76. Find Yourself and Your Income Through the Same Instruments
season 3, episode 16
Episode: 76
Welcome to Musicians Tip Jar where we talk about musicians and money, where we play on words almost more than we play on our instruments. I'm Chris Webb joined by my co host and musician, who practices far more than I do. Dave Matthews, I mean Dave Tamkin.
Dave Tamkin
You can tell by how well spoken you are on these podcasts, because I could barely get through the English language as much as I practice speaking. But you just screwed up that sentence so feeling good today,
Chris Webb
Did I? Today we chat with Austin, Texas musician, Josh Pearson, about how music can be our teacher and grow into who we are as full time musicians. We are always finding more ways that music not only sustains musicians financially, but also helps them grow and find themselves. We choose this path because it calls us, or perhaps it chooses us; it's hard to know. But no matter which way it is, it's clear that our path is only shown to us when we follow it and listen. Today's quote comes from our guest, Josh Pearson. A big reason I found a way to make a living playing music was to play other people's music.
Quote of the week
“A big reason how I found a way to make a living playing music was to play other people’s music." Josh Pearson
For over twenty years, composer / guitarist / vocalist Josh Pearson has created a growing network and fanbase in the jam band culture. As founding member of Moving Matter, A Live One, Touch of Trey & HeartByrne, Josh brings an uplifting element of surprise with his playful and melodic improvisation. Josh Pearson strives to change the world, one note at a time with his pop jam style music. His catchy pop songs, reminiscent of John Mayer & Eric Clapton, lend way to funky, jazzy improvisation heavily influenced by his love for Phish & the Grateful Dead.Pearson continues to write and record new material while consistently building his brand and online presence. With hundreds of shows and thousands of hours of playing, Josh has become an outstanding artist.
Non-profit of the week
Today's nonprofit is Austin Music Foundation and the leaders in Austin music, also known as the Liam Program... I got this right from their website, Chris. Just signed by the Austin Music Foundation and the Economic Development Department’s music and entertainment division, this program provides participants with top level music industry leadership effectiveness training for existing leaders in the Austin music community. Each class is composed of about 18 individuals, and the program focuses on exploring solution oriented initiatives regarding the music industry's pressing issues and opportunities, as well as increasing industry collaboration opportunities with other creative industries and Austin. This is one really long sentence, Chris, can learn more about it at austinmusicoundation.org Or let us know when you will be starting one of these programs in your city.
Chris Webb
So yes, we are diving into endorsements today and our guests Oh him off gives her tips on how it worked for her. She is a recording engineer, bassist and recent grad at the University of Colorado Denver. She is such an inspiration as she shares her story which started with performing as a young teen in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and then led to performing to a sold out crowd at the iconic Red Rocks Amphitheater.
Chris Webb
Seen on your website, all the endorsements that you've you've conjured up, you've collected and I think we've gotten a lot of questions from some listeners about how to go about approaching Oh Yang endorsements. Maybe you could give us some insight on how that's worked for you.
Zoe Nassimoff
Chris Webb
Today's guest shares his journey to finding himself by way of finding his instrument by way of life. By leaving room to improvise, he now finds himself sustaining a full time career as a musician in a great music town.
Chris Webb
Composer guitarist extraordinaire vocalist and touring musician Josh Pearson has created a strong network and fan base in the gym band culture. Thank you for joining us today at Musician Tip Jar
Josh Pearson
Oh, yeah, thanks for having me. I get asked so often, you know, how do you like this? This is your only job? I'm like, Well, yeah, you know, it is there's things around it that I also do. But yeah, the music industry. And most of my income comes from playing live music. They're like, Wow, that's so amazing. Because it's a it's a challenge. It's a really challenging thing to sort of do. And there's a lot of stuff I've learned over the years that have really helped be able to do that. And most people are kind of shocked, you know, at the level that I'm at, I'm not like this big, you know, touring artists, like I play around the country and stuff here and there. But for the most part, most of my shows are regional here in Austin, Houston, and Dallas. And, you know, there's ways I think, to stay within your market your network, you know, within a few 100 miles, and to be able to make a living doing this thing.
Chris Webb
Totally well. And so let's start with the fact that you and I have known each other since we were probably before we could drive.
Josh Pearson
Because we're both 13 or something, it's insane.
