For four years, I’ve been saying this – “I’m working quietly behind the scenes.”
This was code for: 1) steadily increasing work and 2) hashing out a business plan.
However, because it was behind the scenes work, I couldn’t tell people exactly what that meant, partially because my domestic commitments were taken over with a new baby in 2010; and as a result of that, I had reduced work time. Its hard to work (ie. move your harp out in the work and play music for people) when your instrument, your personal body, your baby (and sometimes your husband who watches that child) don’t actually all fit in the same car.
So, we got a new car last year.
Behind the scenes also meant writing new music, doing a Christmas album recording, writing blogs like this and working a day job – all things that either didn’t require me to leave the house or schlepp a bunch of bags, stands, instruments, etc.
As my child has grown, my time to work has expanded. I am completing my program to become a Certified Clinical Musician. I have finished writing a dozen songs and found a group of musicians to play it; I have been hired by The Sorrento Hotel for a regular monthly night; I’ve been expanding my harp studio of adult and youth students – beginners to intermediate players. Very soon, I plan to go into the recording studio with my original music.
The curtain has opened. No longer am I working quietly behind the scenes. Rather, I would say its the start of a new show for me. Something I’ve set the stage for and rehearsed a bit, but something too I think will bring me surprises, rewards and joy.
DISCLAIMER: I am writing this post to spell out the logic of my negative thought patterns and debunk them.
Every musician has heard it. “Quitting your day job is a bad move.”
Yeah? What was that? I just did.
Let me say that again: I QUIT. MY DAY JOB.
This decision was not arrived at lightly. I should say, I was raised in a Midwestern family where work defines you. Work is something you persevere. You may like it, but that’s not necessarily going to happen. Consider yourself lucky if it does.
I started working part-time at age 14 doing housecleaning, babysitting and playing church organ (Dana Carvey’s SNL “Church Lady Church Chat” came at a VERY unfortunate time for me!). By sixteen I worked two part-time summer jobs. I was not unique to my peers.
I haven’t even told me own mother this news yet, because I know she will worry. Not to mention what the rest of my family will think, fueled by the lack of value our society places in art and the artist. I know they mean well, but the time as come for me to step it up a little and do something bold.
This past Christmas, my aunt asked when I was going back to work after the holidays. I said, I haven’t been on a break, I’ve been playing and teaching and working on music. She said, “No. When do you go back to your real job?”
(SIGH!)
Music IS my real job. Its a calling. I’ve tried to avoid the knock at the door, but it won’t go away. That’s sometimes hard to explain, hence this blog entry.
As John Zorn said, “Music is one of the great Mysteries. It gives life. It is not a career, not a business, nor a craft. It is a gift… and a great responsibility. Because one can never know where the creative spark comes from or why it exists, it must be treasured as Mystery.”
And I’ve been trying to say something like this for years, really. Maybe I haven’t been very good at it. Or maybe no one wanted to listen. And after a while, I started to believe it too.
These nay-saying voices were the reason I could never pull it together. I would hear the self-doubt in the back my head saying I wasn’t good enough. Or that I was foolish. Or that music can’t be a career. I was raised on a tough love work ethic and served myself the same medicine. This sort of cautionary view is prevalent in our society. Art and music programs are being gutted and privately funded in public school. One of the reasons I moved to the West Coast was to escape some of that outer-criticsm and lack of fitting in. But then, almost by accident, I landed a really good day job. Something that was music related.
Many friends and colleagues know, I’ve had the same office job for years, a decade to be exact. My position as office secretary at the Seattle Musicians’ Union has offered me security during the 2008 Recession, comfort during a maternity leave, healthcare insurance, and I even got paid jury duty leave two times, not to mention holiday pay and wage increases. It has been more than fair and diplomatic with reasonable hours. A job like this doesn’t come around every day, and in the wake of Right to Work, a job like this has little chance at being created outside of the labor movement (unless something systemically changes in our country on how we value human beings versus how we value hoarding money and power). Through this job, I’ve learned a heck of A LOT about the Seattle music scene, contract negotiation, wages, bargaining, workers’ and musicians’ rights, the labor movement, PROs (performers rights organizations) etc. etc. etc.
But you know what? Its not my calling to sit behind a desk for the rest of my life. I’ve liked this job. It’s taught me a lot, and now its time to move on. I have never taken it for granted, so its been a difficult decision to leave, but, I need to know what it feels like to fly on my own.
