This is all about the Indie Buzz Bootcamp, which took place this past weekend in St. Louis.
But first, I have a few words to say on a personal level:
I am so grateful to be living my life.
I have the most amazing friends – people who tell me straight up when I’m full of crap, cheer me on when I’m not, celebrate my wins when I come out on top, and help me find the silver lining when it rains.
I share my days and nights with a woman who supports me completely – through the ups, the downs, and the inevitable rounds-and-rounds that come with the territory of being an artist with professional intentions.
Being a performer comes natural to me, and people tell me I get better and better every time they see me play. I experience it as being further and further removed from the whole process; almost like watching it from outside of myself, enjoying the blissful sense of surrendering to the energy that comes through my body and the instruments of my guitar and my voice.
This past weekend, while floods were raging elsewhere in the midwest, I had the great honor and privilege of participating in a conference for musicians that took the traditional model of musicians’ conferences and turned it inside out. Inspired by Jack Canfield, one might have referred to it as a live version of “Chicken Soup for the Independent Musician’s Soul”…
It was an event in which musicians from the US, Canada, the UK, and Germany came together and explored real-world strategies for success in the 21st century music business – with a focus on the “inner game” of musicianship and business principles.
With speakers such as Derek Sivers of CDBaby.com, Ariel Hyatt of Arielpublicity.com, Performance Coach Tom Jackson, performers John Taglieri and Nancy Moran, and independent music marketing guru Bob Baker, who produced the event, each bringing their own perspective of a birds-eye view of what it takes to be successful in music, all who attended walked away with a plethora of insights, strategies, connections, and even transformations that will certainly produce breakthrough results over the next period of time in each of our music careers.
Here are some of the things that I brought home with me – paraphrased to suit my own temperament, of course. There were also overlaps, where more than one person said the same thing; I’m crediting the one who sticks out in my mind as having said it the most succinctly:
From Derek Sivers:
- Get weird – be willing to totally niche yourself and go for a specific target audience. The more specialized, unique and authentic you are, the more likely it is that your audience will find you and do business with you.
- Marketing is all about finding new and interesting ways to be courteous. Introducing yourself and breaking the ice with people – all of whom want to be engaged with others, finding ways to define and talk about your music, and simply asking the question “what does this person (or these people) really want?” are examples of this.
- DON’T TAKE THE WHOLE THING SO FREAKIN’ SERIOUS! The people who are most successful on CDBaby are the ones who are constantly trying new ways to entertain, enrich, enliven, and endear themselves to their audience. Being paralyzed by trying to find the “perfect” way to reach folks is a great way to solidify your place in the halls of obscurity.
From Ariel Hyatt:
- Music business in the 21st century, age of internet 2.0 world is all about having a two-way conversation with your fans. Social networking, Twitter, email dialogue, etc. are only a few examples of how this can be done. The more creative, consistent, and dynamic you can be with your fans, the more likely are you to engage them in such a way that not only does your fanbase grow, but it grows to sustain you.
- There are TONS of ways to utilize “the long tail” and other marketing concepts to your advantage as an artist. Subscription services, seasonal events, premium member-based offerings… the sky is truly the limit, and the more out-there, the better.
From Nancy Moran:
- The days of narrow-minded thinking about music business success are over – now there are so many “alternative” and niche markets for musicians, that all you have to do is look around and think of who are the people you want to make music for, and how you want to present it, that you’re bound to find a niche for yourself.
From John Taglieri:
- One critical component of music business success is the business mindset. “Be the best musician you can be, and then set that aside for a moment while you work on the business of your music”.
- Be organized; schedule everything, and back up your data. : )
From Tom Jackson:
- Performance is about *creating moments* for the audience, when it feels like they are part of the process, they’re in on the game and creating it with the performer. Structuring your performance to allow for those moments of spontaneity can make the difference between people walking away yawning or being riveted inside the music.
From Bob Baker I learned that it *is* possible to stand inside the music industry and say, “hey! There’s some really fertile ground here for musicians to be collaborative and conscious in their approach to doing business” – and to have people respond.
I am inspired by his courage to do things differently, and by the fact that in doing so he gathered some of the most amazing people to lay the groundwork for a whole new paradigm in music – one in which we work together to create an environment in which everyone has their honored place and everyone wins.
I had the privilege of providing sound for the event. There were some challenges with one of the microphones, but overall I felt really good about the job I did, especially considering there were some technical challenges that I’d never faced before. I learned that I can rise to those challenges, that it’s okay to ask for help sometimes, and that even an imperfect performance can produce incredible results.
Oh! Which reminds me…
The most technically challenging aspects of the weekend for me were the live musical performances – Tom Jackson’s coaching sessions with Jeanine Guidry and Kim Gammon of acoustic rock band Offering on Saturday and then with local St. Louis rock band Building Rome on Sunday, as well as three different sets of acoustic performances on Saturday night. The rock band setup was by far the most challenging.
On Saturday night of the event, we had the delicious pleasure of acoustic performances in a format created by Canadian award-winning singer-songwriter RyLee Madison called “Behind the Song Cafe”. Two sets of songs from four songwriters, each with a story that added depth and connection to the experience of the song. Rylee was joined onstage by Nashville hit-songwriter Wil Nance (whose lovely wife Holly brought her beautiful voice to a couple songs), John Taglieri, Nancy Moran, up-and-coming performer Natalie Gelman from NYC (who, incidentally, BLEW THE ROOM AWAY!), and Jeanine Guidry.
A huge thank you to Bob and to all of the other speakers as well as the participants for being there, bringing forth their best energy, and making the event transformational. It’s that kind of energy, enthusiasm, collaboration, and contribution that is turning the art of music-making into the art of healing the heart of humanity, and I am so grateful to be a part of the movement.
Much love,
Shawn
