Justin Locke Real Men Don't Rehearse One can’t help but have their interest piqued by the title of Justin Locke’s expose about the inner workings of the music business.  Real Men Don’t Rehearse is the exact sort of book I love to read–witty, lighthearted, yet insightful and full of valuable lessons that those outside the music industry are likely to find quite valuable.

Justin has had a very interesting career.  He spent nearly two decades at the top of the Boston freelance scene, working regularly with the Boston Pops and Boston Symphony, additionally working as a contractor, score reader, and playwright.  After several years in the business, Justin began to transition out of the performing life and into his current role as author and speaker for corporate events.  Justin has also created several family concert programs which have been performed worldwide, including Peter VS the Wolf and The Phantom of the Orchestra.

I find Justin’s transition from performing life to his current set of activities fascinating, as I find myself going through the same thing at present.  Being a professional musician teaches one to think fast on their feet, come up with imaginative solutions to problems, heightens one’s presentation abilities, and teaches them to perform specific tasks accurately under tremendous pressure–all skills that have direct relevance to non-musical endeavors.  Justin now spends his time illustrating these corollaries to non-musicians in corporate settings, as well as offering insight into leadership techniques learned from some of the conductors with which he has worked.

Justin and I had a great chat earlier this week for the Contrabass Conversations podcast, and we’ll be putting out the first part of this interview this weekend.  Check out this clip of Justin recounting a very funny tale about the night that it ‘rained’ in the pit of the Colonial Theater in Boston, and click here to order a copy of this book.  I just picked up a couple of copies myself for some holiday gifts this season.

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