Negative chatter be damned.
So, what am I going to do? Well, for the past four years, since having my daughter, I’ve said I’ve been working quietly behind the scenes. This is code for: 1) steadily increasing work and 2) hashing out a business plan!
(As an aside, I think it is terrible that so few universities and conservatories require business classes for Art, Music and Creative Writing majors. It is a total shame to our society. I think many more artists would make the break and be successful if they new how to start. And I know it wouldn’t have taken me this long. If you’re thinking like I’m thinking, read The Right-Brain Business Plan by Jennifer Lee.)
So, here’s my five-fold business plan:
P – Performances (public shows, concerts, restaurant gigs, orchestral/band work, or music held in large venues, halls, lounges, museums, galleries, something where there’s a cover). I’m VERY EXCITED about my new project, The Daphnes, which is a modern harp quartet of original music. We are playing MARCH 7 at The Sorrento Hotel; and MARCH 12 at Egan’s in Ballard. Check out my Concert Calendar please!
R – Recordings (either my own CDs or others.) Some musicians’ albums I’ve recorded for include: Ahamefule Oluo & Soulchilde; Hey Marsailles; The Parenthetical Girls; Jherek Bischoff; Secret Chiefs 3 (for John Zorn’s Masada); Bill Horist and Macklemore & Ryan Lewis. I want to create more room for this sort of work with other musicians and take The Daphnes into the studio very soon!
E – Events, Weddings, and Funerals – corporate & private events (usually I play solo harp or duet combinations of harp+bass; harp+cello, harp+flute, etc. But there’s so much more I’m open to and capable of…) This is a guess, but I think I’ve played around 250 weddings. Indoor. Outdoor. On the side of Snoqualmie Falls.
T – is for Teaching. I dig it. Right now I’ve got students coming to my home studio in Wallingford on Monday afternoons/evenings.
H – Healing. This is my new path! Next month, I will have a certification for playing therapeutic bedside music. My title will be Certified Clinical Musician. Right now, I’m playing Thursdays at a general hospital. I’m looking for more work, particularly with hospices in King County. This new path is wide open and I expect to expand this aspect of my business, and maybe even form an LLC.
I have other little things up my sleeve, but this is the bulk of my news. As of March 31, I will be a free agent of music and writing and other creative happenings. I’m expecting to fly.
Expecting to Fly
I’ll close with a quote by Paulo Coelho that’s inspired me to take the leap: “A boat is safe in the harbor. But this is not the purpose of the boat.”
I am so excited about my new project, an all-female band of all-star proportions! The Daphnes will be playing our debut concert at the swanky Sorrento Hotel on March 7th. We’ll be playing 2 sets of original material starting at 7:30pm.
The Daphnes are: Monica Schley, harp/vocal;
Julie Baldridge, violin;
Lori Goldston, cello;
Anne Matthews, vocal
The following week, The Daphnes will be at Egan’s in Ballard. March is Women’s History Month. We’re playing a bill of Women in Music Thurs. March 12, 9pm with the amazing jazz duo Syrinx Effect:
I will be playing this coming Saturday, Jan. 10 at the Seattle Wedding Show. You can find me from 12:30 – 2:00pm playing at the top of the escalators on the 4th floor, next to the entrance ticket booth.
All wedding couples who book me before January 31st can enjoy my “wedding show special” rate of $325 for a ceremony, before my rates go up on February 1st.
My price includes:
30 minutes of prelude music
ceremony songs and a bit of postlude as well
in studio consultation to help pick out songs (opt)
I use an amplifier for weddings, can travel the Puget Sound Region and play outdoors. I am also available to play for cocktail hour/dinner afterward. We can tailor the music together to fit your style!
I play solo harp; with harp/cello; harp/flute; harp/violin; harp/bass; and combinations of these instruments. I’ve been a harpist for 25 years and can play classical, folk, jazz standards, pop and Celtic songs. Also – I love playing weddings!
I guess I’m one of those people who like a Top 10 List – what can I say?
2014 was a pretty decent year. It had some fun pockets of rising high, but it also had the plunges. These may not be the best photos of the year literally, but the sentiments that go along with them are. Also, they’re not numbered in any particular importance.
Weddings!
