Talent or Discipline? Vaughn "V.Keys" Henry, Musician / Producer, Shares How to Make the Most of Your Ability

Allen C. Paul 00:00:01
What do you do when you know you have incredible, God given talent, but you still feel insecure? What does it take to get to the next level of your career when you don't know exactly where that fits, even though you realize you've got all the ability in the world? What happens when people start to see you more as gifted instead of seeing the real you? And what happens when you're not even sure how to apply the discipline to get to the next level? Maybe you've been resting on your laurels.

Allen C. Paul 00:00:32
Maybe you've been sitting back because you're not even sure how to apply yourself to a new area because you're so used to staying comfortable in the area that you're already good at. Well, if any of those things resonate with you, you've got to listen to every moment of this interview with my good friend, incredible instrumentalist, producer and songwriter Vaughn V. Keys Henry. He's worked with some of the most incredible musicians on the planet, but what he's going to share with you is going to help you to get to the next level, no matter where you are in your creative life. Because he's going to tell you how to apply the discipline, how to find your place in your faith, where you know God is leading you in the right direction to pursue your calling and to work with excellence. My friend, give me just a moment to welcome those of us who are new to the God and Gigs platform, and then we'll get right into this amazing discussion. 

00:01:25 Speaker B
Artists, musicians and creatives of all kinds looking for help balancing your passion to create with your everyday life. Not sure if your faith can coexist with your profession? Welcome to a place where real artists discuss real life. You're listening to the God and Gig show. Visit Godandgigs.com for show notes, links and more information.

Allen C. Paul 00:01:51
Hello and welcome to the show. Thank you so much for making this podcast a part of your creative day. And if you are new to our show, let me tell you why you are in the right place at the right time. First, let me introduce myself quickly. My name is Allen C. Paul. I'm a creative coach, musician, and author. I'm the host here at God and Gigs. And we are here to help you to solve those temporary creative problems you're facing. As a musician, entrepreneur, artist, as a content creator, whatever you do in the intersection of arts, entertainment and ministry, wherever that lies, if you work inside a church or outside of a church, wherever that is, in terms of your faith, focus or Christian background, we want you to solve those temporary creative problems with timeless spiritual principles.

Allen C. Paul 00:02:36
We have this podcast here. We have our Facebook and our Twitter and our Instagram post. We have so many cool things happening at our membership, which is called Guiding Gigs 360 Gold. You can find a link to that in the description where you can actually join us and get even more training from highly motivated, high character creatives who are really transforming their life from the inside out. But you're in the right place.

Allen C. Paul 00:03:01
Thank you so much for listening and please stay tuned to every single moment of this episode and future episodes by subscribing to this particular app wherever you're listening. Okay, well, my friend, I cannot wait for you to hear this interview with my amazing friend, brother, and incredible creative and multi instrumentalist and producer, Vaughn aka V Keys Henry. Now, if you've never heard of him, you just have to go on Google or YouTube and find some of this man's clips of music. He is absolutely what could be considered a Mozart when it comes to music in this day and age, whether it be gospel, jazz. He is incredibly gifted and has been since the age of two, which he'll tell you about in this episode.

Allen C. Paul 00:03:50
But what I want you to gather from this is not just his incredible talent which has brought him to stages to work with snarky puppy artists like Kim Burrell and now has him traveling all over the place with incredible musicians in his new group called The Smoogies, which also includes one of our good friends in the guiding gigs community, dave Shiverton on drums, Harvel Nakundi, who is also a great friend, and Dion Kerr. This group is also making noise in the music world. But what I want you to get from this is not just vault incredible talent, but what he learned to hone that talent. How he had to humble himself and figure out when God gave him an immense amount of gifting, how was he to apply it? How could he find the right place in the right space to be able to grow into all that he was?

00:04:39
And how did he deal with the challenges that even came when people either saw him as way too gifted or maybe didn't see what he was capable of because of the genre or the style that he played? I'm telling you, no matter what you play or what you do creatively, you're going to find something in Vaughn's story that will resonate and inspire you to reach beyond where you think you can go and to go where God is calling you to go. Whether that's in creative life ministry or in the marketplace of the arts and entertainment world. When I say that Vaughn has seen it all and done it all, but he is still growing as a man of God and as a creative. This is where this interview is going to help you to do the same thing.

Allen C. Paul 00:05:21
My friends, please make sure that you bookmark this and save it and then share it. But I want you to hear it so you can see why it's so important that you listen to every moment. So without any delay, let's get right into this incredible interview with my friend, multi instrumentalist, producer, arranger and wonderful man of God, Vaughn V keys Henry.

Allen C. Paul 00:05:48
Ladies and gentlemen, I cannot tell you how long I've been waiting for this interview. I mean, actually, I can't tell you, this podcast is about four or five years old. Never since we started this, I have been critiquing myself. Why have I not had this gentleman who is a brother, who has absolutely inspired me both musically and spiritually, and he's going to try to throw all that out the window when I talk to him, but it's true. So I got it out there first.

Allen C. Paul 00:06:14 
So Vaughn V Keys Henry, welcome to the Guy and Gig Show. How are you, my friend? 

Vaughn V keys Henry 00:06:24
Man, I'm good. So good to be here with you, Allen. Thank you, man. Thank you for having me. The pleasure is all mine. I mean, again, brother, you've been it's hard to do these conversations as if we don't know each other. I'm waiting for the people who have never met you and never got a chance to hear you or follow you and we start talking like old friends. You've been over to the house, you've done music together.

