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Posts Tagged ‘Canadian Music Week’
We’re Playing Canadian Music Week 2012!
We even have our own Artist Profile on the Festival’s website :)
Will let you know ASAP exactly what night/venue etc.
:)
It’s Okay To Change The Plan … right?
Go with the flow, unless you’re caught in an undertow. In which case, it’s best to swim parallel to the shore until you’re out of it.
I learned that lesson the hard way back in 2003, when I went swimming in the Netherlands on a rather windy day and had to be rescued by surfers. Growing up near Peggy’s Cove, Nova Scotia (where people, usually tourists, drown because of the fierce waves) and spending many summers in Inverness (where ‘undertow’ is a season in August), it didn’t strike me as being that dangerous that day. My friends were out much further than I was and there were lots of people out riding the waves. I could see everyone laughing and having a good time, so why was I struggling to keep above the water?
Despite being raised in the Maritimes, I didn’t know you could swim out of an undertow. I thought you could only swim against it. That, however, is how you drown. You’ll never be stronger than the sea when it’s tugging, but you can get back to the shore if you’re clever enough to leave a different way than you came in.
That’s where I see myself right now. Back in January, I wrote about my plan for 2011. At the time, it made perfect sense and the vision was clear, so I dove in. I was starting to get pulled in deeper with commitments that were part of the plan, but full of relentless struggles and threats to my health and well-being. I decided I needed a different way out and then new options presented themselves; ones that weren’t part of the plan and would require me to take a leap of faith on my own. I chose this alternate path. The shore is still there … there is a little more distance to cross, but I’ll be in a much better condition when I get there.
In less obscure phrasing, since becoming recently unemployed and attending the Canadian Music Week conference this week, the band and I have decided to reschedule the CD release for the end of the summer. This will give me more time to strengthen my musicianship in writing for the album, as well as film projects, while building the webcast and button services into real businesses so that I can be self-sustaining and create jobs for other people too.
I’m feeling more resilient already :)
Meghan Morrison
www.meghanmorrison.com
@MegsMorrison
Tweet Hashtag #aiimm to share your own Adventures In Independent Music Making
Image “The Wave (1896)” by William-Adolphe Bouguereau (1825-1905). Public Domain Image.
If There Was No Prosecution
“Blame” by Julinemo (Creative Commons License 2.0)
There is something hopeful about March. Maybe it’s because the days are getting noticeably longer (Time change. Spring forward). Maybe it’s because I get to open my windows and clear out the dust that settled in over the winter. Maybe it’s because I, myself, start feeling less like that dust. Or maybe it’s because it represents the beginning of a new “year” for me.
September always represented a new school year when I was studying and that is how I planned my life. When I wasn’t in school, my new year was the traditional January new year. Now that I’ve started my music business, March is the most significant marker of new beginnings for me because that’s when Canadian Music Week happens. I volunteered for the conference for the first time last year and was blown away. Being so green in this industry, that conference gave me the insight, guidance and inspiration I needed to plan Dara’s Wedding Tour and the courage to start thinking about my musical endeavours as a true entrepreneurial pursuit. Listening to some of the greatest minds in this field helped foster the courage I needed to say goodbye (at least temporarily) to academia and any notion of pursuing a ‘real career’.
Their speeches (and sometimes debates -remember the Gene Simmons vs Bob Lefsetz face off?) helped me steer away from the quest of being signed to a label. Today, more than not, you’re actually better off being your own boss… if you’ve got what it takes. The industry is changing and the power is with the independent artists. You don’t need a label to have a career in music anymore, but you have to have the guts, determination, and willingness to sacrifice comforts while you’re building it. The conference this year re-confirmed these beliefs for me, but also taught me a lot more.
With a year of this under my belt, I felt like a different person walking into the Royal York. More professional; more focused, with a clearer vision for my career; more able to absorb all the information (and make sense of it); and more able to speak confidently with key players such as Terry McBride, CEO and founder of Nettwerk, who has been my industry idol since hearing him speak last year. I actually had the chance to thank him in person for the hope his talk instilled in me. That in and of itself made my conference. I think he was a little weird-ed out though. It was 8am… and he probably wasn’t expecting that reaction when I looked up from the table and saw his name tag directly across from me. Hahaha. Soon thereafter I apologized for startling him -but seriously, how often does one have the opportunity to talk one on one with these people? Especially the ones you look up to as role models! I couldn’t not thank him.
This past year has been scary … often: Big investments with little financial security and no guaranteed prospects of generating a return; tremendous amounts of soul searching and the struggle to create inner peace during chaos and uncertainty; convincing friends and family that this isn’t a phase or vacation; eventually obtaining their heart-filled and unconditional support; and finally … really … allowing myself to believe I’m allowed to let myself do this.
It’s funny how our heart will guide us to where we belong, if we let it, but our mind will try to keep us in check. Then again … maybe that’s how we know we’re actually doing what is right for us. We wouldn’t need a defense attorney if there was no prosecution.