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Mike Bankhead

Viewing: folk - View all posts

Amplified: Carolyn Shulman 

Carolyn Shulman is currently from Colorado. She had a lot to say, which I strongly encourage, so we'll skip the preamble and get around to amplifying her voice after the picture.

 

Carolyn Shulman

Photo by Jessie Matteson

 

1.  Let's hear the elevator pitch for your skill set and genre. 

I’m a folk / Americana singer-songwriter. I have played guitar since I was 9 years old and focus on acoustic guitar. I especially love intricate fingerpicking, but I also enjoy a good, old fashioned strummy song! I am also working on building my electric guitar skills. I would love to be able to improvise and play solid lead guitar, which would open up more possibilities for collaboration with other artists. I’m not there yet, but I’m having such a blast learning and working on developing that new skill set.  

When I perform live, I mostly play solo with my acoustic guitar. However, the album I released in May 2021, Grenadine & Kerosene, is a fully produced album with a band. It contains some songs that are solidly folk, some that are more folk-rock or Americana, and one that is straight up country.  

 

2.  I have gathered from your social media feeds that you are both culturally and religiously Jewish.  How does your faith and your culture influence the music you make? 

That’s such a nice question! Being Jewish factors into my songwriting indirectly in terms of how I view the world and my role in it. As Jews, we are taught that we should always work to make the world a better place than we found it (this is the concept of tikkun olam - repairing the world). I think also being part of a group that is targeted by violent extremists and hate groups has given me a heightened sense of empathy for the struggles of other marginalized groups. All of these ideas find their way into my songs.  

Being Jewish has also factored into at least one of my songs very directly. My song “Across the Borderline” is about a refugee mother and her two daughters making the perilous journey through the desert to what they hope will be safety in America, only to be separated when they finally make it. Writing it, I was thinking about the similarities with the Exodus story, when Moses led the Jews out of slavery in Egypt, across the desert, to safety and freedom in the promised land.  

Then, fast forward to more modern times, the line in the chorus that says “every footstep is a prayer” was inspired by something that Rabbi Abraham Heschel said after marching in Selma with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Some other rabbis (who had not gone to Selma) were giving him a hard time afterwards. Calling his level of religious observance into question, they asked him whether he prayed while he was in Alabama. He replied, “Yes. I prayed with my feet.” I really love that idea of praying with our feet - that taking action, either for ourselves or to help others, can be just as holy and important as praying in a more traditional way. 

 

3.  What was the first album you can remember buying with your own money? 

Michael Jackson’s Bad! I bought it on cassette tape at Peaches Music (which is sadly no more) in my hometown of Mobile, Alabama. That was how we rolled in the 80s!  

 

4.  Tell me about the last concert you saw. 

The last in-person concert I saw was Shawn Colvin, Marc Cohn, and Sara Watkins on December 1, 2021 at the beautiful Paramount Theater in Denver, Colorado. It was my first indoor, in-person show to attend since before the pandemic began. They were fantastic. Mary Chapin-Carpenter was supposed to be part of that tour, but she had to cancel due to I think a shoulder injury, and so Sara Watkins (Nickel Creek, Watkins Family Hour) subbed in, and she was an amazing addition to the show. They all sat onstage and played in the round, and it was a beautiful night. I cried when the music started, it had been so long. 

 

 

5.  You didn't get a chance to play a bunch of support shows for Grenadine & Kerosene, thanks to the pandemic. Are there plans of taking that album out on the road in the future? 

I hope so, pandemic allowing! I’m planning on booking some shows around Colorado for the spring and summer.  

 

 

6. You're a lawyer.  I've never met a lawyer who turned into an indie musician. Is there anything from your former career that you bring forward into this one?  

Definitely. I am sort of a geek about doing things by the book and treating my music like a business (because it is!). I copyright my songs. I set up an LLC through which I handle my music business. I know the value of seeking out the help of experts when I don’t know how to do something myself or when I realize I don’t know all of the subtleties. I would never sign a contract that could affect my rights to control or earn income from my music or my publishing without thoroughly reviewing it and would probably have another lawyer review it, too.  

I think in general, my background as a lawyer has taught me a lot about how the world works and has taught me that the devil is in the details, so to speak. 

 

7. If you could change anything about the music industry, what would it be?   

I would have the streaming platforms such as Spotify, Pandora, Apple Music, etc. compensate artists more fairly for the use of our creations. Right now, it takes approximately 5,000 Spotify streams in the United States to earn the same income we’d get from one album sale. That is insulting to artists and has resulted in a mind-boggling amount of profit for these streaming companies.  

Meanwhile, music has become devalued to the average listener. Maybe they don’t know that we only receive about $0.003 per stream (on Spotify), or maybe they don’t care because streaming is so convenient. I mean, I stream music, too! I love being able to do so. But, when I find something I enjoy, I go to iTunes or to that artist’s website, and I purchase a digital download of the album in order to support that artist. Most people, however, aren’t doing that. We have been conditioned in the last 15 years to expect instant, on-demand access to just about any song we want for very low cost. In the past, people had to buy an album if they wanted to listen to it on demand.  

 

 

8.  Making Grenadine & Kerosene was a lifelong dream for you.  Mission accomplished.  What do you do next? 

I am focusing right now on learning how to work within the world of sync licensing. Sync licensing is when a song gets licensed for use in television, movies, advertisements, and video games. As I explained in the previous question, music streaming platforms have sort of destroyed musicians’ ability to earn much income from recorded music. However, sync licensing is a great way to do just that. Music supervisors need music in order to enhance the emotional impact of their shows, movies, ads, and games, and they are required to pay artists to use it. More shows and movies are being created and released than ever before right now (thanks to streaming services! ha!), and I believe indie musicians can really benefit by working on getting their songs into this arena.  

