En Route

The good thing about driving from Nashville to LA is that at every point on the journey that isn’t LA, it’s understood that the caravan is simply en route.

There isn’t confusion or worry about what role the other stops play in regards to the overall journey.

And you don’t blame Memphis or Oklahoma City for not being LA.

The problem we all run into sometimes is we forget we’re en route.

We think we’re stuck here forever and we blame Albuquerque for not being Hollywood.

But this isn’t forever. It never is. We’re moving. We are en route.

Hum Love on Spotify and Apple

Connecting Like You Hope You Will Have

When you go to sell something to your audience you’ll wish you had been more diligent and consistent with interacting with your audience starting a long time ago.

It’s a classic artist blunder. The artist ramps up audience interaction about two weeks before a big announcement and expects a huge conversion rate. And what’s more is that the audience is smart…they can tell what’s going on here.

So the future you hopes that the you right now will be more diligent and consistent with your audience. That you will care all the time, not just when you need clicks and sales.

Hum Love on Spotify and Apple

Remembering Quickly and Memorizing

Remembering quickly is different than memorizing.

Remembering quickly is what you do when you’re singing karaoke. It’s all there but you’ve got to remember it moment by moment. It’s a constant nano-second by nano-second version of ‘ok what’s next?…oh yeah I remember’.

Memorizing is different. When it’s memorized you can do something in addition to what you’ve memorized. You can build on it. You can sing the song AND perform it. You know the words so now you can choose what to emphasize.

(A student driver is constantly remembering how to drive. That’s why they have the sticker on the back and we give them extra room. But once it’s all memorized, it’s time to roll the windows down and enjoy the ride.)

If remembering quickly is all that is needed, there’s no need to memorize.

But some things are worth memorizing so we can do something with the new freedom that comes on the other side of the memorizing.

Hum Love on Spotify and Apple

The GOSF

The GOAT

It certainly has a nice right to it, but it might be important to say what we really mean by the greatest of all time…

The GOSF

Greatest Of So Far. No ring at all. But more true. Because every once in a while the ‘greatest’ changes. Whether the person who fits the definition changes…or the definition changes and thereby crowns someone new. We might know who the greatest of so far is or who the greatest of right now is…but it’s never for all time.

And that’s the most exciting part.

Hum Love on Spotify and Apple

Best Of The Old

First Monday of the month, new Hum Love playlist on Spotify and Apple

When sounds and elements from past decades come back around into pop music again, the great thing is that it’s only the best sounds and elements of those eras that make a come back.

Killer synth sounds from the 80s, washing string arrangements from the 70s, stacked vocal arrangements from the 50s.

As popular music progresses we recycle the best stuff and combine it with the latest production and styles.

You’ll hear this concept throughout the playlist this month. The best of the old elements combined with the new.

 »» As always, for all past months’ playlists visit the archive: Spotify Apple

Hum Love on Spotify and Apple

Merch That Moves

I’ve always been v-neck over crew neck. And for a while there it was the deeper the v the better.

So years ago when ordering merchandise to sell, it was tempting to want to sell merch that I thought was cool. That I liked. That I would wear. That I would be proud of standing next to after shows.

But it turns out the point of having merchandise is to sell the merchandise. And the market for very deep v necks is not as big as I’d hoped.

Having merch that moves is a lot better than having cool merch.

Hopefully they can overlap. Hopefully your taste will start influencing your audiences’ taste (it probably will).

»» I’ve made and sold lots of t-shirts over the years. Best sellers? Crew necks in white, gray or black, with a simple design.

»» But if you’re selling a v-neck or scoop neck, I’m your guy.

Hum Love on Spotify and Apple