The Unstarving Musician

The novel Corona virus COVID-19 pandemic is reminding us that there are things musicians can do to hedge our income during uncertain times. Amidst the cancellation of shows, festivals and conferences, many musicians are feeling uncertain about the near term future. Dave Cool, VP of Business Development at Bandzoogle joins me for a conversation about different ways musicians can still generate income. We also discuss his new blog post on how musicians can ask fans for support during the pandemic,.

Ariane Cap is a multi-instrumentalist, educator, author, blogger and composer. She has a very cool online educational website for learning bass, technique and theory. We start by talking about how she grew up in idyllic Austria (3:40), what brought her to the U.S. (6:30), self-publishing her book and how it led her to build a team (15:20), consistency with content (24:00), advantages and disadvantages of SoundCloud (29:15) and the catalyst for building her online business (36:20).

Megan Leigh recently went full-time with her music career time and we dig into that transition. Along the way we explore how she found the help and support she needed to start the journey, upped her game as a musician, discovered her songwriting process and found life on the road. Megan grew up on a farm where she later converted a barn to hosting house shows and other events. This experience brought her into contact with local musicians which turned out to be the key ingredient to her musical journey.

In this episode I take on a challenge from the Pat Flynn podcast and reached out to a number of administrators of Facebook Communities. There is real power in community, but it comes with a number of challenges as well. I made the ask of a number of community hosts to share their insights, challenges and the reason they love building and contributing to their respective online communities. Many of them stepped up to the mic and that’s what we’ve compiled in this episode.

Maybe you know him from his years as Rockin’ Johnny Burgin or by his new handle, The Worldwide West Side Guitar Man. Performing up to 250 shows a year in Europe, Japan and the US, it’s possible you’ve heard him and don’t even know it yet. Rejoining me on the podcast since his appearance at end of 2017, Johnny’s been around the world a couple times since then. He’s here to tell us about his travels, what it’s like to rebrand his name and songwriting on the road is like.

A weekend warrior working musician hailing from the frozen tundra of Calgary, Alberta, guitarist Ron Klimek got his first taste of being part of a band on local television. This started him down the path of more bands, more opportunities, eventually leading him…here. With me. A neighbor, a friend, and now bandmate in our new endeavor, R2V, Ron sits down with me to test some new equipment and talk about how he got to where he is and what he sees in the miles ahead. Hope you enjoy.

Angela Predhomme is a soulful singer, composer and musician. Her music has been featured in many well known film and TV productions. Angela has done the hard work of building community online and in person. We discuss her approach to attaining a 5-digit social media presence, focusing on the online music economy, and creating content that serves her listeners. Angela approaches her career like a portfolio - no one thing is the be all end all, not even social media, and I appreciate it.

Today I'm joined by return guest, Eli Lev, to talk about the importance of self-care, self-awareness and how to build community. Eli is making the world a smaller place, one song at a time. We start by talking about his kickstarter campaign and the unique way he organized it. We also discuss a content-focused approach to building community, developing his 4 album project, self-care in order to maintain momentum, embarking on a project with Megan Leigh and raising awareness and action on climate change.

Joshua Van Ness is a singer-songwriter, guitarist, drummer and native of New Jersey. To say that he has diverse interests and talents would be putting it mildly. Joshua is a regularly gigging artist with 2019 racking in 170+ shows. Joshua is intentional in how he carves his music career, keeping in mind he has a day job and a family to add into the mix. We talk about the strategy behind his goal setting, how he goes about getting better gigs, better paying gigs, and gigs opening with some of his heroes.

Judy Rodman is a return guest as well as an award winning vocal coach, recording artist, author, producer, singer-songwriter and more. Judy shares some of the powerful lessons and tips from her recently published book, which include specialized vocal techniques and insider tips to create quality productions. We dive deep into technical ways to use your voice, incorporate your body, and create a variety of emotions for the benefit of your audience.

David Andrew Wiebe is not only a singer-songwriter, but also a music educator. He’s found a way to grow his music career and the business of his music through a project he calls Music Entrepreneur HQ. His goal is to help musicians with booking better shows, music sales and streaming, marketing, licensing, placement, and making a better income. We also talk about how he weaves his own music into the picture, his personal experience with mastermind groups, personal development programs, and more.

Mawk Phoenix is my guest for this episode. We talk about one of the opportunities in today’s new music business, going from a studio based career to one of being an independent artist, and celebrating not only the small wins, but the struggles as well. Mawk’s fascinating music journey begins in Switzerland. Mawk also spent a couple of decades as a producer in Los Angeles with compositions which were featured in major movies and TV shows. He has also produced a number of noteworthy artists.

This is the fourth installment of The Unstarving Musician’s Guide to Getting Paid Gigs. I’m reading from Chapter 7 of the book which is all about sales and marketing. A lot of what I’m discussing includes what we know we should be doing, but are we doing it? Use this episode and its tips as a chance to refocus your marketing and sales efforts so that you can increase bookings, your booking fee, and build your audience. If you're ready to dive all in, you can find the full book on Amazon.

Ryan Kairalla is an artist advocate, entertainment lawyer and host of the Break The Business Podcast. He leverages his background in law, business, education, and entertainment to enhance the careers independent music artists–and to pursue big ideas. With his network of partners, collaborators, mentors, and friends, Ryan brings people together to share helpful advice with music artists, content creators, and more.

Chris Coles is the Founder of Musicians Unite, a community born out of the desire to support musicians of all ages, styles and skill levels together to help one another achieve their goals. Not only is it a group for musicians to share their challenges and successes, but it’s a place for them to learn from each other as well. In this episode we talk about overcoming burnout, being vs. doing, and surrounding yourself with the right people. Chris details how Musicians Unite has evolved from the early day