Artist Speak: Goethe

"Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness. Concerning all acts of initiative there is one elemental truth, the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too.

All sorts of things occur to help that would never have otherwise occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one's favor all manner of unforeseen incidents, meetings, and material assistance which no man or woman would have dreamed could have come his way. Whatever you can do, or dream you can do, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic to it. Begin it now."
                                             - Goethe

Artist Speak: Jack Kerouc

This holiday season make sure to take a moment to salute all the artists you know.

"Here's to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The trouble-makers. The round heads in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They're not fond of rules, and they have no respect for the
status-quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify, or vilify them. 

But the only thing you can't do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do."

Jack Kerouac
From his book: On The Road

Artist Speak: Jeri Goldstein

"I’m surprised that so many artists have business plans. They may not be the traditional IBM business and marketing plan, but they work just as effectively. One of my clients, the goth band, Bella Morte, walked into a major bank with their purple hair, piercings, a Power Point presentation and a specific plan and walked out with a $70,000 loan. With that plan and the money, they were able to set forth an Action Plan that allowed them to buy back the rights of their work from the record company."

Jeri Goldstein is a former music agent and manager who is author of the award-winning self-published book How To Be Your Own Booking Agent (now in it’s 7^th printing). The book is used as a text book in music business courses at Universities across the US and in Canada and by musicians and performing artists world-wide. Jeri is also a performing arts consultant who offers strategies and techniques on booking tours, negotiation techniques, marketing, music business and performing arts career development. www.performingbiz.com.

Artist Speak: Business Plans

With no savings and no assets so to speak and only about $1,000 left on one of three maxed-out credit cards, I wasn’t what you’d call an ideal candidate for a loan.  Yet, I needed a vehicle.  I was in an all too familiar place where I felt like for the amount of work I was doing, I should have been a millionaire. My friends called me the hardest working poor person they knew and I was exhausted from riding my bicycle everywhere.

I really had no idea where all my time went because I didn’t really have a plan, but it seemed like i was always working, at home, in my massage clinic, at my art studio. Armed with my goal to get a vehicle, I bought my first “how-to write a business plan book,” and went to work, creating what seemed like a carefully calculated and well-thought out lie. The financial projections that i shaped into a colorful bar graph seemed like the biggest lie of all. The graph, after all revealed how much i “thought” I might make each month, so in reality wasn’t that a lie? 

Two weeks after turning my business plan in i was approved for a $12,000 loan. a week later, I was tooling around in my brand new pick-up truck, my paintings stacked neatly in the back. I remember thinking, “how cool is this?” and “this planning stuff really works.”

Artist Speak: Artist Tithing

"The only kind of tithing I had heard of was what my uncle did at church and what many business books recommended. I never could understand the rationale though. How could I give 10% of everything I made away to someone else when I barely had enough money to pay the bills some months? When you’re barely getting by, tithing may not seem like the most logical step to take in terms of your career, but that’s why I’ve included it in this section.

When I created “The Neon Man and Me,” I decided to give 10% of every dollar that came in from the show to my friend’s family. It only seemed right. I was, after all, benefiting from a story that only partially belonged to me. 

On paper though, it didn’t seem to make much sense. Before the show started paying for itself, I was still using money from my day job to pay for the production. It seemed more logical to put all the money from the show back into the show.

I did it anyway and it’s interesting that something magical happened every time I sent a check off to my friend’s family. I attribute much of my success to this form of giving. I’m not sure how it works, but it does."

Artist Speak: Kyle Vincent on The Living Room Tour

“After years of playing traditional venues, I realized that putting up with dreadful sound, smoke, drunk patrons, incessant chatting, and then walking out at 1AM with a whopping three dollars in my pocket was not for me. A fan asked me if I would consider playing a backyard pool party for them. I said, “Well, if there are chairs, a sound system, no alcohol, and people who are there to listen to songs and stories, then, Yeah!”

It was then that the living room show was born for me. That was many years ago. I then spread the word amongst my fan base that I was available to come into their living rooms and put on a concert for their friends. Soon, I had a performance contract that specified the obligations of the host and myself, including a pint of soy ice cream, and sliced watermelon for “the talent”! It’s all laid out in black and white. I even sell tickets via my website.

Word got out that I was having success doing these and suddenly I had record companies and booking agents calling me wanting to know my “business model”. That was so funny to me.

Over the years I’ve played so many successful living room shows that I now rarely play club gigs. For the most part, they’re just not worth the aggravation. I mean, what artist wouldn’t rather come into a home and perform their art in front of 40-60 people who are there specifically to see and hear them, to appreciate what they do, and then share some personal time with the artist afterwards? It’s better for both the artist and the fans.”  

