Rock Star Rewind: Where the Eff Did May Go?! Timelessness in Quarantine (July 2020)

—Where the f*ck did May go?!

—Okay, now back to our regularly scheduled programming…. I have to haul ass to get the newsletter together! As I mentioned, somehow the end of the month “snuck” up on me and it is time to pay the piper. As Jim Rohn said, “It’s time to reap without apology and without complaint,” or some other phrasing……. but you get it, right? Not only has putting my head down and getting it done been the key to NOT lamenting time or opportunity, but has been the key to just simply getting things done; in quarantine or not….

Vision Board ( http://bit.ly/rockstarvision )

The struggle is real…...

We don’t know about you, but even before this Coronavirus thing, we sometimes struggle to know what to do next—since we haven’t found any ready-made roadmap to world domination for building our own creative brand—so between this massively long list of things to do, people to meet, and opportunities to investigate, staying the course—whatever the fuck THAT means—can be daunting. There are days when the sheer weight of knowing what to do next can be paralyzing, and can lead to us to NOT doing ANYTHING toward it. But, as I have probably mentioned more times than YOU care to count, these last few years has made us just start somewhere—ANYWHERE!—so that we don’t waste too much precious time and so that we don’t overthink it to the point of our brains exploding. So, now, add Coronavirus to all that and you can see that this hasn’t been easy….

D.I.Y. Rock Star Goals During Coronavirus Playlist http://bit.ly/diycoronavirusplay

Then, what do we do?

But if you’ve been keeping up (D.I.Y. Rock Star Goals During Coronavirus Playlist http://bit.ly/diycoronavirusplay), you will know that after South By Southwest got cancelled, we tried so hard to remain optimistic that we did SO MUCH and we crushed it by doing helluva virtual networking, and had our best blogging month EVER! (Grove Studios Livestream: https://bit.ly/Ep122GroveIntvid ) Well, that was in March, so by mid-April, we were basking in the glow of new partnerships and new opportunities. However, by the end of April, the dust had settled and we were looking at our jaw-dropping list of things to do and asking yet again, “What’s next?”

Here are the ways to stay productive and moving forward on your music and creative goals during this unusual time.

So, what’s next?

Luckily, a big fish on the list is the first major release that we are planning to drop by the end of June is our funk album, “Sugar Fit.” The long and the short of it is that it requires work on a sustained level that, frankly, we haven’t even EVER done before. —Remember, for the first time EVER, we are responsible for ALL parts of the songwriting, production, distribution, marketing, etc. I hate to say it out loud, but that whole looming scenario of the fallout from the Coronavirus crisis has taken a backseat, since that’s going to be what it is going to be…… (shrug) So, we have decided not to spend any more time worrying about it until it’s time to emerge. (shrug, again) —So, in May, this was THE easiest place to put our attention. And that’s what we’ve been doing; we are finishing up the tracks, we started shooting the videos, started putting together a promotion strategy, etc. (“Inspiration for a D.I.Y. Music Lyric Video: How We Improved Our Video Making During Coronavirus Quarantine” https://bit.ly/videomakingblog) Maybe that’s why we didn’t notice that the month was barreling to a close!

Here's a look at our latest Gab & Jam.

Do you know about our Song-a-Week Challenge?

(Here’s our “19 for 2019 Goals”: http://bit.ly/19for2019blog )

And?

And all I can say is that, through it all, we remain thankful. –Yes! I KNOW I’ve said that before!!! Grrr….. But it’s true; thankful for possibility and for tenacity and for developing a taste for community-building. (We’re 500+ members strong in Be the Next D.I.Y. Rock Star Facebook Group! http://bit.ly/diyrockstarjoin ) And, quite frankly, for you. If it was not for you—yes, YOU—it might be hard to be this enthusiastic. Though we don’t do what we do FOR others, it is AMAZING how much better it feels when you know that there are others who care and who are taking notes about what you’re doing. It fuels our hope and helps us keep our shit together—this time, especially—so that we can ALL have something important to celebrate.

That’s it. Here’s another one of our virtual hugs for you. Another more month of social distancing?? We got our plans (http://bit.ly/diycoronavirusplay ), we can do it; we got this! 🙌🏾

Our newest RedBubble T-Shirt

(Did you miss this? http://bit.ly/checkyourbrand )

Here's our first ever Music Biz Growth Hacks post.

REASON TO CELEBRATE:

• 500 members in Be the Next D.I.Y. Rock Star Facebook group http://bit.ly/diyrockstarjoin

BLOG POSTS:

1. “10 Impactful Albums Challenge” (Loosely, Gab & Jam Ep 123) https://bit.ly/Ep123albumchallblog

2. “10 Ways to be Wiser About Hiring Professionals (for the D.I.Y. Rock Star)” https://bit.ly/Ep125professionalblog

3. If you missed last month’s newsletter, here it is: https://bit.ly/june2020diyrockstar

GAB & JAM:

1. Ep 124 How do you know when music is “good”? (video: https://bit.ly/Ep124goodmusicvid and podcast: https://bit.ly/Ep124goodmusicpod )

2. Ep 125 What does it mean to hire a “professional”? (video: https://bit.ly/Ep125professionalvid and podcast: https://bit.ly/Ep125professionalpod )

3. Ep 126 Why are musical artists viewed differently from actors? (video: https://bit.ly/Ep126authenticvid and podcast: https://bit.ly/Ep126authenticpod )

4. Ep 127 Top Music-Related Documentaries (video: https://bit.ly/Ep127musicdocsvid and podcast: https://bit.ly/Ep127musicdocspod )

SONG CLIPS:

70. “Quarantine Metal” @Gibson #gibsonguitar

71. “Uke for Spring Thing @Kala @Luna #uke

72. “Take Me to the River” @Fender #bass #Fender

73. “Rock It to the Stars” @Sandberg #bass #Sandberg

Video:

“Audrey, Please” https://bit.ly/audreypleasedemo (music video created as a result of this blog post: “Inspiration for a D.I.Y. Music Lyric Video: How We Improved Our Video Making During Coronavirus Quarantine” https://bit.ly/videomakingblog )

Freebie:

5 Secret Weapons of the D.I.Y. Rock Star Cheat Sheet https://bit.ly/5secretweapons​

Song to SoundCloud:

"They Can't Stop Our Love" https://bit.ly/cantstopourlove

Music:

Honey-Dipped Acoustic Set (exclusive EP; limited release for Record Store Day 2019) https://bit.ly/honeydippedCD​

UPCOMING:

• “Sugar Fit”: It’s the R&B/funk album that we always wanted to hear; with a mix of Sly, Prince, Cameo, Johnny Guitar Watson, and a splash of Third World.

(HERE'S HOW WE PLAN: Weekly Blogging Planning Method)

What about you?

It seems as if we’re coming to the end of this crazy, world-wide thing;

what have you realized?

What have you been up to?

How have you changed? And what do you want to do next?

Tomorrow is coming either way. We may as well plan for it.

Let us know what you’re up to in the comments below.

Until next we meet, here’s wishing you love, peace, and chicken grease!

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To come along with us on our journey to find that next creatively inspiring thing, be sure you’ve subscribed to both the blog and to our YouTube channel.

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