I played some lovely weddings in 2014, solo harp, or with my cellist friend Maria. This is a photo that I use on my new promotional postcard, taken by Malcom Smith.
wedding harpist
Therapeutic Bedside Music I began Level 2 in the Harp for Healing Program to become a Certified Clinical Musician (CCM). Right now I play weekly at Highline Hospital in Burien. 2015 is the year I’m looking for paid work in this field. I look very forward to bringing therapeutic to hospitals, hospices, nursing homes and elsewhere and having folks get in touch with me about having harp come to them!
Songwriters Showcase
Back in February I played at Egan’s in Ballard with a small group of three other songwriters. I was immensely pleased to be on the ticket with Cynthia Alexander, Cynthia Marie and Camelia Jade & Mike Antone.
Songwriters Showcase
Stephen Goes Back To Painting
When I met my husband 10 years ago, he was a full-time illustrator for print advertising, magazines, books, and fine art. Since that time the market for his work has taken a deep plunge and he’s moved to web design, consulting, logo design, marketing… the whole package deal for start-up and small businesses. One of those businesses in early 2014 was Majdor. This client wanted him to paint a piece for the cover of the home page, as well as design the website and other marketing materials. It was wonderful to watch him create art again! Zephyr thought he did a good job too.
Stephen Goes Back to Painting
Birthday Recording Session
My Early-March birthday comes at the armpit of winter. The time when snow gets ugly and melted, when the sky constantly drizzles, and when there is only a faint inkling of crocuses starting their accent. It seems like the world is so dull. By February, I begin to feel trapped by winter – but then I turn the calendar and my birthday saves me! With its celebration of cake and kinship, it truly feels like I survived another year! This year, I went to Carkeek Park with my friend Julie Baldridge and picked up flotsom garbage from low-tide. Then, we came back to my place and did a recording session. It was a fabulous day.
Carkeek Park Feather
Goodbye Franklin Cat (2007-2014)
Franklin left us the week before Halloween. Franklin (aka Good Buddy, Buddy, Bud, Frank, FranKitty, Franklin Delano RooseKatz) is really really missed. He was slighted his nine lives! Troubled with several health problems, we just couldn’t fix his collapsed lung. He was such a special, gentle cat – never a swipe, claw or hiss. He went out to “In A Silent Way” in the end. We took this photo the day before he died.
Goodbye Franklin Cat
Now I’m Fine
I am honored, thrilled and left with a loss for words about how grateful I am to be a part of Ahamefule Oluo’s Now I’m Fine. With four amazing shows in early December, we sold out On The Boards before we began. Reviews were terrific and to make maters even more exciting, the album (which I also recorded on this summer) was simultaneously released and has been attracting a lot of positive attention. I didn’t even realize it, but this photo below was chosen to be the cover spread of On The Boards’ season booklet.
Photo of the year (in my opinion!) for Aham Oluo's "Now I'm Fine" (L. to R. - Monica Schley, Evan Flory-Barnes, Bryant Moore, Ahamefule J. Oluo, Soulchilde Bluesun)
Port Townsend Getaway
This is sort of personal, but my husband Stephen and I haven’t had a childless getaway in four years. There’s a lot of reasons for that, I won’t share, but I wanted to post this photo because it captured a certain bliss and spontaneity we’ve been able to retain for 10 years.
Love Port Townsend
Drumming at Folklife
Space Needle. Cute kid on a drum set. Folklife Festival. This photo kicked off summer.
Neighborhood Shot
I took this on a random day in the fall, after spending all day cooped up practicing or working on the computer or being mom in the house, this was my 15 minutes to break away outside alone! The afternoon lighting was eerie and peaceful and made me feel very content to live in Seattle, my rainy home.
There is much to be thankful for, and three things I’ve got gratitude for are these upcoming concerts. The month kicks off with a big 4-day show!
Photo of the year (in my opinion!) for Aham Oluo’s “Now I’m Fine” (L. to R. – Monica Schley, Evan Flory-Barnes, Bryant Moore, Ahamefule J. Oluo, Soulchilde Bluesun)
Comedian/musician/captivating storyteller Ahamefule Oluo leads a team of talented musicians in a grand-scale experimental pop opera about keeping it together. Drawing from darkly funny personal stories about illness, despair, and regeneration, Now I’m Fine ranges from intimate to epic, featuring a 17-piece orchestra and a spectacular cast of performers including Okanomodé Soulchilde, Samantha Boshnack, Josh Rawlings, Evan Flory-Barnes, D’Vonne Lewis, myself on harp and many more. Get your tickets now if you plan to come! All four nights will sell out!
