Photo credit: Bethany Brook Showalter and Spencer Showalter
Tell us about your tour vehicle. Any notable breakdown stories?
I used to own a passenger van in the early days of my career, but haven’t owned an official tour vehicle in a long time. These days we are either leasing tour busses or flying across the country and renting a few minivans (usually Pacificas!) in between flights. Both ways of traveling have their pros and cons!
This past September just before a 3 week tour, we had a bus break down on the way to pick us up in Nashville (it was 11 PM the night before our first show). We had to book last minute flights for the next morning at like 6 AM to get to Pennsylvania in time. The bus was “fixed” the next day in Nashville and went to my house to load all of our gear. It broke down again in front of my house. We went through 3 different buses with 3 companies on that tour. It was the wildest run of my career yet!
How do you eat cheaply and/or healthy while on tour?
It’s difficult at times! I find it to be easier on the bus tours because you can just bring your favorite snacks and things that you like to have straight from home or the grocery store and you’ve got a fridge on the bus.
Most of the folks I travel with appreciate good food and coffee, so we don’t do a whole lot of fast food stops, but rather try and find more fun local stops and build in time to make that happen. If we do need a quick stop, we try to find something relatively healthy.
How many strings do you break in a typical year? How much does it cost to replace them?
I actually never break strings! I change them quite often though (every few shows) to keep them sounding fresh and feeling clean. I’m super lucky that D’Addario keeps me stocked with all the strings I need throughout the touring year.
Where do you rehearse?
I don’t have a dedicated rehearsal space per se because I’m always on the go. With my band, we tend to lease out a rehearsal space here in Nashville with a full sound system to do an official production rehearsal at the beginning of every touring year. Otherwise, lots of acoustic rehearsals just sitting in a circle at one of our houses or backstage in some green room space while on the road. That’s kinda the beauty of acoustic music!
I have a little studio office that I work out of at home. It’s quite cozy and a good place to hole up for a few hours at a time when I really have time to practice while off the road.
What was the title and a sample lyric from the first song that you wrote?
I don’t fully remember the lyrics to the first song I would have written, but I believe it was a gospel song with my brother, Cody, written when we were super young. I think it was something like:
“Do you know how it feels to be loved by the King?
Our Heavenly Father who owns everything”…
Describe your first gig.
It would have probably been at the Pine Haven community center in Jamestown, TN where local bluegrass musicians first started encouraging me to get on stage. There would always be folks jamming in the back room and then a small stage where locals would come listen to bluegrass every Friday night. One night back in the jam room a bunch of the older folks started encouraging me to go out on stage and play this Bill Monroe tune I had just learned, “Lonesome Moonlight Waltz”. I think they bribed me with like $17 dollars and I gave in! Haha
What was your last day job? What was your favorite day job?
I’m so fortunate that I’ve never had to do anything outside of music as my job. I got such an early start in my career that it’s been the only life I’ve ever known and what I’ve dedicated everything to since I was a kid. I still love it and it’s all I ever wanted.
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?
Though I’ve never been in music for the money, it is exciting to see that part of my career grow significantly over the past few years. Everyone wants to be able to do something they love and feel financially secure. It’s a wonderful feeling as my career has grown to see both of those things come true. As someone who grew up not having a lot of money and seeing my folks work really hard jobs to make ends meet, I don’t take for granted that I’m able to make a good living doing something I love.
I’ve always tried to be responsible with the money I’ve made and do my best to not only save, but to be a good steward of it. As I grow financially as an artist, I want to see everyone that works with me grow as well. It takes a village and I’m lucky to be surrounded by wonderful people that deserve to be treated and paid well too.
What one thing do you know now that you had wished you knew when you started your career in music?
Probably that there is no such thing as “making it” for me and that’s ok to realize. There’s always gonna be goals and things to celebrate when they are achieved of course, but there’s always a new hill to climb and more to learn on the other side. The journey is what keeps me fueled. If it were easy, I’d probably have no reason to keep fighting for something more. The more I can accept that, the more I can be ok taking time to stop and smell the roses in between the climb.