Answer the Email: Molly Miller on How a Session Guitarist Gets Work (Episode 91)

Reliability beats virtuosity.

Dr. Molly Miller is one of the most sought-after guitarists in Los Angeles. She has recorded and toured with Jason Mraz, appearing on his albums Know and Look for the Good, and with the Black Eyed Peas. She earned her Doctorate in Musical Arts from USC in 2016, chairs the guitar department at Los Angeles College of Music, and leads her own Molly Miller Trio, which was showcased on NPR's Fresh Air.

In Episode 91 of The Career Musician, she tells Nomad how a session guitarist actually gets work in LA. Her answer is refreshingly unglamorous. There are no secrets. Here is what she means.

Everyone gets good. Not everyone answers email.

Molly started in a family band at seven, with daily rehearsals she tried to dodge. Then she learned "Purple Haze," realized guitar was cool, and went all in. But when people ask her how to get gigs, she does not talk about chops first.

"There's so many great players. But do you respond to emails? Do you show up on time? Are you pleasant to be around? These super basic things take you further than anything else."

Molly Miller, 11:39

Nomad brought up ghosting, and Molly did not hold back. There are people she would never hire or recommend because of how they communicate. All of her work comes from someone saying "ask Molly," and that only happens if your reputation holds up. Her rule, from a college professor: respond within 24 hours. Nomad tries to answer within a couple of hours, unless he is mid-session. If you don't respond fast enough, people move on.

That is Reliability beats virtuosity, in one inbox.

Casual gigs are where you learn

A casual, as Nomad explains for newer players, is not a date. It is the restaurant gig: three 45-minute sets, four or five hours, maybe a hundred bucks. Molly played one every Monday for about five years and loved it. You play tunes with friends for hours and learn the songs for real.

Nomad calls those gigs paid rehearsals. Molly agrees: you can sit in your bedroom learning songs for hours, but it doesn't mean anything until you are actually doing the thing. You have to pay your dues to get to the sexy gigs.

Every gig comes from your community

How did she land Jason Mraz? Not by handing out business cards at a jam session. For about eight years Molly played in a funk band downtown, late-night gigs from 10 p.m. to 1 a.m. Not sexy, not cool. And that community is how she ended up playing for Jason. The TV house band gig on Listen to Your Heart came from a drummer she met on a casual.

"Every single gig I've ever gotten is from my community."

Molly Miller, 17:18

Her mantra is to say yes and try everything once, and if it is not cool, don't do it again. With experience comes what Nomad calls the discernment muscle. Molly mentioned the "hell yes or no" idea she picked up from CD Baby founder Derek Sivers: if you are spread too thin, you can't show up prepared for the things that matter. And both of them had read Rickey Minor's book There's No Traffic on the Extra Mile.

That is Work begets work. The gig you play well, with people you respect, is the one that leads to the next.

Every gig gets the same respect

Nomad asked whether a van tour with her brother's band feels different from playing for thousands with Jason Mraz. Molly said treating gigs differently is a failing point.

"It doesn't matter where you are. You take your job seriously... I don't take myself seriously, but I think you have to take the art really seriously."

Molly Miller, 40:06

Before every gig, she practices for an hour or two, warms up and knows the music. And her practice has changed: she used to grind scales frantically, and now she aims for calm, joyful, recorded sessions where she listens back. A teacher helped her see it: we are not practicing, we are always playing. Learn your harmony, transcribe, do the work, then break the rules and make music. Everything you do is an audition, including the Monday night at the restaurant.

Prepared, professional, and paying it forward

Nomad raised the reality that guitar, and music education, are still male-dominated, and Molly was candid. She has been welcomed, and she also feels she has to be more prepared than the men in the room, more professional, with clearer boundaries. Her biggest struggle is letting go of the urge to prove herself on stage, because that impulse is not musical.

She credits the women who came before her, like Sister Rosetta Tharpe, and says she did not have a female mentor until she was 25. Her goal is to make it easier for the players coming up behind her. That is Humility from the ETHOS code, paired with serious standards.

Success is not an end point

Asked how she defines success, Molly said the tortoise wins the race. There is no point where you have made it.

"If you think you've made it, you're wrong. I think it's just waking up every day and being inspired to work harder and grow."

Molly Miller, 34:22

She is wary of the "learn the whole fretboard in seven minutes" culture. The process should be joyful. If you wake up excited to do anything in your day, as she put it, you're winning.

The takeaway

Molly Miller's path, from family band to doctorate to Jason Mraz, runs on the basics: answer the email, show up on time, be good to be around, play the casuals, show up for your community, and treat every gig like it matters. When the call comes, be ready for it. Start with the free Get the Gig guide.

Get the gig. Keep the gig. Build the career.

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