The conversation dives into Brooks West’s career in the music industry. Host Jason Spiess and West discuss writing new songs, playing gigs, and the challenges of making money, particularly with streaming services.
The two mention the popularity of house concerts as a way for musicians to connect with their audience and generate income.
They talk about selling their album and merchandise online, including t-shirts and keychains.
West plans to tour in various cities, including Fargo, Chicago, Minneapolis, and Duluth, and mentions specific venues they will be performing at. They express excitement about playing at an artist-owned listening room in Minneapolis for the first time. They are also looking for a place to perform in Chicago.
The speaker mentions having shows in Harrisburg and Gettysburg and discusses the possibility of finding additional gigs to cover expenses.
They mention the availability of a network of contacts to help find performance opportunities. They promote their newly redesigned website, BrooksWestMusic.com, where people can find information, CDs, and merchandise.
The first guitar Brooks West picked up belonged to his uncle, a farmer in North Dakota (and not a guitar player himself). Since then, this Fargo North Dakota native has gone on to write hundreds of songs, blending elements of contemporary folk, country, and pop.
The son of a mortician and a school teacher, Brooks has a unique outlook on life that shapes his eclectic repertoire. His songs cover subjects ranging from death and destruction to love and hope and even the occasional ballad to office supplies.
Over the past ten years, Brooks has performed in coffee shops, bars, colleges, festivals, and benefits across a good portion of the country. Some career highlights have included playing the national anthem for a sell-out crowd of more than 4,500 minor league baseball fans, and having opening slots for such nationally known acts as Grammy Award winner, Doc Watson, The Duhks, Dan Bern, Jeffrey Gaines, The Roches, KellyJoe Phelps, The Hackensaw Boys, Jeff Lang, Ingrid Michaelson, Shawn Mullins and more.
After moving between Pennsylvania, Tennessee and Fargo, Brooks has returned to his Nashville, where he continues to play and write.
About The Crude Life
Award winning interviewer and broadcast journalist Jason Spiess and Content Correspondents engage with the industry’s best thinkers, writers, politicians, business leaders, scientists, entertainers, community leaders, cafe owners and other newsmakers in one-on-one interviews and round table discussions.
The Crude Life has been broadcasting on radio stations since 2012 and posts all updates and interviews on The Crude Life Social Media Network.
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About The Crude Life
Award winning interviewer and broadcast journalist Jason Spiess and Content Correspondents engage with the industry’s best thinkers, writers, politicians, business leaders, scientists, entertainers, community leaders, cafe owners and other newsmakers in one-on-one interviews and round table discussions.
The Crude Life has been broadcasting on radio stations since 2012 and posts all updates and interviews on The Crude Life Social Media Network.
Everyday your story is being told by someone. Who is telling your story? Who are you telling your story to?
#thecrudelife promotes a culture of inclusion and respect through interviews, content creation, live events and partnerships that educate, enrich, and empower people to create a positive social environment for all, regardless of age, race, religion, sexual orientation, or physical or intellectual ability.
Sponsors, Music and Other Show Notes
Studio Sponsor: The Industrial Forest
The Industrial Forest is a network of environmentally minded and socially conscious businesses that are using industrial innovations to build a network of sustainable forests across the United States.
Weekly Sponsor: Stephen Heins, The Practical Environmentalist
Historically, Heins has been a writer on subjects ranging from broadband and the US electricity grid, to environmental, energy and regulatory topics.
Heins is also a vocal advocate of the Internet of Everything, free trade, and global issues affecting the third of our planet that still lives in abject poverty.
Heins is troubled by the Carbon Tax, Cap & Trade, Carbon Offsets and Carbon Credits, because he questions their efficacy in solving the climate problem, are too gamable by rent seekers, and are fraught with unreliable accounting.
Heins worries that climate and other environmental reporting in the US and Europe has become too politicized, ignores the essential role carbon-based energy continues to play in the lives of billions, demonizes the promise and practicality of Nuclear Energy and cheerleads for renewable energy sources that cannot solve the real world problems of scarcity and poverty.
