St. Cloud Area Artists Share Tips on Making A Career Out of Music

ST. CLOUD -- Aspiring musicians have a chance to learn from people who have made a career out of making music. An event called "Business Jam" will be held this Sunday in the lower level of the Paramount Center for the Arts in downtown St. Cloud.

Three musicians will combine a house concert with the content of a TEDtalk.

Michael Shynes is one of the performers. He's originally from Little Falls, and he graduated from St. Cloud State University with a business degree. But, he has made music his full-time career.

Coming from a small town I couldn't get a gig in the Twin Cities when I was starting out. And now to be able to support my family doing what I love, I think that's something a lot of musicians want to find a way to do, and if I can be of any help that's my goal.

Shynes says the first step for young performers is to just get out there and do it.

Stop trying to perfect your craft in your basement before you go out and start playing live, you're not going to be good right away. Take whatever opportunities you possibly can, and then as you start to move up and people are willing to pay you more get rid of the $50 gig.

Shynes says he performed between 200 and 250 shows last year. You can see him every Tuesday night at the Pickled Loon in downtown St. Cloud.

He has his fourth full-length album coming out soon. He says he sells a few thousand copies of each of his albums each year.

While popular TV shows like "The Voice" and "American Idol" have young musicians dreaming of making it big quick. But, how realistic is it? Shynes there are no shortcuts if you want a long career.