Meet Kyle Cervantes

We had the good fortune of connecting with Kyle Cervantes and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Kyle, we’d love to hear about how you approach risk and risk-taking.
Being a freelance musician is a career filled with uncertainty. It is quite stressful, has longer hours than most people think, and requires a lot of planning and commitment. Almost everyday, the most prevalent thought in the back of my mind is, “Where is my next gig going to come from, and how can I get another after that?”. I’m sure any other full-time musician will read this and agree. So why do it? Well. I’ve done the 9-5pm office job. I was making good money doing that. I taught a small amount on the side, and gigged on weekends here and there. I was very unhappy though. I couldn’t stand it. I’ve known since I was 16 that I was born to play music, so why was I bothering to play it safe without seeing everything through? I was barely touching my saxophone. It made me miserable. I had found the one thing in life I could count on to fulfill me, and I was denying it’s purpose. Since making the switch to being full time, I think about numbers and budgeting more than I ever did before. I’m more stressed than before. This kind of uncertainty would make most people bail. But it puts a smile on my face everyday, and that is why I simply cannot imagine doing anything else.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I’m primarily a baritone saxophonist. Currently I am traveling with the Glenn Miller Orchestra on their national tour and freelancing/teaching privately when not on the road. One of the things I’m most proud of is that I released my very first record, Odyssey last year. It was entirely self produced, including licensing, recording fees, mixing fees, mastering fees, artwork, etc. It was a very long process to learn about all the ins and outs of creating a recording and putting it out into the world. I’m super happy with how it turned out. The record is a five track EP containing four originals and one cover. For those who don’t know, my music is a mix between jazz hardbop and fusion.

It would be mean the world to me to give it a listen! It’s available on all streaming platforms.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
If I wanted to take a friend to a jam session, I would probably take them to the Meadowlark on Monday nights or Seven Grand on Thursdays! Both are great sessions with a great sense of cultivating community. As far as food, nothing beats Denver Biscuit Company. I’m also a big fan of getting a drink at Williams & Graham when I feel like getting fancy. Of course, it’s hard not to recommend Red Rocks for concerts. It’s such a surreal experience.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I want to shoutout Briana Harris. She’s an alum from the University of Northern Colorado that I met while I was doing my undergrad. First of all, Bri is one of the smartest people I know. She’s a killer saxophonist and also very good at the business side of things. Not only that, she shares insights and tidbits of music business wisdom on social media. The way she explains it too, it’s so easy to understand.

There’s honestly a lot about the business that is hard to teach in schools, and if not for people like Bri, we’d all be taking a lot longer to figure out how things work.

Website: https://kylecervantes.com

Instagram: @kylecervantesmusic

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kylecervantesmusic/

Other: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/0LT6LXHb5ciTMEtEvuDoDK?go=1&sp_cid=94ca918c57a5ffb0fdc80cad9b069245&utm_source=embed_player_p&utm_medium=desktop&nd=1&dlsi=a5cbe5d13c724448

Image Credits
All images are mine