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	<title>Live Musician Central &#187; Being A Musician</title>
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	<description>Resources for Performing Musicians</description>
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		<title>How To Quit Your Band</title>
		<link>http://livemusiciancentral.com/2011/02/03/how-to-quit-your-band/</link>
		<comments>http://livemusiciancentral.com/2011/02/03/how-to-quit-your-band/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 04 Feb 2011 04:15:53 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Matt Rushton</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Band Related]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Being A Musician]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Quitting]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://livemusiciancentral.com/?p=6098</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Quitting your band can be a hard decision but you can make it easier on everyone by leaving the band [...]<p>Get the full experience at www.livemusiciancentral.com<br/><br/><a href="http://livemusiciancentral.com/2011/02/03/how-to-quit-your-band/">How To Quit Your Band</a></p>
]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div id="attachment_6100" class="wp-caption alignright" style="width: 280px"><a href="http://livemusiciancentral.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/Tuba-Player.jpg"><img class="size-full wp-image-6100 " title="Tuba Player" src="http://livemusiciancentral.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/Tuba-Player.jpg" alt="Silver Tuba Player" width="270" height="488" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">Even Tuba Players Think About Quitting The Band</p></div>
<p>   So you&#8217;ve been playing in your <a href="http://livemusiciancentral.com">live band </a>for a while but it just seems like it&#8217;s not what you wanted. Believe me, we&#8217;ve all been there. I remember playing in a band where I had steady gigs three weekends a month and all I had to do was learn the songs, show up with my gear and play. But it was becoming a hassle trying to juggle band practices and gigs with my personal life. I also wanted to write and perform my own music live. I knew the time had come to quit that band but what was the best way to do it?</p>
<p>   Well, quitting a band is just like quitting a job. There&#8217;s a right way and several wrong ways to quit a band. Let&#8217;s discuss the wrong ways first.    <span id="more-6098"></span></p>
<p>   You can always just stop showing up for practices and gigs but I guarantee you that you are going to severely piss some people off if you do that. I remember a band member quitting one of my bands by not showing up for a gig. We wanted to lynch the guy the next time we saw him. Nothing is worse than being left with a gig and not being able to play it because a member didn&#8217;t show up. It&#8217;s also bad to leave your bandmates wondering &#8220;Whatever happened to that guy?&#8217;</p>
<p>   Another wrong way to quit a band is to show up to rehearsal, rip everyone and the band to shreds with insults and announce that you will not be seen with that band ever again. All you do there is anger a bunch of fellow musicians and burn every future opportunity to play with these people that you will ever have. Not only that, but you&#8217;ll be gaining a reputation in the music community that you are difficult to work with.</p>
<p>    So here&#8217;s how to quit your band. The best way is to call a meeting outside of band practice but if that is impractical for the band then plan to tell them at the next band practice. If you can setup a meeting outside of band practice at least you can spare everyone the trouble of hauling their equipment to practice to hear you announce that you&#8217;re quitting. You can also soften the blow with an e-mail or a text message in advance letting everyone know that you are considering quitting. Don&#8217;t just leave it at an e-mail, meeting your bandmates face-to-face is a much better way to handle making the announcement that you are quitting.</p>
<p>   When you get together let the band know how much you have appreciated playing with them. Remember the good times you&#8217;ve had with them. Then let them know that you are worn out and that you&#8217;ve just got too many things on your plate to give the band the effort that it deserves. Also, make sure and honor any gig commitments for at least 3-months which should give the band enough time to find your replacement and train them. Let them ask you questions and let them know that you are firm in your resolve to quit.</p>
<p>   It&#8217;s always better to leave a band with good feelings. They may even throw you a goodbye party if you&#8217;re cool about playing final shows with the band and helping to find and train your own replacement. In the future, you can count on your old bandmates to put in a good word for you or even be involved in your future projects.</p>
<p>   It&#8217;s always scary but at the same time exhilarating to leave a band and start something new. Just make sure you don&#8217;t burn any bridges when you leave your old band. It will help you with the local musician&#8217;s, agents and clubs for them to know you honor your commitments and are a person who lives up to their word.<br />
<a href="http://www.anrdoezrs.net/click-2976624-10454480" target="_top"><br />
<img src="http://www.tqlkg.com/image-2976624-10454480" border="0" alt="MusiciansFriend.com's Deal Center" width="468" height="60" /></a></p>
<p>Get the full experience at www.livemusiciancentral.com<br/><br/><a href="http://livemusiciancentral.com/2011/02/03/how-to-quit-your-band/">How To Quit Your Band</a></p>
]]></content:encoded>
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		<item>
		<title>Shopping For Musical Gifts For Kids</title>
		<link>http://livemusiciancentral.com/2010/11/16/shopping-for-musical-gifts-for-kids/</link>
		<comments>http://livemusiciancentral.com/2010/11/16/shopping-for-musical-gifts-for-kids/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 17 Nov 2010 05:02:56 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Matt Rushton</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Being A Musician]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Various Ramblings]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[children]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Christmas]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Gifts]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Holiday]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[kids]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Music]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Musician]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://livemusiciancentral.com/?p=6025</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[You can find high quality musical instrument toys for your children in this excellent music toys for kids [...]<p>Get the full experience at www.livemusiciancentral.com<br/><br/><a href="http://livemusiciancentral.com/2010/11/16/shopping-for-musical-gifts-for-kids/">Shopping For Musical Gifts For Kids</a></p>
