at Open Path Studios

I am just getting home from my final recording session with the trio… we start recording tomorrow at 10AM… well, more like 1PM after we set up all the mics. I am excited about my band… Murray Low on Piano, John Shifflet on Bass, Jason Lewis on Drums, Mimi Fox on Guitar, and John Santos on Percussion. Wayne Wallace is producing… so, yeah, I am a happy camper!

I am so thrilled, a healthy amount of nervous, and percolating with ideas for this week. I will record all day for the next 3 days. It will take some time in post production… I am hoping to release this baby in June or September… but I am getting ahead of myself…. more about that later…

For now, you can keep up with all the fun stuff here… http://www.facebook.com/TrelawnyRoseMusic

And, on twitter http://twitter.com/#!/trelawnyrose

~Trelawny Rose

So here’s the thing… I started singing when I was very young and I never stopped.

When I was a kid, singing was my escape and my joy. I didn’t think there was anything special about singing… until one day, I sang on stage and I got a standing ovation.

Later, in high school and then college, singing become my art form that I wanted to master. I studied and practiced very dutifully and graduated with honors – which I am very proud of because I also had a job and I was traveling and performing with a gospel choir.

When I got out of college with a music degree and realized that no one, NO ONE, had prepared me to make a living as a musician… I was pretty lost… I panicked… I went into business. Well, okay, not really BUSINESS, but I was an executive assistant in a very big company for a very important person and I was driving around the financial district in the back of a town car. I was making good money, had health care, but I had this longing to sing that was making me miserable at my day job.

I remember one day at work, I was waiting for a call from Ledisi‘s manager because they had approached me about singing background vocals for Ledisi for the opening of a movie at the Paramount… I am sitting at my desk in SF hoping and praying they call… and not sure what I will do if they do call. Of course, he calls, and the gig is THAT EVENING and I got the gig because I already knew the song. I went down to my car, pulled out some wrinkled clothes from another gig that were still there… I left work early and not much later I was on stage with Ledisi.

It wasn’t much longer before I realized that I couldn’t do my “business job” any longer.

A couple years later, I was ready to move to LA! I had nothing waiting for me there but I knew it was time to go for it. I didn’t know what “it” was but I couldn’t wait any longer. In LA, I tried to get a band together, I kept practicing and I also did some really amazing self development work but I would say the biggest thing that came out of LA was my vocal coaching business. While I was there, I worked with celebrity vocal coach Roger Love and he trained my voice and taught me how to teach and run my own private practice. Talk about a life line!

After building my business in LA, I met a singer in Oakland who I wanted to create an album with. So, after almost 5 years in LA, I moved back home… and re-built my practice in Berkeley and made a duo album with Amikaeya, “To Eva, With Love”.

That was a long tangent, but what I was getting at is that over time, music became my business. It started as my joy and my artistic expression and it shifted into a business. And there is nothing wrong with that, it needed to shift into that place for a while so I could learn how to provide high quality and helpful voice lessons and performances with consistency. But now that I have logged my 10,000 hours as a vocal coach, it is time for the pendulum to swing back to where we started 20 years ago… and that is MUSIC – for the sake of MUSIC!

It’s not that I haven’t enjoyed building and creating a vocal coaching business. I have loved every minute of it! It’s just that there is still this deep longing in me that hasn’t been quenched. I have been feeling like the music I was put on this planet to sing – has not been expressed, yet.

And that is what makes me so excited about the music that I am working on now. I feel that the music I was put here to create is starting to flow through me. I have hand selected 20 songs to be recorded on my first 2 albums. I have been working on arrangements with Wayne Wallace and Mimi Fox.

I am spending every waking moment in the artistic process. Even when I am teaching or at home, I am holding space for my art and aligning myself to make decisions that support the success of the project from all angles.

I’m going into the studio in November and December. I have a lot of practicing to do before then so this may be my last entry for a while.

Until then…

~Trelawny

Image via Wikipedia

Anyone who told you that you could make it in the music biz on talent alone doesn’t know the music biz.

Sure, there are the occasional stories of some 18 year old getting plucked out of a nightclub (or maybe I should have said 21 year old) and signed to a record deal… but the chances of that happening are nothing I would place my bets on.

Nowadays, record labels want to see that new artists have ALREADY made it before they sign them up. You have to show that you have an awesome recording, a tour schedule and an impressive fan base to get their attention. The days of labels investing in young talent are over for now. The good news is that with the proliferation of social media and the growing number of independent artists and labels, the playing field is starting to level out… but it is not easy. It takes a lot of hard work and studying and money.

