Today we’d like to introduce you to Pat Strawser
Hi Pat, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
Born and raised in Athens, Georgia, I started my formal music training with classical piano lessons when I was 10, and continued until I was 18. I also played trombone in concert and marching throughout middle and high school. When I was 16, I discovered a few bands (Rush, Led Zeppelin, Yes, The Police, and others) that would change my world and inspire me to dig in to the piano and keyboard a bit more. From there, as a senior in high school, I got my first professional synthesizer, started playing in an original band and started to write and record my own music.
I started college at the University of Georgia in 1993, and set up an instrumental band with some guys I’d met through flyers I posted around campus. Around this time I got very interested in different keyboard and synthesizer instruments. Our band, Volaré, released two albums and gained a modest international, though underground, following, selling records as far away as Australia and Europe. After that group folded in 1997, I continued to play in various original bands in the area over the years, eventually expanding into the metro-Atlanta area, where I got involved in working with wedding and corporate bands, and gained a reputation for being a keyboard-player-for-hire.
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?
Being a musician has had its ups and downs, like with any profession.
From a career standpoint, I didn’t start to pursue professional music work until around 2004, and I’ve only been full-time as a musician off and on from about 2011 until present. The work I’ve pursued has centered largely around cover/tribute bands, wedding/corporate bands, church work, jazz gigs, studio sessions, and the occasional original artist. Working up the skill set to be a somewhat-in-demand player-for-hire has taken a long time and a lot of work, doing lots of all sorts of gigs and meeting all sorts of people. The truth is that music has always been something I’ve done on the side; I’ve always had another “real job” to fall back on. It’s a challenge to balance juggling a stable 9 to 5 type of job with the chaos of doing music gigs, but it’s been worth it.
On the creative side of things, music has been a different kind of struggle. Decades ago, when I was MUCH younger, it was fun and exciting to play in original bands and make creative and personally meaningful music. It was the reason I pursued music in the first place – I think it’s why most musicians do, I think. But as I’ve gotten older, it has been less practical to prioritize and invest energy into those types of pursuits. Even now, while I write and produce my own original material, I have few expectations that these original music endeavors will ever be financially lucrative. Of course, that could always change, but I’m careful not to get my hopes built up too much.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
Sure!
I’m a working professional keyboard-player-for-hire in the metro-Atlanta area. Most of the live playing work I do centers around cover/tribute bands, wedding bands, churches, studio work, and original artists. I have a home recording studio where I provide keyboard parts for other artists, and produce my own original instrumental music under my own name. I have released over eight full-length album releases available (four of which are available on compact disc), and a dozen or so singles.
In addition to this, I co-produce a podcast called Underdubs: 70’s Progressive Rock and More, and I am a contributing composer to the long-standing Louisville-based band French TV.
What sort of changes are you expecting over the next 5-10 years?
There’s so much going on in the music world right now that it’s difficult to know what things will look like in 6 months, let alone 5 to 10 years!
The buzz surrounding the impact of AI, streaming, and a struggling live-music economy is pretty scary, and there’s a lot to be concerned about. It’s hard to know what’s going to come of it all, but the real interesting thing is seeing how musicians and other creative people are adapting to these emerging trends. It’s always been a challenge for musicians and artists to see any kind of a financial return on their art – much less earn a living from it. And a lot of people are understandably worried about how streaming platforms, AI music generators, and other emerging technologies are going to continue to rob musicians and visual artists of even more ways to earn a living from their craft. But I think musicians will find some pretty creative ways of navigating these waters and figuring out some innovative ways to adjust to the future.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.strawsermusicstudio.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/patstrawser/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/strawsermusicstudio
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@patstrawser
- Other: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/underdubs-70s-progressive-rock-and-more/id1739172713
Image Credits
Jamie Derevere