]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>   If you&#8217;re a musician who just happens to have some kids running around at home I&#8217;m sure you&#8217;re always looking for music toys to stimulate their musical imagination. It can be tough to find good musical toys for the kids to play with. I know I&#8217;ve spent hours searching on various websites looking for the perfect musical gifts for my children only to find a limited selection of low quality musical toys.   <span id="more-6025"></span></p>
<p>   The key is to find quality musical toys, things that are really instruments that can pass as a toy. There are a lot of cheap, junky musical toys out there on the big shopping websites that hardly qualify as instruments. If you go to a musical instrument website it can be a challenge to sort through the hundreds of music instruments to find things appropriate for the little kids. I have found that Musician&#8217;s Friend has a really large selection of quality musical instruments that can pass as toys for the kids and will allow them to make some decent music. They have everything from little glockenspiels made by Hohner that babies can play to really sweet Martin starter guitars that kids 8 years old and older can play.</p>
<p>   This year Musician&#8217;s Friend has made it extremely easy to shop for good musical instrument toys for the kids. They have created a section on their website dedicated to kids and have broken down their selection of instruments into age appropriate categories. I&#8217;m sure you&#8217;ve seen lists like this on other shopping websites. The beautiful thing about this one is that it&#8217;s all music related and they are, for the most part, real music instruments. They&#8217;re also priced to fit any budget and skill level.</p>
<p>   There are a few items on the list that are more toy than music instrument but overall the selection is some serious quality instruments for kids. My only warning is to watch out for the Rogue line of instruments. They are a budget line of musical instruments that I have found to be of substandard quality. If you&#8217;re going to get a guitar for your little rocker, your best off buying the Martin, Ibanez, Epiphone or Dean guitars. Other manufacturers on the list whose names are associated with quality are Remo, Fender, Hohner, Pearl, Yamaha, Vic Firth and Ludwig.</p>
<p>The great thing about Musician&#8217;s Friend is if you get the instrument home and you feel the quality isn&#8217;t what you expected you have 45 days to return it for a full refund. You just can&#8217;t go wrong with that kind of guarantee. So, if you&#8217;re shopping for musical gifts for your kids just click on the banner below and find that perfect gift for your little musician!</p>
<p><a href="http://www.jdoqocy.com/click-2976624-10514584" target="_top"><br />
<img src="http://www.ftjcfx.com/image-2976624-10514584" border="0" alt="FLearning Materials for Everyone at MusiciansFrien" width="468" height="60" /></a></p>
<p>Get the full experience at www.livemusiciancentral.com<br/><br/><a href="http://livemusiciancentral.com/2010/11/16/shopping-for-musical-gifts-for-kids/">Shopping For Musical Gifts For Kids</a></p>
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		<item>
		<title>Playing Any Gig Is Better Than Playing No Gig At All</title>
		<link>http://livemusiciancentral.com/2009/09/14/playing-any-gig-is-better-than-playing-no-gig-at-all/</link>
		<comments>http://livemusiciancentral.com/2009/09/14/playing-any-gig-is-better-than-playing-no-gig-at-all/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 14 Sep 2009 16:21:32 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Matt Rushton</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Being A Musician]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Musicianship]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[gig]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Gigging]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Live Band]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Musician]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://livemusiciancentral.com/?p=4520</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[If you're a musician, then playing any live band gig at all will help you become a better [...]<p>Get the full experience at www.livemusiciancentral.com<br/><br/><a href="http://livemusiciancentral.com/2009/09/14/playing-any-gig-is-better-than-playing-no-gig-at-all/">Playing Any Gig Is Better Than Playing No Gig At All</a></p>
]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div id="attachment_4522" class="wp-caption alignright" style="width: 325px"><a href="http://livemusiciancentral.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/Matt-Rushton-8-8-2009.jpg"><img class="size-full wp-image-4522  " title="Matt Rushton 8-8-2009" src="http://livemusiciancentral.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/Matt-Rushton-8-8-2009.jpg" alt="Matt Rushton Playing A Live Gig" width="315" height="333" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">Matt Rushton Playing A Live Gig</p></div>
<p>I&#8217;m a guitarist who has been playing for almost 30 years now and I&#8217;ve played in<a href="http://livemusiciancentral.com"> live bands </a>almost that entire time. The reason I play is simple, I love to play in front of live audiences. Some things I love about it are the feedback I get from an excited crowd as well as the joy that comes with really nailing the music when the band is playing well.</p>
<p>I&#8217;ve played a lot of different styles of music over the years. I&#8217;ve played primarily rock-n-roll but I&#8217;ve also played country, jazz, pop, electronic and other styles that don&#8217;t really fit into any category at all. I&#8217;ve played in original bands playing my own music as well as backing up other artists who write their songs. I&#8217;ve played in cover bands with all kinds of lineups from two-piece bands all the way up to full size big bands. I&#8217;ve also spent time playing in pit orchestras for live stage plays.                              <span id="more-4520"></span></p>
<p>So why have I played in so many bands covering so many styles? Because there was a gig involved. There was a chance for me, playing in every one of these styles and settings, to get up and perform in front of a live audience. If there&#8217;s a chance to perform a gig, I&#8217;ll take that chance. For me as a performer the ultimate payoff for all the hours of practicing and dedication is to get up and perform.</p>
