So,
you're a young singer-songwriter and you wake up one morning to an email that
says one of your songs is going to be used in a popular television show. Within
two months of your song being used, you start getting phone calls from the A/R
folks at Warner Brothers, VH/1 sets up an interview, and John Mayer asks you to
open for him when he comes to town. Nice. Pretty soon you have a lawyer working
for you and you're looking over record deals and fat performance contracts.
Really nice. Then you buy Billboard magazine to see how many records James
Blunt has sold this week and you see that your single has climbed into the top
100. Then your alarm goes off, you hit snooze and try to go back to the amazing
dream you were having before you have to start work at 9 a.m. This type of
dream scenario has, undoubtedly, run through the minds of young
singer-songwriters everywhere, including here in America's Finest City. San
Diego musicians who have been on the scene for a while may recall the limos
pulling up outside the old Java Joe's when Jewel caught the attention of the
majors. More recently, Jason Mraz and Tristan Prettyman have made the jump from
playing local coffeehouses to the national scene. Of course, the list of bands
that have broken out of the local scene and gone on to super stardom is long
(Switchfoot, P.O.D, Blink 182), however, for the purposes of this story, we'll
be focusing on the new crop of young acoustic-based singer-songwriters. The
question on the table here is not only who might be the next breakout
singer-songwriter from the area, but also how are these young guns going about
the business of making it big?
First
off, let's begin with our cast of characters, which is by no means an
exhaustive list of the best and brightest in our fine city, but each of them
has certainly demonstrated the potential to go national. These are some of the
names that came up most frequently when I asked around to find out who I should
focus on.
Tim
Corley (featured on
Star Tomorrow, a nationally televised talent search show on NBC)
Lee
Coulter (Aussie
transplant; played recent dates at the House of Blues and the Belly Up Tavern)
Josh
Damigo (winner of
multiple San Diego H.A.T. awards)
Kim
Divine (winner of two
San Diego H.A.T. awards, 94.9 FM/M-Theory Records Artist of the Month)
Jenn
Grinels (numerous
professional musical theater credits)
Jane
Lui (winner of two San
Diego H.A.T. awards)
Barbara
Nesbitt (winner of San
Diego Music Scene's Cream of the Crop award, San Diego H.A.T. award nominee)
Derren
Raser (featured on
National Public Radio's All Things Considered)
Anna
Troy (formerly signed
to Elektra Records, with her sister, as a member of the Troys)
Renata
Youngblood (L.A. Music
Awards nominee, San Diego Music Awards nominee)
Lindsey
Yung (L.A Music Award
winner)
You'll
find each of these artists playing all kinds of gigs throughout Southern
California as well as occasional out-of-town dates. What they all have in
common is a steadfast desire to have a successful, full-time career as a
singer-songwriter. That singular goal is the one common denominator among all
of our subjects. With that baseline established, I posed a series of questions
to this list of potential up and comers as I sought to find out how similar, or
dissimilar, their approaches are in their push to get to the next level.
Signed a record
company contract, you know we've got great expectations . . . you know you're
gonna be a sensation.
- 'Rock and Roll Band,' Boston
On
the topic of the ever-elusive recording contract, I asked our interviewees what
they thought about that route. 'I wouldn't mind a big ol' pile of money,' mused
Barbara Nesbitt when asked about the pros and cons of getting signed to a major
label. Lee Coulter agrees. 'I just can't front the money for the kind of
distribution or marketing I want.' Herein lies the rub: as much as we would all
like to think that an artist can do it all - control their destiny, keep more
of the money (ˆ la Ani DiFranco, the gold standard bearer of indie music) - the
fastest way to the big leagues is still to get signed. As Derren Raser wisely
sums it up, 'Although being an independent artist is easier in a lot of ways
[bigger profit margin, more creative control], some resources that labels have
are really essential in gaining exposure, distribution, and contacts.
Theoretically, you could do all these things yourself as an independent artist.
However, it would probably take exponentially longer to accomplish.' Kim Divine
echoes that sentiment in simpler terms, 'You can only do so much on your own.'
