Making It in Country Music: An Insider’s Look at the Industry

Drummer Redmond (Crash! Course for Success), who performs with country singer Jason Aldean, provides tips for aspiring Nashville musicians and others in the industry, cowriting with Jennifer Della’Zanna (Twisted Love). The book contains 10 chapters and the opening lines of many rock and blues songs. With clearly composed insights drawn from his and others’ careers (managers, singers, technicians, and agents), Redmond offers helpful job-counseling advice for beginners in nearly any industry. The book demonstrates the importance of assets and habits such as patience, resilience, personal branding, college degrees, passion, a positive attitude, regular exercise, versatility, success-visualization, and a commitment to continuously improving skills. For job interviews, he advises being over-prepared and projecting an enthusiastic but not aggressive ambition. Particularly for musicians, the book highlights the importance of being able to read music, social media networking, and joining a union. Redmond discusses the country-music job prospects in Nashville, Austin (which he calls the “live music capital of the world”), and other locales. A comparable guide that Redmond himself recommends is Donald Passman’s All About the Music Business, slated to be released in its 11th edition later this fall.