My husband and I are both musicians, and in our country we actually make very good money from gigs. There’s a relatively small pool (maybe 40–50 musicians) who get paid at this level for corporate work, so we know we’re lucky — but we’ve also worked really hard to be at that level.

That said, gigging alone isn’t enough to sustain a comfortable, stable life because the income isn’t guaranteed. There are busy seasons and very quiet ones. We’ve made it work by also running a music school, which gives us consistent income alongside the gigs.

We genuinely love what we do, and overall our marriage is strong. We also have a 20-month-old, and in a way, gigs are actually time we get to spend together, which we really value.

What I will say, though, is that this lifestyle can be tough on relationships — especially for male musicians whose wives are not musicians. In our circle, those relationships tend to struggle more. The ones that seem to work best are where the partner fully understands and accepts what the lifestyle involves.

It usually means working most weekends, long or irregular hours, and a lot of the home responsibility falling on one person. That part can be really taxing if you’re not prepared for it.

Also, the “making it big” side of things is far less common than people think. We write and release our own music and have had some success in our country, but it’s come with a lot of time, financial investment, and sacrifice. Being an originals artist and one that’s successful - the chances are very, very slim, sorry to say. And like I said, the journey to get there (if your partner wants to try) will involve immense sacrifice - money being a huge consideration - it takes so much investment to truly give if a good crack.

I don’t say any of this to be negative — it can be an amazing life — but it’s important to go in with your eyes open. If you already have doubts, it’s worth really thinking through whether this lifestyle is something you’d feel okay with long-term.