There is no blueprint to becoming an artist

In the 1960’s, British musicians were doing what they could to get CD’s of American blues artists like Muddy Waters and Skip James in hopes of replicating their music. And by simply adding a dash of English folk, Led Zeppelin was born.

It wasn’t just the British. Dylan wanted to sound like Odetta and Woody Guthrie. The Dead stole from Bill Monroe and Charles Ives.

All artist steal from other artists.

Because there is no blueprint, no map, no step-by-step set of instructions to follow to become a great artist.

You just copy what is available to you. And overtime, you add your own unique twist to things.

Think of it as an arc, a large body of work, that you get to contribute to.

It’s not ours to hold, but it is ours to share. We get to add one more piece to the puzzle.