So let’s start at the beginning – HARD WORK! If you are like most people, you have a job that makes you money (a day job) and then you have your dreams of being a musician… right? For a while, perhaps indefinitely, you will have a day job AND a job as a musician. It will be incredibly hard work to sustain both jobs, especially if you have a social life. So get ready to work hard and stay focused! My first advice is this: If at all possible – make your day job something in music. Many community music schools have admin jobs or even music teacher jobs. If you are just starting out, try teaching music to young people. It will be rewarding and you will be immersed in music all day – so you will be learning too. If you are reading this and you are still in college, think about a career in music law, music education, musicology, music therapy or music management.

…Oh yeah, and while you are working hard, it is critical that you are practicing (shedding), rehearsing, collaborating and performing as much as possible. You have to be good at what you do or what’s the point? You also have to build momentum and keep your fans (in real life and on social media) interested.

Next, you have to study and practice constantly! Obviously, you have to practice your instrument (see above)… but I am not only talking about that… you have to practice and study the art of social media, booking, publicity and promotion. There is an endless amount of information that people like you and I (artists) were never taught about the BUSINESS of being successful. So, buddy up with your friends who know about it. Take them out to lunch and pick their brains. Take notes and look up anything and everything that you don’t understand on the internet. There is a ton of information out there and YOU need to know it!

Finally, you will need money. Sad but true, you just will need it. I didn’t have it when I first started and it was really hard to get anything done. The musicians and promoters that you want to work with are professionals – and you have to pay them. There are 2 ways of getting around this… 1. You fund all your projects with your day job until you start getting paid to do music. 2 Become a DIY God or Goddess and learn how to do everything yourself. Become crafty and smart about what needs to happen and do it yourself with the help of social media and crowd funding sites like Kickstarter. (I know there are other ways – but these are the things I did so I can personally recommend them).

But, coming back to my point, you have to INVEST IN YOURSELF!!! What I mean is – DO NOT think of your next musical project as a money maker… but do it anyway. You probably will not see a return on your investment for several years. You have to be willing to sink all your time and energy and money into your craft with out expecting money back. It is an investment. It is a LONG TERM investment. The payoff won’t come right away… and it may NEVER come back – or maybe it will. But either way, your reputation as a professional who is willing to pay dues will be worth it’s weight in gold. You just have to believe in yourself and invest in yourself.

Show people that you believe in yourself and you are investing in yourself… and you’ll be delighted that they will start believing in you and maybe even investing in you, too!

It is a tricky world to navigate but I can say – it is TOTALLY worth it!

-Trelawny Rose

I am working on a project with Mimi Fox. We are arranging Folk songs that we love.

Here’s a sneak peak of what’s to come…

This video was recorded last summer at Jazz Camp West.

Hey everyone!!!

The reason I titled this entry COME TOGETHER is that I have recently linked my separate teaching and artist pages into ONE PAGE! Here it is! http://www.facebook.com/TrelawnyRoseMusic.!

I used to feel that I have a separate audiences with my students and my music fans… so I wanted to reflect that with 2 different pages. But the reality is that I am ONE person and I do both. So, I am dropping my “Voice Studio” page and I am keeping my artist page. My page will incorporate all the aspects of my professional life including behind-the-scenes information on recording and performing as well as tips about singing. I would like the page to serve as a community page for those that are my biggest supporters and followers as well as a platform to gain a larger audience. So please check it out! http://www.facebook.com/TrelawnyRoseMusic.!

OTHER NEWS FROM SUMMER!

In case you missed it, I did receive my Kickstarter funding! I was extremely happy and I did a little dance as the 2 minute countdown was happening… and then… nothing! In a dramatic turn of events, the Kickstarter website crashed within minutes of me receiving my funding… talk about a heart pounding moment. It actually took a couple days to resolve itself but all is well.

Many, many people have been asking me about tips and advice regarding running a successful Kickstarter campaign. I would really love to give back and help out. If you have any questions, please go to my facebook page http://www.facebook.com/TrelawnyRoseMusic and ask me a question.

Since I got my funding, I have been busier than EVER! I immediately jumped into action scheduling rehearsals, studio time and working with my producer Wayne Wallace on arrangements. His arrangements on this album are really stunning. I can’t wait for you to hear it! I am super excited about the musicians I get to work with! Murray Low on Piano, John Shifflet on Bass and Jason Lewis on Drums! I will also be joined by Mimi Fox and John Santos on a few tunes. YAY!

I stirred up so much attention during my campaign that some new opportunities also came my way. I am already starting to plan my second album… Mimi Fox and I are working on a collection of Folk songs that I am really excited about! We will be joined by incredible musicians, Jon Evans on Bass and Allison Miller on Drums.

Also, my favorite celebrity vocal coach, Roger Love, has asked me to help him with vocal tips on twitter and facebook. http://www.facebook.com/RogerLoveVocals

This is going to be an amazing year. I really can’t wait for it to all unfold so I can start sharing more music with you!

Thanks for reading!

-Trelawny Rose

Here I am late at night, again… I am approaching my 2 week countdown for my Kickstarter campaign and I am feeling like I need to focus most of my attention there until I meet my goal.

