Is songwriting more than just something you do? Is music a way of life? How does your music influence your lifestyle? How does your lifestyle influence your music? Do you experience the same sense of creativity and adventure offstage as you do onstage?

Artists are often associated with certain lifestyles and they are not necessarily expected to be in sync with the rhythms and habits of mainstream society.  But what exactly makes up an artistic lifestyle? Is it the hours you keep? The friends you hang out with? The clothes you wear? The town you live in? If you look closely, you will probably find that the lifestyle and the music of the artist are intimately connected and that there are as many lifestyles as there are lives (just as there are as many musics as there are musicians).  So why is so little attention given to Conscious Lifestyle Design?

Join this SOS podcast as we begin to explore four foundational aspects of crafting a sustainable artistic lifestyle. 

This episode is an overview of the upcoming “Musical Lifestyle” series of podcasts. 

 

 Standard Podcast: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

How many hours a day do you practice your craft? How many years of your life have you devoted to developing your music? Do you ever find yourself thinking “I should practice more…?” 

It is said that practice makes perfect and that there is no gain without pain. Still, there are plenty of examples of artists who slave away and never live up to their potential and others who seem to flourish despite the lack of any conventional work ethic.  The difference lies in how much purpose is behind the practice and how much passion is behind the action. Couple these concepts with a broader definition of what constitutes effective artistic practice and you might be able to replace the “I should practice more” with conscious, creative, living practices that take you where you want to go musically, artistically, and personally. 

So don’t just do something, sit there…and listen in as The Soul of Songwriting podcast takes on a sacred cow and explores how to train without strain.

 

 Standard Podcast: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Do you have something to say? Are you able to say it effectively? 

If you are a songwriter or recording artist with a unique vision or message and you want to be able to get it across more reliably and deeply, you will want to get clear on your specific message and find your distinct WAY of putting it into musical form.

Understanding the variety of options available to you in crafting your musical expression and the predictable stages that your creative work must go through can help you immensely. Integrating this information can help you to follow your calling with greater ease, align with your music more fully, and become much more prolific in the process. 

Join JP as he tackles the topic of creative callings and offers some suggestions to help you clarify your unique path.

 

 Standard Podcast: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Every day brings new challenges. Just getting up in the morning can require faith, fortitude, and remembering your purpose. But as an artist, you have the opportunity to start again, every morning, as a new person; to reinvent yourself as you would a new piece of music. Join in the conversation about using your artistic license to refresh your identity as you continually refresh your music.

 

 SOS #6: Inventing Your Music, Reinventing Yourself: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Many musicians have graduated from the “ground school” phase of technical practice and study to be able to delve into the deeper aspects of musical knowing that one could call musical wisdom. Still, there are even more riches to be found in music’s mystery when we begin to apply principals such as rhythm, pitch, form, frequency, and dynamics to the rest of our life. Join the conversation about music, knowledge, and integrating them into a “whole-person” framework.

 

 SOS Episode #5: Tune In: Applying Musical Wisdom To Life: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download