Nick Bruno Joins The New York Yankees
I love baseball. My father loves baseball. My children love baseball. My grandson loves baseball. Baseball is a family tradition. Every summer I take my grandson to Yankee Stadium. We love the sound of the crowd, we love the hot dogs, and we love the fans. Playing in the Big Leagues was my boyhood dream, so you can imagine my joy when I met someone who assured me that I could and would be playing for the Yankees this time next year. It seemed too good to be true, but he seemed so sincere.
All I have to do is pay him enough money so that he can get my picture and name on the desk of every member of the Yankees coaching staff and the front office. He assures me that if they see my name enough it will convince them to give me a starting position with the Yankees. All I have to do is give him hundreds of dollars every month and my dream will come true.
The only problem is that I’m too old to play for the Yankees, and I’m not talented enough to be a major league baseball player. And even though the title of this article caught your attention, the truth is that you can’t make a career out of headlines. At some point in time I will have to step up to the plate and actually hit the ball…and keep hitting the ball… in order to keep my job in the Big Leagues. I’ve been paying him for months now, and he assures me someone told him that George Steinbrenner saw my photo on his desk. I’ll keep hoping and paying.
You Can’t Buy Your Way Into The Big Leagues
The Gospel Music Truth is that if you DON”T have what it takes…you can send songs to radio, and take out a full page ad in the New York Times every week for 10 years and at the end of the 10 years you will be right where you are right now. I hear artists who say, “If I had the money the big groups have, I could be big too.” It’s true, it does take money to promote and market an artist, but, more importantly, it also takes talent!
The problem I have with our industry is that there are those who know when a group doesn’t have the talent to make it, but they make false promises to these unsuspecting artists. It makes me sick! There is one company with lots of artists that actually has 3 levels of radio promotion. They are:
Top level – artists who stand a good chance of becoming amateurs.
Middle level – artists who don’t stand a chance of doing anything.
Bottom level – artists with “Perfect Pitch.” “Perfect Pitch” is when you toss the compilation CD into the trashcan without hitting any of the sides.
Minor League Talent Is Still Talent
My point is this: There is a common misconception that everyone and anyone who joins SGM is guaranteed a place at the top simply by taking out some ads and sending songs to radio. If this were true, all of you reading this who have spent thousands of dollars buying into this perverted notion would now be on top. IT IS A BIG FAT LIE!!!!!
This concept of enticing “Newbies” with the promise of “stardom” is precisely why we have hundreds of artists crawling all over each other like bees in a beehive, each one trying to outdo the other in a frantic struggle to be like the “Big Boys.” But Minor League talent is still talent. It just isn’t Big League talent.
In the 12th chapter of 1 Corinthians, the Apostle goes to great lengths to explain how the Body of Christ is one, even though it is made of many members. The hand can’t be a foot and so on. It is vital, as believers, that we understand our place within the Body of Christ, for the Body cannot function without all the parts.
In like manner, it is important to understand that the world of Southern Gospel Music functions in the same way. All of us have an important role in the overall scheme of things, but we are not all cut out to be stars, and it’s a crying shame that we have those who are trying to set every artist on the same path.
Don’t Quit The Game – Just Play In The Right League
I could spend my life trying to get good enough to play for the Yankees, all the while knowing that the chances of that happening would take a miracle…or…I could play softball, which is something I AM good at, and try to get better at it. So that’s what I do and I’m content with it. I have a great time and I don’t have the pressure of trying to do something I know in my heart I could never be good enough to do.
In your career in SGM, you need to adopt this same kind of attitude regarding your ministry and honestly evaluate how far you believe your talent will carry you. But just because the industry you love has lied through their teeth doesn’t mean you have to quit. It just means you have to find your place in the scheme of things and get on with it.
It is much more important that you do what you are capable of than to continue down the path that is taking you nowhere. You need to be doing what makes you happy and pleases the Lord. That might be singing within 2 hours of your home for the rest of your life, but you’ll be in God’s will.
I ask you these questions:
Isn’t it possible that you are not genetically designed to be like the “Big Boys”?
Isn’t it possible that your place in this world of SGM is to minister at another level?
Wouldn’t it be wonderful if you knew exactly how you fit into this industry, and could then just relax and be about your Father’s business?
How would you feel with the pressure of competition gone forever from your ministry?
How effective would your ministry be without the financial burden of keeping up with the “Jones’s”?
How long will you continue to beat your head against the wall trying to follow a path that has proven to be ineffective in building careers?
These are not frivolous questions. If you are serious about being in Southern Gospel Music you should prayerfully consider what your answers are.
Getting Called Up From The Minors
In closing, let me clarify that I am NOT saying that all “Newbies” are not talented enough to make it in the Big Leagues. Every day in baseball, there’s a player who is perfecting his skills playing Minor League ball. He does what needs to be done to be a better baseball player…he doesn’t spend his time and energy trying to get the applause of the crowds.
If you have what it takes, you will be noticed and you will succeed!
How long do you think you could hide the Booth Brothers, or Ernie Haase and Signature Sound?
You can’t hide a bonfire under a bushel!
If you have the goods you will succeed. Just do what you are capable of doing and the rest will take care of itself…without all the gobbledygook the industry is trying to force-feed you.
HERE’S WHAT YOU NEED: - A dependable vehicle, a nice van with a trailer, or maybe a late model motor home.
- Table product to sell. Every group needs a CD of simple hymns and 1 or 2 affordable CDs.
- A good understanding of my system of booking dates.
- An expense check plus a good offering every time you sing. You can’t operate a gospel group or a lemonade stand without bringing in the money.
- Help. Every group should have someone who is knowledgeable and trustworthy to help guide them.
If you have these 5 things, you can have an effective ministry, free of pressure, and full of joy, for as long as you want to sing.
HERE’S WHAT YOU DON’T NEED:- A dilapidated old bus.
- Radio promotion
- A booking agent
- Ads in magazines
- An extra job to help pay for the above.
As always, I welcome your comments.
God Bless you
Nick Bruno
http://www.nickbruno.com
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I think every newbie should get a copy of Nick's book. I am following the principles he presents in the book and it is working for our group. Thanks, Nick, for all that you do.
Written: 03/01/2008 
Author: Nick Bruno
Category:
The Gospel Truth
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