Today we’d like to introduce you to Kevin Curtis.
Hi Kevin, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
My first recollection of connecting with music was through my mother. I was just a few years old, and we had a huge living room with hardwood floors. Mom, like many others, joined the Columbia Record Club. Each month they would send you two or three records to try.
My Mom would dance with me in her arms while listening to the greats… George Shearing, Tony Bennett, Dave Brubeck, Charlie Parker, the list goes on and on.
I went into the band program at school around 10 or 12 and played trumpet then Baritone, but it was when we bought a banjo for Christmas that I became interested in stringed instruments. My dad offered to buy me a banjo, and I said… no way I want a guitar.
I got a guitar for my birthday and some lessons. The guy who taught me was not a great teacher, and I stayed with him for a long time. I thought there was something wrong with me as after three years the only tune I could play was… how much is that doggie in the window. Definitely not a chick-getting song. Lol
I was about 15 and had become discouraged until a friend of mine brought over his stereo, and you could plug an instrument into it. I had never heard my guitar amplified. I was hooked. I sold my minibike and bought my first amp.
I realized that learning from friends was not the real way to learn, so I went to a couple of colleges that had more of a classical program. I transferred to Oral Roberts University through financial help from an uncle, and the guitar instructor there was honest with me. He was the concert violinist for the Tulsa Symphony and a great jazz guitar player.
If you really want to do this for a living, get out of here and go to a real music school. His recommendations were North Texas State, University of Miami, or Berklee College of Music in Boston. I choose Berklee.
The other thing that he did was give me three very influential albums (I still have them today in pristine condition). Larry Carltons -Friends, Pat Metheny’s – Travels, and George Benson’s Bad Benson. I was hooked with this sound. This flow from note to note, chord to chord. Bold edgy innovative. I loved this sound and the people that helped these guys find it like Wes Montgomery, Herb Ellis, Barney Kessel
I went to Berklee but, through a family emergency, left to come back to Oklahoma. I’m originally from Connecticut, but that’s another story.
We moved to Texas, and I was determined to get back to school. I went to a Jr College in Lancaster Texas called Cedar Valley, and this is where I really got a lot of my first-time playing experience. I was in everything from percussion ensemble to lab band. Played on everyone’s recital, recording, etc.
Years passed, life happened and then through a weird set of circumstances I got back into music. I was working for Sam’s club in the marketing dept. I was going to go out with the gal in the field to go get a couple of memberships. She was going to drop me off where my car was getting repaired, and I would pick it up, get the membership, and head back. Things went a totally different way.
We are driving in her car, and it starts to make all these beeping sounds getting increasingly louder. She starts to freak out and pulls out a breathalyzer attachment from under the dash… “Blow into this my car is about to die”. I am in trouble deep. The car dies and it took us forever to get back. I try to cover for her, and I lost my job…
BEST THING EVER!!!
I gave myself one month to either make enough money in music or get a joe job. I’ve been doing music now for over 25 years full-time, and I have not looked back. I teach and have a studio doing instruction in guitar, bass, drums, piano, banjo, and vocal. It’s been challenging, and it’s not the easiest line of work.
I tell people that if you want to do music as a career… don’t as you won’t make it. If you have to do music… if it is so much a part of you that you would rather just lay down and cease to exist… then you will find your niche’
I am based in Terrell Texas where I have taught hundreds, probably now a few thousand to play an instrument. I play smooth jazz guitar throughout the metroplex, playing songs you love from Dua Lipa to Justin Bieber to Steely Dan and Stevie Wonder… instrumentally with a smooth jazz twist. I do corporate events, in-home concerts, wineries, weddings, anything where I can make your next event Musically Memorable.
Alright, 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?
Oh my gosh!!! You would have a better chance at being a hitman at a gun convention than doing music for a career. Lol. Music has changed so much, and a lot of the industry has been taken over by the DJ.
I find that I am doing my part by teaching people to play an instrument. Recorded music or AI-generated music takes away the element of … mistakes… and the covering thereof. It takes away the one-time performance that will never be created again and was meant for that audience at that time.
It takes away the frustration and the cursing as you look at that piece of music that you’re trying to get honed or the instrument that you can’t master. Digging deep, finding that last bit of energy that you had no idea you had.
Saying out loud… I”M GOING TO GET YOU….and you do Invictus… undefinable. You conquer. I think in today’s language its… now you’re my b*tch lol
I’m older so I don’t bounce back like I used to, but I refuse to leave this earth without doing my part to promote the joy of life music. I think we are getting back to it. The millennials are especially looking for real art in their lives which gives me tremendous hope for the future of music.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
You asked me to pick one of the questions, but all of the questions are me. I’m a businessman first, then a creative musician second. You have to have a business mind to make it in the business. It’s pretty seedy at times. I was told by a professor once that the music business is full of thieves, robbers, low-lives, and prostitutes, and then there is a bad side.
I have always run my business above board, and my goal has always been to make my students the best they can be. I equip them with the skills and training to stand alone and handle the musical situation in any circumstance. I have students go on to professional carriers i.e., touring musicians, band directors, recording techs, worship leaders, arrangers, etc. I had something to do with that, whether it was getting them their start or being a part of their musical journey. My students will be part of the legacy that I leave behind. I can’t take anything with me, but I sure can leave those seeds to grow and create great music.
For myself, I am really enjoying what I am doing right now. I play to high-quality backing tracks to popular music with a smooth jazz spin. A lot of times I just have the original vocal recording, and then I find a suitable backing track without the lead vocal or instrument. I have to go in and create the melodic arrangement as I have put myself into the one-man band title. Sometimes I have to do a little of this and that.
Case in point I’m working on Michael Jackson’s Billie Jean. The iconic bass line isn’t in the track, so I have to put it in here and there along with the melody and other parts. It’s a real challenge rearranging it … but people really dig it. ” Hey, did you just do smells like teen spirit?… yup in a neo-rhumba style.
This recreation of popular songs done instrumentally really puts me apart from other players. The biggest thing is marketing the thing. Hopefully, this article will help to do that.
Who else deserves credit in your story?
My best friend Rob Sanders who I have been friends with for 40 years. I met Rob through my sister’s roommate while we were going to college. Rob was and still is an incredible pianist. He had such a profound influence on my career in just some of the ways he approaches music.
I have another friend in San Antonio, and the three of us our mutual friend and musicians. These guys love music just like I do, you don’t muff with music…. everyone’s music. You leave it just like the person created it, then throw it back in Pandora’s box, shake it up, and then open the box. Don’t take away from it… always add to it…always create… you hinder it, try to destroy it… We will come after you… It’s meant to be shared and…valued!!!
It was funny, but all my early musician friends went on to different careers and still play to some degree. Out of the group, I was the least likely to succeed in the business. I’m the only one that made it a career.
Pricing:
- Lessons $40 half hour/$80 hr
- Performances/Call for pricing 972-285-1309
Contact Info:
- Website: https://kevincurtismusic.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/guitaristkevincurtis/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kevincurtismusic
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevincurtismusic/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/kevincurtismusic
Image Credits
Emily Mamone
