Building a sustainable career as a musician and perfectionist with Dixon Nacey

What does success actually look like for a professional musician?In this conversation, Dixon Nacey challenges a lot of the assumptions many musicians grow up with.Instead of chasing the next gig or defining success by recognition, we talk about something much more fundamental: how to build a sustainable career without losing the reason you fell in love with music in the first place.One of the ideas that stayed with me most is Dixon's perspective that the real reward isn't the performance—it's the hours spent discovering your own musical voice. The stage is simply where that work becomes visible.We also discuss why playing cover gigs isn't "selling out," how they can create the freedom to pursue meaningful artistic projects, why copying your heroes is a necessary part of growth, and how every musician already has a unique voice long before they become technically accomplished.In this episode:When jazz alone doesn’t pay the billsUsing commercial work to support creative freedomHow to deal with being a perfectionist AND an empathic personWhy the process matters more than the performanceLearning from your heroes without becoming a copyWhat it really means to find your own musical voiceWhy there are no shortcuts in becoming an artistIf you've ever questioned what success in music should actually look like, this conversation is for you.–Dixon Naceyhttps://open.spotify.com/intl-de/artist/0nrP1gbv6Gd2VuUdXha7aA?si=jHKbuQqnRVOrBFmq9Sap6Qhttps://www.facebook.com/dixon.nacey/https://www.instagram.com/dragondix/–Backstage Journey https://www.backstagejourney.comFollow us on Instagramhttps://www.instagram.com/backstagejourney– Music: Wisconsin by Marco Hohner – Photos 1 Berry Young2 Kevin Haines3 Andi Crown