<p>What is so rewarding about playing live gigs? Honestly, it&#8217;s the feedback that I get from the audience about my playing. Way back when I started playing it was about getting girls of course. But as time went on playing gigs became a type of artistic validation. Even when I&#8217;ve played a show for a handful of people the feedback I get from the audience is what drives me to improve my skills.</p>
<p>I&#8217;ve learned that when I don&#8217;t have a gig scheduled that I don&#8217;t practice as much. I stop playing my guitar and start doing other things like playing video games or watching DVD&#8217;s. It&#8217;s essential to have a goal for me to achieve in order to motivate me to keep working on my craft as a musician. I&#8217;m also a competitive runner and I&#8217;ve found the same thing to be true about running. When I have a race scheduled I train a lot harder and keep my body running at peak efficiency.</p>
<p>So that&#8217;s why I say that playing any gig is better than playing no gig at all. I&#8217;ve had a lot of fun as well as diverse experiences playing some really interesting gigs over the years. It&#8217;s these gigs that have kept me in the game and playing music. So my advice to you is, if you are presented with an opportunity to play a gig, take it! Even if it&#8217;s playing for your daughter&#8217;s pre-school class. It will get you to practice and that will make you a better musician.<br />
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<p>Get the full experience at www.livemusiciancentral.com<br/><br/><a href="http://livemusiciancentral.com/2009/09/14/playing-any-gig-is-better-than-playing-no-gig-at-all/">Playing Any Gig Is Better Than Playing No Gig At All</a></p>
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		<title>Should You Stay In The Band If You&#8217;re &#8220;Forcing It&#8221;?</title>
		<link>http://livemusiciancentral.com/2009/08/03/should-you-stay-in-the-band-if-youre-forcing-it/</link>
		<comments>http://livemusiciancentral.com/2009/08/03/should-you-stay-in-the-band-if-youre-forcing-it/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 03 Aug 2009 14:00:24 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Matt Rushton</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Band Related]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Being A Musician]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Live Band]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Performance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Quitting]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://livemusiciancentral.com/?p=4327</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[If you find yourself "forcing it" when playing in front of a live audience, it may be time to quit your [...]<p>Get the full experience at www.livemusiciancentral.com<br/><br/><a href="http://livemusiciancentral.com/2009/08/03/should-you-stay-in-the-band-if-youre-forcing-it/">Should You Stay In The Band If You&#8217;re &#8220;Forcing It&#8221;?</a></p>
]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div id="attachment_4333" class="wp-caption alignright" style="width: 310px"><a href="http://livemusiciancentral.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/In-Stereo-At-Canyon-Inn-7-24-09-3.jpg"><img class="size-medium wp-image-4333" title="In Stereo At Canyon Inn 7-24-09 3" src="http://livemusiciancentral.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/In-Stereo-At-Canyon-Inn-7-24-09-3-300x225.jpg" alt="Nobody &quot;Forcing It&quot; here!" width="300" height="225" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">Nobody &quot;Forcing It&quot; here!</p></div>
<p>   There comes a point in every musician&#8217;s life when playing in a <a href="http://livemusiciancentral.com">live band </a>becomes a grind. Things start to lose their newness after awhile and the band just doesn&#8217;t seem like much fun anymore. You start to notice that learning new songs isn&#8217;t much fun anymore and the practices become a drag and a burden. Even having to pack all your equipment up and head to the gig seems like more work than it&#8217;s worth. It&#8217;s at that point that you may ask yourself &#8220;should I quit this band?&#8221;.</p>
<p>   As I&#8217;ve said before, <a href="http://livemusiciancentral.com/2008/05/14/a-lot-of-times-playing-in-a-band-is-work/">playing in a live band is work </a>more often than playing. Sometimes the constant work that goes into making your live band be the best it can be gets to be a real drag. It&#8217;s easy to get caught up in hating the non-playing aspect of being in a live band. But, you keep working and grinding it out because of the the feeling of stepping out in front of a live audience which is giving you a lot of love for your great effort.    <span id="more-4327"></span></p>
<p>   That&#8217;s really the reward. The feedback from the audience. If you&#8217;ve still got the love of playing in front of a crowd then it&#8217;s possible to deal with the work involved in playing in a band. But what if you start to lose the love of being onstage with your current band? This is where the term &#8220;forcing it&#8221; comes from. It&#8217;s when you get onstage and hate it yet you force yourself to play. The audience may love it but you personally are getting no joy. That&#8217;s the time to seriously consider quitting your current band.</p>
<p>   There will always be times when you &#8220;force it&#8221; onstage by playing a song that you hate here and there. You may have to &#8220;force it&#8221; when playing Happy Birthday for the millionth time. But the good times should always outweigh the bad when you&#8217;re onstage. If they aren&#8217;t, then you have a real problem on your hands.</p>
<p>   It&#8217;s my opinion that if you&#8217;re &#8220;forcing it&#8221; when you&#8217;re onstage, and playing gigs that you hate, then you should probably quit the band you&#8217;re in. There&#8217;s no point hating the experience of playing in front of a live audience. The whole point of playing in a live band is to  play in front of people and if you&#8217;re not getting any joy from that, it&#8217;s time to call it quits.</p>
<p>   That doesn&#8217;t mean you have to quit playing in a band. You could retire to the studio like The Beatles did and be perfectly happy writing and recording your own music. You could also join another live band that plays a different kind of music that will appeal to a whole new audience. That could be the key to finding that joy in playing live once again.</p>
<p>   The bottom line is there&#8217;s no need to stay in a band situation where you&#8217;re &#8220;forcing it&#8221; more often than not. Playing live music should be fun. That&#8217;s why us live musician&#8217;s do what we do. We like to have a good time playing so if that means quitting your current band and finding something else. Then do it! Just make sure you keep playing music because there&#8217;s no need to let a bad experience ruin your love of playing music.</p>