In addition to working on that, I am also looking forward to connecting with fans in person and growing my audience through live shows this year! Fingers crossed for a better year in terms of the pandemic. I really want to play out more in 2022. 

***********************

Grenadine & Kerosene is not only a brilliant album title full of imagery, it's also the name of the album's title track. It's very good.  You should listen to it. Feel free to listen to it for free on the streaming service of your choice, but if you like it, well, you should probably head on over to Carolyn's Bandcamp page and buy it.

In addition to her official website, you can connect with Carolyn Shulman on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.

02/11/2022

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in songwriting, Amplified, guitarists, folk, Carolyn Shulman, Grenadine & Kerosene, lawyers, Jewish faith

Amplified: Chris Keats 

Chris Keats is the first British person to appear here on this interview series.  After the picture, let's amplify his voice... and as I did with our Canadian guest recently, I have left the  English spelling unchanged.

 

 

1. Let's hear the elevator pitch for your skill set and genre. 

Music to me is better than therapy. After my mum died by suicide I promised myself that I would do something everyday to make myself a better musician & a better human being. I write acoustic folk pop songs to heal both myself & others. 

 

2. Your bio says you're a world traveler.  Can you give me three countries you have visited that are foreign to you, a favorite food you experienced there, and something you have learned from your visit? 

The first place that comes to mind is Kathmandu in Nepal. I spent 3 months there in 2013 volunteering with a charity called The Umbrella Foundation which helped children who were trafficked during the civil war get back to their families, as well as clothing & educating them. We ate a lot of Dal Bhat with the children for breakfast & dinner but my favourite was a Nepalese Thali! Lovely! I learnt first hand what malnutrition looks & feels like & the impact that had on the lives of the children. I also realised how lucky I was & am to live in the west & to have a fantastic quality of life. 

Secondly I went to Rome in 2018 for a solo adventure. The pizza was amazing! (I wasn’t vegan at that point so it was meaty pizzas!) I learnt that there are other ways to live, other than the live to work life I had led in England. That the Italian people love life & they live it to the fullest! Very inspiring. 

I went to India in 2015 for 3 months. I loved the Massaman Curries I had there. I had it a lot. With a little bit of spice it was so tasty! I’d go back just for the food. What did I learn there? I learnt a lot about just being, rather than doing. I learnt to appreciate the small things. I learn what it was like to live in a chaotic but beautiful society. I re-learned to love my own company & be with myself. 

  

3. What was the first album you can remember buying with your own money? 

There are 2. The first one was 2 Unlimited’s second album called No Limits, which is a pop dance record which I loved! I’m listening to it now! 

I also remember buying Queen’s Greatest Hits 2 with my Dad at Virgin Records Stores in Brighton & then on the way home the car ran out of petrol and we had to wait by the side of the road for what felt like forever before getting more petrol & finally getting home! Such a great album! I love Queen! 

  

4. Tell me about the last concert you saw. 

Wow! The last proper gig I went to was in February 2020 to see City & Colour at The London Palladium! It was great. It was one of those gigs where I was incredibly into the band at the time & they had a new album out which was great. I miss playing & going to gigs so much right now! It’s been far too long! 

  

5. It seems like songwriting helps you to deal with trauma and pain and general life difficulty. When you write something to help heal yourself, how do you decide if you should also share it with an audience? 

Yes songwriting has been therapy for over a decade now. Since 2006 really.  

I have held back on some of the more painful songs I’ve written but I made the decision quite recently to start playing them & to record them. I’ve come to realise that I don’t know whether a song will be successful or not, or whether it is a good song or not. So I’ve decided to let the people decide. If I release a song & it helps one person that is a success to me!  

So going forward I won’t be holding back! 

  

6. Among the influences you note in your bio, I am only familiar with the music of Neil Young, so this question is about his music specifically.  What things from Neil Young's vast array of sounds, styles, and songs do you take with you into your own work? 

I love all of his music but my songwriting is influenced by his Harvest era work, After the Goldrush, Zuma & also Rust Never Sleeps. I love Harvest Moon too! I always planned to start with an acoustic set & then have the second half of the set be electric. That’s still a plan of mine! 

  

7. How has the ongoing pandemic affected your music career? 

I have meant not playing shows for the longest time I’ve had for decades. It is only recently that it has really started to bother me. I’m very patient but I’ve got to the point where I want to play live shows & go & see other artists perform. I want to go & perform at festivals & get back to travelling & playing shows!  

It has been a financial challenge as I would ‘normally’ be funding my music career with the money I make from working as a Physiotherapist! That isn’t possible right now.  

Ultimately it has meant I’ve started coaching the guitar & ukulele more and learnt a lot about how the music industry & the music business works & about marketing my artist career & growing my fanbase. I also wrote a lot of songs in the first lockdown that I must go back to. 

Overall I have made a positive time of it! 

  

8. So far, you have released a few singles.  What's next? Do you have plans to make an album? 

Yes I’ve released 4 singles since September 11th 2020 with a new single, SPOTLIGHT, out on April 9th. Then my first EP WHEN THE SAILS COLLAPSE, AS LIVE is hopefully coming out in May.  

I want to release my first album in either March or September 2022 & record a total of 3 albums by 2025. 

I’ve spent a lot of time in the last year learning the business side of the industry so it’s time to write a lot more songs & get back into the studio!

***

 

Did you notice that Chris Keats has a new single coming out this week?  "Spotlight" is coming your way on Friday, April 9th.  Click right here to follow Chris on Spotify.  

You can also find Chris over on Bandcamp, Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.

04/01/2021

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in songwriting, suicide, Amplified, guitarists, Chris Keats, Spotlight, Neil Young, Kathmandu, When the Sails Collapse, As Live, folk, Brighton

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