Category: Music

Posted in career, It's going to be OK, Life, Music, Nashville

“It’s Going To Be OK”

Posted on by Jaimee T

When I was four, I fell off my bike and busted my knee. I acted like it was the end of the world. My mom told me “It’s going to be OK”. Sure enough, my knee was fine, but I still have a scar on my knee to prove it.

When I was 17, I lost a piano competition, and I thought again my world was going to end. But my dad, sat me down and told me, ” The world isn’t fair, and this is going to happen more and more as life goes on. But it’s going to be OK.”

When I was 18, I had a devastating house fire. That same day, I went to go get the mail, and I found out I was put on the wait list for my number one college. At that point, I knew my life was over and there was nothing I could do about it. But something inside of me just sparked. And that night as I slept on some floor, I thought to myself “It’s going to be OK”.

When I was 24, I made the decision that I wanted to do something with my life, and I picked up and left for Nashville. The struggle has been real and it’s taught me a lot. I’ve been mugged, got into a hit and run, my grandmother passing away, car problems… the list goes on. When I tell my friends what’s been going on, the most supportive ones, don’t give me advice. They tell me, “Do what makes you happy, it’s going to work out and everything is going to be OK.”

My Point: Working in the industry and living my life in general has taught me that there are going to be some really bad times. Bad times where you don’t think you will survive. So bad you just don’t know what to do anymore. But if there is anything I learned in my short time on this planet, it’s that if you want something, you need to go after it. You need to work hard and you need to wake up being the best person you can be. After all, it’s going to be OK.

Posted in Music, Music Conference, Nashville, Pollstar

Not another music conference: #Pollstar

Posted on by Jaimee T

So, what’s so special about this Pollstar conference? You’re probably thinking not much, but really, anyone who is anyone (unless of course you are busy working… or family or whatever the case may be) in the music industry attends this conference. People from all over the world come to attend and they’re not just “making” it in the industry, some of these people are the most successful  in the game. Everyone from agents, talent buyers, production, artists… you name it, they were there.

I had the honor to attend the Production Live! portion of Pollstar Conference.

I’m glad I went, because I realized how much I actually knew about music production going into the conference. What to expect, what to do, what you need to do, how hard you work, but it’s also mind opening that these people not just work, they love their jobs. And that’s a refreshing idea because now a days, people just go to their 9 to 5 job and work… boring.

I would have love to attend the whole music conference, however I was in Utah snowboarding so I couldn’t. Just a side note, if you go to Utah to ski, you better be a damn good skier, those are some tough slopes.

My point: Do whatever you need to help you advance your career.

Posted in career, Love, Music, Nashville, Patience

Patience is a Virtue

Posted on by Jaimee T

As everyone tells me, I’m doing great things for only being down in Nashville for a short amount of time. Right now, I feel like my time is pinched and if I had more time in my 70 hour work week, I think I would have made bigger leaps here.

Weekly, I’m networking about 10 to 20 hours a week and that includes going to networking events/ music events. I try to go to 4 shows a month.. obviously, that’s just a joy for me. I apply for at least 5 jobs a week. I also blog to keep up my writing skills and I continue to do freelance work whenever I can. Did I mention I have a little bit of a social life?

Never the less, I’m trying extremely hard. Like most girls my age try to really hard to be in a relationship, I’m trying really hard to get my career on the go! I guess only time will tell!

My point: Beggars can’t be choosers.

Here’s a great song, I totally forgot about! Normal like you is a great band!

Posted in Love, Music

What is Love? Baby Don’t Hurt Me

Posted on by Jaimee T

As a music “guru”, I’ve talked a lot  about music and love, but I don’t know if I ever really got into why.

I think love is something everyone strives for in some sort of way.Your passion for life, for your dog, for your significant  other. Personally, I think it’s the only way to live life. You have to live for what you love.

I used to make fun of the idea of love, and what love meant. Especially falling in love with someone else. But as I get older, I’m slowly starting to understand that most people live for, falling in love.

I fell for someone so hard that every time I see him, I feel like I need to puke and punch him at the same time. He really hurt me. And obviously it didn’t work out.

And writing my own songs and music, I understand now how much falling in love impacted my life. I lost trust, I lost faith but mostly I almost lost who I was as a person. And because of it, I can understand why so many people write about love.

But looking back now, I’m glad it happened. Because I learned and grew into the person I am today.

Posted in Music

“Make It Work”

Posted on by Jaimee T

We’ve all heard the phrase “make it work”… mostly from Project Runway from Tim Gunn. But when you really think about it, it’s a very daunting thought. Because, how exactly do you “make it work”.

I can personally say working in the music and marketing industry, it starts with yourself, and I’m assuming it’s the same for other industries as well. Pretty much if you aren’t determined to do it, you will never get it done. It starts within you.

