Speaking Of The Arts

Episode 80: Cyrille Aimee by Mike Epstein

Hello Everyone! And thank you for tuning in on this new episode of Speaking of the Arts. My name is Mackenzie and I am the Operations Manager at Epstein Fox Performances and I will be your host for today’s podcast. I am so excited to bring you guys a really special guest, critically acclaimed composer, bandleader, and most importantly Tenor Saxophonist, James Brandon Lewis. We are going to invite him into the conversation on everything music. Today’s episode we are touching on topics regarding his musical history, inspirations, Molecular Systematic Music, and of course his lovely new album, For Mahalia, With Love.

Hello everyone and welcome to Speaking of the Arts! My name is Marie Le Claire. I’m the east coast agent at Epstein Fox Performances and your host for today! Today, I’m excited to bring you a conversation with famed singer and one of the newest artists on the EFP roster, Magos Herrera! We discuss Magos joining the roster, her journey as a Mexican artist starting over in the US, some of her various projects and of course, her beautiful new album. You will also hear clips of the songs, "Gracias A La Vida" and “Aire" from her new album also called Aire. I hope you’ll enjoy our conversation!

Hello and welcome to Speaking of the Arts https://www.speakingofthearts.com/ . Today we feature Epstein Fox Performances https://www.efperformances.com/ , the new booking agency I have co-founded with my partner, Michael Fox. (For more information on Michael, you can listen to Speaking of the Arts Episode 68 https://www.speakingofthearts.com/episodes/68 where I featured Michael and what was then his new agency, Fox Performances). There’s a great saying in the world of entrepreneurship: “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” From July 2013 to August 2022, I was in the fast but alone category, running my previous agency. (OK, I wasn’t entirely alone and I need to give a shout out to Marie Le Claire who helped keep things running smoothly from the moment she signed on and whom I’ve had the pleasure of seeing evolve into one of the best agents I know). Along the way, one of my primary goals was always to build a bigger team. When I first met Michael Fox several years ago, I

Hello everyone and welcome to Speaking of the Arts. Our guest today is Katherine McVicker. In 2014, Katherine founded the boutique agency, Music Works International https://www.musicworksinternational.com/ , after three decades as an agent developing the touring careers of dozens of artists such as Brad Mehldau, Michael Brecker, Wayne Shorter, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, and many others. In 2000, she launched the European touring career of Norah Jones and spent seven years developing Jones’ profile internationally. Most recently, Katherine published the online course “Anyone can book a gig,”https://musicworksintl.thinkific.com/courses/anyone-can-book-a-gig which breaks down the core components of what goes into booking shows for independent artists. I recently spoke to Katherine about the course and wanted to share our conversation with everyone so they can learn more about this and where to find it. Independent musicians will find this episode particularly useful.

Hello everyone and welcome back to Speaking of the Arts. Today we are speaking with members of the vocal group Kings Return https://www.kingsreturnmusic.com/ . We just signed these guys to our booking agency https://www.epsteinco.com and I am so excited for everyone to check them out. Recently, Kings Return posted a video on YouTube of their version of Ave Maria https://youtu.be/dRzI8y-EJJ0 , sung in an acoustically gorgeous sounding stairwell, and it has gone viral with almost one million views. Watch that video and you’ll see why. The band consists of Vaugn Faison, Gabe Kunda, JE Mckissic, and Jamall Williams. In December, they released a new holiday album https://open.spotify.com/album/3koALGOJF8Cz4jCUKUeirm?si=D7r2fqg2ScGdcA1W7fk53Q and the band is currently hard at work on their next major recording. You can check out their new single Beauty https://open.spotify.com/track/09weoaL9omm3CsgY472tjx?si=fde2caafb71e40bb which will also be on the album and you will hear it on this episode as well. This band is

Hi! I’m your host this week, Marie Le Claire. I’m so excited about our guest this week, Nate Query, long time bass player for the Grammy nominated, Portland, OR based rock band, The Decemberists http://www.decemberists.com The Decemberists have toured all over the world, performing for an extremely dedicated fanbase for over 20 years and have an impressive body of work that continues to evolve with each project. In our conversation, we talked about how the Decemberists got together and what it’s like to keep a band together for such a long time and celebrating the band’s 20th anniversary during the pandemic. We also talked about Nate’s volunteer work with the organization, Open Hearts Open Minds https://www.ohomoregon.org OHOM is an Oregon-based non-profit organization that supports individuals serving prison sentences through arts and dialogue—facilitating personal and institutional transformation and growth. I hope you enjoy my conversation with Nate Query! Please check out these these helpful, inf

Hello and everyone and welcome to Speaking of the Arts! We are changing up our content today to deliver what I hope will be a very informative and practical episode: Financial advice for artists. My guest today is Charlie Epstein. Charlie has always been a part of two different worlds - financial advising and the theatre. As a professional actor, Charlie has performed in roles from Shakespeare to Neil Simon, as well as stand-up comedy in NYC and improv with Chicago City Limits. Charlie’s financial advising experience is nationally recognized, as you will soon hear in his bio, so I figured, who better to have on this podcast to advise artists on their finances during a global pandemic, than someone who truly understands what it takes to be a performer? Charlie has over 40 years of professional experience in the financial services industry where he has worked with individual clients and companies of all sizes. His companies currently oversee more than 1B in assets under advisement. Charlie is known nation