Chris Webb
It's insane. And I love that, you know, you are amongst a few of my continued friends from high school that have stayed musicians, full time, you know, it's such a pleasure to get to, you know, talk about, like, the journey that you've gone on, and that you're still just as passionate about it now, as when we were in high school, in our bands, you know, like trying to figure out what we're gonna do with our lives.
Josh Pearson
Yeah, I knew early on, I think I was like 15. And it was right around that time that I had this really magical experience, which at the time wasn't magical. And I was at my good buddies house Taylor Wheeler, who you probably remember from.
Chris Webb
He was a friend. He lived down the street from me actually
Josh Pearson
a friend of mine and we would hang out there all the time. And I was kind of a punk as a kid in high school definitely. You know in elementary and junior high and in height, like the beginning of high school was really just this sort of, like, mean spirited kid where I thought I was the best. And I would kind of be little people and make fun of people a lot in order to sort of, you know, steal their energy and get other people to laugh at them. And I was kind of the ringleader with this group of kids, and we all kinds of things, what kids do, but I was pretty harsh about and I remember this one experience, where I was at tailors. And, you know, we were under the influence of God knows what, at the time, but me and my good friend, Andy, were making fun of our other good friend, we were really laying into him, and he was getting very uncomfortable. And this is what I would do is what we would do is like hyenas kind of, to gang up on a piano person. And I started to feel that sort of uncomfortableness was really strange. It's like I started to kind of feel, you know, awkward, or like insecure, or just not good. It was like a not good feeling. I think at that moment, something came over me or came into me that really started to develop empathy, and like what empathy is. And from that moment, my empathy got so strong, like crazy strong, that I started to get really insecure in life. And we got really bad social anxiety. And like, I would try to hang out with my buddies and be part of that group and make fun of each other. But I couldn't, and they'd make fun of me and I started becoming a weak link. And so I started getting it bad. And like, I didn't know how to sort of fight back. And like, I just started feeling terrible. And I started getting very reclusive. And it was right at that moment that I got into guitar.
And I decided, you know, I'm just really gonna get into this thing I kind of got, you know, pushed away from hanging out with my friends and stuff. But the big point of it was, if I get really good at this guitar, I won't have to talk to people, like people have to come to talk to me, you know, and it was like, out of this really awkward socialness like, I had really bad social anxiety where like, I would blush really bad, I would like even sort of not be able to talk like stutter sometimes. And that was never me. I was like, always the one in class, raising my hand answering questions like super vocal, but from that time forward to sophomore year, high school, from that time forward, like I never wanted to be called on in class, like, a teacher would come up and talk to me or like, when parents would talk to me, I would get like, super insecure and very uncomfortable. And this was a long process. For me, it took me a long time to sort of get over this thing, or to learn to grow with it, like into my you know, 20s, my late 20s. And then I did a bunch of interworking got over it. But I just remember with the guitar and like going to high school parties, I'm like, if I have the guitar, I'm just playing in the corner, people will come watch me people come talk to me, you know, I won't have to do that sort of social anxiousness or awkwardness of like trying to, like interject with people, which I was always so great at as a kid and growing up. But from that point forward, it was really bizarre. You know, it was such a blessing because it's, it's shaped me into such a much more caring person, I think, and more empathetic, versus just like, you know, young punk. I think a lot of people probably go through a similar experience.
Chris Webb
Well, in certainly, I think we all find that music solves some sort of desire in SR it, like, fills something that we feel like we're missing, you know, previously,
Josh Pearson
that says, everyone and we're all is all artists, which I think we all are, it's like, you know, you hear it's like the tortured soul or the tortured artist, it's like, I, you know, I've dug deep into it, like, what am I seeking? Like, why do I want to be on stage, you know, playing for, you know, hundreds, like, I want to play for 1000s? Like, what is it that pushes us to get there? What is it about that, you know, sharing that vulnerability to opening up to letting people hear what you've created, or see what you've created. And, you know, it's not necessarily needing the reinforcement or the encouragement, but it's really nice, like, it feels really good. And I would say the stuff to my wife, sometimes I'll be so honest with this with people. And I'd be surprised if it isn't similar for other musicians, like when I would go out on tour for like, two weeks to a month at a time with some bands, which doesn't really happen much anymore. But when you're doing that, you're playing four or five, six shows a week, you're getting a lot of compliments. The shows are like, man, you're so amazing. Your guitar and work is so many, that sounds so good. Like you're awesome. Like, you get a lot of it, you know, and this is only this is with like 200 to 500 capacity audiences like I can only imagine what it's like, if you have 1000s. But, you know, to say that doesn't affect you. And you're like, Yeah, you know, and you do your best to take it in and enjoy it for what it is in the moment and let it go. But you get home and then that stops. You know, you don't get that for a couple of weeks and that there's a transition period for like a couple of weeks. You're like man that it feels weird. And I like having everybody say how awesome I am, you know, several times a day, you know, even get it in your social medias, like we post videos like a lot of stuff. You're just getting bombarded with a lot of compliments for this trade, you know, this art that you've put so much time into develop? And it's it is a strange thing to think you know why what is it about this that spurs us to do this?
