AHHHH! Good morning!
I have just woken up from one of the best sleeps of my life. We are on day eleven of the Working Out Of Town tour (#WOOT) and my sore body has had some well needed rest.
It's the travelling that gets to you! Sitting down for long periods of time in an uncomfortable car, then the stress of driving around a new city, getting lost in a new city, finding a parking space, unloading the gear, finding the venue, blah blah blah TIRED. That's how it is. Still, heaps of fucking fun!
In the car, Anna, Mike and myself have had the chance to have some really good conversations with each other. Although we are all very different people we do share very similar views on politics, business, people and how to go about doing music as a full-time career. We are also teaching and helping each other out with things along the way...Anna keeps saying "the power of three" and she is absolutely right. The power of three has meant each and every show, and I really mean EVERY SHOW has given us something. Whether that be finances (currently we are running the tour on profit! AMAZING!) new fans, a new host to stay with or a familiar face becoming a friend, experience, soooo much experience. I have never played so many shows in a row without one of them being 'bad' and I believe that is because we are propping each other up on stage and off, and our outlook is one of total positivity and openness!
One idea that has been hitting me across the face over and over again: business is people. Dani Johnson always says "your product is not what you are selling, your product is people" and it has never been more apparent than on this tour. People's kindness, attention, support for live music and generosity have been what has made this possible. We booked the whole tour ourselves and have not approached it from a financial aspect, of course it was greatly taken into consideration BUT running at a loss had always been an absolute possibility and one we are all comfortable to go with. If you focus on money you usually miss the opportunity to make it in the first place. In doing so I think we have found the single best way to make profit - focusing on people.
The rest of my life, i.e. when I am not on tour! consists of working in the band The Timorous Beasties, a lot of teaching and a lot of solo piano work. I am currently shutting down some of these other musical ventures as a result of it not working with PEOPLE. I realise I must work hard every single day to become a better, more effective communicator and sometimes that means removing myself from situations that are sucking up my time and energy and not allowing me to exercise or enhance my skills.
Touring is one of the only ways I see an artist being able to truly reach out and gain the fans they can connect with on a personal level. I love the internet and what it allows me to do but nothing is the same as gigging for three nights in one city and actually having some true, new fans arrive on the third night. Chatting with an audience member after the show and being invited back to do a house gig, or that golden and precious word of mouth recommendation! It's just unreal! It's business and it's people. They are the same thing. They have to be.
So today I am in Glasgow with Anna. I am at home at my Dad's house and Anna is staying close by with family - we have a flat tyre to remedy and then are back on the road heading to Paisley for our second date at The Anchor Mill, The Great Tapestry of Scotland. What a BEAUTIFUL piece of art and testament to how we all need each other to grow, work, live and be happy. We NEED each other. So it's about time we started to WANT to need each other because things aren't changing soon!!!!
I hope to see some of you at a show soon and if I have already met you on my travels thank you, you are as special to me as the songs I am singing, as the words that I write and as the notes that I play. I started out doing music for me but I promise, from the bottom of my heart, I'm doing it for us all :)
Love Rosie xxxxx
I have just woken up from one of the best sleeps of my life. We are on day eleven of the Working Out Of Town tour (#WOOT) and my sore body has had some well needed rest.
It's the travelling that gets to you! Sitting down for long periods of time in an uncomfortable car, then the stress of driving around a new city, getting lost in a new city, finding a parking space, unloading the gear, finding the venue, blah blah blah TIRED. That's how it is. Still, heaps of fucking fun!
In the car, Anna, Mike and myself have had the chance to have some really good conversations with each other. Although we are all very different people we do share very similar views on politics, business, people and how to go about doing music as a full-time career. We are also teaching and helping each other out with things along the way...Anna keeps saying "the power of three" and she is absolutely right. The power of three has meant each and every show, and I really mean EVERY SHOW has given us something. Whether that be finances (currently we are running the tour on profit! AMAZING!) new fans, a new host to stay with or a familiar face becoming a friend, experience, soooo much experience. I have never played so many shows in a row without one of them being 'bad' and I believe that is because we are propping each other up on stage and off, and our outlook is one of total positivity and openness!
One idea that has been hitting me across the face over and over again: business is people. Dani Johnson always says "your product is not what you are selling, your product is people" and it has never been more apparent than on this tour. People's kindness, attention, support for live music and generosity have been what has made this possible. We booked the whole tour ourselves and have not approached it from a financial aspect, of course it was greatly taken into consideration BUT running at a loss had always been an absolute possibility and one we are all comfortable to go with. If you focus on money you usually miss the opportunity to make it in the first place. In doing so I think we have found the single best way to make profit - focusing on people.
The rest of my life, i.e. when I am not on tour! consists of working in the band The Timorous Beasties, a lot of teaching and a lot of solo piano work. I am currently shutting down some of these other musical ventures as a result of it not working with PEOPLE. I realise I must work hard every single day to become a better, more effective communicator and sometimes that means removing myself from situations that are sucking up my time and energy and not allowing me to exercise or enhance my skills.
Touring is one of the only ways I see an artist being able to truly reach out and gain the fans they can connect with on a personal level. I love the internet and what it allows me to do but nothing is the same as gigging for three nights in one city and actually having some true, new fans arrive on the third night. Chatting with an audience member after the show and being invited back to do a house gig, or that golden and precious word of mouth recommendation! It's just unreal! It's business and it's people. They are the same thing. They have to be.
Lunch at Marcus' - our host in Birmingham! What a Lad! :)
So today I am in Glasgow with Anna. I am at home at my Dad's house and Anna is staying close by with family - we have a flat tyre to remedy and then are back on the road heading to Paisley for our second date at The Anchor Mill, The Great Tapestry of Scotland. What a BEAUTIFUL piece of art and testament to how we all need each other to grow, work, live and be happy. We NEED each other. So it's about time we started to WANT to need each other because things aren't changing soon!!!!
I hope to see some of you at a show soon and if I have already met you on my travels thank you, you are as special to me as the songs I am singing, as the words that I write and as the notes that I play. I started out doing music for me but I promise, from the bottom of my heart, I'm doing it for us all :)
Love Rosie xxxxx