The Unstarving Musician

Frankie Raye is a powerhouse performer juggling over twenty shows a month. She is a singer-songwriter based out of Tampa, Florida. In 2019 Frankie launched her first album Brave. She has been recognized in several Best of the Bay Award categories, among many awards. Frankie shares what it’s like to gig on a consistent basis, how she has leveraged working with an agency, her songwriting and creativity process, and much more. We also listen to her track Taking My Chances from her album Brave.

Adam and Michael Scharff are longtime working musicians and music teachers. These days they’re in the world of virtual artist artist development, also offering production, writing, recording services. Their podcast Mentoring for the Modern Day Musician features the advice and expertise of the Scharff brothers, designed to help music artists shorten the learning curve of navigating the rapidly changing music business. We discuss live performance for success, pros and cons of a 360 label deal, and more.

My guest today is Bruce Wawrzyniak of Now Hear This. We talk about PR, promotions, social media, websites, placements and a whole lot more.  I did a quick search for musician-focused podcasts and came across Now Hear This by our guest, Bruce Waryzyniak. His company has a focus on talent management, promotion and booking. Bruce drops great tips and resources for indie musicians including creative song placement. We just scraped the surface of all the topics, and I know you'll enjoy this episode.

This is a special announcement episode for Unstarving Musician gal pal Lindsay White and Lady Brain Presents. The conversation features Karyn Ann, who is one of the performing artists for an upcoming Lady Brain Presents listening room event. Karyn shares stories about networking on the road, and how new connections landed her a slot at this month’s Lady Brain Presents event. Her voice is said to “beguile the most inattentive bar-goer.” Her singing and songwriting style draws comparisons to Bonnie Rai

LA-based musician, Miles Franco is balancing multiple projects in multiple bands. He has re established himself in a new market after San Jose, California to Los Angeles. His focus is on original music projects. We talk about the origin of his musical interests, playing Austin's SXSW, meeting his band mates of Paper Jackets, balancing a day job with his various gigs, songs that have been big releases for his bands, licensing work of his band All Good Things, and the benefits of finding external support.

Greg Wilnau, host of the Musician Monster podcast, joins me this episode. We talk about the Musician Monster website, which is a treasure trove of free resources, branding your music and making more money as a performing artist and more. Greg Wilnau has been on my radar for quite some time. He is a working musician and a musician mentor. He’s all about helping other musicians make it and in Greg’s eyes making it doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with fame. I hope you enjoy this as much as I did.

In this episode I speak with musician mindset coach and mentor Suz Paulinski of The Rock/Star Advocate. We talk about the DIY Musician Conference, her upcoming MusicPreneur Mindset Summit and the one thing she recommends to musicians who seek a better way. We also talk about her MusicPreneur podcast, on which I’m an upcoming guest. Suz also dives into her business, how she supports musicians, and how time management strategies and slowing down will change your life (and your music career).

In this episode I speak with pianist, synthesist, producer, vocalist and songwriter Glasys. We talk about his immigration from Israel to Portland, Oregon, discovering a new local music scene, and pivotal moments that lead to touring and recording with Todd Rundgren. We talk about how he grew his audiences through posting videos on Reddit, common traits of successful artists, and more. We also listen to "People" from his latest album, Defective Humanity.

Brian Wolff of Fair City Fire is giving back to Austin’s youth as Community Engagement Coordinator with a nonprofit called Kids In a New Groove. In this episode we talk about how this work and the mission keeps him connected to his music, the release of his band’s new single Simple Stupid, joining the Kids In a New Groove team, the realities of foster care, what it takes to find the right mentors, changing up the songwriting process, promotional events, strategic partnerships, and much more.

Only a few episodes ago I was joined by Bollywood Blues artist, Aki Kumar. Aki had some exciting news at the time that was under wraps, so I wanted to have him back to announce his signing with Sony Music India and the release of his single Dilruba. We also discuss the opportunity this opens up for Aki, the unusual nature of a Hindi artist in a blues world, the Little Village Foundation, and more.

The artist known as My Name is Chapel releases a new single called Taxi Cab today. Chapel is also in the midst of producing and scoring his first film. We discuss this, his recent full-length album, the origins of his name, the producing of his album Empire State, the story behind the new single, his love of vinyl, the inspiration for his artist name, a horror movie project, why music theory was never really his thing, and much more.

In this dual interview episode, I speak with Simon Tam about all he’s doing for the music community through podcasting, public speaking and writing. We also talk about his activism, how he supports other artists, the Supreme Court battle for his band’s name, how to successfully combine art and business, and more. Then we switch seats and Simon interviews me for his Music Business Hacks podcast.

My guest Kofy Brown is a multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, co-creator and bassist of all black girl rock trio Sistas in the Pit, drummer for her latest band Skip the Needle, a solo artist, and session player for hire. Our conversation covers the balancing act of Kofy’s many projects, how she’s managed to stay in high demand, and what she’d say to younger players about creating a successful and joyful music career. She's featured on two new albums by Skip the Needle and the Kofy Brown Band.

This is the third installment and re-release of The Unstarving Musician’s Guide to Getting Paid Gigs, in podcast audio format. The episode is dedicated to chapters five and six, in which I discuss the importance of managing your gig schedule and boosting that revenue stream. Gaining control of your gig schedule, creating multiple sources of income, and increasing your demand are among the topics I explore in chapters 5 and 6. I also discuss working in multiple bands, networking with musicians, and more.

Bollywood blues artist Aki Kumar sees gratitude and humility as key to managing his music career, creative challenges, band dynamics, and life. He returns to the podcast for a second round of depth conversation of this and more. Episode highlights include discussion on The San Jose blues scene and its influence on Aki’s career, his love for the musicians in his band, managing the occasional band conflict, writing music in Hindi with the integration of ska, and the effect of musical bonds.