“…a master storyteller who has somehow managed to cram approximately 56 tragic, awkward, hilarious, blistering lifetimes into his 30-odd years.”
– The Stranger
AHAMEFULE OLUO is a composer, comedian, and trumpet player. Oluo was the first Artist-in-Residence at Town Hall in Seattle. A longtime writing partner of comedian Hari Kondabolu, he has performed nationally with bands including Das Racist and Hey Marseilles, and is a fixture in the local and national comedy scenes. His garage-jazz quartet Industrial Revelation won the 2014 Stranger Genius Award in the music category.
$23 | $25 WEEK OF SHOW https://ontheboards.secure.force.com/ticket/#details_a0SF000000AcgZ9MAJ
Take a magical stroll through a botanical garden. Krukenberg Botanical Garden is hosting a Solstice Stroll through their forest wonderland – LED lights strung on trees, sipping hot cider and yours truly playing harp under covering in a meadow. Gnomes live here! Family friendly.
“Harp Carols” is a self-produced CD celebrating Europe’s music of 15th – 19th Century holiday season. Songs like “Lo How a Rose” “Carol of the Bells” and “Greensleeves” will transport you to a place of ancient calm. I’ll be playing from this Christmas album as well as new original songs for harp + voice.
Last year, I released a full-length album “Harp Carols” for the Christmas season. This is an album dedicated to my mother Nancy, who had been asking for something like this from me for over a decade – what a wait!
I’ll be performing the album songs live in December (more on that coming up). CDs will be available at a number of gift shops during the Holiday Season, but if you just can’t wait…
“Harp Carols” is a collection of ancient noels on solo harp and features clarinetist Rosalyn DeRoos on the last song. All songs are traditional Christmas carols except track 7, an improvisation on Gabriel Faure’s “Pavane,” and track 10, “Journey to the Magi,” an original tune a la Alice Coltrane with influence by the T.S. Eliot poem. “Harp Carols” celebrates Europe’s music of 15th Century – 19th Century holiday season and will transport you to a place of Old World calm during this winter’s busiest month.
I’ve also been in the studio recording for my own album of original songs, practicing with a bunch with lovely women with gorgeous harmonies (with my little girl running around between us). Its been a pretty amazing time.
Here’s a photo album.
He's got some 'splainin' to do Sam & MeHarp ChartIn-Studio Selfie at Macklemore & Ryan Lewis'
This week I started playing harp at Highline Hospital in Burien. There, I play music at the bedside of patients on the surgery unit, either in pre- or post- operation.
My official volunteer badge - I jumped through a lot of hoops to get this!
Therapeutic beside music is live acoustic music, played or sung, specifically tailored to the patient’s immediate need, based on the science of sound. It is not entertainment, like music found in the lobby of an institution. It’s purpose is to aid in the healing process for the ill, and help relax their visitors, doctors and hospital staff. First and foremost, therapeutic musicians focus on the patient’s responses to the music, and can change tempo, song, musical mode, style, etc. in the moment. Therapeutic musicians have also studied what style or mode of music is appropriate for the condition that the patient is in. All therapeutic music is played between 60-80 beats per minute, which is the same as the human heart rate.
I am a clinical music intern in the Harp for Healing program, just finishing my last internship requirement. Then I’ll be a Certified Clinical Musician, so I’ll get have some credibility and a title! Monica Schley, CCM.
Previously, I’ve interned at Northwest Kidney Center (a long-time client of mine for their memorial services) and a Seattle hospice care unit. I have found that with each visit I make a friend or two who wants me to return to them regularly.
Julie Baldridge and I recorded a handful of song last spring on my birthday this year. She’s a violinist friend I’ve been playing with for a decade, but she recently moved to San Francisco. We hadn’t played together for quite a while, but all in a short span of time, she was in town, we made plans to play, and on that day I said, “Hey, would you like to record this?”
Most of what we came up with was improvised, like this song – “For Elsie”
We also recorded a song I had previously written, “In the Shadows (of Enchantment)”. I was so pleased. Julie followed the harp so well, but of course she would – just moments before I pressed record she said to me, “half of music is listening.”