Conversations that don't sound like 'Mozart in the Jungle'

January 22, 2016, 1:54 PM · You've probably been hearing a lot about "Mozart in the Jungle," the show on Amazon which recently has been winning a lot of awards.

While it is an entertaining show at times, the conversations the musicians have are just so painful. Nobody talks like that!! And no professional orchestra has ever pantomimed playing their instrument! (Season 1)

And it's not just Mozart in the Jungle...movies always try to dramatize the life of musicians with varying degrees of success. From "Amadeus" to "The Red Violin" to "A Late Quartet" they get some things right, but many things wrong.

So I'm very proud to introduce you to our podcast "The PerService Podcast."

The title of course refers to how we determine how good a gig is (it pays $95 per service - where each rehearsal or concert is a "service"). But money doesn't have to be the only way to judge how good a gig is. It could be great because repertoire, or because which friends will be there, or for many other reasons.

But also because music is hard work - it's a service to the audience members, which most people don't understand.

Lastly, because nobody has it all figured out. We're playing music one day at a time, one gig at a time, or maybe one year at a time. We don't know where it might take us, or if it will all work out.

I hope you'll join our community of musicians who want to talk about what being a musician is actually like today.