If there’s one thing that you may have noticed about me as you’ve perused my writing and this website, it’s that I love music, people, and beauty. The combination of these three things takes my breath away.
Today, Kelsey, one of my dear friends from university, is going to share a bit about her life as an independent touring artist with Von Strantz. Being an ocean away makes it hard for me to attend their shows, which made me ask for a couple of steps from Kelsey on how someone could support their favorite bands. Without further ado, I turn this post over to Kelsey.
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There’s a group of people amongst you that blend into the rest of society—musicians. People think or even say, “Ooh, that’s a cool hobby. So what is your actual job?”
The occupation of musician has been tainted by an oversaturation of people that play music just for fun. Which inevitably has made my occupation invisible.
I am in a duo called Von Strantz. Never heard of ‘em? It’s ok. You just did, and I hope to meet you too someday!
A lot of people may not realize, but for a musician with an evening performance, they are working at least 6–8 hours at the venue: set-up, network, play, network, tear down. That sounds like a normal work day right?
Ok, now back track and add the time it took to travel to the venue, time it took practicing for the show, time it took promoting the show…we’ve easily gone from a normal 8-hour work day to potentially an 18-hour work day.
Now how many hats are worn to make a show happen?
We have: booking agent, marketing team, financial advisor, press relations, band manager, inventory manager, van driver so the band can rest, stage hand, sound technician, salesperson, customer service rep, I’m probably missing a few aspects, and oh yeah, the artist. And in my case those hats are divided between TWO people.
An independent artist lives up to their name, and controls every aspect of their success.
Jess and I will average a 13 hour day while on tour.
Of course we get days off from shows and tours, but those days Jess and I average 13–15 hour work days.
We’re flipping hats on and off all day. And then there is a point when we stop and have dinner with our husbands and hang out with them before they head to bed. And then we turn into recording engineers.
Office work by day, song writing by night.
I could go on about the discipline it takes to have a large work load as a self-employed worker. But let me tell you about the fun, enjoyable, awesome aspects about being a musician.
ALL OF IT.
If I didn’t love everything I do as a full time touring musician I don’t know how long I would deal with the sleepless nights, days of staring at my laptop finding and emailing press opportunities, the day long drives, the meals consisting of splitting a can of black beans with Jess, a roulette of show turnouts.
Being an independent musician is no different than many other thankless jobs out there that have a very minimal return.
You’re always moving forward, walking by faith I guess, but it’s faith with a plan and long term goals. And every now and then you get those moments that remind you why you’re doing what you’re doing, confirming your crazy lifestyle. A lot of those moments actually stem from one of my favorite parts about my job. And that’s meeting people.
The greatest thing we get to do is meet people all over the country, get to know them, their story, and relate to them through our music. I relate my career to that of Paul and Barnabas, a duo traveling the world in Biblical times to meet with people, to disciple and encourage people in what they’re doing. It’s definitely not a calling for everybody. I personally find great value in building your local community. So naturally I’ve found myself in a job where I travel the country, separated from my own local community, but with the opportunity to encourage the people I meet to invest in their local communities and invest in the people around them. And that is a message Von Strantz can sing about.
4 Ways to Support Your Favorite Independent Musicians:
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Support what they’re doing by being present at their shows. An audience is equally as important at a show as the band.
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Purchase new merchandise from them when available. That is what keeps them physically moving forward.
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Check in with them. Sometimes it can feel like the only people who care about how you’re doing or what your doing are the people you’re squished in a van with. It speaks volumes for people to keep in touch and want to know how we’re doing. Not as a band, as individuals.
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Build up your local community so that your weary travelers have a community to come home to. It means a lot to me that when I am home from tour I feel welcomed back by my church family and I can participate in what they’re doing.
If you loved what Kelsey had to share about being an independent touring artist with Von Strantz, there are multiple ways to connect with her and Jess.
Keep up with Von Strantz online:
And you can find their music:
Itunes
Spotify
Pandora
P.S. from Barbara: Seriously. Check out their music! My personal favorites include Cigarette Smoke, Troubled Souls, and Something Beautiful. Easily found here!
