Photo credit: Harry Ilyer
Tell us about your tour vehicle.
My current work vehicle is a 2020 Ford Transit 350 XL high roof. It’s got about 38k miles on it now and started with 2600 back in June. I’m so proud of that van. To me, it’s a luxury. Before that, I’d only ever toured around in my old Highlanders. I took one of those up to 305k miles once.
How do you eat cheaply and/or healthy while on tour?
It’s hard to do but I order meat and vegetables when I can. Try to stay away from sweets and I do run a lot while out on the road.
How many strings do you break in a typical year? How much does it cost to replace them?
I probably only break a couple and it’s not much to replace them. I buy huge boxes of strings in bulk so that it’s cheaper over the long run.
Where do you rehearse?
My rehearsal space is my in home office, I’ve got things that I love all over the walls. Guitars hanging and the whole thing is tongue and groove pine wood. It’s a beautiful space and inspires me every time I walk in it. Nothing crazy just good old fashioned songwriting.
What was the title and a sample lyric from the first song that you wrote?
“Soul Like Mine” I was imagining what a life on the road would mean. I was young and very dumb but I had enough sense to know that this life wouldn’t be a walk in the park.
“The highway’s worn on me
Can’t tell a friend from enemy
I hear the road now calls me son
No I’m not it’s only one.”
Describe your first gig.
Believe it or not, my first gig was a lingerie fashion show in Estonia. I played some of the first songs I’d managed to learn for it. It was 20 minutes long and I got paid 150 euros. I thought I’d really made it and decided that this is what I was going to do after that.
What was your last day job? What was your favorite day job?
I had a lawn business that I’d had as a teenager that I continued to have in college. The money from it was better than any starter job I ever had and any of the jobs my friends had.
My favorite and last job I had outside of music was being a caretaker for an elderly couple. I loved them very much and took great pleasure in helping them any way I could.
How has your music-related income changed over the past 5-10 years? What do you expect it to look like 5-10 years from now?
Well it’s gone from absolutely nothing and well below the poverty line prior to my debut album, Seneca, coming out, to something very respectable now after my sophomore album, How the Mighty Fall, has come out. I’m middle class now, have a home and contribute to my household. I have no idea where I’ll be at in the future but getting to where I am now is already a dream come true. I don’t “need” more.
What one thing do you know now that you had wished you knew when you started your career in music?
I spent a lot of time trying to make a band work. It’s really tough to break through independently as a band of equal parts. The personalities, dedication, etc. I had it to do over, I would have been solo from the start, but there were a lot of valuable lessons in there. I’m proud to have traveled the road I have. I’ve paid heavy dues and it’s made me more durable going forward I believe.