Same Name, Different Game: Steve Sinatra on Being a Music Director (Episode 72)

Everything you do is an audition.

Same name, different game. Steve Sinatra (no relation to Frank) is a drummer whose credits include Hunter Hayes, Little Big Town, Carrie Underwood, Keith Urban, Stevie Wonder, Joe Nichols and Pat Green. He also has more than drumming on his mind. Through his work, Source Science Sound, he helps musicians move through the obstacles that block their creativity.

In Episode 72 of The Career Musician, Steve and Nomad talk about the studio versus road myth, what makes a music director, the danger of your own opinion, and why your gift is not your identity. Here is what stood out.

Learn from the best, in the room

Steve grew up in South Florida, a short drive from where Nomad lived. Playing with a local pop country act, he started listening to country radio and was blown away by the drum tracks. He dug into CD liner notes until he could name the session drummer just from the fills and cymbal sounds.

Later, through a college internship, he got to shadow some of those same Nashville session drummers in the studio. Nomad stopped him right there: an opportunity like that, at that age, is one most players never get.

One session taught him a lot. A well known artist brought in A-list players to recut a demo the artist was attached to. From where Steve sat, they nailed it. The artist still wanted the demo. Nomad's explanation: Nashville demos are often so well recorded they sound like masters. "Demo-itis" is real, and part of the job is navigating it.

Be the cat and the dog

Steve moved to Nashville set on being a studio musician, because back then that is where the highest caliber players were. He repeated that goal so often that he pigeonholed himself and overlooked great opportunities that were not studio gigs.

So he reprogrammed the goal.

"What I really wanted was to make the best music I could with the best musicians that I possibly could, in any scenario."

Steve Sinatra, 11:44

Nomad remembers the same Nashville stigma: you were either a studio cat or a road dog. He wants to be both, and says plenty of players have proven the old model wrong. Steve pointed out that the best session drummers started touring when the studio work stopped being a fair exchange for the value they provided. Value goes where the fair exchange is. Live and studio are both incredible skill sets.

His versatility came from his first drum teacher, who handed him a stack of CDs every week, including avant garde jazz he didn't like at first, and told him to listen to all of it. That taught him to find value in every genre. Work begets work when you can say yes to more kinds of work.

What makes a music director

Steve was band leader and music director for Hunter Hayes for six years, and band leader for Little Big Town for about two and a half. Through Hunter, he got to play with Stevie Wonder at the ACM Awards. So how do you go from side person to MD?

He named the traits:

• Punctuality. Early is on time, on time is late, late is unacceptable.
• Responsibility. Know every arrangement and every part, keep a helicopter view, and still dive into the weeds with constructive suggestions that serve the artist's goal.
• Communication. Be a mediator who can defuse situations and find resolutions that work for everybody.

"Maybe 80 percent of what it takes to be on a gig isn't happening with your instrument on. It's happening off the stage, in between the takes."

Steve Sinatra, 37:30

That is Reliability beats virtuosity in a sentence.

Keep the O word to yourself

Nomad's rule for side players: nobody hired you for your opinion. The artist and the producers contracted the music director, and the music director contracted you to play your part to the best of your ability. Don't overplay, don't underplay, don't outshine. When you are the artist, do whatever you want.

Steve was honest about learning this the hard way. When he was younger and didn't feel validated, he pushed his opinion into places it wasn't wanted, and he says it got him let go from a gig. Looking back, he was trying to make the gig what he wanted instead of recognizing it wasn't the right fit and bowing out gracefully.

That is Low maintenance / no drama, and Humility from the ETHOS code. If the artist in you is pushing to be heard, give it its own outlet instead of driving the side gig from the back seat.

Your gift is not your identity

When Steve moved from Nashville to LA, he had everything he had set out to do on paper, and he felt unfulfilled. He went looking for bigger answers, studied energy work and healing, earned a teaching certification, and stepped away from music for a while, taking part-time jobs he had never needed before.

"I needed to figure out who I was, my characteristic traits, and not define myself by what I did for a living."

Steve Sinatra, 51:24

When he was finally willing to put music down, he realized he couldn't. The two did not have to be mutually exclusive. Stepping away reminded him why he loves music, and also taught him the value of steady income alongside variable income. His big idea, the "carrot" he always held in front of him, still works, but now he is adding a micro plan to match it.

Nomad also highlighted how Steve got on the show: they lost touch, and Steve kept reaching out. If you feel passionate about connecting with someone, stay on it. You can find Steve's work at stevesinatra.me.

The takeaway

Don't box yourself in as only studio or only road. Build the traits that make people trust you with the whole band. Keep your opinion for your own projects. And remember that you are more than what you play. That is how you Make Music Your Business and keep loving it. If you want to put a plan to your carrot, start with the free plan of attack (POA) worksheet and the Get the Gig guide.

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

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