beautifully spoken and so important to hear what’s gone into your journey, and how it’ll continue to grow! completely agree with each step and detail too. thank you Nolan 🍃
'It’s not just about making music—it’s about crafting an experience, a feeling, a moment. And if that moment finds its way to the right person at the right time, then it was all worth it." Feel you so deeply on this.... That connection with the listener...
As an independent artist at a lower level of success and visibility than you, I appreciate your sharing your journey, Nolan. Last year, I released my first record in seven years and I gave this one a stronger promotional push. I was surprised at how much of the non-musical parts of the journey I enjoyed, especially on the visual side (images, working on two videos, etc.).
Would love to hear your thoughts on releasing new music into a world that is over-saturated with music and where it feels harder than ever before to get noticed. Cheers!
Hi Dave, thanks for reading and commenting—I’ve already learned something new from you! Your Linktree made it super easy to check out your music and videos. I’m definitely adding that to my profile ASAP—such a smart move. Also, the videos are really sweet—did you do the animation?
As for your question, I wish I had a perfect answer. Honestly, I’ve let go of expectations. Every time I put something out, I know I’ve given it everything I’ve got. After that, so much is out of my hands. But here are a few things I believe in:
Having a website as your creative home base is huge. Social media comes and goes, and it can be exhausting. Build your email list and take care of those fans—they’re gold. And never underestimate word of mouth. We all love sharing music that moves us, and that’s where real growth happens.
I don’t play live anymore, which feels like a big drawback. Live shows are such a great way to connect, sell merch, and build relationships with other musicians. Community is everything for independent artists. You just moved to Milwaukee, right? That’s a perfect chance to start something—maybe a Substack gathering or a vinyl meet-up. I actually drove down to DC recently for a song share with 15 other artists, and it was incredibly rewarding.
At the heart of it all, we’ve got to keep finding new ways to not just get our art out there but to strengthen our community. We need that now more than ever.
Thanks for your thoughtful reply, Nolan! And for checking out my videos. I laid out the basic images and plot for both of them via a combination of sketches and AI-generated images, and then worked with an animator to bring them to life. That part was fun as I've not done any visual work beyond posters for shows.
I appreciate your emphasis on a website and email as the bases for community building, as I've been heading in that direction. I just don't have the stomach for much social media. Yes, I'm looking forward to engaging my new community here in Milwaukee. There's also a much better media infrastructure -- two alternative radio stations, two alt-weeklies, and a full-time music critic at the daily -- for supporting local music than in Albuquerque and Cincinnati, my last two stops.
BTW, given your excellent track record of instrumental music, you might appreciate that my record has four instrumentals -- check out tracks 7 (an excerpt), 8, 10, and 12. If you chose just one, I'd go with 12, which brings the album's journey to a close.
Looking forward to continuing the conversation. Cheers!
Nice! Thank you so much for sharing your music with me. My favorite track is Run Past Temptation, love the horns and nasty guitar solo. See ya around : )
Looking up from 7 straight hours of crafting captions for my next project’s release this was such an affirming read.
Crafting a world around what we have built sonically is so fun and intimate and special. I’m so happy to not be the only one really revelling in it
Thank you for your kind words, Elly. I'm glad they resonated with you.
beautifully spoken and so important to hear what’s gone into your journey, and how it’ll continue to grow! completely agree with each step and detail too. thank you Nolan 🍃
That' so nice of you, Eric. Thank you for reading and restacking.
'It’s not just about making music—it’s about crafting an experience, a feeling, a moment. And if that moment finds its way to the right person at the right time, then it was all worth it." Feel you so deeply on this.... That connection with the listener...
You make that happen, Chris. Your playing is all about feeling and it connects.
As an independent artist at a lower level of success and visibility than you, I appreciate your sharing your journey, Nolan. Last year, I released my first record in seven years and I gave this one a stronger promotional push. I was surprised at how much of the non-musical parts of the journey I enjoyed, especially on the visual side (images, working on two videos, etc.).
Would love to hear your thoughts on releasing new music into a world that is over-saturated with music and where it feels harder than ever before to get noticed. Cheers!
Hi Dave, thanks for reading and commenting—I’ve already learned something new from you! Your Linktree made it super easy to check out your music and videos. I’m definitely adding that to my profile ASAP—such a smart move. Also, the videos are really sweet—did you do the animation?
As for your question, I wish I had a perfect answer. Honestly, I’ve let go of expectations. Every time I put something out, I know I’ve given it everything I’ve got. After that, so much is out of my hands. But here are a few things I believe in:
Having a website as your creative home base is huge. Social media comes and goes, and it can be exhausting. Build your email list and take care of those fans—they’re gold. And never underestimate word of mouth. We all love sharing music that moves us, and that’s where real growth happens.
I don’t play live anymore, which feels like a big drawback. Live shows are such a great way to connect, sell merch, and build relationships with other musicians. Community is everything for independent artists. You just moved to Milwaukee, right? That’s a perfect chance to start something—maybe a Substack gathering or a vinyl meet-up. I actually drove down to DC recently for a song share with 15 other artists, and it was incredibly rewarding.
At the heart of it all, we’ve got to keep finding new ways to not just get our art out there but to strengthen our community. We need that now more than ever.
Thanks for your thoughtful reply, Nolan! And for checking out my videos. I laid out the basic images and plot for both of them via a combination of sketches and AI-generated images, and then worked with an animator to bring them to life. That part was fun as I've not done any visual work beyond posters for shows.
I appreciate your emphasis on a website and email as the bases for community building, as I've been heading in that direction. I just don't have the stomach for much social media. Yes, I'm looking forward to engaging my new community here in Milwaukee. There's also a much better media infrastructure -- two alternative radio stations, two alt-weeklies, and a full-time music critic at the daily -- for supporting local music than in Albuquerque and Cincinnati, my last two stops.
BTW, given your excellent track record of instrumental music, you might appreciate that my record has four instrumentals -- check out tracks 7 (an excerpt), 8, 10, and 12. If you chose just one, I'd go with 12, which brings the album's journey to a close.
Looking forward to continuing the conversation. Cheers!
Hey Dave - what are the two radio stations you mention here? I'm itching to find some online radio to listen to throughout the day.
Hi Seth. They're: 1) WMSE - 91.7, which I understand is legendary here.
https://wmse.org/
2) Radio Milwaukee - 88.9:
https://radiomilwaukee.org
I haven't had time to listen long enough to get a sense of their shows and rhythms, but every time I turn them on, it's something good.
Nice! Thank you so much for sharing your music with me. My favorite track is Run Past Temptation, love the horns and nasty guitar solo. See ya around : )