When the sh#t hits the fan!
How to Keep Gigs Going When Everything Else is Falling Apart
Let’s be real.
Sometimes, life falls apart.
Relationships break down. Loved ones pass. Kids get sick. Mental health dips. Bills pile up. The van won’t start. Your landlord hikes the rent. You get ghosted by a venue you’ve played for ten years.
And yet—
The gig goes on.
There’s no sick leave in live music. No HR department. No mental health day unless you carve one out of thin air. So how do you show up, perform, smile, and keep the business side rolling when you’re barely holding it together?
This one’s for every muso who’s ever played through heartbreak, grief, burnout or chaos—and still tried to keep their business alive.
Here are ten practical strategies to help you keep the wheels turning when the personal storm rolls in.
🎯 1. Cut the Fat, Not the Core
First things first—strip it back. When life’s heavy, you don’t need to do everything. But you do need to protect the engine of your music business. Identify the bare essentials: paid gigs, essential comms, gear maintenance. If it’s not urgent, park it.
📱 2. Schedule Social Media When You’re Clear-Headed
On a good day, schedule content ahead—gig promos, throwbacks, snippets, thank-you posts. Use tools like Meta Business Suite or Buffer. That way, when life gets messy, your socials stay consistent without you having to fake it every day.
🎶 3. Learn One Song at a Time
Learning new material when your brain’s overloaded? Brutal. So don’t try to learn ten songs—just one. Break it into verses, not whole structures. A slow drip approach keeps your momentum without overwhelming your bandwidth.
🧰 4. Keep Your Gear Tight (Even if You’re Not)
When life’s out of control, your gear shouldn't be. Clean your leads. Service your PA. Tune your instruments. Put batteries in your tuners and pedals. When your emotional state is wobbly, working gear is stability. It’s something you can control.
🖼️ 5. Use Low-Energy Days for Brand Maintenance
Can’t face a crowd? Cool. Use quieter moments to update your EPK, refresh your bio, tidy your website, or rebrand your setlist artwork. These quiet admin tasks are gentle but powerful—and they pay off later.
🤝 6. Communicate Clearly With Your Crew
Your bandmates, agents and promoters don’t need the full story—but they do need clarity. Let them know what’s possible and what’s not. Be professional, not apologetic. “I’m going through a lot personally, but here’s what I can commit to” is enough.
📧 7. Use Templates for Tough Conversations
Too exhausted to type the same email three times? Create templates—for gig confirmations, invoice follow-ups, tech specs. Copy, paste, tweak. Save brainpower. Focus your energy where it counts.
📚 8. Automate Your Accounts
If the admin is slipping, lean on automation. Set calendar reminders for invoices. Use accounting tools like Xero or Wave. Auto-send invoices. File receipts into a cloud folder. Pay your tax office in micro-payments if needed. Don’t wait for a perfect day—just make it manageable.
🧠 9. Stay Connected, Even if Quietly
You don’t have to be loud to be present. Reply to fan DMs with a thank-you. Like a post. Drop a casual comment. Share a throwback. Let your followers see you’re still here—even if you’re not in full “promo mode.”
🔥 10. Remember Your Brand Is Bigger Than One Bad Season
You are not your worst day. Your brand is your body of work. Your resilience. Your story. People don’t buy perfect—they buy authentic. Let the season shape your next chapter, not end your story.
🎤 Final Word from the Frontlines
Being a musician isn’t just about the high notes—it’s about how you show up when the crowd can’t see the weight you’re carrying.
So if you’re gigging while grieving, rehearsing while healing, or invoicing through heartbreak—know this:
You’re not alone. And you’re doing better than you think.
Protect your business. Honour your humanity. Let the music be your anchor when everything else feels adrift.
Because even when life hits hard,
the music is still yours.
📬 Subscribe to The Musoverse for more real talk, raw truth and road-tested survival strategies for working musicians. We’re with you in the grind, not just the glam.
Written by Nichola Burton. I work in partnership with Agents, Artist Managers and Event Producers, who juggle a diverse range of relationships in the Musoverse, to curate, manage and measure data in systems, experience, creative and content to support the entire Musoverse operation in my enterprise A Little Pitchy Copyright 2025