Allen C. Paul 00:06:45
Absolutely. South Florida? Absolutely. But it really is where I just feel like this is a full circle moment for me, where I've followed you. You have been so gracious to me and my family, and so now we get to come this arena and share kind of what we both have been going through.

Vaughn V keys Henry 00:07:02
Right? So just for moment, for those who are meeting you for the first time, I hate to put you on the spot, but I already warned you about this. For those who are meeting you for the first time, if you got to give them, like, the first impressions thing, just give them a shout out, tell them a little bit about you, and then we're going to dig in a lot deeper. All right. Well, I'm a believer on the Lord Jesus Christ.

Allen C. Paul 00:07:25
That's first. I'm going to go in order. That's the first thing. Second thing, I am a husband to one wife. I'm a father to one son.

Vaughn V keys Henry 00:07:39
I am a musician. I am music. God has placed it in me before I had my wife. That was my wife. Music was my wife.

Allen C. Paul 00:07:50
Come on. That's true.

Vaughn V keys Henry  00:07:56
Those are like, my main focuses in life and really building relationships. I'm a guy that's really about relationships, genuine relationships. So all of my friends, all my brothers and sisters, even you, Allen, like, as a brother, fellow South Floridian, I hold everyone in high esteem and very dear and close to my heart because life is really short, and if the pandemic didn't make that any more clear to us, I don't know what will. So that is who I am and what I'm about, man. You said it.

Allen C. Paul 00:08:38
You see, and the fact that that humility already is coming out about the relationships that you just mentioned again, it's very hard not to immediately for me and you to jump in to talk about those relationships, to this. Community that's listening to us now, who may not have a community, who may be like, man, I wish I had people that supported me. I wish I had number one, they'll probably think about the talent first, and so we're going to give them a little bit of both, right? We're going to tell them about the musical side and why that's a passion, why music was your wife before you met your wife, and now, even now as you're married, why you're so passionate and creative. Man.

Vaughn V keys Henry 00:09:16
Let me just go ahead from the beginning and just tell me and the audience where that passion first came from for music, because you were telling me, even when you did one of my live stream shows, about coming up, learning about music in school and church and just what was that first musical memory that grabbed you? This like, were you the Mozart progeny that started creating symphonies and doing all this production at like, five years old? Or was it the school play where you were playing? What was it? That was the first thing that was like, okay, this is something that I want to do pretty much my whole life.

Allen C. Paul 00:09:54
Honestly, I don't remember a time in my life where music wasn't there, and it wasn't because I had an oso musical family. I definitely think that it just is a calling on my life, and God just made it really strong. I've been playing since I was two years old, so I don't even remember. I really honestly don't remember when I first touched the keyboard and said, oh, man, I love this. But my family often tells me about those times, about my mom told me about Christmas when I was about two.

Vaughn V Keys Henry 00:10:36
She brought a whole bunch of toys for me as a little baby boy for Christmas, and she returned 90% of them because I only was playing with the musical. Like the little Xylophones with the stick on it, the little Walgreens keyboard that takes the AAA batteries. She said those were the only things that I would mess with. And also I would just break up my grandmother's pots and pans. Like, I would ruin them all.

Allen C. Paul 00:11:11
That's what I wanted to do. So she saved a lot of money on toys, even my best friend tells me about a time when I was about three, which I remember this moment where I was playing, I think, Let My People Go, on this little Casio keyboard. But he was just so shocked because he was just like, why is this three year old playing that song? And I'm like, I don't remember a time before music. Like, music has always been since I could remember anything.

00:11:43

 I remember music. Wow, that's the best way I could describe it.

 00:11:50

 I don't know what life is without it. It's just been a part of who I am. So I've always known this is what I was going to do. Not want to, but I was going to do this. What's so interesting about that?

 00:12:05

 I'm in the same boat where I realized quickly, I'm going to put in a different spirit. It's not the way you said it, it's the way I'm saying it. I didn't have any other skills. Neither do I. I'm not the sports guy.

 00:12:20

 I'm not that guy. No. So I agree. I had to just let you know, like, yeah, I want to let everybody. We'Re humble about it again, not that we're so unable to absorb anything else, but I've said it this way to different people.

 00:12:35

 Vaughn. I've said, music is the way we relate with the world, and God allows you. I don't think that us as musicians, and we're getting deep already with the question of identity, right? So you already started with your husband, you're a father, right? You started with those, you're a believer, you started with that.

 00:12:53

 So those things form your identity, but however, your talent and your ability give you an expression for those things, right. So you start to express God's gifting of you, where now, of course, I can say to the audience, there ain't an instrument I don't think this man could play, everything you touch became an expression of that talent, of that gifting. But your identity, I feel like even though your expression is entirely musical and it's expressed itself in such amazing ways. Talk to me a little bit about that, because as this is where I think we can go with this. As you start to grow up, as you get into church, as you start to realize this talent is crazy and people are, like, putting you on what instrument?

 00:13:40

 Like, what was the first one you were playing in church that people are already seeing you, like, playing on Sundays? The first instrument that I was really playing in church was the organ. I was sitting next to Dwayne. A lot of people don't know Dwayne Bennett. We go way back, way before Cooper.

 00:13:59

 Temple, and go back and listen to this episode, because he talks about you as well in his episode. I'll put the number in the show notes. But yes, there is history in this podcast where they talk about, yeah, me. And Dwayne go so far back. Dwayne was a teenager, and I was like a three or four year old.