While most of the artists I questioned agreed with the idea of getting signed
to a major label as possibly the best option, most also point out that options
have certainly increased in recent years. As Tim Corley points out, 'Obviously,
majors have the financial backing needed to push a record and get sales and
airplay, but now, indie labels [subsidiaries of majors], or the indies that
have major distribution, are also becoming more desirable than a major label.
Indies can get you on the big tours and can get your records in stores across
the U.S. If they are affiliated with a major, they can bump you up and throw
more money into what you're doing if things are working, and you get a bigger
royalty.' For Josh Damigo, the issue of getting signed has a lot to do with the
idea of being able to focus more on the music as opposed to business matters.
As he puts it, 'If I were signed by a major record label, my expectation is
that they would do all the promotions for me, have a staff to sell my CDs and
merchandise. I feel that getting signed by a major label would be the best
thing for my music and career. There is a huge business side to the music
industry and I'm definitely less of a businessman and more of an artist.' As
great as it all sounds, just about everyone I questioned acknowledged the
potential pitfalls of getting signed.
I'd rather be
able to face myself in the bathroom mirror than be rich and famous.
-
Ani DiFranco
Messing with an artist's music is like messing with the kid
of a proud parent. When artists speak of getting signed, the overwhelmingly
predominant fear is the dreaded loss of artistic control. Josh Damigo soberly
reflects, 'If I sign with a major label, I wonder about being able to call my
own shots.' Lindsey Yung offers a more passionate take on the idea of the big
bad label doing its worst. 'I don't want to be a product! My fear is that
they'd demand the music to be stripped of its creativity and completely change
it in order to make it 'radio-friendly.' Tim Corley adds some scary math and
detail into his take on the dangers of getting signed. 'It's daunting to know
that 80 percent of major label artists don't sell over 100,000 records, and it's
estimated now that in order to just break even you have to sell a million. They
can shelve your disc even after they've pumped 150k into recording and
mastering it. They can basically not do anything with it and there's nothing
you can do because they own it all.' Renata Youngblood is the only one in the
group of people I interviewed who seems completely undaunted by the idea of
dealing with the majors. She states, 'I don't fear the record companies or the
ways they operate. That would be counterproductive. When you educate yourself
about the market you're working in and the business of music and publishing,
you find that the music business isn't such a scary place. Just get yourself a
bad-ass attorney and you'll be fine!' In the 'been there, done that, and not
sure I want to do it again' category is Anna Troy, who was formerly signed to a
major (Elektra) but has since gone indie. Troy sums it all up this way, 'My
past experience with Elektra was filled with as many positive things to look
back on as negatives. Although the Elektra experience exposed me to a world of
opportunity that is hard to achieve as an independent artist, my artistic
vision was almost completely compromised in the process.'
I'm selling more
records on my own than I did on major labels.
- former major label artist, Aimee
Mann
So
what about the current indie music craze? While there are certainly success
stories involving artists who have made the indie route work very well, the
question quickly becomes, as Kim Divine puts it, 'How does a musician become an
expert in booking, promotion, and using the Internet to network and build a
presence?' Divine continues, 'It seems that in order to take a talented artist
out of their small town scene and into the world of the big boys, they need to
have most of their pieces in place. But in order to garner their attention you
need to have already created that buzz, toured a bit, and created a valid fan
base.' How to create, sustain, and grow your 'buzz factor' up to the point when
you either get the attention of the majors or go ride the indie train
successfully is a question on the minds of all of the artists. Jane Lui agrees
with Kim Divine about building your foundation up to a point that you can
almost take a deal or leave it. 'I fight with this question daily and haven't
figured it out quite yet. [It's] important that I make the right steps -
promotion, creative output, audience interaction, touring, radio/film
placement, digital distribution - if I get offered a deal it's because I've
made all the right steps beforehand.' It's mind boggling for an artist to
consider what to do, and what not to do, in order to maximize one's
self-promotion efforts and, even more daunting, when this struggle is thought
of in terms of national exposure.