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<p>Get the full experience at www.livemusiciancentral.com<br/><br/><a href="http://livemusiciancentral.com/2009/08/03/should-you-stay-in-the-band-if-youre-forcing-it/">Should You Stay In The Band If You&#8217;re &#8220;Forcing It&#8221;?</a></p>
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		<title>Being A Musician Playing In Multiple Bands</title>
		<link>http://livemusiciancentral.com/2009/07/17/being-a-musician-playing-in-multiple-bands/</link>
		<comments>http://livemusiciancentral.com/2009/07/17/being-a-musician-playing-in-multiple-bands/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 17 Jul 2009 14:00:36 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Matt Rushton</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Band Related]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Being A Musician]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Gigging]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Gigs]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Live Band]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Live Performance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Performance]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://livemusiciancentral.com/?p=4223</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Playing in multiple bands can be a challenge but it also opens up some excellent performance [...]<p>Get the full experience at www.livemusiciancentral.com<br/><br/><a href="http://livemusiciancentral.com/2009/07/17/being-a-musician-playing-in-multiple-bands/">Being A Musician Playing In Multiple Bands</a></p>
]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div id="attachment_4226" class="wp-caption alignright" style="width: 310px"><a href="http://livemusiciancentral.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/Matt-Club-90-8-31-02.jpg"><img class="size-medium wp-image-4226" title="Matt Club 90 8-31-02" src="http://livemusiciancentral.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/Matt-Club-90-8-31-02-300x225.jpg" alt="Matt Rushton - Lead Guitarist" width="300" height="225" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">Matt Rushton - Lead Guitarist</p></div>
<p>   I&#8217;ve been playing in <a href="http://livemusiciancentral.com">live bands </a>since I was 15 years old and in that time I&#8217;ve been a member of many different types of bands. I&#8217;ve been in cover bands, original bands, wedding bands, jazz bands, country bands, rock bands and the occasional church group. I&#8217;ve been in some of these groups simultaneously and I&#8217;ve had some interesting times juggling multiple bands.</p>
<p>   There are a few different reasons I like to play in multiple bands. I know a lot of great musicians and I like to play music with all of them. Some of the musicians I know are more skilled at different types of music than others. So I spend time playing with different groups of musicians and I get to play different styles of music with different lineups of musicians. I personally like to play a lot of different types of music so playing in multiple groups allows me to play more varied music styles.     <span id="more-4223"></span></p>
<p>   I&#8217;m currently actively playing in a cover band, an original band and a wedding band. They&#8217;re all fun and I get to indulge in a lot of different styles of music. My cover band makes me the most money and we play to the biggest crowds. My original band records a lot of music and plays the occasional gig doing all of the music we write together. The wedding band is quieter and more suited to playing at weddings. The wedding band also plays the largest variety of music and can be the most challenging of the three bands.</p>
<p>   It&#8217;s really not too hard to juggle playing in three bands. I play a lot of the same songs in my cover band as I do in my wedding band. The original band doesn&#8217;t play out a lot so it doesn&#8217;t take a lot of my time. My cover band gets top priority because we play to the largest audiences and that&#8217;s important to me.</p>
<p>   The key to playing in multiple bands is to prioritize them. As I said, my cover band takes precedence over the other two so if a gig comes up for my cover band, the other bands take a back seat. Of course, if I get a big gig with either the original band or the wedding band, the cover band will take a lower priority. I guess it really comes down to how big the gig is. If a gig pays well or there are going to be a lot of people there, then that&#8217;s the gig I take.</p>
<p>   So, the primary reason for being a musician playing in multiple bands is the gig opportunities. If you play in more bands that have multiple, specialized talents then your gig opportunities go up. Since I&#8217;m a live musician, then it&#8217;s all about playing gigs and that&#8217;s why I play in multiple bands. I want to play as many gigs as possible because that&#8217;s what I love doing the most! -Matt-</p>
<p>Get the full experience at www.livemusiciancentral.com<br/><br/><a href="http://livemusiciancentral.com/2009/07/17/being-a-musician-playing-in-multiple-bands/">Being A Musician Playing In Multiple Bands</a></p>
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		<title>Thanks To My Father For Supporting My Musical Journey</title>
		<link>http://livemusiciancentral.com/2009/06/22/thanks-to-my-father-for-supporting-my-musical-journey/</link>
		<comments>http://livemusiciancentral.com/2009/06/22/thanks-to-my-father-for-supporting-my-musical-journey/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 22 Jun 2009 14:00:16 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Matt Rushton</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Being A Musician]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Various Ramblings]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Musician]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://livemusiciancentral.com/?p=3987</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[My tribute to my Father, Allen L. Rushton, for supporting me so much in my musical [...]<p>Get the full experience at www.livemusiciancentral.com<br/><br/><a href="http://livemusiciancentral.com/2009/06/22/thanks-to-my-father-for-supporting-my-musical-journey/">Thanks To My Father For Supporting My Musical Journey</a></p>
]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div id="attachment_3990" class="wp-caption alignright" style="width: 248px"><a href="http://livemusiciancentral.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/My-Dad-and-My-3-Older-Brothers.jpg"><img class="size-medium wp-image-3990" title="My Dad and My 3 Older Brothers" src="http://livemusiciancentral.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/My-Dad-and-My-3-Older-Brothers-238x300.jpg" alt="My Dad, Allen L. Rushton, and my 3 older brothers." width="238" height="300" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">My Dad, Allen L. Rushton, and my 3 older brothers.</p></div>
