Keeping the Gig for 28 Years: Joseph Wooten on Life as a Sideman (Episode 129)

Reliability beats virtuosity.

Joseph Wooten has held the keyboard and vocal chair in the Steve Miller Band since 1993. He is a three-time Grammy-nominated artist, an author, a motivational speaker and one of the five Wooten Brothers, alongside Victor Wooten, Roy "Futureman" Wooten, Regi Wooten and the late Rudy Wooten. He also fronts his own band, Joseph Wooten and the Hands of Soul.

In Episode 129 of The Career Musician, Nomad reconnects with an old friend from his Nashville days. They talk about creativity, about what music can do for people, and about how to keep a gig for nearly three decades as a sideman. Here is what stood out.

Success is who you are, not what you've done

Joseph described the music business as a climb toward a shining city on a hill, with a lot of carnage on the way up. The truth is that there are more capable musicians than there are spaces for them. Not everyone gets the hit record, the radio play and the tour.

"Success, real success, is not measured in what you've done. It's measured in who you are. And that's very attainable."

Joseph Wooten, 25:18

If you can play your instrument well, there is a lot of good to be done with it. There are elderly people to play for, veterans, kids, issues to sing about. And if you get to the top of that hill without character, he warned, you find out it is still empty. Money does not fix it. It amplifies it.

Character was taught before the gigs came

The Wooten brothers started young. Joseph was about five when his oldest brother Regi decided the brothers could have a band and started teaching them one note at a time. When Victor was five and Joseph was eight, they opened for War in Sacramento. A couple of years later they played dates with Curtis Mayfield.

Their parents knew the music would not be enough. His mother made sure her sons had what she called a strong foundation: articulate, prepared, full of character, good examples for other people. Her line stuck with him: you're successful already, other people just don't know it yet.

And in a house full of monster players, there was no competition. Everyone was on a different instrument, so there was only inspiration. Joseph did not want to be the one holding the band back, so he practiced.

Keep the gig with the stuff that doesn't require talent

Nomad asked the question every sideman wants answered: how do you hold down a chair for 28 years? Joseph's answer is the heart of this episode.

"Once you get that foot in the door, the thing that enables you to keep the gig is what I call the stuff that doesn't require talent. Being on time, being prepared, being easy to be around."

Joseph Wooten, 1:03:45

His advice to young players: concentrate not just on your hours on the instrument, but on your hours off it. What kind of person are you on the bus ride, the ride to the airport, the hang? He pointed to a co-headlining tour where a big horn band shared a single tour bus. There is no room on that bus for anyone to be a jerk, no matter how good you play.

That is Reliability beats virtuosity and Low maintenance / no drama in one story. Be good at what you do, and be equally good at the things that don't require talent.

Being right all the time shortens your shelf life

Joseph told a story from a show with cameras rolling, when the artist said he sounded out of tune on a bridge. Joseph was not sure it was him. He did not argue. He suggested they add that bridge to soundcheck so he could focus on it until the problem went away.

"My gig is not to make him wrong, even if he is wrong. The gig is him."

Joseph Wooten, 1:12:02

It is about remembering the hierarchy. The artist's name is on the check. Your job as a side person is to make the artist sound as good as possible, and to keep the audience's eyes on them. Joseph gets his moments, like his solo in "Fly Like an Eagle." Then the attention goes back where it belongs. As he put it, you don't get the next gig by showing up the artist. Everything you do is an audition.

Set a goal, but don't get tunnel vision

Growing up, Joseph pictured himself as a funk bandleader in the mold of Sly Stone. When the Wooten Brothers record deal did not happen, a detour showed up instead: the keyboard chair in a classic rock band. He took it, and it became a 28-year career.

His advice is to set a goal and pour everything into it, because that brings out the hard work, focus and determination. But keep your eyes open for the detour. The future is probably different than you thought it would be.

And once you are in, do it the right way and your role grows. When the band's longtime harmonica player and singer, who also doubled the lead vocals, passed away, Joseph stepped up. He now doubles the leads and knows what everybody sings and plays. Not by brown-nosing, he said, but by learning to do it well. The longer you're there doing it right, the more your stock rises.

Find out who you are in front of people

When Joseph moved to Nashville, his identity was "one of the Wooten Brothers." Years of a weekly Wednesday night gig changed that. He learned that people thought he was funny, that they wanted to hear what he had to say, and that they liked his funk playing more than his jazz playing. The practice room version of you, he said, might play you out of a lot of gigs. The stage shows you how people actually receive you, and that gives you direction.

That takes Objectivity, straight from the ETHOS code: an honest read on what the audience is telling you.

The takeaway

Joseph's closing words of wisdom tie it together. Success is not just accolades. It is being who you're supposed to be. If you have a talent, go do some good with it today, not only for the hit record or the money or the likes. Then show up early, prepared and easy to be around, and keep the artist shining. You can learn more about his book It All Matters and his music at josephwooten.com, and his nonprofit at imatteryoumatter.com.

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

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