Today we’d like to introduce you to Stockton Helbing.
Stockton, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I moved back to the DFW area in late 2006 after spending nearly four years touring the United States as the drummer for legendary jazz trumpet player Maynard Ferguson. I had been hired by Maynard right after I graduated from the University of North Texas, I had been playing in the One O’clock Lab Band at UNT, as well as free-lancing in the DFW area, and was ready to “get out there” and see if I had what it took to be a big-time player.
My time with Mayard Ferguson was a dream come true. I had been an MF fan since the seventh grade and spent many hours in my bedroom as a kid playing along with MF albums and dreaming of someday being in his band.
Little did I know that one day I would be doing just that! We would play 200-250 shows per year, all over the United States, as well as summers in Europe. For a kid in his early 20s, it was an amazing and educational experience. Not only did I have the chance to learn and develop my drumming, but I came to realize I had interests in music directing, composing, producing, and band leading – in other words, being an Artist. After that first year of touring, I would spend the tour breaks working on my own artistic endeavors, in addition, to continue practicing my drums. This led to me releasing my first album, Lodestar, in 2005. From that point forward, I realized I had bigger goals other than just being as good of a drummer as I could be.
I went on to become Maynard Ferguson’s music director, which was another big step in learning how to become a leader and artist. Being responsible for the entire band’s performance, not just the drums, was a shockingly different perspective which, ironically, made me learn how to play the drums better. More musically, and less selfishly. I also organized and produced Maynard’s last studio album, the One and Only, which we recorded just weeks before Maynard’s sudden passing. That was the ultimate for me.
Having Maynard trust me enough to turn the reigns of his project over to me was the highest compliment I could have ever received. I learned a lot from it but felt I handled it as well as I could have, considering my young age (26 at the time) and experience level.
After Maynard died in August of 2006, I went from being booked a year in advance with a single artist touring the world and leaving my dream to unemployed. It was still the early days of social media and it was very difficult to let people know you were available for gigs, or even where you lived so that they could utilize you in the local scene. It was a brutal fall from grace, but one that would help place me firmly on the professional path that I am still on today.
I relocated back to Dallas since it was a place I had loved to live during my college days, contained a rich, storied, and diverse music tradition, and was an excellent hub to travel out of for either coast. I opened Stockton Helbing Music, an umbrella company to contain all of the things I was interested in from performing, music directing, educating, producing, composing, and arranging. It was slow, slow, slow going at first, especially that first year, as I essentially had to learn the basics of business, marketing, and finances – three things most musicians know nothing about. I did not necessarily enjoy that learning process or those concepts themselves but rather understood they were necessary skills to unlock my bigger artist aspirations.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It has definitely not been a smooth road, but, to be fair, I am an impatient person. It has been my experience that success often sneaks up on you, slowly, without you really noticing, until all of the sudden you realize “Hey, I’m really busy doing what I love!” Don’t get me wrong though, I am proud to say that the entire time, since 2006, I have always been able to make a living chasing my dreams, working in the music business, the entire time. That is something I do not take lightly and am very thankful for.
With what I do, dabbling in so many different aspects of the music business, it took a long time for success to start happening with frequency. Networking takes time. Trying to launch new projects, make new records, and attempt different marketing schemes costs a lot of money, especially when it is all your own money. I made a lot of mistakes, some of which were costly, but I doggedly kept at it because I had faith it would work out. The music business can definitely kick you in the teeth from time to time, and since all art is tied so closely to our personal feelings and emotions, music business failures seem to sting doubly.
I mainly tried to learn from each failure, because I believe failure teaches. Success is the victory, the affirmation of a job well down. Failure is the lesson to be learned. We only truly fail when we do not allow a failure to teach us something. I am thankful that I had mentors in my life, especially my father, who instilled these ideas in me. They have carried me through the rough stretches of my career.
Stockton Helbing Music – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
In the simplest of terms, Stockton Helbing Music is me and all that implies. I do a lot of guest artist appearances at universities and high schools around the country, where I perform and teach with their Jazz ensembles and/or percussion ensembles. I lead my own Jazz ensembles – my trio, quartet, quintet, and sextet – with which I perform around the DFW area. I have a Jazz outreach program called “The Helbing Jazz Initiative,” with which I offer free Jazz masterclasses, concert, and clinics throughout the DFW area. I do a lot of free-lance studio work, both as a drummer and producer. I teaching private drum set lessons at my home studio in Lewisville a couple days a week, as well as teach some drum set lessons at the University of North Texas a little each week. It’s quite a smattering of work, but it keeps busy and I love it all.
I love Jazz music most of all, but I love playing anything, learning about anything, and improving at all types of music. My primary goal is to entertain, educate, and encourage people through music. That takes on many forms, from a concert in a Jazz club with my quintet to a cocktail hour with my trio for a private party, to produce a recording session for an up-and-coming singer/songwriter, to writing a new drum set book for my students. I never really think about setting myself apart from others or competing with others. I just try to make sure that every single thing I do, play, or say is as excellent as I can make it that day.
What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
That’s simple: having a career that allows me to help provide for my wife, Denise, and my kids John and Liliana. To quote Michael J. Fox, “Family is not an important thing. It is everything.” At the end of the day, my greatest goal and concern is being the best that I can be for my family. That drives me in all I do. I want to make sure that all the work I do in the music business is done in a way that would make them proud.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.stocktonhelbing.com
- Email: StocktonHelbing@StocktonHelbing.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/helbingjazzinitiative/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/The-Helbing-Jazz-Initiative-354423351596071/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/HelbingJazzInit
- Other: www.helbingjazzinitiative.com
Image Credit:
Terry Shapiro, Jonathan McSwaim, Josh Hanlon
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