By: Bruce Wawrzyniak
In an interesting turn of events, I suddenly find myself
mired in a three-interviews-in-less-than-two-weeks run, meaning, where I’m the
guest this time instead of the host. The
most recent (and second) of those came yesterday during a show that was being
streamed live across Facebook, YouTube, Twitch, and even BandLab.
During the discussion for their new “Crimes Against Folk”
podcast, co-hosts Ashley E. Norton and Ed Williams – better known as the
folk/Americana duo Whitherward – asked me to share a story from my years of
experience in the business. I told them one
of just many (many) examples I have been witness to as an artist manager,
publicist, jack-of-all-trades.
It was a for all intents and purposes last-minute booking that
I got for a client who was going to be traveling to Melbourne, Florida. It’s on the other coast of the Sunshine
State, two-and-a-quarter hours from here in Tampa. I made the drive over there and got to be the
point person for what would be a terrific connection.
You can go back and watch yesterday’s interview to hear me
give the story in more detail, but essentially, an audience member who referred
to himself as “just a realtor who’s been here for six or eight years” told me he
was impressed by my client and still had some connections back in California
who might be able to help. Lo and
behold, he put some feelers out over email and it resulted in me sitting in a
coffee shop in Hollywood a couple months later with a bigtime producer/songwriter
who has worked with some of the biggest names in the business. I’m proud to add that to this day, he and I
are still in touch and do get together whenever I travel to the Los Angeles area.
If you stay with yesterday’s interview long enough you also
hear me tell a story of being in Nashville with the same client, and – you never
know who will be in the audience, especially in Nashville – a publisher approaching
after one of her live performances, saying how impressed she was with my client
and let’s talk!
Heck, as recently as a month ago on Episode 332 of “Now Hear
This Entertainment,” singer, songwriter, guitar player Noah Guthrie (pictured)
told me about being a semi-finalist on season 13 of “America’s Got Talent,”
performing (notice that I didn’t say dancing) on ABC’s “Dancing With the Stars,”
and, being on the hit TV show “Glee.” And
when I asked him how that last opportunity came to be, he told a great story
about having performed a house concert in San Francisco and someone who was in
attendance that night finding themselves a couple weeks later with a casting
director from “Glee” who described a role they were having trouble filling and
this person saying, “I know exactly who you should get.” And boom, from doing a house concert, Noah
Guthrie ends up getting on a TV show.
For that matter, go back and listen to Episode 322 and
singer, songwriter Adrianna Foster (pictured at top) – now based in Miami – telling
me about getting her big break (heck, one of her big breaks) – when she
was a kid!
The moral of the story is, you can’t hang your head and say,
“All these things happen to everyone else.
When will it be my turn?”
The fact is, while you shouldn’t just sit back and wait around and wait around
to see when it will take place, you can take comfort knowing that these
opportunities are occurring regularly.
Put yourself out there and have a positive attitude and remember to be
grateful when you’re the next story someone is telling about breaks that
have come for entertainers.
• • •
I am a manager and publicist, running Now Hear This, Inc., an agency that has served clients across the U.S. ranging from music artists to authors to small businesses and even an Olympic athlete. Since February 2014 I have also hosted a weekly podcast (“Now Hear This Entertainment”), which has gotten listeners from 153 countries around the world. Find more about the company and the podcast at www.NowHearThis.biz. I am also a national speaker. Visit www.SpeakerBruceW.com for more information.
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