 00:14:19

 And I remember one of my most defining moments, when Dwayne caught me transposing on the keyboard, and he literally, physically picked me up, placed me on the organ, and I was playing the organ ever since. He forced me out of transposing, but then I grew a love for the organ. And so even when he would sit on the organ, I would sit next to him on the organ and just watch when he would get off the keyboard. So the organ is the first instrument that I and I know a lot of people don't know that because they don't see me posting playing organ all the time. They don't know that, like, organ is my first thing.

 00:15:02

 But yeah, that's the first instrument. Wow. And so the reason why I went there is because you just talked about Dwayne Bennett, which once again, they want to listen to different episodes, go back and find our episode with Dwayne. We talk about that a lot in terms of where you came from, your spiritual connection. Right.

 00:15:19

 Which clearly was already a form, because you were starting this in church. And it wasn't just about church. It was about actually serving God, worshipping God. It wasn't just, let's just show up and show off for people. Like, I know your background and your stock in that was always about not showing off, not just being there.

 00:15:36

 Oh, yeah, but that was a big thing. But that's what we keep about the identity. That's why I went back to the identity thing. When you're talented, it can get really hard as you started to realize, oh, my gosh, I want to do this, I want to do this, I want to do this. I could play this.

 00:15:51

 Oh, my gosh, I'm learning all this stuff. And people are starting to give you the applause. Was there ever a moment as you were growing up that you started to kind of wrestle with that? Was it. That all you wanted to do?

 00:16:00

 Did you feel any tension of, man, people are kind of, like, pushing me up. Did you feel anywhere where people are kind of, like, holding you back because of your talent? Was there any struggle and identity in terms of being a musician, in terms of your growth? Oh, absolutely. There is struggle all over in multiple ways.

 00:16:17

 There was struggle on the one side trying to struggle with pride and not thinking more of myself than I am. Then there was a struggle on the other side of pride where I thought too little of myself. There was struggle on both ends at different times, time periods of my life. I definitely have felt held back at a certain point in my musical career, while I was in church, when I was younger, I felt restricted. There was a lot of things that we were able to do.

 00:16:58

 There was a lot of rules that Dwayne broke, which I always looked up to him for that, because he just broke a lot of rules in the best way. You know what I'm saying? He was anointed to do it. He could really do it, and God still be in the room. But then as I started to get older, when Dwayne left, things changed.

 00:17:20

 And things changed in the sense that, yes, I was playing, but I don't think the same level of trust was there. And because I was really young, and I think because of that, when Dwayne's gone, no one wants to trust the eleven year in the church that I grew up in. Nobody wants to trust the eleven year old who can play. But he's eleven. They didn't trust his judgment.

 00:17:52

 Even if I could play, it's not that. It's just the mindset of that church. So I was held back in a lot of things as far as what I wanted. And I didn't have an organ at my house. Church was the only time that I could really I would get better each week by just playing in church.

 00:18:17

 Not necessarily because I had an organ to practice. I had a little keyboard at the house, but I didn't have an organ to actually sit down and practice at. So I felt when I would go for things, it felt like it was like a tug. Like don't play like the world, don't boy, that was one of the things that was told to me. And I'm so glad that, I'm so glad that I know God for myself.

 00:18:47

 So that I can know what God has called me to do and not ever restrict myself to that part of my upbringing. Because if I were to listen to that, I probably wouldn't be on this podcast because I probably wouldn't have been able to do some of the things that I've been able to do listening to don't play like the world. So I was definitely held back. And like I said, I had to know God for myself. I had a community of young people in my church who did really want to know God for themselves, which was amazing to have.

 00:19:26

 And it allowed us to know that God can still be glorified in the way that we worship him as young people on our instruments. Man, so many people, so many all over the world struggle with that. Don't play, don't sing, don't do this like the world creatives. I mean, this is why this platform literally exists, right? Because God made everything beautiful in its own time.

 00:19:54

 Like Ecclesiastes is very clear about that. And that includes the music that we create, that includes the worship, and it includes the music that we learn about. Gospel itself is a combination of spirituals rhythm and blues and rock. And it's like we forget that, okay, the very music we played, thomas Dorsey was almost thrown out of churches, right, because Thomas Dorsey, when he was right, precious Lord, they said that's too worldly. Like now we see that as like part of it is in the red book.

 00:20:23

 Yeah, exactly. So I love that you've been honest about that, man. And I want to make sure that you have the chance to kind of explain when you say like the world, let's make sure we pull it the way we know it. Not just like the world. Let's talk about those excellence, what we are learning.

 00:20:42

 Why you want to express why you became such a master at the craft. It's because you dedicated yourself to learning this stuff. So talk a little bit about just, like, the influences. Like, I'm thinking right now about your commission method that you did. Right.

 00:20:59

 Talk about the influences and the places, whether it was in church or outside. Talk about where you grabbed and said, hey, because I'm a musical sponge, because I believe in God, but also because I want to be good. Like, I want to be good. I don't want to just have this natural talent. So tell me some of the influence of things that you grabbed onto to kind of get you to the point where you were really mastering it.

 00:21:21

 Yeah, one of the things I definitely had that moment, like you said, where I was just like, I really want to be good.

 00:21:34

 I got to a point in my playing at the end of high school where I was just like, okay, I'm now hearing other things in my head, but I can't get it out. But it's there, and I can't get it out. Physically, I could play it really slow, but for some reason, I can't connect the dots. And I realized that I took a year off, and then I realized that if I wanted to get to the next level that I desire to be at, I really needed to take my craft serious and study other genres other than church.

