Deciding to pursue an artistic or creative career path isn’t for the faint of heart. Challenges will abound, but so many of the artists we speak with couldn’t be happier with their choice. So, we asked them about how they made the decision in the first place.

Jake Obermiller | Singer/Songwriter

Like many others who grew up stuck in a small town, I struggled as a child to feel accepted by my community and to feel as if I had a purpose bigger than my surroundings. My hometown’s population is 650 people; as you can imagine, we didn’t have many stars that had come out of our “village” in the middle of Illinois. That, coupled with the typical issues of a young man going through his early teenage years, drove me to find my passion, and ultimately my emotional outlet, which was writing and producing music. Read more>>

Mark Shiiba | Singer-Songwriter

I discovered my passion for songwriting during my high school years, but growing up, I never considered it a viable career path. It wasn’t until I found myself immersed in the structured environment of the Naval Academy and later serving as a Nuclear Surface Warfare Officer that I truly understood the depth of my commitment to music. Read more>>

Krzysztof Meisinger | Classical guitarist

In the case of an artistic career, you don’t choose it, it chooses you. It’s like a calling. Everything else is an addition. In the artistic work, development should never end. You can even say that there are no goals in this work, and the goal is the artistic path itself. Everything else can come from determination, ambition and complete dedication. Read more>>

Highline Trail

We love to play and write music! that’s all it is, really. We all have “regular” jobs during the day, but writing music and playing/recording it together brings us a lot of joy. There’s something special about writing a song that you’re excited about, tweaking it and massaging it together as a band, and then bringing it to life through the recording & production process. And even though it’s only a hobby for us, I think you can hear that in the music that we produce. We’ll probably never make a living out of it, but that’s OK. We’re doing it because it makes us happy! Read more>>