What is Doublers?

Doublers is a podcast featuring professional performing musicians who “double” in other career pursuits. This podcast is a resource for any musician looking into careers or income streams outside the traditional performing/teaching binary.

It can feel like a music career has two paths: performance or teaching. Our sense of self gets wrapped up in identifying as a “musician”, and there’s a certain pressure to stay strictly within the music field in order to maintain that identity. If you’re making money in another industry, are you a failure? (Spoiler alert: no.)

Long before the pandemic began, many musicians relied on secondary skills to pay the bills: often in careers that have nothing to do with music, teaching, or the degree they earned!

Looking back on the circuitous route that lead me to where I am, I can’t say that I did much of anything with intention.

I followed what was interesting, tried a lot of hats on, and thankfully was able to settle in to something I enjoy that gives me the stability I needed. My playing got better, I’m more emotionally invested in music, and I can take the gigs I want to play, instead of the gigs I need to live.

Your status as a professional musician isn’t defined by where your paycheck comes from. You shouldn’t lose your credibility if you choose another field for secondary income. You haven’t given up or “sold out” ? if you take a full-time job that isn’t teaching.

Especially as we’re all contending with the ongoing pandemic and the long-reaching impact it will have on the music space, it’s more important than ever to showcase secondary career paths that are compatible with a fulfilling professional music career.

My vision is for Doublers to serve as a resource for professional musicians and music students looking for alternative paths to earn a living.