And the winner is...

I’ve been giving the seminar, “The Road to a Grammy,” with my good friend Bill Berry, for about a year now. After the most recent presentation to an NSAI chapter, I decided to take the plunge and become a Grammy member myself. For me, this was a bigger step than you might think.

Although music was my first passion, it wasn't my career. I haven’t been a professional musician like many of you. But after working at my music now for four years, I wanted to go further. And I felt that being part of the peer-based Grammy membership would help raise my professionalism.

In reviewing the criteria, I realized I wasn’t ready to be a Grammy voting member. So instead, I became an Associate Member, which allowed me to submit an entry for Grammy consideration. I submitted my music video, I Will Rise. It was accepted and became one of about 1000 music videos that voting members got to vote on to select the Grammy nominations in that category.

As a Grammy member, I got to meet people on the Grammy Pro site, listen to really great music, and share my music video with other professional musicians. This journey has inspired me. I’ve started working on a new website, booking more gigs, becoming more professional. So I want to congratulate everyone who submitted a Grammy entry or participated in the Grammy voting process. It’s an awesome way to raise our level of professionalism. But when the Grammy announcer says, “And the winner is…,” I’ll just smile to myself, because I know… the winner is me!