Early this summer, I concocted a plan to start a fund-raising campaign to help me pay for my debut CD as a solo artist! I decided to use Kickstarter.com as my platform. I gave myself 45 days to raise $17,500! I have to raise all of it by Aug. 5 or I don’t get anything! So far, I have raised $4,185 which gives me 2 weeks left to raise $13,315.

Why would I put myself through this bottleneck??? It’s simple… I am completely committed to creating this album and it is the only way, and the most fun way I could think of to do it. I like to play full-out and think BIG; this is my expression of that! Another reason of doing a Kickstarter campaign is that it puts me in contact with my community in a really cool way. It is a way for my friends, family and fans to co-create this project from conception to birth. In exchange for pledges of support (starting as low as $1.00), I get to send lots of thank you cards, emails and updates on the project to people that care most about my music.

Why would I ask for $17,500??? Well, that is also simple… that is how much it will cost for me to hire the best musicians around and record a smashing debut CD. You only get one chance to make a first impression on the national music scene and I want to get it right. I have all the connections I need for national radio play, national press and a national tour… I just need a noteworthy album.

I know it might seem like $13,000 is a far way to go and not much time left. However, research shows that Kickstarter campaigns really catch fire in the final stretch. Well…here we are in the final stretch. I am fired up… are ya with me???…

PLEASE CLICK BELOW FOR MORE INFO OR TO MAKE A PLEDGE.

KICKSTART TRELAWNY ROSE!!!

It is really late right now… 2:59AM to be exact. I was in the studio all evening Vocal Producing a client of mine, Simone Taylor. I had a lot of fun, she sounds amazing. So now I am buzzing a bit…

Vocal producing is something I have only been doing for a few years. I am stepping into it slowly and testing the waters. So far, I think I like it A LOT! It is similar to vocal coaching but it uses all my skills at their highest level. It is like Iron Chef for Vocal Coaches! My intuition, communication skills, and vocal knowledge all come into play at the same time. I have to immediately assess the relationship the Engineer has with the Artist and what their working style is separately and together so I don’t step on toes or mess with the vibe. I also have to be at the top of my game as a vocal coach, making big changes quickly and without killing the creative spirit of the Artist. Another thing to navigate is how to keep track of the different takes. It is a breath of fresh air for me and I am enjoying the process so far. All of this work will also pay off when I record my debut solo CD this year.

I am still focused on my Kickstarter campaign. I only have about 2.5 weeks left and I still have $13,000 to raise. All or nothing! It is hard to plan to record an album when you don’t have all the funds available, but I continue to practice and get myself ready for going in the studio which I hope will happen this fall/winter.

Meanwhile, I have a really rewarding and satisfying duo with jazz guitarist Mimi Fox. We have worked up about 10-15 songs and we are enjoying playing together and getting to know each other.

Also, in Seattle, I have a vocal improv group starting to take shape. 4 of us went into the studio last week and recorded our improvising for 4 hours. We got some cool stuff! Definitely worth pursuing in all my free time!!! LOL

And then there are my talented, dedicated, warm vocal students! I would feel out of balance without the element of sharing what I have learned with other singers. It is such an important part of my life balance… but I am definitely starting to tip over with so many projects in the fire.

I have spent all my life – since I was 12 – with a one track mind. I have kind of relentlessly pursued a career in music without a lot of evidence that it would work out. Most of it has felt like a struggle, like swimming upstream. And now, I feel a waterfall of possibilities opening up. I have found the flow of my life and it is gushing!

Last year, I released a tribute to Eva Cassidy called “To Eva, With Love” with my singing partner, Amikaeyla. We released the album to the internet and local fans in January 2011. We got a great response so we decided to have a National release this summer! We have received some great reviews! All About Jazz called it “one of the finest recordings of the year.” http://bit.ly/ojjZbA

“To Eva, With Love” is a live recording onto 24 tracks. It is a vocal duo with sextet! We didn’t attempt to copy Eva Cassidy’s signature sound, rather we created a celebration of her work with full instrumentation and voices in harmony. I am really proud of this CD and I am happy to see it is well received in the world press and radio.

If you haven’t had the absolute pleasure of hearing Eva Cassidy’s music. Please take a moment to check her out! You won’t be disappointed!

I want to give a special shout out to the PR and Radio team making this all possible! Thank you Terri Hinte, Kate Smith, Richard Anton, Patois Records and of course my dear friend, singing and business partner, Amikaeyla!

Welcome to my blog!!! This is my first post.

I plan on using this as my travel journal while I create my debut solo CD and go on the road. I am also a vocal coach working with celebrity vocal coach Roger Love. Follow me on the ups and downs of making music for a living… or making a living out of music.

Thanks for following. More to come…

-Trelawny Rose