A Look at the Lives of Working Musicians in the Northern Virginia/DC Area

This project takes a look at the lives of working musicians in Northern Virginia and DC. My object of study for this research project was to discover how local musicians are making the Northern Virginia and DC area work for them and to determine whether this location is a viable option for musicians hoping to earn a livable income off of their work: be that performance, recording, teaching, or a combination of things. For this research, I interviewed five local musicians to determine how they are supporting themselves and their musical endeavors financially, whether they pursue their music full-time or part-time, and their outlook and perspective about pursuing music in this area. The goal of this research was to provide insight into how musicians can capitalize on the opportunities available to them in this area. Interviewees responded to several questions asked by the interviewer. Examples of questions include, “What are the benefits and drawbacks of pursuing music in this area?” and, “What opportunities do you believe are available for musicians looking to make a living in this area?” Interviewees had a range of responses that reflected their diverse experiences and perspectives. All interviewees expressed that they were able to make a living pursuing music full-time in the area. Most of the interviewed musicians diversified their income across multiple music-related income streams, and one interviewee made income solely from performances. Teaching music lessons and gigging were the two most popular income streams identified. The general consensus of this research was that the Northern Virginia and DC area is a viable option for musicians looking to pursue music full-time.

This project takes a look at the lives of working musicians in the northern Virginia and DC area. The question I pose to my audience, Collegiate music students, is, when you think of making a living as a working musician what do you think of? Selling out a stadium as a touring artist? Studio work? Teaching? getting famous on TikTok? and what about your location? Where do you envision yourself making it in music? There’s a running narrative that you have to move to a big city in order to make it in music. What inspired this project is my own personal experience. As a senior in high school, I got into Belmont University and couldn’t wait to be making music in Nashville. Unfortunately, due to the price, it didn’t pan out for me and I studied music at George Mason University. I’ve been teaching and most recently gigging. What I’ve learned is that there’s a large and growing music community in the northern Virginia and DC area that you can take advantage of. Many of us have reasons not to make a big move; from the cost of uh cost of moving far away to the great financial opportunities in this area and uncertainty about pursuing Music full-time. Additionally, there are plenty of opportunities for musicians in the area from teaching musicians to plenty of performance opportunities at Wineries and breweries bennies and DC music retail and recording and rehearsal studios. My object of study for this research project is to discover how local musicians are making this area work for them and to determine whether the location is a viable option for musicians hoping to earn a livable income off of their work; be that performance recording, teaching, or a combination of things. For my research, I interviewed several local musicians to determine how they’re supporting themselves financially, whether they pursue music full-time, and their outlook and perspective on pursuing music in the area. The goal of this research is to provide insight into how all of us as musicians can capitalize on the opportunities we have available to us where we are right now. Several of the main questions I investigated is: are local musicians thriving in DC and Nova? Are you able to make a living as a full-time musician in the Northern Virginia and DC area? What opportunities can you take advantage of and what are the biggest benefits and drawbacks of pursuing music in the area? This is a list of the interview questions I asked. And here are several of the interviewees. All of them were full-time musicians and most of them were gigging musicians and several of them were DJs so all of them have different music-related jobs from instruction to gigging. Next, we’re going to take a look at one of the interviews: “I was asked to open for Hozier yeah in April and I did it solo and this it was it was at Lincoln Theater and it was booked by 930 Club imp and I was like reflecting on and I was like you know this would not happen in any other City it just wouldn’t but because DC is small enough that like you can like be friends with the people who book at 9:30 Club I wasn’t friends with this person but you know like I’m on their radar yeah because like I’ve done so much in the city” So Caroline is expressing that because the community here is small enough, it’s easier to get big opportunities such as playing for Hozier. A sneak peek at the findings: So outlook on music in the area was mixed. There were both positive and negative sentiments on how music is supported in the area. Many of the interviewees had no trouble getting any music-related jobs. Many of them have diversified their income across multiple income streams. For live music, there’s a trend towards cover bands in the northern Virginia area and original music in the DC area, and all our interviewees uh recommended online marketing for artists hoping to build a bigger audience benefits and drawbacks. I found um benefits include it’s easy to get gigs, there were plenty of Music rated jobs and a supportive community, um, large artists come through DC so there are a lot of big opportunities. Numerous venues for all types of gigs and opportunities to perform and market original music. Drawbacks include the high cost of living, getting people to shows negotiating prices, um Market driving prices down, and not a lot of traction for original music. The final consensus on my research um was that the northern Virginia and DC area is a great place to find work as a musician; though financing a full-time career includes diversifying your income and negotiating rates; and for those pursuing higher status and visibility in the music industry making use of online platforms or moving to a big city is recommended. Thank you very much!