<p>   Yesterday was Father&#8217;s Day and I got a lot of love from my kids for being such a &#8220;great Dad&#8221; (their words). I&#8217;m glad they feel that way but I had to tell them that the greatest Dad was my Father, their Grandfather. My Dad, Allen Rushton,  is one of the biggest reasons why I play music and perform in a <a href="http://livemusiciancentral.com">live band </a>today.</p>
<p>   In his day, my Dad played lead tenor saxophone in various bands when he was in his late teens and early twenties. He was a member of the Nevada Musicians Union and would get called by the union and told where and when he would be playing on the weekend. He made some money doing this and wanted to be a professional musician. He then entered World War II and when the war ended, he went to college and got a degree in Education. He ended up being a Teacher, then a Principal and finally the Assistant Superintendent of the White Pine County School District.      <span id="more-3987"></span></p>
<p>   When I was in fourth grade, my Dad talked me into playing the trumpet in the elementary school band. I took to it immediately and he bought me my own Cornet to play. Later, when I showed an interest in the piano he asked me if I would like to take lessons which he then paid for and bought all the materials for me to study. When I wanted to play French Horn, he rented me a French Horn. My Dad always supported me to the fullest in my musical aspirations.</p>
<p>   The pivotal moment that set me down my career path as a professional musician came when I asked for an acoustic guitar for Christmas when I was 13. I had my choice between a .22 rifle and a guitar and I chose the guitar. That instrument changed my life though I must credit the piano for a good chunk of my musical growth. When I got in my first band, I had to borrow an electric guitar but my Dad saw that I needed my own electric guitar, and even though money was tight he bought me a Fender Bullet which is as close as I could get to a Stratocaster at that time.</p>
<p>   My Dad gave me the freedom I needed at 14 years old to run around with a bunch of older guys learning and playing Rock-N-Roll. He let me practice and play gigs with my first band and never gave me any hassle about it. Later when I told him I would need a better amplifier than the one I was borrowing, he bought me an amp as well. I still have all the instruments that my Father bought me and some of them are almost 30 years old now. I keep them as a memorial to my Father.</p>
<p>   My Dad has been gone for 6 years now and I miss him like crazy. He was a great Dad and I owe so much to him for helping me and supporting me in my love for music. I&#8217;m glad that he got to see me perform many times over the course of my career. I hope that my own kids will appreciate my support for their own interests and I&#8217;m lucky that they all seem to love music as much as I do. Today, I&#8217;m writing this post as a tribute to my Father, Allen Rushton, and I know he&#8217;s still watching out for me from up above. -Matt-</p>
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<p>Get the full experience at www.livemusiciancentral.com<br/><br/><a href="http://livemusiciancentral.com/2009/06/22/thanks-to-my-father-for-supporting-my-musical-journey/">Thanks To My Father For Supporting My Musical Journey</a></p>
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		<title>What To Do When The Band Breaks Up</title>
		<link>http://livemusiciancentral.com/2009/06/15/what-to-do-when-the-band-breaks-up/</link>
		<comments>http://livemusiciancentral.com/2009/06/15/what-to-do-when-the-band-breaks-up/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 15 Jun 2009 14:00:35 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Matt Rushton</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Band Related]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Being A Musician]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Musicianship]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Band]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Live Band]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Musician]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[When your band breaks up, it's an opportunity to expand your talent and skills to become an even better [...]<p>Get the full experience at www.livemusiciancentral.com<br/><br/><a href="http://livemusiciancentral.com/2009/06/15/what-to-do-when-the-band-breaks-up/">What To Do When The Band Breaks Up</a></p>
]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div id="attachment_3931" class="wp-caption alignright" style="width: 262px"><a href="http://livemusiciancentral.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/sammy-hagar.jpg"><img class="size-full wp-image-3931" title="sammy-hagar" src="http://livemusiciancentral.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/sammy-hagar.jpg" alt="Sammy Hagar Became A More Complete Musician After He Left Montrose" width="252" height="371" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">Sammy Hagar Became A More Complete Musician After He Left Montrose</p></div>
<p>I&#8217;ve been playing in <a href="http://livemusiciancentral.com">live bands </a>for 27 years now and I&#8217;ve been through my share of band breakups. By band breakup, I mean either the the group will completely disband or I have quit a band that I felt wasn&#8217;t going anywhere. It&#8217;s always a bummer when your time in a band comes to an end but it&#8217;s also an opportunity to re-examine why you are playing music and what you hope to do with your skills as a musician.</p>
<p>I remember when my first band broke up. I had been playing with Seniors in High School and I was just a Freshman. They all graduated High School and that was pretty much the end of the band. I knew I wanted to keep playing but my skills were extremely limited at the time and I had no clue how to even go about getting into another band. I did know a couple of things though, I knew I had a deep love of music and that I wanted to become a better guitarist. So I immersed myself in the study of music theory and the guitar.   <span id="more-3927"></span></p>
<p>I grew incredibly as a musician while I was between my first and second bands. I learned a lot of new guitar skills as I played music with several guitarists and talked with them about the instrument. I read every book about guitar and music theory I could get my hands on and I played guitar in the High School Jazz Band which filled the void left after my first rock band had called it quits.</p>
<p>The next year I moved to a new city. I met a whole new group of musicians and I was able to put together another really fun and exciting rock band. I still play music with some of the guys from the second rock band I was ever in. My point is, I kept playing even though I didn&#8217;t have a band. I continued practicing and growing as a musician and a guitarist. That prepared me for my next band and it made that band even better than the previous one.</p>