Chris Webb
Right? Yeah, I totally relate to that, where it's like, you'll go play a show and you're like feeling like King or like Queen. For some, it's like, you feel like you're the center of the world for that couple hours, you get off the stage. And you have to just remember, it's not like it's that hard to turn it off. But it is a strange switch. It's a strange switch that you come off that stage and enter as a human again, you know,
Josh Pearson
100% is exactly it. And I remember that first experience with the band, it was Mick devious, and the musicians was like the first band I was in, like, we played one of the high school dances. And when it was over, and we walked off stage, like, that whole night, we went back to bed, Stacy's parents house, you know, and hung out with a bunch of friends. And like, I just thought I was like, the center of the universe, like I thought was so on cloud nine. And I was like, at that moment, like, this is what I want to do with my life, you know, like, this is just this amazing feeling. And I think it it's sort of stemmed from, I don't know, St. Charles is amazing, as it is an amazing childhood at that I had, there was this pretty wild, sort of, like one up in each other, I think in like, you know, Junior High in high school, or just like doing things better than each other, or like, I don't know, there was like this. For my group of friends. It's like belittling aspect to where it's like, instead of like lifting each other up and be like, Man, you're awesome. You're cool. Like, this is cool. It was sort of like a tearing down thing. And again, this might be sort of a pecking order to nature natural thing for kids in America at that age and stuff. And, but, you know, the guitar, the music thing, sort of got me away from that. And, you know, put me in this place where it was almost like untouchable, it's like, man, you're here. And you can't get gotten to, you know,
Chris Webb
man, it's really funny too. Because when you say it like that, what it really does recognize me is that there is an escape to be able to play the guitar, it is an escape from who you don't like to be sometimes, or how you don't like to feel sometimes. And then it puts you in a place that makes you feel like a king or a queen, right? Like it makes you feel like the center of the earth when you are in that position. And you can be playing show to three people, or do 100 or 500, and it still feels the same. When you're on that stage, when you're in front of that microphone, or when you're doing your thing, you know, it's a, it's a place that you get to take yourself too. And that is what brings us all back every single time. It's not the money, right? It's that place that you get put,
Josh Pearson
it's the escape. I always, you know, I teach lessons to and I always pitch that to people I'm like, you know, even if this isn't something you want to do for the rest of your life, or like get really into, it's just a great way for your soul, your spirit, your mindset, your mental health, to spend 20 to 30 minutes, sometimes 30 minutes to an hour a day doing whatever it be. And if it's not guitar, like find something where you're creating something, whether it's painting, dancing, you know, cooking can be so many different things. But it's that, that place, and I mean, it's really just, you know, life, you can see it life rewards concentration, if you focus on something, you know, and you focus on it long enough, you get reward. I mean, that's what meditation is. So everyone's like, you know, meditate, meditate, meditate? Well, yeah, there's many ways to get into that mental space. And, you know, for me, the best ways has been guitar and music,
Chris Webb
you put yourself in the jam band camp, right, as an artist. So like, let's talk a little bit about what makes Jam Band unique. And perhaps that ties into this meditation because I think of jam band music as a journey, you know, in that way, you're sort of getting on the stage, but not really knowing where it's gonna go completely right, which is different than other types of music, but maybe you can kind of expand on what makes JamBand the genre?
