My original plan was to write a post about what happened on the 36 bus the other night. Two women – myself and one other – were simultaneously harassed by two different men on the same bus at the same time. The story is important and speaks to the ongoing problem that women everywhere experience on a daily basis. Unfortunately, however, there isn’t anything new about the narrative. The theme is the same. Only the women, the place and the men are different. On my…
Today’s post is about an unfortunate encounter that I recently had with a musician out on the scene. I’m not going to say where this happened and for the sake of this person’s band mates, I’m not going to out the group. But because I’m lazy, I’m also not going to dance around a bunch of pronouns to neutralize gender for the purpose of protecting this person's identity. The musician in question is a guy, but it does't matter anyway. This is a cautionary tale for all…
A month or so ago, I started writing recaps of some of the shows I’ve recently seen and posting them on the blog under the heading of “Hang-a-Dang.” The point of these posts is to provide little snapshots of what’s happening out on the local scene and to give a feel for some of the venues that are hosting live music. The idea for “Hang-a-Dang” came out of a lunch date with a friend and colleague. He was lamenting that not enough is being…
There’s some mighty, mighty magic happening on the Seattle music scene on Monday nights: the EntreMundos Jam Session at Capitol Cider. Each week, musicians, fans, neighbors on the hill and other locals gather together for what is one of the most extraordinary hangs in the city. If you’re in Seattle and haven’t rolled through yet, you should. Here are eight reasons why: The host band EntreMundos. This blazingly fun sextet kicks off the evening with a short set of high-energy Brazilian tunes. The band, which…
Last week, a local organization announced the finalists for an annual vocal competition that it hosts. These finalists will sing at Jazz Alley for a shot at winning a trip to Japan. Throughout the afternoon after the announcement was made, I received emails and texts from a handful of vocalists, friends who did not make the cut. Their reactions ran the gamut from perplexed to downright miserable. (I should add that all of these women are great singers.) We talked about a lot of…
An artist bio is the narrative that leads people from your work– music, dance, painting or whatever– to you. It satisfies the natural curiosity that is aroused when people dig what you do. It helps fans and industry types get a better sense of who you are, where you’ve been and what you’re all about. Ideally, a great bio will highlight your accomplishments and also celebrate your unique humanity. Because I’ve worked on both the publicity and booking sides of the music business, I’ve read hundreds…
Danielle LaPorte is my business guru. Her digital course “The Spark Kit” (formerly known as “The Fire Starter Sessions”) is easily the most inspirational and helpful guide for any entrepreneur looking to fire up and build an authentic, satisfying and successful business. (If you’re not yet hip to Danielle, I strongly urge you to visit her website: www.whitehottruth.com. Pure gold.) Danielle has changed the way I think about my life and my work and has empowered me in more ways than I can articulate…
My good pal Jason Parker recently posted a link on his Facebook page to an article about musicians and depression. It was from the blog "Behind the Music." The post was about a list complied by Health.com of the top ten professions with the highest rate of depression. Artists ranked fifth on the list. Further, artists who have a secondary job as a source of income, such as waiting tables or mopping floors, rank second on the list. It seems that plenty of musicians, writers…
The other day, I bid on a holiday party for my quartet. It was for a corporate luncheon that was to take place on a Friday afternoon in December. It was slightly unusual in that the potential client, a woman I’ll call “Jodie,” only wanted us to play for the first fifteen minutes of the event and the last fifteen minutes. But she wanted the band on site for four hours. I might add that the gig was to take place in Tacoma. I crunched…
Over the past few weeks, I’ve observed a few disparaging remarks about singers out there on the social media playground. More specifically, these were remarks made about jazz vocalists by jazz musicians. It actually surprised me a little. While there is definitely a common sentiment that musicians look down on vocalists, I guess I’ve never entirely bought into that idea. That said, I’m more than willing to entertain the notion that I might be kidding myself. It certainly seems like something worthy of investigating here.…