 00:22:24

 Not R and B and not hip hop, and there's no knock to those, but those things most gospel musicians can already play that stuff just because they can play in church. And I was like, I needed to do something that I can't do right now. And so I decided to study. I decided to enroll in Broward College and get into the jazz program there. And while I was there, my professor I didn't know that when you go into jazz in college, most kids who go in there already have a background or something in that.

 00:23:14

 I didn't play in high school. My high school band was not great. So for me, I was just like, I do better at church. Literally, that was my mindset. So I didn't stay in the band or have a jazz background at all.

 00:23:33

 I went straight from church to college, and it was just like, I don't know what an F major seven is. I can play it. I can play it. Wait, this I did not know. We've been talking for years.

 00:23:46

 I've never heard this part of the story. So you're telling me because here okay, so let's compare notes. And again, I never like to inject myself, but I want to give it a comparison for the listener. There might be a listener that did come up in high school band like me. There's a listener that did all the classical studies like me.

 00:24:03

 I forced my way into jazz by way of in theory, by way of I want to understand this stuff that I'm playing but I do know the name of it. You are saying you went from doing it and then entering a world academic, by the way, and nobody get fooled. Jazz and is incredibly academic. Extremely so. Tell me about the culture.

 00:24:30

 This is culture shock and creative shock. So now you're in a space. What was that like for you? Man, it was the greatest time in my growth because it set me up to be able to now, when I have less time to shed it set me up to be able to still know how to grow and know what I need to really do to grow.

 00:25:03

 It was really tough, but it was the greatest time for me and it allowed me to do what it is that I do now. It was really hard because like I said, I didn't even know how to read. Like just even the chord charts, I couldn't read them. I didn't know what an F major seven was.

 00:25:25

 I didn't know what any of that stuff was. I couldn't call it by name, but I could play it. And my professor, Jason Haynesworth, I owe him so much. He saw that in me. And instead, my first year or my first semester in college, he puts me in the top combo.

 00:25:44

 And I'm like, that's not good because I don't know anything about what it is that you're expecting. But he saw something in me that I didn't see in myself. And he did give me a speech because I remember my first week of combo. He said, okay, the first day you play this tune, I expect you to know it better by the next time I see you, which is two or three days. I didn't know it much better.

 00:26:18

 And he gave me a good grown man talk about being lazy, about having discipline. And I think the most important thing that I learned in school was discipline. And I learned it with my craft and in life all at the same time. Because I'm 18 or I'm 19 at the time. All of this stuff, it shaped my thought.

 00:26:48

 It really made me like I practiced 8 hours a day and it was different things. I would practice what I needed to practice for my jazz forums. But then at the same time, I also was learning classical at the same time. Like same semester, same week by week. I got a lesson with the classical professor over here, got a lesson with the jazz piano professor and I got combos with my main professor and I'm in the big band.

 00:27:23

 Not only that, but I also have school work to do. I got algebra to do. I got this, you know what I'm saying? So I was at school all the time when I wasn't at church. When I wasn't at church, I was at school.

 00:27:40

 So I was still playing at church. I was playing at Cooper Temple at the time. This is when everybody started to kind of know who I was all of that time. They're wondering, where does Vaughn come from? Because I come from a different place.

 00:27:56

 And then I end up at Cooper Temple. And then now South Florida. I come out of my box and out of my shell, but at the same time, I'm literally having insecurity issues while all this is going on because I'm in school knowing that there's a higher level that I'm trying to get to. Meanwhile, I'm growing and the gospel community is hearing me, is just like, who is this? But on this side of it, I'm just like, I don't know who I am.

 00:28:24

 I'm trying to figure it out. I'm literally trying to battle all of these feelings that I'm feeling while at the same time being disciplined with, okay, I really feel like I suck, but I'm about to sit down and practice today. Like, I got to I'm in school for this, I'm getting graded for this. And I need to be disciplined and I need to wake up. I need to stop being lazy.

 00:28:51

 I need to get up. That was something that I had to struggle with, that isn't everybody's struggle. But I didn't like waking up. I didn't like being a morning person. You weren't the only one.

 00:29:03

 You are not the only one. So it just locked me down into a routine and into discipline to cultivate all these things all at one time. And all of that pressure caused me to keep growing in every area. I think the benefit that I saw from it when I started seeing benefits and improvement in my playing and just even in my playing in church, it made me better, it made me have other ideas because I'm crunching all these different genres of music and now I'm in church where my real expression is. And now all of that's starting to come out.

 00:29:44

 It's all starting to come out in different ways, but in a way that works in church. And so all of that really helped to shape really helped to shape me, man. Okay, so as always, it's so hard for me to just pick one thing out of that, the lessons, right? We could just like drop the mic right there. The fact that you mentioned discipline, I'm going to go straight at it, no holds barred, right?

 00:30:15

 You just mentioned church musicians, you mentioned the gospel music community, and then we're talking to a lot of creatives right, in every field, but especially we're talking to because I consider you one of the most gifted men I've ever met. So I'm going to talk to those of you who make the rest of us mad that we have to work hard to be as gifted as you. But I knew you're going to laugh, but let's just call a spade of spade when you are much as given much as required, right? And the fact that you were willing to. Submit to a process and a discipline, whereas you probably could have just rolled this thing out in church and not necessarily gotten much better in terms of your standards, but in terms of other people's standards.

