Music is a career, and as such it must be treated like any other job.
That was a realization for Dave Hadgkiss, aka Folk Thief, which changed how he approaches his craft.
Hadgkiss, who will perform at 5th Avenue Cup & Saucer in Yorkton, Monday, Aug. 1, said he has only been serious about his music for about a year.
"I'd been doing what you do as a teenager, playing in a couple of bands that went no where," he said. "I was fiddling around with that for about a decade and working on songs."
But after 10-years Hadgkiss said he wanted more. He wanted "to record something and solidify things."
"I think maybe it was a maturity thing."
Hadgkiss said as a young performer it's easy to get caught up in what he termed "the myth of discovery," the idea you simply need to write songs. "If it's good enough they will come to you."
But that is not the way it works, said Hadgkiss.
"You've got to treat it like work, and you've got to work hard at it. It's a job," he said.
It's a case where one has to earn their place in the industry, said Hadgkiss.
"You realize you're going to have to pay your dues," he said. "Once I realized what it really was It's been a really rewarding experience
"I look at this as the investment stage of my career."
While Hadgkiss said he had a decade worth's of songs written, when it came time for his solo recording "the album was a complete overhaul."
In his younger years, as a fan of the Ramones and Green Day, the music, and in particular his guitar work was strongly punk-influenced. Hadgkiss said he re-learned guitar and changed his approach to "give it more of a songwriter approach."
Hadgkiss said the move from punk to folk is not as drastic as many might think.
"Punk was the folk of that era with distorted guitars," he said.
The new album is entitled, Love, Heartache & Oblivion, a title he said is reflective of the content. "It's what all songs are about."
Asked why he performs as Folk Thief, Hadgkiss said the name struck him as a good one.
"I just felt like Folk Thief was more interesting and more fun than Dave Hadgkiss," he said, adding "Folk Thief looks cooler on a t-shirt."
Whatever names appears on the bill, he said he is still working on his skills for live performance.
"Performing is a talent you have to hone and you learn. You've got to get out there and do it," he said. " The most important thing is to play songs with enough emotion and feel to it it might touch someone in the audience."
