On Time Is Late: Rickey Minor on What It Takes to Be a Music Director (Episode 29)

Everything you do is an audition.

Nomad was on a break from Babyface rehearsals at Center Staging in LA, late at night, when he walked past the room next door. Everybody else was gone. Rickey Minor was in there alone with his axe, running down charts.

That is the scene for Episode 29 of The Career Musician. Rickey is an Emmy Award-winning music director whose credits run from Whitney Houston and The Tonight Show to American Idol, the Oscars and the Super Bowl. In this short, impromptu interview, he explains what it takes to be a music director at the highest level, and what he expects from the players in his band.

The quarterback has to see the field

Nomad asked why he was practicing alone. Rickey's answer: the music has to be under his hands, second nature, because his brain is split into so many compartments. While he plays, he is listening to everything and everybody.

He compared the MD to a quarterback. You see the field, you see where the players are, and you check the weather, meaning the energy of the room and your players. You get them in position, trust them, and give them the ball. Then you keep the owners, the artists, happy. All they care about is whether it got done.

And it starts with him. He can't ask anyone to give their all if he isn't present and standing tall himself.

Drop the comparison

Nomad brought up how musicians fall into the trap of comparing themselves to everybody's chops. Rickey said he never really got into it. He loves the players who helped pull him along, like Marcus Miller and Nathan East, and he loves the young players too. We all wear our insecurities differently, he said, and we all have them.

"I'm not great at anything, but I'm the best me all the time. That's what I go for."

Rickey Minor, 6:47

Every day he meditates on removing three things: doubt, worry and fear, because they can paralyze you. And when you walk into a room, talk less and listen more. That is Humility straight from the ETHOS code.

An hour early is just settled

Nomad has known Rickey since around 2005, when he landed the American Idol tour, and two lines have always stuck: talk less, listen more, and if you're on time, you're late. Rickey laughed that younger players think he is an hour early. He is not early. He needs to be settled. As the leader, he can't run in with everyone waiting.

After rehearsal he goes home, works his to-do list, contacts the artists and listens back to make notes.

At this level, he said, everyone can play. The difference is the expectation. He pushes each player to work on what they're weak at, but he can't run the race for you. That is Reliability beats virtuosity: the preparation is what shows up.

Nomad remembered Rickey hiring him for a house band. When downbeat was noon, at 11:59 he counted off, whether the keyboard player or the drummer was in the chair or not.

"Because I love to do it doesn't mean it's not a real job. Anything you get paid for, that's the job."

Rickey Minor, 17:11

If you want the respect, the pay and the work at the highest level, show up, be consistent, and stay in preparation mode. Get the best people around you. Iron sharpens iron. That is Make Music Your Business.

Not everybody gets invited back

The biggest part of his job, Rickey said, is managing personalities. He drives people without belittling them, and he is not going to babysit anybody. At the level of the Grammys, the Oscars and the Super Bowl, if you need someone checking whether you got lunch, you're not ready.

"Every single person is worth your time, but not everybody's ready for it."

Rickey Minor, 19:16

He has let people go. Some came back, some didn't. Some say they want it, but their actions won't get them there. The ball doesn't go in for LeBron because he wants it to. It goes in because of the work. As he put it, a lot of people get invited, but not everybody gets invited back.

The takeaway

Be the best you, every day, without comparing. Get there early enough to be settled. Treat it like the real job it is, and do the work nobody else can do for you. If you want to be the player who gets invited back, start with the free Audition Secrets guide, and find Rickey at rickeyminorentertainment.com.

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

Watch on YouTube or find every episode on the TCM Podcast page.