off to him being old and not cool. But he was
right. He usually is. That band dissolved as well
and I started focusing on finding people who
didn’t make
I really believed in and music that made me
me famous, but
it made me a
better musician
and gave me
come alive as a guitar player. When I stopped
chasing every opportunity and started looking
for that, everything changed for me.
It took finding a group of songwriters and
musicians in a city, three states away, that set
me on a path to the career I have now. When
I found those people, I took every opportunity
to play with them. Their music changed my life,
and I got to be a part of it. It didn’t make me
rich and it didn’t make me famous, but it made
some of the
me a better musician and gave me some of
the best friends I have within a community that
best friends I
revival in St Mary’s, Georgia. Our lead singer
was wearing a Harley Davidson shirt and they
in, he looked up at me and very calmly said, “I
supports me.
So, I guess the actual advice I have for those
have within a
community that
people, and you, is to practice hard and when
you find the music and people that make your
heart come alive, take every opportunity that
comes to be a part of that.
though they looked relieved when we were
done. I can’t remember if we got paid. We
probably didn’t. We were fine with that. We
supports me.
were a band! A real bonafide rock and roll band!
We broke up after that.
I was playing a concert at a local club in town
Back then, I took just about every opportunity with my next band. We were a worship band
to play guitar that came my way. Most of the and we were doing our normal worship set. I
110 August 2019
James Duke
James is a musician, songwriter, and producer from
Jacksonville Beach, Florida. Most known for playing
guitar alongside artists like John Mark McMillan, Matt
Redman, Johnnyswim, and Steven Curtis Chapman,
James also records his own music under the name
All The Bright Lights. He currently lives in Nashville,
Tennessee with his wife and 3 kids..
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