Josh Pearson
Very, yeah, you know, it's always sort of been, I don't know, if I quite agree with how it's been labeled that way. And it's certain bands kind of fit in there as, as more of it's just like, a style if you play music, and, you know, there's the structured section of a song, which a lot of bands will just stay to that structured section for the whole song, you know, Taylor Swift, like most pop artists, they're playing the song the same way every night. And so, like, ultimately, if you're playing music, like your jam, and no matter what it's just, it's, you know, it's like, rocking out, it's like, it's just, it is jamming. But I think what people mean by jam band, and the word jam, is that you are deviating from that structured section of the song and, you know, improv doing improvisation, and kind of, you know, playing in the moment, which is like, jazz has been doing that for forever. So, you know, is jazz a jam band? And like, you would probably say Not really, because it's sort of this, you know, unique thing in and of itself is jazz. But ultimately, like, I think they, you know, I would consider them In the first jam bands, and then that sort of philosophy, it made its way into like popular folk music. And a lot of it was with the Grateful Dead to where they were writing these kind of folk pop rock tunes, but then putting in all this improvisation similar to the way jazz musicians were at the time, and this I think, was sort of revolutionising the idea behind Oh, wow, pop, you know, rock music in have these big influences like jazz and have this whole new thing. And then fish kind of carry the torch and that idea, you know, to another place and other bands have, I think really learned that style of music, which is, you know, deemed jazz band, I mean, jam bands. And I'm from really those two bands. I was the Fit Grateful Dead fish. For me. It was always fish because that was more of my time. That was fish was really popular when we were in high school. And that's when I really got into
Chris Webb
it. That was the first big concert I ever went to was fish. Yeah, which one Alpine Valley? Yep. Alpine Valley in 1996 97. I think it was 87. Yeah. So
Josh Pearson
I saw them in 94 at UIC pavilion, and then saw them again a year later in 96 at Alpine Valley about a year and a half later. And I was standing in the lawn with Ben Stacy and Shawn Katie. And the three of us like all of our jobs were on the ground just like blown away. We're so far away up in the lawn, like Alpine Valley lawn is super steep. And like we're so far away. And I remember so vividly, there was like a big speaker out there they had, and it wound up blowing, it blew my way through the show. And so all you could hear was the volume coming off of the stage. But it was so incredibly good. We were still just like, it was unreal is it's such a magical experience. And I remember that was the point right then when I said that is what I want to do with my music like right there. And to you know, almost to a flaw. I learned how to play exceptionally well. Civ exceptionally similarly to Trey on a Stasia, which has been in my eyes, it's a blessing. I love the way he plays I love the way I'm able to play because I learned so much from him his playing, to be able to really channel the music, hear it, feel it, let it kind of come through you in the moment. But it has sort of pigeon holed me as like, Man, this guy sounds just like Trey, I've gotten that, you know, my whole career. And, you know, to this day, I play in tribute bands. And you know, getting into the financial stuff as we do that was a big perk, a big reason how I found a way to make a living playing music was to play other people's music,
Dave Tamkin
jazz, can you give us a little background of the different bands that you play in? Because not only there are quite a few of them. But you have a team for every single niche that you play in?
Josh Pearson
Yeah, so in 2010, I was working at a sunglass place called JPI, where and it was great company, but it was not what I want to do is doing sales I had been there for about, I don't know, six years at that point. And I had done a whole self help learning course called centerpoint. And it's the binaural beats stuff. And I've been doing that for about five years as you meditate every day for an hour a day with these headphones on. And it you know, sends a different frequency in one ear and a slightly different one, the other one anyways, it pushed me to grow tremendously as a person and start to push to where I really wanted to be, which wasn't, you know, sales, you know, working for a company selling sunglasses. And it was at that point that I was like, I really want to make this leap and play music for a living. And I remember to saying to my boss, so that's how I'm like, hey, you know, I think I can get my work done in like two to four hours a day. So can because they're waking just pay me for four hours a day. I'll get it all done. And then I'll have the rest of the day to do the things I really want to do in life. And like his head explode. He got so mad. He's like four hours a day. He's like, how are you not how you get your work done in four hours. Anyways, long story short, I eventually, I had started a fish tribute band with my great friend Dan McGreevy, who also from St. Charles I grew up with him on drums. We started the band in 2010. And immediately we're starting to sell like 100 to 200 tickets per show. Tickets back then were five to 10 bucks. But it was the most income I'd seen from music my entire life. You know, I've been doing moving matter since 1999. That band traveled all over the country playing festivals Wakarusa campus go, and we were broke. We weren't making any money. And so that was at 29 years old. That band was failing. I was financially failing. I didn't like my job. I was having super bad social anxiety, all this stuff. My whole life was just falling apart.