 00:31:01

 And I'm talking to all the musicians that talk about showing up on Sunday morning and just learning the songs right there. I'm talking to all the musicians and creatives who show up on the job and just try to wing it because you think God's going to give you an anointing at the moment. That's what you stirred up in me just now, the fact that one of the guys that I think could literally play anyone under the rug says, I didn't feel good enough. And what came to me you know, we flow like this in this podcast. What came to me is Paul saying, not that I have apprehended, but I press on toward the mark of the high calling, the prize of Christ Jesus.

 00:31:35

 It's the same thing spiritually as it is musically. Like, you can't act like you've arrived. The minute you act like you've arrived, you fall in behind. Absolutely. And I feel like you saying that again, we can talk about the accolades and the things that happened after that, but you can't talk about where you got to without talking about the discipline that you showed right there.

 00:31:56

 So I thank you for sharing that. And this leads into my next question, because to me, that's kind of a Valley moment when you're kind of questioning yourself in terms of discipline and insecurity. So that's kind of like a moment where there was like a little bit of where you had to see yourself planting some seeds. So tell me an example of where you saw the fruit of that. Where did you see the discipline, the ability to say, I'm going to put myself under some conditions to learn from people and be to see the student.

 00:32:26

 Give me an example of place where you say, wow, thank God I did that, because when this person showed up or this band showed up or this opportunity showed up, I was ready. Just give me an example so people can see why they should subject themselves to that. Okay, so 2018, let me rewind 2017. The first ground up festival ever happened in Miami, right?

 00:32:58

 Roosevelt Collier called me to play with him, and after playing with him, robert Sputz and Nateworth walks in the building. Robert gets my number and he says, hey, man, I got this band called Ghost Note. I love your sound, and I want you to be a part. If you know who Sput is, which mostly everybody who's going to listen to this knows who Sput is. If you know who he is, you know that it takes you have to know a really wide range of music to be able to play with him.

 00:33:39

 So the fact that he was able to hear me and then entrust me to be a part of his band for about two years before I left was a really big thing. And I was just like, Man, I really thank God that I did what I did because I wouldn't be able to share the stage with bass players like Mono Neon if I didn't have enough to be on a stage with a whole bunch of greats like that. But not only that, but that gig led me to being able to be on the Snarky Puppy gig. And with the Snarky Puppy gig, I was never in the band. I was filling in, but I didn't have a rehearsal.

 00:34:26

 I had no rehearsal. And this is Snarky Puppy music. I had to know my music and believe it or not so with that gig and preparing for that gig, they did songs from multiple albums and there was an extensive list sent to me and they told me all the songs won't be performed, but they also didn't tell me which ones would be. And so I was like, okay. What this led me to do is get back into that place of discipline, of really being able to be on it.

 00:35:04

 So I had to use all of my skills that I learned in school and all of the things that I learned in church about learning records because that was a big thing. Like, Dwayne was always big on us about learning records. I had to combine those two worlds along with finding my identity in their music, all of that. I had to be able to do that because people don't want to hear a carbon copy of somebody. I know this people may not say it, but people who are hiring you for the first time, they're not wanting a carbon unless they tell you that they're not wanting a carbon copy of whatever it is that they had.

 00:35:51

 And so in my mind, I'm like, I want to be a working musician, so I want to have an identity in this business. So that was a part. Having to do all of those things at one time made me glad that I had the tools to make that a little bit easier from all of my worlds that I come from. Not just school, but from church and being diligent about church and diligent about gospel and diligent about learning records, all of that. That probably actually was the biggest part.

 00:36:21

 Even more than the stuff that helped me from school. Man, look, you could not say it any better and it couldn't be any better example of being faithful, right, in a few things, because you were ready when God gave you the opportunity for many things, for a huge platform like that, musicians like that. I want to be careful because I was almost tempted to pivot right away as soon as you started talking about the successes. Because in my head, and you and I both know this, a lot of hopefully we're listening, talking to some young creators, some young musicians. I want to be careful that they don't get the stars in their eyes, that that is the pinnacle that showing up on a big stage, that playing with a big group, that people knowing your name somehow validates the journey you are on.

 00:37:09

 It's a great perk, by the way. But just speak to a moment of what success means to you, especially knowing what you said at the beginning, because you started with believer, husband, father, and then you said music. So talk about how you bAllence, because when you hit that mountaintop, usually there's another valley coming, right? Yeah. So talk to some of the people who might say, oh, okay, so my job is to be an awesome musician, get picked up, and everybody knows my name, and that equals success for me.

 00:37:43

 I know that's not your story, but I just want to make sure that you say it out loud.

 00:37:51

 So success to me success, to me, is pleasing God.

 00:38:03

 That is ultimately success.

 00:38:08

 If you're not doing that, everything else that you do is not successful. And I mean that by the moment you get off that stage, the moment you go through that money that you made, and the moment that people get over you and they're on to the next, you would have been better off not ever being there than having been there and feel like it's been ripped away. And the only person that can ground you and secure your position, even in your career, musically in anything, is the Lord Jesus Christ. Because you could get into an accident and your hands can be done, your legs can be done. If you're a drummer, anything can happen.

 00:39:03

 And this is just being real. I'm not trying to be morbid. I'm just being real musicians, we are not impervious to life. It's not just other people who aren't gifted that have issues or that could possibly have a tragedy happen in their life. So if it isn't for the Lord sparing you, yeah, you won't be successful.

 00:39:30

 So for me, a success equals a consistent, not perfect, but consistent relationship with the Lord. That is success as a man, and especially if you're a musician and you're a husband and a father, success is cultivating your family. God will add all the musical stuff. He'll add that. That's not to say that if you do that stuff, it's not successful or it's not great.