Kyle Vincent, is a singer/song writer and the current lead singer of the Bay City Rollers. He is the former lead singer and rhythm guitarist of the teen pop band, Candy.  As a solo artist Vincent toured with Barry Manilow promoting his album Trust, (MCA records) and later with Kyle Vincent (Disney's Hollywood Records). His songs have appeared on MTV's Road Rules, The Real World, Daria, ABC's All My Children, and "Save the Planet: A CBS/Hard Rock Cafe Special". Vincent's song "Sierra" was adopted by the Sierra Club and John Denver's Windstar Foundation. www.kylevincent.com.

A Great Book for Artists: Gene Simmons "Kiss and Make Up"

Think it's fun being poor, think again. I pulled this from Gene Simmons book which is an inspiring read from an artistic and business perspective. If you haven't checked out the story of how a poor Jewish boy from Israel, raised by a single mom, took over rock and roll, get to it!


"We have no illusions about our corporate identity - we're like any other corporation. Some rock bands are delusional. They say they're the peoples band, but even they don't perform for free. 


Whether you have long hair or razor blades in your eyes, you're a corporation. KISS broke all the rules and ended up on the cover of Playboy and Fortune. We've never made any bones about the fact that the American dream is about not only fame but also riches. Money does make you a  happier person.I t's not everything, but it's better to have more money than less. 


Americans by and large feel a little awkward talking about money and showing it off when they have it. That's why the richest men in the country walk around in jeans. When a band that has sold millions of records walks onstage in jeans, it's every bit as much a costume as KISS's costumes. Each outfit is designed to illicit a certain reaction."

From the Book, "KISS and Make-up" by Gene Simmons (2001 Three RIvers Press)

Artist Speak: Rusty Dewees

My most successful show is called “The Logger,” which are stories about a blue-collar logger in rural Vermont. The stories are authentic and came out of me based on my experiences growing up here. But for the longest time, people thought I was the logger, much like people think “Larry the Cable Guy,” is the character he portrays.

For a while no one knew about the other side of me, the business man, the actor who’s been on The Guiding Light or went to New York and studied theater. I had to ask myself if I really wanted the public, who had been coming to see this working class character, to know about this other part of me. In the end, I decided that as an entertainer, I felt like my fans deserved to know all the parts of me.

Rusty Dewees is a comedic artist, actor, producer, writer, musician, who was formally trained at the George Loris Actors Theatre School and the Lee Strasberg Institute in New York. Dewees is best known for his portrayal of The Logger in his one-man shows, which has spawned three Logger DVDs, two CDs, five calendars, Logger apparel, a book and a compilation of  columns for syndicated and regional newspapers. In addition to notable roles off-Broadway and in national commercials, he has appeared on All My Children, Law & Order, and Saturday Night Live. www.thelogger.com.

Artist Speak: Vik Muniz

Vik Muniz makes art from pretty much anything, be it shredded paper, wire, clouds or diamonds. Here he describes the thinking behind his work and takes us on a tour of his incredible images.

Artist Speak on Pricing

"once, in the early days of my visual art career, i followed a lead to an outdoor art market in vancouver, bc. without doing much research, i organized a very expensive trip to the market and was surprised to find that other artists were selling their work for less than half of what i was charging. it never occurred to me to ask what kind of work was being sold there. to me, it seemed like a great reason to take a trip. amongst outdoor vendors selling leather jackets and crafts i was very much out of place. needless to say, a lot of people looked at my work that weekend, but didn’t buy."

Artist Speak on Pricing

"When I perform, I occasionally let the locale dictate the price of my tickets. For instance, for certain community events where I don’t want the price to be prohibitive, say for families at a Children’s Hospital show or in very rural areas, it makes sense to sell tickets for $8. For all other venues my price range is $15 - $25, but I always ask the venue the going rate for their patrons. After all, they know their own customers best.

It helps if you know who you’re trying to reach with your artwork. If you sell paintings in the $25 - $125 range, it makes complete sense to do a show at a small café near a university. But if you sell paintings in the $2,000 - $3,000 range should you really expect to sell many at the same cafe?"

Myth #4: Artists Have Demons

when “the neon man and me” opened in richmond, there were only four people in the audience. one of those four would eventually lead me to pbs. sometimes, it’s not about the number of seats you fill, but the quality of the crowd that counts.

i’ve performed in front of sold out shows, where the audience was flat and made me question my decision to perform. i’ve performed in front of smaller crowds where the audience laughed at every thing i did and made me feel like a million bucks.  there is a certain energy that artists feel from others, a certain validation, a certain magic, which doesn’t necessarily come from the number of people in the crowd.

Artist Speak: Hari Sreenivasan

"Collaboration can be a huge lift to the mundane. When I was making my living as a painter, my friend and I held something called art church. We would meet at my studio one Sunday each month and paint each other’s portraits. Then, after a short break we would work on our own stuff. Sometimes having company in your studio while you work can add a really great energy to your work environment"

 Below, watch how 3-d chalk artist, Hari Sreenivasan, finds inspiration in the ordinary.