The son of a billionaire may never need to work, but that hasn't stopped Peter Buffett, son of investor Warren Buffett, from dabbling in causes and missions across the board.

Buffett is a professional musician, author and philanthropist. His performance at Elon at 4:30 p.m. Sept. 23 in McCrary Theater, accompanied by musician Michael Kott, will include a musical component, as well as a discussion of his New York Times best-selling book, "Life is What You Make It: Find Your Own Path to Fulfillment."

Buffett said the most important lesson he learned from his father was to stay true to one's self.

"Authenticity. Having integrity. Not faking it to get ahead. That's what my dad taught me," Buffett said.

He said his upbringing instilled in him a drive to follow his passions.

"My mom and dad always told me to do what I love and that's what I saw my dad doing," he said. "I didn't see him making a lot of money. I saw him loving his work so that's what I tried to do."

Music has been a part of Buffett's life for as long as he can remember, or a least as long as his mom can.

"My mother claims that I sang before I talked. I'm not sure that's true, but it's a great story," said Buffett.

Music has always been something that came naturally to him, he said, but he never thought of it as something he could make a career out of.

"Sometimes the thing right in front of your nose is the thing you miss," Buffett said.

It took him some time to realize taking his father's advice meant following his passion for music.

Another value Buffett attributes to his upbringing is a sense of social responsibility. Growing up in the '60s, he was exposed to a generation of cultural transition. He said his parents guided him through it.

"My parents were egalitarian," he said. "They were involved in the Civil Rights Movement and they instilled in me a sense that everyone was created equal. Those concepts were in my head and I felt them deeply."

After the first month of the school year, Elon students may already be wondering how to manage it all. Buffett seems to have figured out his own balancing act. He is juggling his music career, philanthropy, book tour and personal life.

"But don't be fooled," Buffett said. "Everybody has a harder time than they lead on."

He said that balancing it all means tuning out the distractions.

"In recording, there's something called signal to noise ratio," he said. "In the recording studio, you want to have the greatest amount of signal, and least amount of noise."

Buffett likened this to everyday living, defining noise as the media bombarding us with messages about how to look and feel.

"That's all noise as far as I'm concerned," Buffett said. "And the signal, of course, is what you feel in your gut."

Buffett concluded with some advice for Elon students.

"It takes time to get to know yourself. That's sort of why you're there," he said. "You have to go down wrong paths to figure out they're wrong and there's nothing wrong with that."