Rising Stars: Meet Justin de Graaf

Today we’d like to introduce you to Justin de Graaf.

Hi Justin, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstories with our readers.
Hey, I’m Justin de Graaf, a touring musician and business owner here in Nashville, TN. Originally from Toronto, I moved down to Nashville in 2018 to pursue… well, the American dream.

At 17 I hit the road with my band (at the time) across Canada and have never questioned whether that was the right decision for me. Yes, it was a rollercoaster of high highs and low lows with little stability from time to time but I stayed the course. I’ve always believed when you’re lucky enough to have that feeling of knowing what lights your soul on fire, you owe it to yourself to not put that flame out.

Now that I have been a hired musician for 15+ years, I am no stranger to the machine that is the music industry. In Nashville, especially, it’s a business that you can break into but doesn’t guarantee you any breaks.

After playing for many different artists, I’ve seen firsthand that being a musician is not only a test of talent and passion but endurance. There is no clear-cut path to success. some days it feels like seizing every opportunity you come across and giving it 110% of yourself and some days it feels like throwing a pot of spaghetti at the wall to see what sticks. Let’s just say, I’ve thrown a lot of spaghetti. luckily for me, enough of it has stuck.

Currently, I play for an incredible Australian duo, Seaforth, with who I am on tour with currently (subtle plug) and I am proud to say I own my own company, Party Down Live Entertainment. Party Down began as a concept to create a band of real touring musicians that brought the concert feel and quality of Nashville into private events. Furthermore, my main mission was to pay my musicians fairly for their talents, a negotiation frequently squashed due to the high volume of competition in this industry.

Over the past couple of years, we have played internationally and also expanded into multiple bands, in multiple genres. I’m so proud of what it’s become and very excited to watch it continue to grow in this city.

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
Oh, it’s definitely been a very long, grueling journey with the highest of highs and the absolute lowest of lows. I graduated high school and started touring right away basically so there never was a backup plan. Which was a blessing and a curse all at the same time if I had one, I would have for SURE taken that road hundreds of times over again! Having my own bands gain some success, being dropped from record labels missing out on normal life to becoming a hired gun for so long.

Something always kept me going and it must have just been the love for it. Obviously, you see some kind of success and think “Hey, maybe I can actually really do this”. I moved to Nashville 4 years ago and it’s hands down, easily been the best decision I ever made. Being heavily involved in the music industry for so long though has definitely helped me with knowing how to run a wedding/corporate band.

Mainly just knowing how to talk and treat like-minded individuals who only all have one thing in common, and it’s to be able to play music full time and make at least a decent living at it. That’s what it always was for me at least. I imagine everyone thinks the same as it’s such a tough industry to remain involved in for long enough to be able to call it a “career.”

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
So throughout the last 25 years, I’ve been playing music. I’m 38 now. I’ve been touring for 20 years this year and never looked back. Learning guitar in grade 9 completely changed my life. I ended up playing bass professionally but I love to play and record all instruments! I’d have to say I’m most proud of the fact that I stuck with it. The love I have for performing is like no other. Nothing I’ve ever felt anyways. I’ve played shows with mono and broken bones and for some reason when I’m up there, I don’t feel any of it. Very bizarre.

I became a ‘hired gun’ back in Toronto and played/toured with many pop artists such as Nick Jonas, Selena Gomez, New Kids on the Block, etc. But the real turning point getting scooped up by an Aussie duo here in Nashville called “Seaforth”. My best friends, my groomsman at my wedding. They gave me an opportunity and I jumped on it, moved to the States, and have been touring heavily with them ever since! Since then I’ve become the band leader and all is going strong as we’re currently out on a headline tour right now! However, when I got engaged a few years back we were planning our wedding and my one and only job was to find a wedding band.

Thinking this was an easy task, it turned out that it’s pretttttty pricey down here. Nashville is a hub for weddings and bachelor/bachelorette parties. So with the experience I have from my previous years, I ended up just making my own called “Party Down” filled with unbelievable, talented musicians and artists. I couldn’t be luckier to be able to work with them and provide opportunities all across the world as we’ve played all over and have been doing very well so far for only two years in business. I pride myself on treating everybody equally and every single person I bring into this is important and I like to remind them of that daily. I compensate my players much higher than anybody else I know and nothing gives me greater joy than to be able to do that. I’ve struggled in this industry for so long that I know what someone like me would want and for me to be able to provide that makes me incredibly proud.

What would you say has been one of the most important lessons you’ve learned?
Never quit. It seems like everything is often stacked against you. But never quit. So many I grew up with playing in bands and for artists and it’s sad to see the fall off.

You realllllllly need to love it. You need to NEED it! I have set up a company that I can book from the road to allow me to be able to continue on touring and living the life I want and dreamed to live. There are always ways to make it work, you just need to dig deep and find those ways.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.partydownlive.com | www.iamjustindegraaf.com
• Instagram: @partydownlive | @iamjustindegraaf
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/partydownlive
• Youtube: www.youtube.com/partydownlive
• Yelp: www.yelp.com/partydownlive
• Other: www.theknot.com/marketplace/party-down-live-entertainment-nashville-tn-2053704