 00:39:59

 I want you to, and I myself want to have those moments in the career that are life changing. But it's not the most important thing. It's not what makes you successful. Success starts with your relationship with the Lord, and then it starts with your relationship with your family. And that when God sees that, he'll honor that and allow you to continue to be successful in your career.

 00:40:33

 It's not that everything just has an order. All of it's important, but there's an order to the importance and success is understanding that. Wow. Okay. Please bookmark that, you guys, that you just heard and watch that.

 00:40:51

 I'm going to make sure I write that down again just to make sure I remember exactly how you just said it. I want to talk about that because you just recently had a transition, right? You recently moved, you met your beautiful wife, and then this little one comes along. And by the way, like you just said, there's an order. You still got to pay the bill.

 00:41:13

 Yeah. Talk a little bit about because there's other again, I always try to think of the person that's listening and watching right now, like, what are they going through? So maybe they're at a place where, okay, they're also got a family, but they're like, how do I hold all these eggs? How do I juggle this? Right?

 00:41:28

 How do I keep this thing going? Because now I got these dreams and aspirations, and God did put this on my heart. God did say, I want to be creative. I want to be a musician. I want to go out there and make an impact with my life, with me, while I got some little ones back there.

 00:41:42

 So tell me how you're handling that, because to hear someone like you that's doing it speak passionately, I think it will help them to hear, hey, you're human, too, and you got to bAllence all this stuff together. Oh, yeah, I'm definitely human. I was about to say I'm super human, but I wish I was.

 00:42:01

 So I'm super ordinary. You're extraordinarily human. I love that. Absolutely. To the point.

 00:42:11

 I'll give you my because not everybody knows about my current story. Everybody knows about what was, and they see what I'm doing musically. They know I have a family, but nobody really knows what's really going on. People are wondering, you haven't put an album out in seven years. Why is that?

 00:42:32

 Well, here it is. This speaks to the bAllence and all of that. My wife and I were led to move to Nashville by the Lord. So we come here, and God assigns me to be the minister of music at a church. So I've been the minister of music at a church out here in Clarksville, Tennessee, for about a year and seven months.

 00:43:02

 It's one thing to be a music director. It's one thing. It's a whole nother thing to be a minister of music because it's not about the music. It's about the people, and it's about dealing with people. So I had a greater task than I have ever had as a 29 year old young black married man who's a new father in a new city, still a new husband.

 00:43:28

 And now I have a new assignment that God gave to me. So it's just like, it's a lot of pressure, but God told me to do it, so what do I do?

 00:43:43

 My son was born premature, seven weeks. And so not only were we not, we were going to be first time parents in a new city with no family. Granted there's no family here. So it's just us and the Lord and doing all of that, being in a finicky business, trying to make ends meet. And then God says, hey, I'm going to call you to be the minister of music at this church, and this is what you got to do.

 00:44:15

 And everything is a learning curve for me all the time. So I've Been in a perpetual learning curve for feels like two years. I'm still in it right now. So do I have an answer as to what that looks like? I still am figuring out every day what that looks like.

 00:44:32

 And for me. God had me to do an assignment at this specific church. And up until recently I mean very recently, god has said I'm moving you elsewhere to do other things. And God opened up another door for me. That doesn't cause me to have to be the Minister of Music where now I can get my time back, where I can work on what he wants me to work on.

 00:45:00

 I can have more time for my family and still be able to make ends meet. I had to pray to God. Like, this is a lot. I've been doing this for a year and change, and it's tough on me and it's not working. It's affecting my mental health.

 00:45:17

 It's affecting my peace. It's affecting a lot. I just didn't have the wherewithal to continue. But God allowed. When I prayed and was honest about that, he said to me that my assignment was up.

 00:45:34

 And he opened up an opportunity that would allow me to be all that I'm supposed to be and all that I want to be and still be at peace. And so the obedience had to come first before I got that release. Wow. Obedience had to come first. And I had to do what God had me to do for this year in seven months.

 00:45:56

 And now he is Feeling Free to allow me to be more free so I Can Have time. There was a time, man, I didn't even have time to do this interview a few months ago. I'm very aware and just thinking about that what you just said, because I feel this so powerfully in my spirit, man. Having Left full time ministry, literally to what ended up starting guiding gigs, right. And now being back what you guess you could call full time, but in So Many Other Capacities, what You Said is So Powerful about the obedience having To Come first.

 00:46:36

 And usually the obedience comes at the sacrifice of understanding. Right. Because what we want. Okay, if I'm going to obey, at least let me understand. But he's like, no, you don't get the understanding with the obedience.

 00:46:51

 You only get the obedience first, and the understanding comes after. Yes. That's big it's where I feel many again of us get stuck. We forget that. Okay.

 00:47:05

 If I need God to move in a certain area for your example, like, you want God to move in to your creative life, you got so many things. You got album set, you got music. I know right now there's a song in your head because whenever you bring out something and I'm like, hey, let's do this, and you have like an entire eight tracks, I'm like, Dude. So I know that there is always wheels turning, so I'm sure they can almost feel frustrating. And I want you to speak to those people who do feel that frustration while they're being obedient, because I don't know what the fruit is of what you did in the last year and the seven months, but I know that it's greater than you can imagine what you sow you know what I mean?

 00:47:46

 So just speak a little bit about that. You feel like that's being restored. I guess whatever happened, whatever you thought you lost, you don't feel like you've lost it, you're going to get it back. Yeah.

