Herrmuth's how-to book offers roadmap to success in music industry
By Anthony Pennington
Diversity Institute Fellow
07.27.04
A childhood gift of a plastic harmonica set Bronson Herrmuth on a 40-year ride into the music industry, and he has chronicled those experiences in his how-to book "100 Miles to a Record Deal."
The Nashville resident sat down at Borders bookstore in the West End Tuesday night to sign copies of the book, which he describes as a reference manual for those looking to make the music industry a career. The information is based on what the 47-year-old Herrmuth calls developing a sense of how to stay in the business.
"I've made so many mistakes," he said. "Working through that and still surviving, you kind of get a knack for a way to do it that works. It's about playing or writing music for a living as opposed to part time."
Herrmuth began performing professionally at age 7, several years after his mother gave him the harmonica. He played in various groups before forming the Ozone Ramblers in 1978. The country rock group signed with RCA in 1981 and remained with the label five years. His experience landing the record deal helped him develop the perspective that Herrmuth said connects with those trying to establish themselves in the business and gave him the idea illustrated in the book's title.
"The whole premise of the '100 Miles to a Record Deal' is you put a pin in your hometown, and you start playing music every place you can play in a hundred-mile radius," he said. "As you hit all the places you can play in that hundred miles, you extend that another hundred miles."
As the circle expands, bands will eventually hit the big cities like Atlanta, Chicago and St. Louis, Herrmuth said. At that point, music will become a career.
Herrmuth's book covers such subjects as how bands are booked, how they should rehearse and how they deal with agents. He said that the book was published in paperback so that it could fit in guitar-shaped "gig bags" and briefcases.
As he spoke at Borders Tuesday, Herrmuth sat behind a table stacked with a half dozen of his books. When a woman walked up to get her copy signed, he stood up and greeted her with a grin and a handshake. He easily slid into conversation as she explained she was buying the book for her blind husband, an aspiring songwriter.
"Fans are everything. If they don't come, you're done," Herrmuth said later.
Soon, Herrmuth's table was crowded by the arrival of a small group of his friends and fans, including Henri Burton and her husband Robert. They came out to lend their support for Herrmuth, whom Burton described as a "wonderful spirit."
"We wanted to come by and support him and let him know we're real proud of the hard work," she said.
After decades of performing, Herrmuth is more involved in the business end of the industry these days. He specializes in artist and songwriter development with Iowa Home Grown Music, a Nashville label that he co-founded in 1989. And he offers advice to musicians and songwriters just getting started.
"Be true to yourself and your music," he said. "People will know when it's real."