Next, it takes practice. Practice always makes perfect, and you can’t  be good at what you do unless you do it. Like playing guitar or working on your car, if you want to be the best at it, you have to do it all the time.

Lastly, after all the preparation of yourself, it’s about selling yourself. For a lot of people, this is probably the hardest part. Because if you don’t tell anyone that you are totally awesome, how is anyone going to know. You have to go out there and be awesome!

Facts of life if you want to make it.

Posted in Music

Band Geek to Rockstar: Where’s the fine line?

Posted on by Jaimee T

One of the things I hated as a kid was juggling music and sports. It was very difficult and many times I had to choose one or the other. My varsity basketball coach told me if I missed a game for a concert that I would be benched for five games. Is that seriously necessary?

So I want you to think about this: Were you a band geek? Tell me, were you made of in high school? Or were you making fun of someone for being in music in high school or college? Or worst, did you quit music because it just wasn’t “cool” to be in anymore?

When I first started playing saxophone, my band teachers initially told me I couldn’t play because there were too many saxophone players. And my mom told my teachers, “I can guarantee she will be the only one playing by the time she is a senior.” 13 saxophone players and seven years later I was the only one still playing saxophone by my senior year in high school.  Because I never thought it was dumb or stupid, I didn’t care if people made fun of me and most importantly I thought it was cool to learn how to read/write/play music.

Now let’s fast forward five years, I have friends who call me and ask me how to get started playing instruments. Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad they are interested, but where’s the fine line between being a band geek and being a rockstar? When do people start to realize that music is a very, very cool thing. I’m not sure if anyone has the answer to this but my point, don’t make fun of the band geeks, they just might be the next concert you are going to.

Posted in Music

What’s Happening to the Music in Nashville

Posted on by Jaimee T

Being down in Nashville and seeing all the music going on… well let’s put it this way, the first thing everyone says to me is ” Oh you must like country music, that’s what Nashville is known for”.

My response is “No Sh**”… no I wish it was, but sometimes people  are really rude when they talk to me about it. Majority of the time I say yes it is but it’s rapidly changing.

And I’ll tell you how:

Everyday, a new artist from all genres of music are coming from LA to New York and are moving to Nashville. Why? It’s not as cut throat as the other cities are, people will actually listen to your story and give you advice. Also, it’s 10x cheaper to live here in Nashville then it is in any other big music city. The other big thing, it’s easy to travel from. To get to NY, you have to take a train, deal with traffic and worst deal with all those people. To get to LA, you have to go through the mountains if you are driving or flying for that matter, deal with traffic and worst deal with the people. Sure to get to Nashville from the east, you have the mountain range, but to get north or south piece of cake. Because it’s in the middle of the country, you don’t have to worry about all that traffic and most importantly you don’t have to deal with people being mean to you. Like really mean… you know what I mean.

Also, bands/artists such as Kesha, Kings of Leon, Jack White, Justin Timberlake are moving/ live in Nashville. Why? Because Nashville is the next up coming city. Just you watch world.

While country music will always exist in Nashville, and believe me, I feel it always will, Music Row is a historic  music part of town that is getting bought out by real estate corporate investors.  And due to this corporate money coming into Music Row, people are dipping out fast. RCA Studios was almost completely bought out, the houses are being bought out and being turned into God knows what. Why? Because Music Row is where country music “started” and now corporate wants to turn it into a tourist trap.

My point: Nashville is NOT just country music anymore. It’s more than that, Nashville is about the music and will hopefully always be about the music.

Posted in Music, Nashville

Everything Comes With a Price

Posted on by Jaimee T

First off, I would like to apologize, it’s been so long since I wrote on my blog. I think this is the longest I’ve gone without writing. So for those of you who truly like to read my blog, I’m sorry. I’ve been so busy trying to get myself together here in Nashville.

Now with that being said, here are some insights about the industry down in Nashville:

People want to help you, however sometimes it comes with a price. If they know they aren’t going to get anything in return, more than likely, they won’t put you on their priority list. Also, there’s a huge gender factor down here. If a girl passes my name off to another friend, I’m a good person. If a guy passes my name off to another friend… I’m sleeping with him. It’s a stupid double standard, but it exist.

While Nashville is a small town and everyone knows everyone, it’s still very hard and competitive to get into the work place here. Yes, people are moving here like it’s going out of style and businesses are booming, but again you need to know the right people. Also, I’m sick and tired of being told I’m over qualified, seriously, just pay my less and hire me already.

Most importantly, it’s not easy. Not at all. It’s hard being away from family, it’s hard being away from the things you know, it’s hard just to establish yourself in a new city. But at the end of the day, I know it will be worth it. It has to be worth it. I will make it worth it.