 00:48:01

 It really pays to be obedient to God, because Proverbs ten and 22, the blessings of the Lord make it rich and adds no sorrow to it. The difference between when God does something and when we do something ourselves is that when we do something ourselves, there could be a benefit in one area and then a consequence in another that you weren't expecting and that you probably would have been like, man, I was better off just suffering here. When you're obedient to God, and God starts to make a way and bless, there's no sorrow. Like, you don't have to look over your shoulder like, okay, so what is this really coming with? No, you're really just blessed and that's it.

 00:48:43

 And that is the one reason to really wait. And you get peace with your blessings. Anything that comes that's of a benefit to you that does not bring peace, you should be careful to not call it a blessing.

 00:49:05

 If you get more money and less peace, don't call that a blessing. That's not a blessing. So when God blesses you, you get what you need in peace with it. And peace of mind is most important than anything. Peace of mind is allowing a lot of especially creatives, because we know that creatives, we war in our mind a lot.

 00:49:34

 We do. And so peace of mind is a big thing to be aware of and to try to always get. And that's something a lot of times when you really get down to it, that really only God can give. And that is if you're frustrated in an area where you feel like you're juggling too much, ask God to teach you how to be obedient and how to juggle all of this, and then make sure that it's not an issue with you and your discipline. Make sure you're struggling because you want to get some extra sleep.

 00:50:24

 Now, sleep is important, but then during the week, how I do things, I know most musicians be like, they work on the weekends, they work on the weekends. I run my business like a corporation in the sense that I only work in the weekdays. My weekends are for my family, but I work super hard on those weekdays. I'm going to work, I'm going to work, I'm going to do this, I'm going to do this. I may stay up till two this morning and then the next evening, make sure that I go get some rest.

 00:50:54

 Because it's important to get your body some rest. That's important to how we function. And I kind of stagger stuff, but when it comes to the weekend time, that is the time for my son and my wife. I'm not doing anything. Even to the point of my turnaround times.

 00:51:11

 I say to my clients, like, if you pay me to start something on Friday, I'll start it on Friday. But if I say it takes one business day, that means you'll get it back on Monday, Saturday and Sunday. There's no business going on. Family business. It's family.

 00:51:33

 Exactly. So that is one of the things that I try to do as a creative, even if you're single, doing that for yourself, like creating a schedule for yourself and letting the weekends be some time for you to spend time with your family or your loved ones or your friends or yourself. Spending time with yourself, not doing stuff, just spending time with yourself and being able to. I think you'll find that you'll be more effective when you work, when you have a constant reset. A lot of people just go, go.

 00:52:11

 But if you have two days in the week, every week to really reset, that Monday, when you get back, you'll be on fire and you'll actually be able to accomplish more because your body is better, your mind is better, you're at peace. That's been working for me. And even when I have more free time, I'm going to continue this because it's working for me. If God, who is absolutely able to create at all times, never needs a rest, and God decided on the 7th day what makes us as creatives little creators, right? Why do we think that creator took a day off?

 00:52:52

 But we shouldn't?

 00:52:56

 Look, I'm preaching to myself. Workaholic right here, stand up all night, no white space in the calendar. So I applaud you, sir, at 29, thank God you're going to have a lot more healthy years with that beautiful family. Because you're not trying to burn the counter to both ends like I was trying to do in my twenty s and thirty s and forty s. Man, it's just so powerful that you got this perspective.

 00:53:18

 And again, this is why I wanted to make sure I had you on the show, because I don't think people hear it enough. I don't think they hear. They see people like you who have albums, who literally again, I'm going to post all the albums and all the singles and all the YouTube so they can go down the Vke's Rabbit hole if they haven't heard you yet, and then they will be astounded. But I make sure they want to hear the man behind the music if they're learning about you for the first time. And then those who do know about your music right now, they know the heart behind it, and not just that.

 00:53:51

 Oh, well, even again, I'm being very straight up. Even in church circles, we tend to become worshippers of the gift. And it's so important that they heard your heart and that they heard that this is who you are. And when you give your gift, when you get successful, like you said, success is about following God. Then all those other things are added.

 00:54:14

 That's gravy, that's icing on the cake. But I just love the perspective you just gave, man. I want to ask this one more question because, again, we could go all night, but if you could talk to the person that is right now where you were let's take them back to Broward College. Let's take them back to that insanely talented young man who is yet feeling insecure because they haven't got the position and they won't let him play at church because they're like, you getting too big for your britches, right? And they're feeling that tension that you are feeling.

 00:54:48

 So what would you say to you that Vaughn, back then, now that you've been to where you are now, that will help that young man or that young woman who's in that same position? I would say guard your heart from wanting to be accepted to your own detriment. Guard your heart from that. Focus on what God wants you to do, and you'll be your best. You'll be your best when you focus on what God wants you to do and what you know you should do, not spend time getting caught up on what people think or what you want people to think.

 00:55:45

 Do your best. Know when to even when accepting wisdom from the generation before, know what to take. Because the generation before doesn't mean they all have it together. Doesn't mean just like there are some reckless people in your generation, there are some reckless people in my generation, some reckless people in your generation. It goes all the way around.

 00:56:12

 And so make sure that whatever counsel you're accepting is wise counsel. Make sure your spirit agrees with it. And when your spirit agrees with it, you humbly. Yes, do accept it and follow the advice, but know when to listen and hear people say things and you know what's not good information or what's not good for you, and know when to leave that out of it. Know that you don't have to be like me when I was studying jazz, looking at the character of a lot of the jazz musicians dying from drug overdose.