A prophet is not
without honor, except in his own hometown.
-
Jesus (as he contemplated taking his act on the road)
I
asked all of the subjects how important they thought it was to take their show
out of San Diego from time to time. Jenn Grinels put it this way, 'I don't want
to oversaturate my local fan base with shows. Ideally, it's great to cultivate
a fan base in as many cities as possible.' Derren Raser sees a pragmatic angle
to getting on the road. 'I'm sure that labels notice when you're playing
regionally or nationally.' Tim Corley sees the advantage in touring but
acknowledges the logistical challenge. 'If you play too much in one area, you
end up being an option instead of an event. Expanding your fan-base is the
whole goal and the whole point . . . touring is just another way to do that,
although an acoustic/indie tour is tough to pull off financially unless your
schedule is filled with college gigs that actually pay. It's not easy to live
when you're playing coffeehouses.' Lindsey Yung points out that if you don't
get out and play other towns you risk getting 'stuck being a big fish in a
little pond.' Lee Coulter sees a big up side in aggressively targeting your
home base and sees potential pitfalls in going on tour without a good strategy.
'It would be really easy to feel like you just wasted a lot of time and money
after a tour if you didn't start out with an extremely well-informed plan.'
Touring offers one of the most time-tested ways of marketing yourself to a
music-hungry world; the Internet has certainly changed all the rules.
MySpace is da
bomb.
Ð Any teenager from here to Maine
'MySpace
is ridiculously famous, and I have fans who listen from as far away as Guam,
Australia, and Europe,' relates an enthusiastic Josh Damigo. I checked the
individual MySpace pages of our featured artists and was shocked to see that
the total plays (the amount of times someone has listened to one of their
tracks online) for most was over 10,000, with some well over 25,000 plays (Kim
Divine topped the list at over 35,000 plays). Wow! In addition, our subjects
all have websites where people are finding them, plus other sites such as
iTunes and CD Baby offer yet more exposure, but MySpace seems to be king right
now. The downside seems to be that it's very difficult to capitalize on the
MySpace exposure and have it translate into actual dollar signs. As Lee Coulter
points out, 'MySpace has been great for new listeners and bringing local
strangers out to gigs, but not really for sales.' Perhaps as the Internet music
revolution evolves, it will bring with it new ways for artists to actually see
some tangible financial rewards from the unlimited potential in cyberspace
(MySpace seems to be moving in a direction that allows artists to sell their
music from their MySpace site). But for now, nobody seems to be able to quit
their day job as a result of their Internet success. Uh-oh, did I just say the
two dreaded words right next to each other? Day job?
Don't quit your
day job.
- Your Parents
While
most of the interviewees do have to keep their day jobs to make ends meet in
this expensive town, I was surprised at how positive most were about their
daytime employment. 'In my opinion it doesn't distract me at all. In fact, it
lends itself to my writing because it makes me a more multifaceted person,'
reports Lindsey Yung with regard to her career as a registered nurse. Renata
Youngblood also sees a bright side in her part-time day job. 'I try to relish
the times I get to go home and sleep in my own bed every night 'cause when I'm on
the road or working in L.A, I sometimes miss that.' A few of our subjects are
gainfully employed in a musical way. Anna Troy is a daytime guitar instructor
while Jenn Grinels keeps a very busy schedule as a professional actress/ singer
in the musical theater world. All seem to agree that the simple math of the day
job scenario nets out to less time for writing and performing. As Barbara
Nesbitt indicates, 'It interferes very much with my music. Mostly, I feel like
the time would be better spent writing.' Perhaps the saving grace for all of
these artists is the blissful energy of youth that makes it possible to keep up
with it all. Josh Damigo, as busy as he is with his music and day job, has been
told that he has the energy of five musicians and could probably take on
another part-time job. Derren Raser muses, 'I often tell people that I work two
full-time jobs, which is actually pretty accurate time-wise.' In the final
analysis, Tim Corley may have the most succinct summary of the day job
discussion when he brings up the fact that 'it is nice to not be homeless.'