I thought by the time I was 30, I would be making a living as a musician. Meanwhile, it was furthest from the truth. And that's when I got into that program which really started to shift my whole programming everything about me and that's when you I left that job started that new tribute band alive on. And then within about six months of that once I was alive when that's a fish tribute band. Then about six months to a year of that starting, we started we formed a Talking Heads tribute band. But the way that started was we just played a note night where it was like four different bands playing like three or four different talking head songs. And at the end of the night, we did a super jam with a bunch of the members together, playing just strictly talking heads. And it's it was at a place called momos here in Austin, and it's sold out that night of the show, and it was like 400 people, 450 people and we're like, Whoa, yeah, there's some to this. So we decided to do it again next year at Anton's here in Austin. But this time, we decided to just do the supergroup. So it wasn't like a hoot night. It was like a real thing. And I don't even know if we had. Yeah, we don't have the poster over here. We didn't even have the name of the band yet. It was still just talking heads who tonight. But it was like the super group. And people were calling the venue say, Hey, is talking has playing there? And they're like, no, no, it's a tribute band. There was a line of 200 people outside the venue before the show started. We sold that out 650 tickets. And that's when we knew like, hey, we have something special here. Let's you know, let's grow it. We came up with a band name, heartburn, very clever name, I think, burn b y, r and e for David Byrne. And from there, I think we did one or two more just yearly shows. And they kept doing really well. I think the next one was like it emos where it had I think 800 And some people at it, and we decided to loot to play more shows. So we started playing, you know, four times a year, and then we started playing outside of the country. And that started bringing in some good money too. And so between those two bands alive on and heartburn, I was able to sort of just skate by financially, like barely get by, you know, like not living lavishly at all. Which goes into another point that for me, ever since I was a kid, I've always been very financially responsible. I had a checking account when I was five years old. And I just, you know, saving was always very important to me, and like not spending my money frivolously on candy or video games or just worthless plastic stuff that a lot of my friends would buy. Like there was things I wanted to buy, I saved up for like a nice BMX bike, I remember buying that. I remember my dad saying, hey, you know, I want you to use your own money to buy this because like, I think if you use your money, you're going to respect it and treat it, you know better. They bought me all kinds of stuff. They're amazing parents amazing family.
And that's another huge thing I think, helped me was just support for my parents, in any regards any aspect that I would go to in life, whether it was basketball, you know, as basketball for a long time until I finally got cut. And that's when it turns a guitar. They always supported us like whatever we wanted to do. But financially I was always a very I'm always been a strange person. You know, as I got older, I realized not many people are like that. I remember college when they're like, hey, sign up for these credit cards, you get free T shirts, I'm like, oh, nice free T shirts. I use those sides signed up, but I never used the credit cards, my friends like dude credit cards, like yeah, we can go buy stuff. I'm like, you have to pay for it now like Yeah, but not right now. It's crippled a lot of you know, teenage American kids, you know, bomber have a system that does this. But I always knew better. And I was shocked to this day, I still a lot of people call me and I can't trust myself with credit cards. Like I'll use debit cards because of that, if I don't have the money, like I'll spend like it's just nuts. So I was always really financially responsible and really tedious about my expenses. And I would always sort of teach that or pitch that to people like man, like a way to be able to do this stuff is like you got to keep your expenses down like you got to keep your cost of living low so that you can you know, work for less and be able to make your ends meet. And I was always really good at doing that. So those that's three of the bands right there for I think moving mattered was the one started 9099 Then alive on the fishery, but then heartburn. And then at some point I've been doing like the Josh Pearson thing, just playing solo stuff and plants trios or quartet with a band sometimes doing that. And lately I've been pushing that a lot more because, you know, I've got to get my original stuff out there. I've got to get that sort of artistic expression of myself out there more moving matters coming back again. We just played a few a couple of shows in Houston. We got a show this Wednesday coming up doing the pre party for Les Claypool super excited for that we had a rehearsal on Sunday night. What just a joy that is that just fills my heart to play this music with those guys that I've been playing with for 2020 years now over 20 years. And it's just it's so great.