 00:56:53

 You don't have to do that to be amazing. You don't have to do that to be really good. You can be in Christ and be really good still.

 00:57:06

 You can be all of that. Don't let the pattern of those that you look up to, if they don't have a good life pattern because you want what they have musically. Don't feel like that's what you have to do for you. Be focused on what God wants you to be and what your identity is in the world. And then secondly, as a musician and a creative man.

 00:57:33

 Okay, that again. Bookmark drop. Mike, brother, this is why I love you so much. This is why ever since and I'll go ahead and just brag on myself a little, ever since I was telling you, you need to put some more blog posts. You need to put some I grabbed your Facebook post and put it on my blog back a while ago, because this man is a writer.

 00:57:54

 He is a teacher. Again, the thing that you just talked about, identity and ministering, right, that is serving you're serving and you're ministering to people not because you have a title, but because you have a task that God gave you. And that's what I feel coming out of your spirit. That's why I love you guys. And I know God is blessing you even there, over there in Tennessee, even though you had to jet away from Miami, leave us by.

 00:58:19

 We're not holding it against you. And you're coming back whenever you can with the rest of our family, with all of our musical family down here. So, brother, tell them quickly. I know you're taking a little break on social as of we're recording, but maybe by the time we're off and by the time they're listening, they can reach out to you. So just tell them how they can find you, how they can find your music, and continue to learn from your wisdom and everything you're sharing, bro.

 00:58:42

 Absolutely, man. If you want to find my music, you can go on Apple Music, you can go on Google Play Store, type in V Keys, v keys. You'll find all of my singles. My first album, Clarity 2016, it's not on Apple Music, but it is on itunes, available for purchase. So for those who want to go back into the vault, you can do that.

 00:59:18

 But my current singles are a foretaste of things to come. I am currently aggressively working on finishing my album circa 2080. I've got singles like Press in that's out single Call Watch standing in you, and all of that stuff is going to be coming out really soon on social media. I'm getting ready to get back on Instagram very soon, but you can follow me. It's v underscore Keys 23.

 00:59:56

 You can find me there I'm on Facebook as well. Fonvikeysh. Henry. Yeah, you all can reach me anywhere. Everywhere you want to be.

 01:00:08

 But yeah, I'll make sure all those links are right below in your app. As you're watching, if you're watching or listening, if you're watching on YouTube, just click down, you'll see all those links there so you can get right to Vaughn brother, god bless you, man. I wish there's no words that could say how honored I am, how pleased I am that God gifted me the chance to be your musical brother, to be a spiritual brother in Christ. And man, just feeling like everything you're sharing, man, is right from where I would want to share it, the same way I would want to say it, I'll let you say it because it's coming right from God's heart. Thank you for being a part of the show, man, and we got to do it again sometime real soon.

 01:00:45

 Thank you for having me, bro. For real.

 01:01:02

 My friend, after hearing Vaughn's words of wisdom, I know that you are inspired to really apply yourself to the discipline it takes to move to whatever level that God is calling you to. And if someone like Vaughn, who I believe is one of the most talented people on the planet, can still aspire to be better, to be great, to focus on the right things, then I know we can too. My friend, please make sure you bookmark that you share this episode and that you go back and listen to it anytime you need. That reminder that discipline, commitment to your faith, and that desire to become excellent in everything you do applies throughout your life. This is one of those episodes that I say this a lot, but it seems like every time we have one of my great friends come in and share, so honestly, it becomes one of those top ten, can't miss, cannot delete episodes.

 01:01:59

 So make sure you do that. And please, if you want to be inspired by some incredible music and also by the incredible testimony and teaching and wisdom that Vaughn shares on a regular basis on his social media, he's very careful to prioritize his family. So, as he mentioned, sometimes he takes these social media breaks, which we all should do, but go ahead and follow him so that you can catch him anytime. He's online at. All.

 01:02:25

 Those links that he mentioned, they are all going to be in the description as well. So simply scroll down in your app and you'll find where you can start to follow him. Well, my friend, that was an absolute gem of an episode, so I won't let you go any further, but I want to remind you to go ahead and connect with us as well. God and Gigs is here to help you transform your creative life from the inside out by applying these timeless spiritual principles to those temporary creative problems you're facing. So you got to.

 01:02:54

 Stay connected with us so that we can continue to help you do that day by day, week by week, month by month. We've been here for years. I am so grateful for this community. I'm so grateful for you for listening and watching. But what I really want most for you is to grow and to aspire to everything God has for you in your creative life.

 01:03:14

 So please stay. Connect with all of our socials. Once again, just go down the links in the show notes. As a matter of fact, you can even partner with us to help us do this more. You can become a God and Gigs partner.

 01:03:26

 There's a little link at the bottom where it says Support, and you can actually submit a small donation each month, a subscription, I guess you could say, to help us promote and to produce this podcast. If you want to do that, I love to shout you out each time on this show as kind of like an executive producer as a partner of this show. So if you want to become one of those guiding Gigs partners, simply go. To that link at the website where. It says support the show monthly.

 01:03:56

 And I would love to add you to the list of community members who. Are helping make this podcast possible. Well, that's it for today. Thank you so much for being a part of this episode. And so until next time, continue to become the creative that you are created to be.

 01:04:12

 God bless and I'll see you next episode. You.

 01:04:17

 Thanks for joining us here at the God and Gigs show. Please leave us a review on itunes like our Facebook page or visit Godandgigs.com and tell us what you thought of this show. We'll be back soon. In the meantime, go create something amazing.