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🎙️ The Career Musician Podcast — Featuring Rob Garland

From England to Los Angeles, navigating soul bands, jazz fusion, and iconic guitar hero moments.

Rob Garland has built a lasting career through sheer passion, persistence, and the willingness to evolve. From teaching 40+ students during the pandemic to interviewing legends like Steve Vai and Dweezil Zappa, Rob embodies what it means to be a true Career Musician — adaptable, self-made, and dedicated to lifelong growth.

Whether he’s performing original music, breaking down fretboard systems, or helping others develop their sound through Real World Guitar, Rob is proof that there’s no single path to a thriving career — only the path you relentlessly walk.

In this episode, Nomad & Rob dive into:

⭐ Persistence over perfection — landing interviews and gigs with consistency + professionalism (“You can email someone once and never hear back — don't leave it there.”)

⭐ Diversify or die — live gigs, teaching, online courses, YouTube, real-world auditioning

⭐ Surviving the changing music landscape — from tube amps exploding to digital-only generations (“Digital is great… I don’t think it’s quite the same.”)

⭐ Carving space for your unique musical identity — sounding like you in a world full of clones

⭐ Intentional career building — planning gigs before moving cities, hustling for students, finding visas

✅ 5 Key Takeaways for Career Musicians

1️⃣ Plan your opportunities ahead of time Rob sent audition tapes and answered “guitarists wanted” ads months before moving to the U.S.

2️⃣ Creativity + stubbornness = longevity You don’t just “decide” a music career — you refuse to do anything else.

3️⃣ Diversification keeps you working Teaching, gigging, original music, content, courses — he embraces all revenue lanes.

4️⃣ Persistence beats proximity Some auditions go to friends-of-friends… Keep showing up anyway.

5️⃣ Develop YOUR voice The greats sound like nobody but themselves — strive for that.

📌 Listen & Connect with Rob Garland Website: rwg.robgarland.net

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Get 20% OFF your next booking Use code NOMAD 

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