The Lady J Podcast

Cleidys Tena Figueroa is a gigging musician, toddler-mom, wife, and educator who works hard to be present for her son in every aspect of his life, while working two jobs and trying to keep hold of her identity as a person in the process. Easy peasy. In this episode of The Lady J Podcast, Clei gets very real about how hard it can be to juggle her full-time work as a secondary music teacher, her gig...

Every working musician needs non-musician allies. While the live music industry seems overrun with agent poseurs and charlatans, the antidote is David Craig. He's the owner of Mais Musica, a talent booking, event management, and AV hire company in the UAE, and he’s one of the most straightforward people I do business with. A former DJ himself, David understands our needs as performers, he values o...

I almost didn’t bother with a second season of this podcast. Not because I ran out of things to say, but because I genuinely wasn’t sure I had a point. Season 1 of The Lady J Podcast was full of great conversations about what it takes to build a career in the live music industry. My guests and I truly do believe that live music matters, which is why we’ve spent our lives doing it. However, while I...

Last summer, my gigs were few and far between and my motivation was low. I needed a new challenge, but also needed some answers. What makes and sustains a career as a gigging musician? How do I get more gigs? How do I become a better performer? How do I make gigs more fulfilling and financially rewarding? Just like on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire , I used one of my lifelines: “I’d like to phone a...

Music. It’s the music that sets Christmas apart. Other holidays may also be about love, and family, and food and gifts, and peaceful wishes, but no other holiday is as inextricably linked to its music as Christmas is. Which is why it’s my favourite. The songs, oh the songs. Songs that make you feel all warm and fuzzy, songs that make you feel like a kid again, songs of hope and positivity that cel...

China was the worst. Well, to be fair, not necessarily the worst . But, of all the countries I performed in when I was touring, it was definitely my least favourite. Frankly, the sole redeeming feature of my 6-month Chinese experience was that I met Carrie and her husband, Joe , on my first night there and we’ve been friends ever since. After three years performing on the hotel circuit, I already...

In the wee hours of a mid-January morning in 2015 I landed in Dubai with my band, ready to begin a long sought-after residency at The Music Room, one of the city’s most interesting and prestigious live music venues. A few hours later we met Romario Fernando, the resident soundman, for our first soundcheck and to begin the symbiotic relationship with the engineer who would work alongside us on a ni...

It’s a friendly takeover! Aston Wylie hosts a very special episode of The Lady J Podcast, interviewing Felix, my husband-slash-guitarist-slash-business partner, and me about our career together over the last two decades. Felix and I have been together since 2006, running a business and performing more than 2700 shows worldwide, and also, now, being very full-time parents to two small humans. In th...

In this episode, Chris Santillán, musical director, pianist, and educator, proves how far a formal musical education can take you, if you “know your why”. Chris has spent his career telling stories through music, on tour and at sea, and he walks us through some of the highlights of his career as MD. He tells us why he studied to be an ER doctor (and what caused him to change career paths), whether...

In this episode, Timo Higgs, DJ and producer, percussionist, music curator, lyricist, poet, and event organizer, shares how challenging life can be as an entrepreneur in a creative field, when you’re working from home… with your toddler. Timo’s been working in the music industry for twenty-five years, but since becoming a father two years ago has experienced a seismic shift in how he works. We tal...

In this episode, Aston Wylie, singer-guitarist, songwriter, and fellow parent-of-a-small-child shares his conviction that original music belongs everywhere, including at cover gigs. Aston talks about his journey writing and playing his own music, when being a solo performer becomes a juggling act, how an injury led him to discover an unexpected perk of working with karaoke tracks, and the best par...

I’m Lady J (onstage) and in the two decades that I’ve been a full-time gigging musician I’ve played nearly 3000 shows with my husband-slash-guitarist-slash-business partner. We live in Dubai with our two kids, and we continue to perform hundreds of shows per year. I firmly believe that there is nothing like being in the room with the person making the music that moves you. Live music matters. Toda...

Lady J is a singer with two decades and nearly 3000 shows of live onstage experience leading cover and function bands. Get to know her here in her introductory episode, live from home in Dubai. In future episodes, Lady J will be having conversations with her fellow musicians and other music industry professionals about what makes and sustains a career as a gigging musician. Whether you're hoping t...