Nothing replaces a handshake or a hug
I love sending emails to friends, but nothing replaces a handshake or a hug.
I think that’s why it’s still important for the artist or musician to get on the road, even if we only share our art with a small number of people at first and the gas costs are expensive.
Sure, we should be sharing art on Youtube or Pintrest or whatever digital place that fits; and yes, it’s fun to write back to people who comment or email. But nothing fully replaces the experience of sharing your art in person.
Those are the new relationships that might support your art for the long term.
Some folks might assume what sets apart the hobbiest from the professional is talent, skill. That’s not the case.
The only thing that sets them apart is a luxury and curse of time.
The hobbiest artist, the musician who does music for fun, has the luxury to say, “I don’t want to work on my music or art today. I’m going to the beach.”
The professional can’t say that. The professional shows up to work, on time, every day, just like the 9-5er (well, at random hours).
Some days you don’t want to work on that song idea or play that four hour gig in 80-90 degree heat, but you still do. It’s your job.
Side note: the artist who does music for fun, might have the luxury to say, “I’m not working on my music today,” but they also have the curse of saying (more often), “I’m having trouble finding time to work on my art or music. Work gets in the way.”
Twitter: The one category/account you’re missing
One of my favorite music guys I follow on Twitter is Ian Rogers, starter of Topspin.
Ian wrote an insightful blog about why he massively unfollowed people on Twitter last week, dropping his follower number from 1500+ to 179.
I might have been one of those un-followed (I’ve been following Ian for many years) and it makes me feel good if I was!
Why does it feel good to be unfollowed? Because this is how Twitter remains useful for people: You need to decide how you want to use it, and if you end up following 1000s of accounts, it’s useless.
Ian’s categories for what he follows are similar to my categories:
- News (favorite writers and bloggers and trusted news accounts)
- Favorite indie music labels (Unlike Ian, I’ve left room for a limited amount of favorite bands)
- Friends who are active on Twitter (some are musicians)
- Some tech accounts
- A few humor accounts
I’d like to propose one more category Ian’s missing, one we should follow for our Twitter feeds: OUR LOCAL COMMUNITY
Twitter is a wonderful way to stay connected with your local community: that nonprofit down the street; your favorite independent bookstore or coffee house; that shared workspace incubator; the local DDA or Chamber of Commerce; that awesome guy who dress up in a Werewolf mask and plays violin on the street…
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Following local community Twitter accounts can be problematic. Many local, small town professional accounts don’t use Twitter well. They sync it with their Facebook page. The manager goes on negative personal rants. They try to be funny rather than informative…Or they never post.
If you live in Detroit, this is easy. Detroit creatives, nonprofits, and new business accounts use Twitter well!
If you live in a small town, this might be difficult.
But it starts with you.
Against popular belief, Twitter isn’t a social promotion tool or micro blog. It’s a connection feed. It’s a news feed. A place to not only tweet about a celebrity dying or live tweeting about Break Bad’s season premier, but what’s important to you, your home, your world.
And honestly, you get to decide how you use Twitter. It doesn’t have to be the same way I do, or Ian does, or Lady Gaga does. It shouldn’t be.
But I hope you leave a little space for your local community.
“Self-employment is a jungle of distractions!”
This morning, I heard Natalie say that statement jokingly, on the phone, to a business owner.
Fact: I don’t know anyone who is better at navigating through the jungle than her. Natalie is the hardest working creative I know.
Her alarm goes off before mine. Once she has coffee made and the dog fed, she is at her Macbook, searching for stories and conducting interviews, for hours. She forgets lunchtime, regularly. Most nights when I return from a gig, Natalie will still be working, sitting on the couch writing and writing and writing.
Nat writes about 40-45 articles a month of various lengths and topics; yet somehow she made time to finish and self-publishing her first book. She’s already brainstorming her second book.
During a time where people incorrectly claim journalism is dying, Natalie has redefined the career in the new economy.
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Natalie and I don’t count how many hours we work a week like one might for a 9-5 job. Honestly, it would be hard to calculate because work happens so often in different ways. Even a dog walk turns into a brainstorming session.
But I’ve learned four simple rules from Natalie about navigating the jungles of self-employment:
- List goals/deadlines for each day and month on a white board to stay focused
- Trust that you will overcome obstacles
- Maintain a positive attitude
- Schedule in time for yourself that is non-work oriented
* * * * * *
Last night, I texted Natalie that I would be home from my gig later than expected. My friend Dan was playing at a bar across the street, and I wanted to catch a song or two before heading home.
She texted back, “No big deal. I’m sitting the couch and reading for fun. I’M SITTING ON THE COUCH AND READING FOR FUN!”
I smiled, hoping that when I got home around midnight, I wouldn’t actually find her on the couch working.
Instead, I found her asleep on the couch with a book on her face and large dog on her lap.
The jungles of self-employment, it’s an exhausting journey.
In the late 90s, even till 2004/05, it meant something to say, “I don’t listen to the radio. Radio sucks!’
It was a statement of honor made by the true music fan.
Now, most of us don’t listen to commercial radio as often as we did before iPods and smart phones and streaming platforms. Radio is having less and less of an impact each year. Tons more of niches and podcasts and Internet radio statements and Spotify playlists and Youtube channels appear each year.
The country’s ears are fragmented into many sections.
Yet, we still might hear someone (usually in their 30s or 40s) say, with pride, “I don’t listen to the radio!”
Of course you don’t! Most of us don’t!
Yet most adults are overwhelmed. They don’t know where to go to find new music they will enjoy. There are so many places to listen to new music, it’s overwhelming.
Now, it means more to make a statement about where you are finding new music, rather than saying where you aren’t finding it.
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I thought I’d share some spots where I’ve been discovering new music:
- CBC Radio’s The Signal (late at night)
- 107.1 FM Tree Town Sound at 6 PM on Sunday with Matthew Alturda
- Progressive Torch and Twang on 89.1 FM the Impact from MSU
- EMU’s 89.1 FM Roots Radio Project with Jeremy Baldwin
- Fearless Radio out of Chicago
- Ann Delisi’s Essential Listening Parties every third Tuesday at the Majestic Cafe; and her weekend morning radio show on WDET 101.9
- WXPN
- Pull the Plug Podcast from Kitchener, Ontario (note, these music-loving, concert-attending kids can get explicit! There are no rules on Internet radio!)
- My friend Jacob Poppe’s shares and playlists on Spotify
- Fusion Show‘s concerts & recommendations on their Facebook page
- La Blogotheque on Youtube