<p>It&#8217;s extremely important that you keep growing musically between bands. My role as a musician has always been as a performer first and it&#8217;s difficult for me to find motivation when I&#8217;m not in a band. Yet those are the times I&#8217;ve discovered new aspects about my instrument and my talent. When I&#8217;m in a band I tend to focus my energy on what will help the band to be successful. When I&#8217;m not in a band, I explore the entire world of music and I often discover things ignite a new passion about music. What I learn as I explore that new passion always ends up helping me in my next band.</p>
<p>When my second band broke up, I discovered multi-track recording and I was able to spend time honing my skills as a songwriter while learning the world of Home Studio recording. Playing and recording music in my studio can be very rewarding and definitely fills the void I feel when I&#8217;m not actively playing out in a band. In fact, there are times when I&#8217;m in a band that I wish I could just sit home and make recordings of my original work! But of course, the pull of the stage is too strong for me to ignore at least for now.</p>
<p>Between bands I have become a better guitarist, learned and honed my studio engineering and production skills, learned how to make computer based music and even learned how to play various horns and ethnic instruments. I have always tried to learn and grow as a general practitioner of music between bands and this has kept me interested and &#8220;in the business&#8221; for all these years.</p>
<p>So remember, if your band breaks up, it&#8217;s not the end of the music experience. It&#8217;s really just a starting point for increasing your musical horizons. The thing you want to do is to keep on playing, studying and creating music. You&#8217;ll find another band that will take your time and you&#8217;ll also reap the rewards for the time you spent learning between band experiences. -Matt-</p>
<p>Get the full experience at www.livemusiciancentral.com<br/><br/><a href="http://livemusiciancentral.com/2009/06/15/what-to-do-when-the-band-breaks-up/">What To Do When The Band Breaks Up</a></p>
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		<title>Developing A New Member Of Your Live Band</title>
		<link>http://livemusiciancentral.com/2009/06/12/developing-a-new-member-of-your-live-band/</link>
		<comments>http://livemusiciancentral.com/2009/06/12/developing-a-new-member-of-your-live-band/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 12 Jun 2009 14:00:58 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Matt Rushton</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Band Chemistry]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Band Related]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Being A Musician]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Live Band]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Musician]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[Developing new members for your live band can be challenging but very rewarding if done [...]<p>Get the full experience at www.livemusiciancentral.com<br/><br/><a href="http://livemusiciancentral.com/2009/06/12/developing-a-new-member-of-your-live-band/">Developing A New Member Of Your Live Band</a></p>
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			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div id="attachment_3908" class="wp-caption alignright" style="width: 310px"><a href="http://astore.amazon.com/livemusicianc-20/detail/B000VS6QTK"><img class="size-medium wp-image-3908" title="ac-dc-brian-johnson-angus-young" src="http://livemusiciancentral.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/ac-dc-brian-johnson-angus-young-300x201.jpg" alt="Brian Johnson Developed Into A Perfect New Singer For AC/DC" width="300" height="201" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">Brian Johnson Developed Into A Perfect New Singer For AC/DC</p></div>
<p>   When you start a new <a href="http://livemusiciancentral.com">live band </a>it can be difficult to find an entire group of top level players. Sometimes you won&#8217;t be able to find the perfect player for your band. If you find yourself in this situation, don&#8217;t give up on the idea of getting your band off the ground. You can really help out an aspiring player as well as your band if you take the time to do some work and develop a player that shows good potential.</p>
<p>   The other day I wrote about <a href="http://livemusiciancentral.com/2009/06/08/holding-auditions-for-new-band-members/">holding auditions for new band members</a>. One of the challenges you will face when adding a new member is developing their ability to blend with the rest of the band. Remember that everyone grows the more they play in a live band. If you find someone that is showing some good potential that you really like and seem to get along with, give them a chance. Even if they&#8217;re not the greatest player in the world you may find someone that will grow and become the best member of the band.    <span id="more-3879"></span></p>
<p>   So what can you do to develop a new band member? The first thing you need to do is evaluate their strengths and weaknesses. You need to know what the new members strengths are so you can utilize those right now to help the band out. If you have a player that&#8217;s excellent at playing classic rock songs but not so good at playing funk music, you can learn more classic rock songs to play instantly while you work on developing some funk ability.</p>
<p>   Playing to a new member&#8217;s strengths will give them the confidence they&#8217;ll need to survive in the band. As they get more confidence you can begin to throw some more challenging things their way. That&#8217;s why you need to evaluate their weaknesses as well so you know what types of challenges to give the new player.</p>
<p>   If a player has a slight problem playing country music but is completely lost playing complex rock solos, work on the country music playing first. Throw them some easy ones like &#8220;Folsom Prison&#8221; and they&#8217;ll start to develop their country music playing ability. You can work on the complex rock stuff a little bit at at time.</p>
<p>   The biggest factor in developing a new member of your band is to make sure they have a good work ethic. Are they practicing and trying hard to learn the songs? If they are, then that&#8217;s a huge step in their development as a player. Make sure you set the example by having regular band practices and new material to work on. Most members will work as hard as they see the rest of the band working. But if your band is lazy most of the time, you can expect the new member to soon be as lazy as the rest of the band.</p>
<p>   Set a good example and make sure your band has a good leader. You&#8217;ll be able to develop some marginal musicians into great musicians. It&#8217;s very satisfying to see a new band member grow into the job and excel with you onstage.</p>