Chris Webb
When you lived in Fort Collins, right and I lived in Boulder we would come up there and open for you guys a couple times and you guys just always had a great group of followers. You know music, your music was always popular. No matter. You know what town you're playing in?
Josh Pearson
Yeah, I mean, the band is so talented. And it's a jam band. You know, early on when you were doing that with us. We were getting pigeonholed as just another fish sounding band back then. And I remember the bass player, Chris Holland, who was always like, man, we can't play fish for this reason. But like Danny, and I wanted to play fish that like, we try to sneak a 2001 in there every so often. But, you know, looking back, you know, no regrets, but I wish I had sort of listened to Chris more on that and pushed just our stuff and really forgotten about fish in that regard. And I think that's what Trey did a lot to like, I think you you didn't find this out about Trey until a lot longer that he was a huge, Grateful Dead fan. And he loves Jerry and he loved Jerry's tone. And like, I didn't really know that till you know, 20 years after fish. That was a band. And I think that was a really smart and wise sort of thing to do. But yeah, moving Manna had this still a unique sound to where it was like a combination of you know, les Claypool, which was the bass player is being influenced and like Stewart Copeland, who was Danny's, the drummer's big influence. But me just sounding so much like Trey, and that's still when I play with anybody they say that I harp on like, Dude, it's talking heads with Trey. And so I started a new band a few years ago called Touch of Trey. And I wanted it to be grateful dead and fish you get in touch of Trey instead of touch of gray, because I've I've been getting the Jerry Garcia a lot more in the past five years, I wanted to start playing some of his music, but it opened it up to it's like, I can play whatever I want. And it'll have that tray element to it. sounds so much like Trey, right? So it's got that going on. But yeah, the band is good. I feel like if they were given a chance of people, you know, could hear us and see us. They would really like it and I'm so happy that we're getting it going again because we we did we opened for Spafford, I say spa for those of Spafford or Spofford. I don't know. You know, that band is there a pretty well known jam band. They were out of Phoenix or out of Arizona. I'm not sure where they're based now. But a great band they played in Houston, we opened for them. There's like 400 people there. And people are like who is this movie man? Like never heard you guys like it is amazing. It's so good. And then we just opened for Papa Dozier, like a month or so ago. Have you heard of Papa Dozier?
Dave Tamkin
Do they make pizza? They should.
Josh Pearson
I'm guessing you guys are really, really into the jam band sort of industry very much.
Chris Webb
I mean, I am I I certainly think fish was still one. I listen to them every summer. Basically. It's the summer they're my summer listens. You know what I mean? Yeah, I like that new band. Goose. Oh, yeah. Goose was amazing. Yeah, great. And, you know, but I guess I don't really listen to too many new jam bands, I suppose. Yeah.
Josh Pearson
There's a bunch out there and love for runners are Papa dojo, and Spafford are two of the four runners, great bands. But the nice thing is like we got to open for them. So there's already a bunch of people there. Like if you're just gonna play Houston by yourself, people like who's moving mad, or nobody would be there. It'd be like 40 people maybe. But now we're in front of the, you know, three to 500 people. And they've never heard of us even though we've been a band for since 1999. That's what 23 years or something now 24 years almost. And they're just like, the response has been so huge to where it's fueled, asked to be like, man, let's maybe give us another shout. But try better at it and do it do it's more like but it's not even for that reason. It's just like, the four of us, you know, are the three of us who were the original band and we added the keyboardist in 2005, there's something magical about playing with your best friends that know you inside and out. There's, there's nothing like that. And I can imagine that's similar to let fish experiences when they play together. Like they're, it's you know, you have a conversation musically, it carries over your character carries over into your music and your relationships with those people, as people carries over to how you relate musically, and it's fascinating.
Dave Tamkin
And that shines through your music.
Josh Pearson
It does. It really does. It's inevitable. I mean, it just comes out it's going to come out
Chris Webb
you'll see that where somebody will go solo, and it just doesn't work out as well.
Josh Pearson
What's happening right now solo and it's still it's still good, but there's just not that magical thing where it's like yeah, the you know, the three of us four of us were fearless like you know when you're playing music and it gets sort of stagnant or like you know ideas out there like people will get quiet and they'll fizzle out these guys are like we don't care like we won't you know explore every peak of it there's there's no fear so to speak. There's no insecurities
Chris Webb
well and so the what I always find myself drawn to with jam band music is live performance, you know, I don't listen to jam bands records as much as I enjoy going to see them in concert right? So and as you have all these cover bands of all these strong live bands, I assume that one Do your main revenue streams has had to stay performing. And I, personally, I think that's where I've seen you shine. The biggest is when I see you live, I do think that that is a place that you feel very comfortable. So let's talk a little bit about, like what your revenue streams look like for you to sustain this full time.
