The Unstarving Musician

SoundStorming is trying to disrupt the system that is the music industry, specifically how and where artists share their music, and today I'm joined by one of the co-founders, Alicia Rius. The app allows artists to share their music with an ever-growing and supportive community from the very beginning of their creative journey. Alicia and I talk about the inception of the idea, how it all works fo...

Judy Rodman is joining us on the podcast for the third time. We wanted to talk about life for musicians during the pandemic. We talk about staying well, creating and learning, being useful to others and improving ourselves. Judy wants to prepare us for the fact that a return to concerts and gigs will take a minimum of eighteen months to two years. She reminds us that we mustn't depend on a single...

Today we welcome back producer, singer, songwriter, educator and wellness practitioner, Liz Cirelli. When we first spoke, Liz was very much in a growth phase, and now she's got some exciting projects on the go, including the launch of The Cirelli School of Music. I wanted to have her back so that we could talk about the team Liz has surrounded herself with to accomplish her goals, how she is using...

Camellia Akhamie Kies, is an epic drummer and a new mom. She played drums throughout her entire pregnancy and Camellia is now a case study as there weren't many, if any, expecting moms playing drums at her level during her pregnancy. An Navy Veteran, Camellia played for the US Navy 7th Fleet band. She's toured many countries in Asia and the Americas. She's performed on national TV in the U.S., is...

Zack O'Malley Greenburgh is the author of A-List Angels: How a Band of Actors, Artists and Athletes Hacked Silicon Valley. Zack is the Senior Editor of Media & Entertainment at Forbes Magazine, where he started working straight out of college. He is the author of many Forbes cover stories including Ashton Kutcher, Katy Perry, Richard Branson, A-Rod and others. A 2007 Forbes list of top earning rap...

Chloe Collins is a singer songwriter based in Nashville. She's not your typical 19-year old. From New York, Chloe moved to Nashville in her early/mid teens to immerse herself in music and the Nashville scene. She's a seasoned performer and recording artist having played some very noteworthy venues, including The Bluebird Cafe in Nashville, the Opry City Stage and The Bitter End in New York, and th...

Danielle Eva Schwob is the artist behind Delanila. We spoke on the release day of her single, The Philosopher, part of the album Overloaded. Danielle is an accomplished musician, composer and is well-studied in music arts. Originally from London, but based in the U.S., Danielle is a cross-genre composer creating pieces for concert works, film scores, experimental electro-rock. She believes strongl...

My guest is Tara Simon, acclaimed vocalist and creator of Tara Simon Studios. In our pre-interview conversation I learned that Tara is really into analytics, and she should be–she's doing really well on YouTube! She wanted to be a singer, win a Grammy, and tour the world. Tara accomplished a lot along the way, including being recognized as a top finalist on the second season of the X Factor, and s...

Kelly Atkins is an insanely diverse vocalist who juggles various projects and bands, not to mention her role as Deputy Director of Kitka, a world-renowned women's vocal ensemble. She makes all of this work while balancing motherhood and community involvement. We talk about how musicians can piece together a full-time career through multiple avenues. An active performer both nationally and internat...

Kendall Rucks is highly influenced by the fashion and vibe of the 60s and 70s, has roots in 80s and 90s rock, and she loves LA. Inspired by Fiona Apple's Tidal album, Kendall's big goal is to create an album that tells a story, while balancing the current single release strategy that is successful in the current industry. Kendall grew up in Florida, but now calls LA home as she works both as a sol...

Alonzo is a multi-talented artist. You may have first been introduced to him as part of Fatally Unique on season 6 of America's Got Talent. A phenomenal dancer, Alonzo always had dreams of something more. Singing was his passion and so in 2013 his years of preparation led to a Craigslist ad that launched a tour across Asia. Alonzo is a big believer that we need to rid ourselves of fear and take th...

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 inco...

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. Ariane's courses and webinars have built a loyal following and she focuses on consistent content creation to support her business. Hailing from Austria, Ariane shares with us how self-publishing a book on bass techniques became very...

My guest this week is singer-songwriter Megan Leigh. Megan recently went full-time with her music career time and we dig into how that transition has gone. 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 t...

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...

Maybe you know him from his years as Rockin' Johnny Burgin. Maybe you know him by his new handle, The Worldwide West Side Guitar Man. Performing up to 250 shows a year in Europe, Japan and coast to coast in the US, it's possible you've heard him and don't even know it yet. If that's the case, you're in for a treat. Rejoining me on the podcast for the first time since his appearance at end of 2017,...

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...

Angela Predhomme is a soulful singer, composer and musician. She strives to make music that can stand up to the best of the best, and it certainly does. Angela's music has been featured in many well known film and TV productions, she has won many songwriting awards and has been recognized by Thrive Global as a rising star. Angela has done the hard work of building community online and in person. W...

Eli Lev, a return guest to the podcast, just released the 3rd in a 4 album project. He'll wrap the project up with that 4th album in the later part of 2020. He's incredibly inspirational, having done so much in the short span of his music career. He's all about intentions. And I think he found love recently. You'll hear more about that in our conversation. Global citizen and neo-folk singer Eli Le...

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 over 170 shows. Joshua is intentional in how he carves his music career, keeping in mind that he has a day job and a family to add into the mix. We talk about the strategy behind h...

Judy Rodman is a return guest as well as an award winning vocal coach, recording artist, author, producer, singer-songwriter and more. I recently caught up with Judy in person in October and it was such a treat. Judy shares some of the powerful lessons and tips from her recently published book Singing In The Studio which include specialized vocal techniques and insider tips to create quality produ...

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. The website and podcast dedicated to this project provide resources and information for independent musicians. His goal is to help musicians with booking better shows, music sales and streaming, digi...

Marc Phoenix received a master's degree in classical guitar and pedagogy from the University of Zurich. He also studied Jazz & songwriting at Berklee College of Music. Marc also spent a couple of decades as a producer in Los Angeles with compositions that would do well on radio and which were featured on Blood Diamond, Little Miss Sunshine, Sex & The City, Charmed, Scrubs, among others. He has pro...

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, a...

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 cr...