Local mucisian and author Tony Basley chillaxes with a copy of his new book, How to Make it Small in the Music Business: The Survival Guide for the Beginning Band.

“Go big or go home” is neither a mentality, nor an option for Tony Basley. A lifelong musician, Basley aspires to creative fullfillment rather than the monetary benefits of a music career. “Remember, this is supposed to be fun,” he advises musicians. “If you are playing in a weekend cover band, treat it as such: a hobby.”

This laid-back attitude and true interest in musicianship inspired Basley to write the book How to Make it Small in the Music Business: The Survival Guide for the Beginning Band. For Basley, a life in the music industry has never been about record sales, producing hit singles, or aspiring to the Grammy level. With a do-it-yourself career mentality, Basley has always focused on what many musicians forget: that being a musician means producing music, not making money.  

Thanks to Basley’s book, there is now a career guide for the small-town, downtown, one-gig-to-the-next musician seeking to simply have fun and stay creatively active. “Everyone writes about becoming a big rock star and selling a million records, but nobody has written about the basics. Since I am not a big rock star and have more dead inventory than record sales, I couldn’t write another one of those books,” he says. With a sense of humor and a grain of salt, Basley outlines some good, sensible advice for the aspiring local musician.

From operating PA systems to dealing with underagers, Basley’s book covers just about any artistic or social obstacle facing small-town musicians today.  He even demonstrates “Basley’s 15 laws of gigging,” which opens with the law of ‘That Guy’ – “every gig will have ‘that guy’ who dances by himself (with his drink in his hand), and yells out requests and obscenities at the band. This is typically the guy who has been there since the beginning of happy hour.” This and other comedic anecdotes showcase the tropes and clichés of local music life.

Basley himself has been active in the local music industry for many years as a musician, manager, agent, engineer, writer, and producer.  In addition to his current band, The Tony Basley Band, he has worked with many local groups like Thick Shoe, Mojo Lemon, and Sparky & The Wipers. He has also maintained a military career throughout his life, and currently works as a supply officer in the U.S. Navy Reserve.

“I have been in a bunch of dysfunctional bands,” Basley says. “I decided to use those experiences, along with my experience as a sound engineer, to write a book about the simple things everyone always asks about when getting started.”  

The book can be purchased locally at The Local Store for anyone interested in getting started in the music business, whether his or her goals are small-town or big-city. “The ideas in the book will help anyone, anywhere, trying to make it small in the music business. If you want to go big, you have to start somewhere. This book will also help those musicians get started,” says Basley.

According to Basley, this book was simply the next agenda on his life list. “The next thing after earning a B.S. degree, an M.S. degree, a commission as a Naval Officer, releasing a solo album, and traveling Japan, was to write a book. Done,” he says. 

“Next up? Either a black belt in karate or climb Mt. Fuji. … I am always in Japan in the winter. I am ambitious, but not crazy. I will wait for summer to climb Mt. Fuji.”