Josh Pearson
Definitely. So early on, it was just performing. And it was with the fish tribute band and the Grateful Dead, or the talking heads tribute band heartburn and a lot one. And it wasn't, you know, it's barely enough, it was pretty tough. I started teaching guitar lessons there a little bit, but not much, there was barely any income coming from that I was just scraping by. And then I started to charge for booking those bands. I was doing like all the management, a lot of the management and then the booking for a live one. And I started charging 10%. So I started taking 10% from those shows for doing all that stuff. And then Harper and had a booking agent a time and I'm like, Man, I can, you know, I think I can do a better job than this person. So like, yeah, you want to do it. And they're like, Yes, I took it from that band too. And that band was making pretty good money, you know, when you're selling 400 to 500, like we average at least 600 tickets, I think every time almost every time in Austin. And then Dallas, it's like varies between three to four or 500, Houston, same three to four. So with those numbers, and he's taking 10% of it, that's a really nice perk. And that was the bump that really helped sort of, I could live, you know, not comfortable or comfortably but like, you know, I still have to really watch my spending. And so, you know, with that those two were a big one, I think the booking, you know, taking on the booking. And then there was a time when I gave up the booking, and I was just back to all performing. And at that time was like I need to get some more revenue streams. So that's when I started pitching and pushing, teaching guitar lessons aside, when I build my website and develop my website, and the lessons, I don't push it really at all, I don't mark it very much. So I only have you know, a few lessons a week, you know, and it's $60 an hour. So it's just a nice little extra income. I do wish I pushed it more, because I really enjoy it. I love teaching.
And I think it's great. And it's very, you know, $60 an hour is a nice, you know, payment amount. So like, that's been good. That's kind of the bulk of my income. There's been other ways that some other streams that I've started and I've started to get into which a newer one for me as I have an effects pedal a line six helix, which is an effects pedal that has amp models and facts in there, and I've created these patches, and then you know, created them based around tre Anastasia's tone, and then marketed those and said, I've sell those for $5. I have those on my website, Josh pearson.org/merch. And a lot of the fish guitar players in the community that play through the helix have been buying them, which has been really cool. You know, it's like, it's the idea where you, we hear all these people talking about passive income, which is like, you know, I think the really smart people that make it financially figured out a way to put their either ideas or their money to work for them without them having to do much, if anything, like totally passes me is like just say you put money into stocks.
And it goes up like that sort of passive income, the income that you make out of it, because you're not really doing anything. But there's other income that's similar to passive income is like when you do a bunch of work up front, you know, this is what I think artists and musicians understand this, you record an album, you put a bunch of work into it, and then you sell it you put on the internet or you put it in stores to sell it. And then that generates income, you're not working, you know, while it's selling, but you put a bunch of work up front. So that's kind of what it is for these presets, I you know, work on dialing them in, and then I just put them up. And I only have two available and I plan to just do more of those and sort of grow that side of business. But that's been pretty cool. And then also having merch on my website like shirts like this shirt you can get on my website, and it's print on demand it's through. I think that's it printer fi I think Yeah. And so when somebody orders a shirt, you know, it gets printed through them and then shipped right from them. And it's like, I make like two to $3 margin on the shirt, which is nothing but if you scale it, you know, and you grow your demand and your traffic, like you know, you can start to see some some returns on that. So that's been an interesting thing for me that I've been trying to develop and grow as well. But yeah, though, all that right, there's most of my revenue streams.
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Decide who you sound most like and consider some ways to harness that in the marketplace. Cover shows, cover band, instruction videos for others. This can so often bring new fans to your own original music.
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Josh Pearson : https://joshpearson.org/
Email is at: Musicians Tip Jar@gmail.com
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As always, thanks for joining us, and remember, there is already enough for everyone, you just need to know how to get it. Until next time, on behalf of Dave Tamkin and myself, Stay happy, healthy, and wealthy. Be the instrument playing the sound of your life as it’s happening.
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