God only knows.
God makes his plans. The information's unavailable to the mortal man.
- Paul Simon
On
the subject of long-term planning, everyone I questioned seemed to agree that
the music world is too fluid and unpredictable to formulate a rigid, fixed,
methodical long-term plan for success. Renata Youngblood was the one artist who
seemed to embrace the concept with the most enthusiasm. As she explains, 'I am
drawing up my five-year plan. How am I going to get anywhere if I don't know
where I'm going or how to get there? The master plan is something I re-evaluate
often, although the ultimate goal is a constant.' Jane Lui sees the issue of
planning this way. 'The answer to this question [of long-term planning] has
everything to do with the time line of our world. For example, we're in a
digital age, so as part of a plan, we have to move with it, be flexible, and
explore all avenues. If we take things like this in small chunks of time,
yearly goals for example, and examine where we'd like to take our music, I
think in time, it becomes a part of the master plan.' Lui adds, 'In my mind,
setting a time limit to make it is of no use. It's unrealistic and arrogant.'
Lee Coulter echoes the idea of making goals that can be pursued in smaller
chunks of time. 'I did have a more elaborate plan but that's kind of gone out
the window. Familiar story? Now it's all about six-month goals for me.' Besides
being wildly difficult to predict, the road to the top can also be a very
lonely and scary place. Hence, trying to do it all on your own becomes an
intimidating idea. Acknowledging the 'nobody does it alone' maxim, Renata
Youngblood sees picking the right people to help manage one's career as a huge
component in any musical career plan. 'As my music begins to build more
revenue, I am more concerned with finding individuals whom I trust to work
with.' Kim Divine adds, 'I feel that this is the stage in my own career where I
am hoping to team up with the right individuals who see the potential in my
music and can help me take the next step.' Tim Corley (resident comic
philosopher and voice of reason) puts a nice punctuation mark on the topic of
planning by pointing out that the biggest part of any plan is just getting out
there and doing your thing. 'I'm 25 and if I'm still playing the same venues
and doing the same things and not progressing by the time I'm say...oh...30ish,
then it might be time to rethink some things. It's on me, though, if I don't
put in the time and the work it takes.'
I did not choose
music, music chose me.
- Maestro Richard Bonynge
As
I alluded to earlier, the common thread among all of these young artists is an
over-riding passion to pursue their music. 'The more I delve into it, the more
I realize that I could really do nothing else. Though there are aspects of life
as a performer that will be difficult, it is really what I love and is really
what I feel best suited for. Performing is one of the most fun, most rewarding
things I know,' articulates the young Derren Raser. When asked if she is 100 percent into the idea of being a
career singer-songwriter, Barbara Nesbitt playfully asserts, 'Wait, lemme see...um...YES!'
Jenn Grinels keeps it simple. 'Music is my life.' Lee Coulter waxes downright
giddy as he explains, 'Even if I don't have a hit album and I'm playing private
parties for the rest or my life, music is just too fun for me to not want to do
it 100 percent of the time.' Lindsey Yung says she would 'do it in heartbeat'
if the opportunity to do music full-time presented itself. Kim Divine puts it
this way, 'Ultimately I want to be able to make a living through music, writing
and performing. It is what makes me tick. Who knows what exact path I will take
or how far I will go, but I do know that I am giving it all I've got and I hope
to never look back and regret.'
So,
you're a young singer-songwriter and you wake up one morning to find ... that
your music fantasy has actually started to come together. It wasn't all just a
sweet dream and you don't have to hit snooze until it's time to go to your day
job. Is that kind of one-in-a-million chance in the cards for any of our
subjects? As all of the interviewees would readily admit, the odds are
certainly against any young artist really hitting it big, but for this group of
San Diego acoustic adventurers, the fulfillment seems to be much more in the
journey than in the destination. As these youthful champions of the San Diego
music scene push forward, the rest of us can sit back, enjoy the music, and
watch what happens.