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<p>Get the full experience at www.livemusiciancentral.com<br/><br/><a href="http://livemusiciancentral.com/2009/06/12/developing-a-new-member-of-your-live-band/">Developing A New Member Of Your Live Band</a></p>
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		<title>The Good Singers Vs. Bad Singers Debate</title>
		<link>http://livemusiciancentral.com/2009/06/05/the-good-singers-vs-bad-singers-debate/</link>
		<comments>http://livemusiciancentral.com/2009/06/05/the-good-singers-vs-bad-singers-debate/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 05 Jun 2009 14:00:49 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Matt Rushton</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Being A Musician]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Musicianship]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Stagecraft]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Various Ramblings]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Singers]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[singing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Vocals]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[Trying to label something as unique as the human voice as either "Bad" or "Good" is a very difficult thing to [...]<p>Get the full experience at www.livemusiciancentral.com<br/><br/><a href="http://livemusiciancentral.com/2009/06/05/the-good-singers-vs-bad-singers-debate/">The Good Singers Vs. Bad Singers Debate</a></p>
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			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div id="attachment_3853" class="wp-caption alignright" style="width: 310px"><a href="http://livemusiciancentral.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/bob-dylan.jpg"><img class="size-medium wp-image-3853" title="bob-dylan" src="http://livemusiciancentral.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/bob-dylan-300x250.jpg" alt="Bob Dylan - Good Singer or Bad Singer?" width="300" height="250" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">Bob Dylan - Good Singer or Bad Singer?</p></div>
<p>   Today I&#8217;m going to address a topic that is a personal pet peeve of mine. I personally don&#8217;t like labeling artists as either &#8220;Good&#8221; or &#8220;Bad&#8221;. That goes for anybody that creates a work of art including painters, writers, musicians or any other person that creates something from nothing. Art is subjective and what&#8217;s beautiful to one person, may seem ugly to another. But, my real pet peeve is the labeling of something as unique as an individual human voice as either &#8220;Good&#8221; or &#8220;Bad&#8221;. The sad thing is that I hear comments from the crowd about good vs. bad singing every time I watch a <a href="http://livemusiciancentral.com">live band </a>play.    <span id="more-3850"></span></p>
<p>   The reason this bothers me so much is the fact that no two individual voices are the same. Your voice is the one truly unique instrument you possess. There is no possible way to sound &#8220;exactly&#8221; like someone else. This has been proven by computer voiceprint analysis. Voices are unique and this presents a huge problem in the labeling of a &#8220;Good&#8221; or a &#8220;Bad&#8221; singer.</p>
<p>   The only way to even begin to label a singer as either good or bad is to have a pre-determined set of criteria that would define a good singer. For example let&#8217;s say the criteria for a good singer would be the ability to sing in tune, hold the pitch, have proper pronunciation of the lyrics, and project their voice at a certain volume level. Using this criteria we can say that Bob Dylan is a &#8220;Bad&#8221; singer since he does none of the aforementioned criteria. Yet he has sold millions of recordings and his singing has evoked an emotional response directly as a result of his singing.</p>
<p>   I&#8217;m not trying to make the argument that Bob Dylan is a good singer but I am saying that his singing is touching millions of people. One of the reasons he is successful is because his voice is unique and he is using that uniqueness to deliver his songs. I say it&#8217;s at least unfair to label Bob as a &#8220;Bad&#8221; singer when he is only being himself. The key is getting an emotional response from others when you sing.</p>
<p>   Let&#8217;s take a look at the American Idol phenomenon which represents the dregs of the Good Singer Vs. Bad Singer debate. It&#8217;s fascinating to watch season after season as some very unique singers get trashed to pieces because of their &#8220;lack of talent&#8221;. Take William Hung for example, he is technically not a good singer at all. But William is a case of a &#8221;he&#8217;s so bad, he&#8217;s good!&#8221; style singer. I think that in some weird way, his honesty comes through on his album that he is trying his best to sing from his heart.</p>
<p>   In the end, even American Idol voting comes down to which individual voice the voters prefer. The final singers all have the ability to sing at a level that would meet the technical criteria of a &#8220;Good&#8221; singer. The winner is the person that draws the biggest emotional response from the voters. That&#8217;s all Bob Dylan does when he makes an album sale but I doubt Bob would win American Idol.</p>
<p>   My point is, don&#8217;t be afraid to use the most unique musical instrument you will ever possess. Nobody will ever have your voice so you may as well sing the best you can and get out there and share it. One of the most important things I looked for when putting my band In Stereo together is that everyone in the band was not afraid to sing. We all sing and it really makes our band more unique than the rest. Even if you aren&#8217;t the lead singer, singing backup can completely change the sound of your band for the better.</p>
<p>   If someone tells you that you&#8217;re a &#8220;bad&#8221; singer then just shrug it off. They don&#8217;t know what the hell they&#8217;re talking about obviously. Just keep singing and working on your pitch and the ability to sing in tune. Working on your ability to harmonize will serve you well when you play in a band. It&#8217;s your voice, use it!!</p>
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<p>Get the full experience at www.livemusiciancentral.com<br/><br/><a href="http://livemusiciancentral.com/2009/06/05/the-good-singers-vs-bad-singers-debate/">The Good Singers Vs. Bad Singers Debate</a></p>
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		<title>Playing Cover Music Vs. Playing Original Music Part 3</title>
		<link>http://livemusiciancentral.com/2009/05/22/playing-cover-music-vs-playing-original-music-part-3/</link>