Speaking of the Arts is pleased to feature Gordon Hanks and JazzSLC. Gordon co-founded the concert series in Salt Lake City over 27 years ago and I wanted to have him on the show to talk about his own unique background and what he has learned from producing the series for so long. Gordon is extremely passionate about the music and that clearly comes through in our interview. A little more on his operation: "JazzSLC is a non-profit, concert series funded and produced by the GAM Foundation. What began as a “let’s try producing one concert and see what happens,” has developed into a unique, nationally recognized not-for-profit jazz concert series. In the 27 years since the series’ inception, JazzSLC has featured world-class jazz musicians and proven the popularity of jazz in Salt Lake City." I loved speaking with Gordon and I hope you enjoy our conversation.

Welcome to Speaking of the Arts! Today’s episode features an innovative company in the music industry called Open Studio. Open Studio was founded by the great pianist Peter Martin. The company has created a unique way of teaching music lessons online. They feature some of the industry's greatest performers by creating an immersive learning experience using innovative software called Living Notation. I took a few lessons prior to interviewing Peter so I could better understand the experience and I was very impressed by the variety of lessons offered as well as the incredible high quality of video and audio. We talk more about what Living Notation is during our interview but that feature alone makes the lessons worthwhile. A little bit more on Peter Martin...Peter is an acclaimed jazz pianist and entrepreneur. Over the past 25 years he has performed at most of the major venues and jazz festivals on six continents, including twice at the White House for President Obama. Peter was recently featured in the New Y

Hello everyone and welcome to Speaking of the Arts. Today's episode is part 2 of my conversation with Ulysses Owens Jr. If you did not listen to part 1, I would suggest you start there before listening to part 2. In today's episode we cover what I would consider essential information for both artists and presenters including: How Ulysses avoids burnout How to break out of the artist sidemen mentality When you should start saying No Ulysses's new touring projects Diversity inclusion in the arts and why a comprehensive educational outreach program is essential for every arts organization What Ulysses is currently reading Thanks again to Ulysses for his time and wisdom. I learned so much from speaking to him and I hope you will too. Please enjoy part 2 of my conversation with Ulysses Owens Jr.

Hello everyone and welcome to Speaking of the Arts. I am Mike Epstein, your host. Today’s episode is a real treat. We are featuring the drummer, educator, entrepreneur, author, non-profit organizer, band leader, producer, etc. etc., the list really goes on and on, Ulysses Owen’s Jr. I’ve always been a fan of Ulysses’s drumming but until I did my research for this interview I had no idea how multifaceted he is. In fact, it was a challenge just to summarize his extensive biography for this introduction. A few quick highlights - Ulysses has been named a Rising Star by DownBeat’s Critics Poll for five years straight. He is a recipient of the 2013 ASCAP Plus Award, a Gold Medal winner of the 2014 Global Music Awards, a 2015 Jazz at Lincoln Center Swing! Awards Honoree, and 2019 “3rd Runner-Up,” in Classic Jazz Category in the Modern Drummer Magazine Readers Poll. Among many of Owens’s accomplishments are his performances on the 2010 GRAMMY award-winning Kurt Elling live album, Dedicated to You, and the 2012 GRAMM

Hello everyone and welcome to Speaking of the Arts. My guest today is Michael Fox. Michael and I go way back and I’ve wanted to have him on the show for a long time. Fox is the Founder and Owner of the booking agency Fox Performances, LLC. Fox previously worked as the Midwest Agent at International Music Network. (Side note, you can check out Episode 12 of Speaking of the Arts in which we featured the founder of International Music Network, Scott Southerd). In his tenure there, Fox booked National tours for Buena Vista Social Club, Wayne Shorter, Terence Blanchard, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, and Dianne Reeves, among many, many others. In addition to booking artist tours, Fox also works as a consultant for San Antonio Parks Foundation to help curate Jazz S’Alive, an annual two-day jazz event in Travis Park. Fox has also served on panels at the Arts Midwest and APAP conferences as well as a handful of colleges, speaking about the cultivation of Global Music audiences, activism in art and artist representation.

