What a year, friends! I can't believe we're in November already - whaaaa???? Like most people, I've gone through quite a bit of changes this past year, after learning PLENTY through a year-and-a-half of very few in-person events and figuring out how to keep the music going.
For an independent artist like me, with a relatively small listener-base, making a living off music alone requires wearing a lot of hats, trying to identify present opportunities amidst times of struggle, and many times seemingly heading in a direction that might appear to be off-course with the original intention. After all, all I really set out to do was to write songs and share them with people:) But alas, this path has lead me all over the place! For me, that has meant building up not only my original music projects and public gigs, but also servicing the private event sector, namely weddings, parties, and corporate events. In fact, the past 12+ years, sort of by default and very organically, my wedding/corporate business grew leaps and bounds with very little effort, almost to a point where it eclipsed my original music career, something I've had to guard very closely. I'm very grateful for the life this sector of the music industry has provided me, but over this past year and a half, it has been a huge goal of mine to be able to marry these aspects of my career - the creative songwriting me ( my soul's bread and butter) and the private event performer me (my wallet's bread and butter).
Through Covid, and the new ways of connecting I did with companies via streaming interactive concerts (check out the new family of services I started with True Connection Virtual Concerts), I was re-invigorated by the power of art and music to directly engage with a corporate audience on a very personable, creative, and powerful level. Whereas before, corporate entertainment was usually relegated to the background, or solely to provide an atmosphere for networking o
r partying, etc., this time, music was front and center, and I got to apply the messages of the songs directly to the individuals I was performing for, using music to speak to their struggles, encourage them in their work and with their families, and it made for a truly artistic encounter and conversation, satisfying both my songwriter me, and my performer me.
From these engagements with companies came new songwriting opportunities as well, and as I became a central part of a company's virtual events or conferences, I started offering to help them write songs about their company's mission as a way to engage and connect with their employees, clients, or industry at large. It was SO incredibly fun, venturing out into uncharted waters, to be a part of this new sort of events, offering a completely new songwriting experience that impacted these companies so much. Very soon, I'll be releasing one of those songs I wrote for one of my clients - can't wait to share that with you!! It's called "Beacon of Hope", and I plan on releasing just before Christmas.
On the wedding end of things, I also decided to switch directions there as well and offer clients a more creative experience for their wedding music. In addition to just being hired to perform for their wedding, I'm offering them a custom songwriting experience that takes them through a really powerful journey into their story, their dreams and their goals, and write them their very own wedding song. I've had such fun working with my first takers this past year in this new endeavor, and I plan to release one of these songs called "Forever Plays", early this Spring.
So, through a very crazy year, I learned a lot. I feel like I've been able to merge together a bit better those two aspects of my career that I've always kept separate from one another - the TiernanTunes me, and the Still Listening Productions me (my event company). I jumped into this songwriter life with both feet almost 20 years ago now, and like I said earlier, all I really ever wanted to do was to spend my life writing songs and sharing them. I'm happy to report that more of my life reflects this now, and I'm so excited for the year ahead. You'll notice some new links on my website, detailing some of the custom song work I've been doing.
This year has been all about taking risks and venturing beyond the comfortable. There has been so much to write about, and thankfully, I wrote a whole slew of songs for myself this year, and I've been sitting with which ones to release next. More on that later, along with some news about our new little Colorado retreat.....
Stay tuned, and thanks for joining me along this ride.
