Seth Mosley – Cannonballs & U-Hauls

Many artists make the move to Nashville at the speed of sound, some travel in circles to know where they’re headed. In an ongoing feature profile, CCM Magazine shares a snippet from Seth Mosley’s Big Bang Moment as part of his popular Full Circle Music Show podcast

photo: Celi Mosley Media

When songwriter and producer, Seth Mosley, arrived in Nashville eight years ago he was ready to take the town by storm…as an artist. Although, a long stretch highway, a rickety van and new opportunities helped him make a change that would alter his original plans, and move him into path that has still allowed him to dominate Music City.

Seth and his band mates arrived in Nashville in 2008 as the Christian pop-rock trio Me In Motion. Several years of “living the dream” and touring around the world began to take its toll. As he played hundreds of gigs and racked up miles of interstate he continued working his trade of not only fronting a band, but also songwriting and production. His band was trending upwards, but he wasn’t happy with his lifestyle. Then it all came to a head.

“There was a really clear moment [driving] in the state of Iowa. Every time we went through Iowa on tour it seemed like something was against us. The last straw was that we were on tour out there, and it was, of course, snowing and sleeting and everything. We were outside Sioux City, and we heard a giant bang. The van just grinds to a halt. We got out, and it looked like someone had shot a cannonball through the bottom of the van. Something literally blew up under it.

At that point we had to call a U-Haul, sit in the cold for two and a half hours and wait.

Afterwards, we had a choice. Do we fix the van or do we just dump it and leave it there with the trailer and say, “Hasta la vista?”

We never went back for the van or trailer.

Sometimes life makes decisions for you. That’s very clearly what that was.

I had been doing production and writing the whole time, and having some success at it. Honestly, taking care of my family through that side of things. The financials of touring were not in our favor. On the production and writing side I already had some things rolling. It was kind of a natural transition.

Some people say you have to make a leap of faith, but for us it was a no-brainer. That was definitely the situation that sparked it for us.”

He left it. He left his dream of being a rock star because his dreams, goals and aspirations had morphed into something new.

Many of us get so tied up in our dreams that we often don’t look up long enough to see if we are actually pursuing the life and dream that we want. It’s easy to say, “Yeah, I want to be a rock star”, but until you actually start pursuing it you will not know all of the minutia that actually entails. Maybe once you are on the inside you’ll realize that your initial goal is not all it’s cracked up to be.

For Seth, he realized that being an artist was fine, but where his strengths and gifts really started to shine was in a more behind-the-scenes role that involved songwriting and producing other artists.

Seth’s initial dream led to a new goal that is far more fruitful, rewarding and fulfilling. Had he not pursued his initial dream, or had he given up the minute it was different than he’d imagined, he would have never found his true calling.

Do you resonate? Are you discouraged? Do you find yourself in the middle of a dream that isn’t how you imagined it to be? Keep it up. Stay encouraged. Stay motivated that today is just one day in the narrative of your whole life. Today’s effort may lead to tomorrow’s unveiling of something magical that you didn’t see coming.

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