My live experience includes performing at Woodstock ‘94, supporting The Rolling Stones, REM, Bon Jovi, Van Halen, Oasis and Bryan Adams at Wembley with my first band Del Amitri throughout 1994-97, followed by touring and playing with Marianne Faithfull, Sinead O’Connor, Sheryl Crow, Robbie Williams, James Morrison, Will Young, Squeeze, Lewis Taylor, Hamish Stuart, The Waterboys, Jeff Lorber, Trevor Horn and Seal, Rumer, Terry Reid, Ronnie Wood, Dionne Warwick and many more. View my Live credits. Other experiences I’ve had include playing the 2012 Olympic Games Opening Ceremony with Mike Oldfield, being the house drummer on the BBC/ITV TV show The Voice for 7 years and playing on the Terminator Genisys and Mission Impossible Fall Out (Bongos) soundtracks for composer Lorne Balfe also Kung Fu Panda 3 and The Lion King 2019 for Hans Zimmer. The main part of my career has been within the recording industry, and over the past 20 years or so I have recorded 58 Top 10 albums for artists including Cher, Seal, Robbi

Alison Stolpa is the Content Manager for https://www.CareersInMusic.com and its sister site https://www.CareersInFilm.com. Founded back in 2010, CareersinMusic.com set off on a mission to curate and deliver truly valuable music career information, sourced by trusted experts. Their aim is to provide deeper insights, reveal more piercing data, and genuinely help users gain an edge on the competition through many Industry Insights articles, Gear & Software reviews, and over 100+ music career profiles. Alison's day-to-day duties include managing a staff of writers, publishing content, and interviewing industry experts. She is a graduate of the University of Westminster, London's Music Business Masters program and has worked in music retail, college radio, and entertainment PR. A Minneapolis native, she now lives in Los Angeles with her two work-from-home assistants/cats. Alison reached out to me to see if I'd be interested in talking about what booking agents do. I told her I'd be happy to and that I also want

It's been several months since we did an episode and a lot has changed in the time between! Thanks to the Shuttered Venue Operator Grant, the SBA has released just over 4 billion dollars to venues and agencies around the country. The total funding for the program is approximately 16 billion, so there will be a lot more released in the coming weeks. We are already seeing the impact of this with more and more shows being scheduled in the coming months and, even more exciting, are all of the shows currently taking place with sell out crowds and enthusiastic audiences everywhere. I think back to a year ago this time during the summer of 2020 and how far we've come. A huge debt of gratitude is owed to all of the scientists and doctors and of course frontline healthcare workers who worked tirelessly for months to deliver the vaccine and who continue to do so each day. Without them, the music industry would have truly ceased to exist. I thought we could use today's episode as an opportunity to hear from our listene

Hello everyone and welcome back to Speaking of the Arts. What a year this has been. At a time when live music is needed more than ever, we’ve had to put it on hold and watch musicians perform almost exclusively on our screens. There is some good news though as we wrap up 2020. Through the tireless efforts of NIVA (the national independent venue association)www.nivassoc.org and NITO (the national independent talent organization)www.nitolive.org , as well as several other arts organizations, our community has rallied together and witnessed the passing of the Save Our Stages act. The bill provides 15 billion dollars in direct funding to venues, agencies, and other arts organizations and is a much needed lifeline at this point in time. You can visit SaveOurStages.com for more information on how this might apply to you. Thank you to everyone who took the time to write their congressmen and women these past several months. It truly paid off. Today’s episode continues our discussion on best practices for live stre

Today we are featuring the one and only Donny McCaslin https://www.donnymccaslin.com/music . Donny made national headlines a few years ago when he worked with David Bowie on what would ultimately be Bowie’s final album, Blackstar. Since then, Donny has released the critically acclaimed album BLOW and, prior to the COVID shutdown, he regularly toured the United States, Europe, and Asia as the leader of his own high energy band. On August 14, Donny released a new single called Reckoning https://www.donnymccaslin.com/music , an emotional response to the recent months of heightened protests in the wake of increased racial violence. From the press release, “While certain sections of the song channel anger and a sense of urgency, other sections reflect the possibility of hope for more positive and meaningful actions like those of the Black Lives Matter movement. McCaslin worked on the piece with GRAMMY®-nominated producer, (re-)mixer, bassist and composer Ben Rubin. Rubin used news coverage samples of recent prote

Since the beginning of social distancing, live streaming has been the one major performance opportunity available to artists. We can easily spend all day everyday now tuning in to watch artists of all types. As a result, our industry has simultaneously become flooded with live streaming and confronted with many new challenges. For example, how do you compete for people's attention with so many streams happening? How do you determine the proper price for virtual tickets when your patrons are used to viewing content for free? What type of artist fee should you offer an artist for a virtual concert? Should you use Facebook, YouTube, and/or Instagram to stream the event or are there better platforms out there? How do you make a unique experience for your patrons when you no longer have the ambience of your venue? If you are an artist, how do you make a unique experience for your fans who may be watching your show on a small phone? Lastly, what will all of this look like when live music can finally resume in per

We have a couple of exciting announcements to make today. First, I want everyone to know we just launched a brand new website for the podcast! www.speakingofthearts.com has a new updated look and feel and contains every episode we’ve done since we launched back in 2015. The newer episodes feature both audio and video versions with our guests. I want to thank my team member Marie Le Claire for all of her work behind the scenes and for making the new website look great. Next, I want to draw attention to an exciting webinar we are hosting this Thursday, July 16, 2020. The webinar is on the topic of Live Streaming and we have an incredible lineup of guest speakers who will discuss best practices including how to monetize your next stream. Artists and promoters will especially benefit from the webinar so please go to www.epsteinco.com/news for more information on how to register for the event. Space is limited so be sure to sign up soon. Now, onto today’s podcast episode. I have wanted to have this guest on t