I found Daniel Kelly’s visit to be kind of inspiring. I remember how someone in the class asked him if he knew that he wanted to be a jazz musician since he was young, and yes he did. But it made me think about the idea that someone will always feel compelled from the beginning to do their craft. Sometimes it’s not clear for a lot of artists and that’s okay too. It’s like how Patti Smith knew she wanted to be an artist but not exactly what she would do and how she would do it.

Also, being an artist really is not for the faint of heart. At one point during the visit, I was reminded of the documentary The Americans in which one person had said that it takes a lot of passion and discipline to make it, and that it won’t happen without both. That’s probably what gets someone like Daniel Kelly to make music for the past 20 years. The emphasis on community was really important as well. There will be a lot of people that may discourage artists, like parents, but artists always have the ability to surround ourselves with like-minded people that support their dreams and fill them with positive energy.

I also admire how after a while, in almost every artists career, they’ll stop worrying so much about being the greatest and such, and just focus on making work that’s true to them and makes them satisfied. It’s weird, but I really thought of Beyonce’s recent music when he said something along those lines during the discussion. In comparison to the New York City of the days in Just Kids, the New York City of today seems like a much more competitive, cutthroat place that fills people with much much more hopes of making it one day because of the city’s history as the starting point for many successful artists’ careers. It’s hard to follow in that same path, so I can understand why getting out of NYC to create art might be a little bit more helpful.

And his last piece of advice was honestly really great. I don’t think I’ll ever forget it.