The Unstarving Musician

Singer songwriter Chris Taylor shares the secrets behind his creativity. His creative energy resembles a force of nature. He creates his own rules to spark inspiration and makes music and art to keep the voices of self-doubt at bay. His message to creatives? Don’t compare yourself to others and don’t look over your shoulder. Just pickup your paintbrush or an instrument and make something. Instead of looking back on days of worry, you’ll look back and see art. Art that you created.

Benoit Glazer and the Timucua Arts Foundation believe that the visual and performing arts should be accessible to everyone. What started out as house concerts to fill a gap in his music loving heart, has become a mission to present and inspire great music and art in Central Florida. The Timucua Arts Foundation does this through performance and education. In this episode, Benoit walks us through the story and some of the lessons learned along the way.

I had the pleasure of speaking with Tess Posner on International Women’s Day. She released a single to commemorate the day. That song is Supernova, which you will hear at the end of our conversation. She runs a non profit that aims to bring diversity into the technology field of AI. She does a good deal of public speaking and has a passion for social entrepreneurship. Our conversation touches on her website platform of choice, Instagram, her music, activism, artificial intelligence, PR, and more.

Creative block is a thing, but it doesn't have to be. In this episode, I share a popular tactic used by prolific songwriters to overcome creative block. I also share tips for getting out of your own head, which can help you get out of your own way. Other points of discussion include accountability, procrastination avoidance, a useful exercise called object writing, and more.

Jenna and Daniel Watters successfully met a $10k Kickstarter fundraising goal to support the release of their latest album. Most of that money was for a PR hire. In this episode, Jenna and Daniel share how and why their PR hire didn’t go well. We also discuss other efforts that went into promoting the release of their album The Watters. Their outlook on life gives them a sense of freedom that not all music artists experience. They’re not preoccupied with money, but focused on making good music.

Wendy Colonna is a songwriter, performer, recording artist, yogi and mom. She’s also co-creator of Tips Concerts, one of the best known house concert series in Austin. This conversation garners insights from Wendy’s life coaching practice, her talks with music students of UTA, writing music for advertising, common myths about success in music, and more. The big takeaway? You never know where your hard work and relationships will intersect with opportunity.

One of my favorite things about Louisa Hall's latest release Barista Boyfriend is its whimsy. She amplifies that whimsy in the videos created for album, but it doesn't stop there. Louisa also takes her whimsy to the stage for live performances. In this conversation we explore Louisa's mindset for releasing Barista Boyfriend in digital and vinyl only (no CDs), relationships, media promotion, being oneself online, Bands in Town, Squarespace, her ideal band, and why drummers are so important.

Justin Trawick is the quintessential DIY musician, but he’s just about maxed out his abilities as a one-man army. Among his many projects are his band The Common Good, a podcast, and touring with a songwriter series. These and his other projects obviously require marketing, selling, planning, logistics, coordination, etc. Justin seems highly organized, and he is. But he sees himself as over-extended. In this episode we discuss the things he's doing to adapt,change, and grow.

Jana Pochop refers to herself as New Mexican and as a nerd. She’s a singer, songwriter, recording artist, performer, and social media consultant for other working musicians. Social media consulting came about through volunteering for another artist she admired. That volunteer gig included working a march table, tour support, booking, and eventually social media. We discuss her love of marketing, her journey to Austin, various collaborations, her current (second) Kickstarter campaign, vlogging, and more.

Austin based musician Emmanuel Tomes is a singer songwriter of the blues and funk variety. His latest release October Skies is a project that began as a collaboration with his sister Elyssa. He unfortunately lost Elyssa to illness in 2016 before the project was finished. With a little time and perseverance, Emmanuel completed and released the EP project in 2018. We discuss the release of October Skies, his next recording project, social media, and how songwriting challenges him personally.

Bradford and Kimberly Loomis are of the dynamic duo, married couple variety. Kimberly is highly involved in Bradford's career. They host their own subscription platform for patrons and created their own recording label. Cutting out the middleman is a primary focus for the Loomis'. We discuss this plus their entrepreneurial take on the business of music, Bradford's music mastermind group, house concerts, how his partnership with Kimberly is making a difference in his career, and much more.

Cam Gillette writes, sings, produces, and performs under the band name Smoke From All The Friction. He and his collaborators meld electronica, pop, and rock to create an elaborate sound with melodic sensibility. Our conversation digs into Cam's approach to finding the perfect band members, working with production collaborators, keeping his own DIY approach in check, serving audiences at live shows, his quest to be himself on camera, music visualizers, and more.

Tony Harrah is methodically genre jumping from blues to folk. This part of his journey began amidst unexpected life changes. His resilience and creative adaptability make for a moving conversation. We discuss the acquisition of his publicist, his forthcoming albums, merchandising design, gas money gigs, life after touring, getting organized, producing music for younger artists, and how a songwriting group has impacted his music and life. He also shares his thoughts on the vibrant West Virginia music scene.

Jamie Hill is a producer, musician, and songwriter with a soft spot for vulnerable voices. To clarify, Jamie says he’s specifically interested in female voices, gay voices, trans voices, and brown voices. He also prefers socially conscious artists and art over entertainment. He’s co host of the podcast Misfit Stars, along side his singing songwriting spouse Shannon Curtis. Jamie says the podcast is for their community. It’s also a vehicle for their career that involves Patreon and community-only episo

This is a short holiday message to say thanks, reflect on the good things that happened in 2018, plus a couple of announcements for the New Year 2019.