		<comments>http://livemusiciancentral.com/2009/05/22/playing-cover-music-vs-playing-original-music-part-3/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 22 May 2009 14:00:29 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Matt Rushton</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Band Related]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Being A Musician]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Cover Band]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Live Band]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Live Music]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[original music]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Songwriting]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[The differences between playing in a cover band versus playing in an original band become very apparent when it comes to playing [...]<p>Get the full experience at www.livemusiciancentral.com<br/><br/><a href="http://livemusiciancentral.com/2009/05/22/playing-cover-music-vs-playing-original-music-part-3/">Playing Cover Music Vs. Playing Original Music Part 3</a></p>
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			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div id="attachment_3728" class="wp-caption alignright" style="width: 310px"><a href="http://livemusiciancentral.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/shufflin-noah-green-cover.jpg"><img class="size-medium wp-image-3728" title="Shufflin-noah-green-cover" src="http://livemusiciancentral.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/shufflin-noah-green-cover-300x300.jpg" alt="Shufflin' Noah - Making Original Music Since The Mid 90's" width="300" height="300" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">Shufflin&#39; Noah - Making Original Music Since The Mid 90&#39;s</p></div>
<p>   This is the 3rd and final (for now) part of my take on playing cover music versus playing original music in a <a href="http://livemusiciancentral.com">live band</a>. I&#8217;ve written two previous posts on this topic titled Playing Cover Music Vs. Playing Original Music <a href="http://livemusiciancentral.com/2009/05/15/playing-cover-music-vs-playing-original-music/">Part1</a> and <a href="http://livemusiciancentral.com/2009/05/18/playing-cover-music-vs-playing-original-music-part-2/">Part 2</a>. I&#8217;ve played in live bands for 27 years and I&#8217;ve played original music as well as cover music the entire time. I have a unique perspective about playing both types of gigs. Today I&#8217;m going to talk about the difference between playing in an Original Music band and a Cover Band.</p>
<p>   The biggest differences between playing in a cover band vs. playing in an original band become glaringly apparent when it comes to gigs. I have to say that playing original music gigs can be either the highest of highs or the lowest of lows. Playing cover music gigs are much more consistent as long as your band plays the songs well. Let me explain what I mean.    <span id="more-3727"></span></p>
<p>   When you play an original music gig you usually won&#8217;t have a pre-determined payment amount for the gig. You will usually play for a percentage of what the club makes from the cover charge at the door. The reason for this is because most clubs that feature original music don&#8217;t have a regular crowd that comes to every show. Each original music band brings their own crowd to their shows. So if you&#8217;re band can&#8217;t pull a crowd, you will play for free and play for nobody. As I said, the lowest of lows. Even lower is when you have to pay the club a fee to be able to play there and you can&#8217;t get anybody to show up. This all comes with the territory when you&#8217;re playing original music and you should read my article &#8220;<a href="http://livemusiciancentral.com/2008/09/22/getting-people-to-your-shows/">How To Get People To Come To Your Shows</a>&#8220;.</p>
<p>   As for playing cover music gigs, you will usually be playing in clubs that have a regular crowd that goes to the club every weekend because the club has established a reputation for bringing in good bands that play music people want to hear every weekend. You just have to be a good enough band to get booked into these clubs. When your cover band is starting out you may play in some new clubs that are trying to get established and you may run into the &#8220;bring your own crowd to get paid&#8221; obstacle but you won&#8217;t be stuck in these clubs for long.</p>
<p>   The biggest advantage of playing cover music gigs is the fact that they will come with pre-determined, guaranteed payment and an established crowd to hear your band. You can have a long career as a musician getting regular, paying gigs playing cover music. But, you will peak out at some point and you most likely will not be able to reach world fame and unlimited riches.</p>
<p>   The are several reasons why playing your own original music is so attractive. First of all, you can get away with a lot less playing ability since you can totally play to your strengths when playing original music. I love playing my own music because I can simply do what I do best. Another reason for playing your original music is the fact that you are creating and saying something that is all your own. Finally, when you play original music you have the best chance to achieve worldwide fame and get all the riches and perks that go along with it!</p>
<p>   You must remember though, that 9 out of 10 bands fail to ever achieve worldwide fame or the riches that go along with it. Still, there is a certain satisfaction looking back on a career of making original music. I have a rather large library of music that I&#8217;ve written and recorded. It&#8217;s priceless to me, my family and my small group of fans. I have also played to crowds of thousands and crowds of ones playing original music. That&#8217;s why I say that playing original music can bring you the highest of highs or the lowest of lows.</p>
<p>   Really, the best solution that I&#8217;ve found to satisfy my career as a musician is to play in both an original band and a cover band. I&#8217;ve been the happiest doing this even though it really is time consuming and a lot of work to do both. If you&#8217;re up to it, I recommend playing some cover gigs for the money, the recognition and the increase in your playing skill level. Then use that cash to build your original music career. That&#8217;s what I&#8217;ve done and it&#8217;s been satisfying personally to me.</p>
<p>   I may never be famous but I&#8217;ve made a lot of great music over the years. I&#8217;ve had a long career and I hope to keep playing as long as I can pick up a guitar and make decent music with it. Whether you play original music or cover music, the key is to relax and have fun playing! We&#8217;re all just doing it for the girls anyway!! -Matt-</p>
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<p>Get the full experience at www.livemusiciancentral.com<br/><br/><a href="http://livemusiciancentral.com/2009/05/22/playing-cover-music-vs-playing-original-music-part-3/">Playing Cover Music Vs. Playing Original Music Part 3</a></p>
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