Dear Michael,
I am writing to you to express my deepest gratitude and admiration for the tireless work you have done with TAXI. My journey with your company has been both a challenging and exciting one. This weekend at the Road Rally, I came face-to-face with outstanding good fortune. I want to share my TAXI story with you and all my fellow members, so it might help them along their journeys as well.
My relationship with TAXI started like many others; I joined and submitted with much enthusiasm. But when I got no forwards, I placed the blame on TAXI. My music career faltered. Not because I didn't have the talent, but because I was unable or rather, unwilling to learn how to blend "writing for myself" with "writing for the market".
I fell victim to the idea that music industry people were all cut-throats, and that the only reason people "made it" was because of who they screwed, bought, or happened to be born already knowing. I bought into the lie, that a "record deal" was the answer to all my problems; that the sky would open up and success would fall into my lap. So I put TAXI aside, sporadically committing myself to my music, and waited for someone else to make my dreams come true.
Then in 2007, I had an epiphany while performing live at a concert in Philadelphia. I realized that night, without a shadow of a doubt, that I would not be happy doing anything else except music. And I further realized that IT WAS MY JOB to make my dreams come true, and NO ONE else's.
From then on, I became truly pro-active. I printed out all my submission returns, and put them in a folder where I could read them regularly and learn from them. I took anything positive TAXI reviewers had said, and printed it out onto a page — laminated it, and hung it in my bathroom, so that every morning I could start my day by being reminded of my potential.
I scrimped and saved and went back into the studio, and in 2007 I flew across the country by myself to my first ever Road Rally. This was the pivotal moment that shattered ALL my pre-conceived notions about the music industry. The executives were some the nicest people I had ever met! They were helpful, positive, and encouraging. Plus, the information I received and the friendships I made were priceless. Those 4 days changed my life, solidified my desire, and set me on a new path.
When I got home I started submitting my new album, and began getting forwarded at a 75% rate! But then surprisingly, I received no calls (from the companies TAXI sent my music to). Despite the fact that TAXI told me numerous times that it can take many months to hear from companies, I started to lose faith again in both my music and TAXI.
But then, 3 months ago I got a call from a company that had received my music through TAXI a year before they contacted me! They signed my entire catalog for placements on the CW network. One month later, a record label that also got my music from TAXI called me and licensed my song "Former Stranger" to a compilation CD with major label artists Amy Winehouse and Duffy, to be distributed by Universal Records throughout Europe!
With things starting to move, I made preparations to fly out to the Road Rally 08'. This time I came truly prepared to the Rally. I created flyers and business cards, and brought my finished CD and a new single, "Bless America" with me. I made up a binder, organized all the wonderful information TAXI gave me, and even made a database spreadsheet of the schedule of drivers-ed classes and panels I wanted to attend. I knew that no one else would take me seriously unless I took myself seriously in the first place, so I went to the Rally with goals laid out, and a detailed plan of action.
Then, on Friday night of this year's Rally, my life changed. I had the great honor of having a top executive from the company who provides music for the Oprah Winfrey Show come to see me perform at the open mic. After I performed "Bless America", he stood up and announced I would be signed to his company as their newest composer, and the crowd went nuts!
I dropped into my seat with tears in my eyes, and felt gratitude swell in my heart. And I knew I would be working 10x harder now than ever before (so much for my old beliefs of being able to sit back once getting a deal). And you know what? It makes me so happy because I love to work now. I really do.
When I look back, I realize that none of this would have been possible without two things: TAXI and my commitment to my goals.
Without TAXI, the opportunities that have gotten me to this point would not have been available to me. But without my decision to stick with it and push hard, it wouldn't have been possible either. THAT is the single most important lesson I wish all TAXI members would absorb. Each of us are the trains plowing ahead — and we get to choose if that train will be propelled by electricity, steam or drawn by horse. TAXI simply lays down the tracks to go forward, and the rest is up to us.
Michael, you have done such an amazing job with TAXI. I can't thank you enough for making it possible for people like me able to succeed. I have always believed that creating music is a ministry — a gift to the masses, to speak their hearts and minds in a way that they only wish they could. And that is what every TAXI member at the Road Rally had: a communal love for the indescribable joy of creation. That kind of energy is enough in just 4 days to fuel an entire years worth of work, and something every person truly committed to being successful in this industry should take advantage of and experience.
I can't wait till next year! And from the bottom of my heart, I thank you.
Sincerely,