The Hunt for New Music. Bruno Mars is a living testimony to what happens when you just don’t quit. He was born into a family of musicians and his natural talent for music was obvious at a very early age. But–he struggled. A deal with Motown didn’t work out . A management deal with Will. i. Am’s group never really materialized. While he worked at his craft of performing and songwriting, he teamed with fellow songwriter and producer Philip Lawrence and the two of them combined their talents to work with and produce other artists. An audition with Atlantic Records lead to a solid record deal, but it took three years to finalize. Mars continued to write and produce during his pre-fame years and by the time his big solo chance as an artist came, he was a very accomplished and charismatic stage performer as well as a superb musical artist. Lurking in the intellectual background of this post is Malcom Gladwell’s observation that it takes approximately 10,000 hours of effort/practice to perfect a skill or craft– whether that skill is performing on stage or playing ice hockey. If you have not read Outliers by Gladwell, you are highly encouraged to do so; its a very interesting and insightful book. The Weekend Concert Series performance for Mother’s Day weekend 2015 features Bruno Mars on his 2012 South American tour. Mars certainly put in his 10,000 hours mastering his craft and it shows in his stage persona, his recorded music, and the musicality of his repertoire. Here’s Brun Mars at the Summer Soul Festival, Brazil on his 2012 South American tour. As always, you are encouraged to play it on the big on the flat screen and loud through the big hi-fi system. Bruno on stage; it doesn’t get much better than that.