“I don’t have a band to play.” This is one of the biggest misconceptions in the music industry today. Since the beginning of music there have been solo artists. For example, a medieval singer: all they had to do was go to the city center or the market and start singing at the top of their lungs. Think of a trumpeter in New York City today: all you have to do is buy a cheap subway ticket and play for the people waiting for the trains. These two examples relate to street performances, which despite their connotations have been the respectable start of hundreds of musicians.

Johnnie Mac is a great example of making a very profitable living going solo and creating the BuskerWorld website. Many restaurants have wanted the special atmosphere of live music, but not the cost of a full band, so they’ll have a solo or duet. This keeps the cost low for the restaurant and the artist. If a venue is willing to pay $50 an hour, why have a 10-piece set? If you’re a solo artist, $50 an hour is big pay and more than most people make in other jobs.

If you feel like you need backing for your solo performance, why not get some pre-recorded tracks? Pre-recorded tracks are readily available and can come as a drum loop or full orchestral backing. You can download them to an iPod or MP3 player and have the band literally at your fingertips. These tracks can be found on iTunes and Amazon, which has tracks for songs in the public domain. Many of these tracks come with an option to license them for other uses.

As a musician, you need to make a profitable business. This can be difficult, but by playing solo you are eliminating the costs of other musicians, the need for more equipment, and other aspects that reduce a band’s profits.

One of the best aspects of playing without a band is a valuable lesson: entertain yourself. It’s not just about playing or singing, but about entertaining the audience. When you have a gang, you can turn to them, talk to them, joke with them, trust them, blame them, etc. Without the band, your abilities as a performer, musician, and speaker develop exponentially. About 10 years ago, it was normal for a big name musician or singer to come out and sing a stripped down, acoustic, or stripped down version of some songs.

All the colored lights and additional band members would fade out and the spotlight would highlight the entertainer in a simple circle of light. All focus would be on that one entertainer, if they hadn’t learned how to entertain and capture the audience as a solo artist it would be a train wreck. Since most musicians start out as soloists, this isn’t the disaster it could be. Although we see more and more of this spotlight, solo performance is fading because today’s musicians don’t feel comfortable being a solo artist.

Having a band is not an obstacle but a gift: monetarily, creatively and as a growth tool for entertainment. If you feel like you need accompaniment, you can download tracks, but remember they shouldn’t be used as a crutch, but as a little pinch of spice to your performance. The greatest lesson a musician can learn is how to entertain as a solo artist.

In my own experience:
As a singer, she had always sung with a choir, band, orchestra, or some other form of accompaniment. I never thought that she would be able to perform as a solo artist. My husband and I were asked to perform at a retirement home, and of course we agreed. After we agreed, we realized that we didn’t really have musician friends in the area where we were going to perform. So we started thinking about possibilities: sing a cappella, sing along with the original MP3s of the singer and song, or play karaoke tracks. My husband has had a successful career as a music recording engineer and has recorded tracks for himself with which to record his own music and I sing for him.

These tracks were paid for by him to record his voice and sell his own CDs. We removed the vocals and it sounded like a live band. So at our first gig at that retirement home, we played pre-recorded tracks or karaoke tracks. This opened our eyes to a broader market: playing solo or in a duo without hiring a band. Karaoke tracks now aren’t the cheesy-sounding synth tracks of yesteryear. Instead, sometimes it’s the original tracks with just the vocals stripped away. In the case of Taylor Swift’s latest album, a karaoke company has the original music played by her studio band – you can sing along to the actual Taylor Swift tracks! Since we discovered music and pre-recorded tracks, we have performed in hundreds of places singing solo or in a duet.