Tell us about your tour vehicle.
I’m currently sitting in Sierra Ferrell’s 15 passenger Ford E-350 with a trailer hooked up to it. It’s approaching 100,000 miles. When I joined her band she was in a fairly old Sprinter with around 400,000 miles on it. It had bunks and storage shelves in it and you could stand up. It was very comfortable to travel in, but it passed on to that great junk yard in the sky this past July. In my previous band, Lindsay Lou & the Flatbellys, we spent about three years running a shuttle bus on straight veggie oil that I would syphon out of grease traps behind restaurants and gas stations. There was definitely a learning curve but in the end it saved us loads of money, cut our emissions, and made touring even more of an interesting adventure than it already is.
How do you eat cheaply and/or healthy while on tour?
Fast food is a hard no. On our rider we request individual plain Greek yogurts for everyone, cans of cold brew coffee, berries, and a bag of granola. So breakfast is covered. And then I try to wait until we arrive at the venue late afternoon to eat again. At the venue there is usually an assortment of snacks and dinner provided. I also am traveling with a collapsible kettle, a collapsible pour over funnel, and a jar of ground coffee. Buying coffee adds up…
How many strings do you break in a typical year? How much does it cost to replace them?
I actually don’t break strings often at all, but I replace them quite often. How much does it cost to replace them? I play D’Addario strings and they’re kind enough to endorse me, so I get them pretty cheap.
Where do you rehearse?
I’ve always played in string bands, so our rehearsal space is often just our kitchen, living room, or perhaps under a tree.
What was the title and a sample lyric from the first song that you wrote?
I honestly don’t remember what the first song was that I wrote and I have no record of it, but many of my early songs I wrote were for a ska/punk band I played in. In 9th grade our drummer’s older brother, Jeff, didn’t like that we were using a tape deck he found on the curb to make a demo. His solution was to take it out into the driveway and throw it up in the air and destroy it. We found a new tape deck and recorded a song that immortalized the event. It went, “Jeff destroyed the tape deck / it don’t work any more / Jeff destroyed the tape deck / parts were strewn on the floor…”
Describe your first gig.
I think it was my high school talent show when I was in 9th grade. We ended up getting first place. We beat the senior band and our bassist’s older brother was in that band so we were pretty stoked. It was in the school chapel and someone lit a piece of paper on fire and a mosh pit broke out. It was a grand success.
What was your last day job? What was your favorite day job?
My last day job was being a substitute teacher in 2012. It was a very flexible job so that made it easy to transition into full time touring. I went to school to be an elementary teacher and was doing a long term 5th grade sub job for a woman on maternity leave. When she returned I went on my first multiple weeks long tour and made more than I would have subbing. Around that same time the band I was in got a booking agent and that was the end of subbing for me.
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?
I definitely make more per gig and have some mailbox money that comes in. It’s impossible to say what the future holds for making an income in music but I hope I just keep on an upward trajectory.
What one thing do you know now that you had wished you knew when you started your career in music?
If you believe in yourself, invest in yourself.