<\/p>\n
\n\tLife in the spotlight isn\u2019t nearly as glamorous as it looks, particularly for new artists.<\/p>\n
\n\tBetween taking every road gig available, meeting programmers in multiple cities on radio promotion tours, creating new material and building a social media base, it\u2019s not unusual for acts in their first year or two in the national spotlight to operate regularly on just four or five hours of sleep.<\/p>\n
\n\tArtists don\u2019t usually talk about it publicly \u2014 most folks with more typical jobs don\u2019t want to hear anyone b\u2013ch about playing music for a living. Sometimes even the family refuses to take pity, as new Nashville Harbor artist Greylan James discovered.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cTalking to my parents every weekend when I got back from being on tour, [I\u2019d be] complaining, \u2018Y\u2019all, I\u2019m just exhausted. I\u2019m stressed all the time. You guys have no idea how hard it is to be a country music songwriter and artist,\u2019\u00a0\u201d James remembers. \u201cOf course, my mom, being the Southern woman with the sass that she is, her favorite comeback was always, \u2018Well, you think you\u2019re tired and stressed now, Greylan, just wait \u2019til you have kids.\u2019\u00a0\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tThanks, Mom.<\/p>\n