The Artists Voice

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Every step felt heavy, knowing he was one step closer to his despairing fate. Boarding the plane back home to Nashville Sean McHugh was distraught. Just moments before, he had been rejected from playing bass for a band, and he couldn’t control his emotions. It felt like his lifelong dream had been destroyed by yet another rejection.

 At the time, McHugh was a recent graduate of Belmont University His whole life, he had known he wanted to pursue music. "Nothing else has made me feel so good. Once I felt the high of playing a gig, I found myself always craving it. I started playing in a church band when I was in middle school and almost immediately knew that I wanted to play music as a career," he said.  

But passion wasn’t enough. Once he moved to Nashville, he found the competition intense and felt pressure to be the best. The more rejections he received, the more his confidence faded. 

However, a conversation he had during that flight changed his perspective on the music industry. As he talked with the man sitting next to him – who was a drummer, the man offered McHugh advice that stuck with him for years. He said, “Once you realize that everyone is better than you, living and working in Nashville will be a lot easier.” 

McHugh explained, "What he meant is that Nashville is a city made up of amazing and talented people, all trying to do the same thing. This can be super discouraging, but it can also be a challenge to figure out what you’re good at and pursue that"  

That conversation motivated McHugh to embrace the competition and build a sense of community from it instead of letting it tear him apart. "Being located in Nashville has definitely played a huge role in my involvement in the music industry. Constantly being surrounded by like-minded, inspiring people is one of the best things about the city," he said.   

For McHugh, the hard work paid off. He started his own band -- called Soft Serve toured with Briston Maroneyin 2022 and is currently on a world tour as a technical engineer. 

On the other end of the spectrum, Josh Hebert didn’t have the same advantage of starting his music career in Nashville. He attended a small college in Idaho.

Even though he majored in music, he took a finance job after graduation and played gigs on the side because it was the most financially viable solution. 

Hebert explained that breaking into music is often about being in the right room at the right time. "That was the routine," he said, "until the guy I was playing for on the weekends (Colby Acuff) had a viral song and was able to make a few connections in Nashville to the point where it made sense for him to move. He gave everybody in the band the chance to move or back out, and I chose to move and begin my full-time music career"  

Even when you ‘make it’ in music, there are sacrifices you must continuously make. Hebert said, "If you do music for the money, you are in it for the wrong reason. Every musician sacrifices luxury in significant ways compared to the average worker, all to try and make the dream come true"  

McHugh sums it up best: "The most important thing is to do what you love. Keeping the passion is key, and the opportunities will follow"