I was having a conversation with a musician buddy a few days ago about the frustrations of being an unknown artist. Everything's over saturated, so how the hell does anyone cut through or rise above these days?

I suppose the Allen Stone project's successful, and I could point to our insane touring schedule, viral-ish videos and MANY lucky breaks along the way, but I know tons of bands with similar resumes who haven't enjoyed similar breakthroughs. So who knows? You can drive yourself nuts thinking about this kinda shit. I know I do.

The thing is, maybe a video goes viral, or a song takes off on Spotify or whatever - and that's great I guess - but like I mentioned in a previous post, what's most important and infinitely more sustainable's creating as nourishment and releasing uncompromisingly honest art, all the time.

I realize I'm sounding a little hippy here, and that's fair enough. But I've seen the business get convoluted and outright dirty more times than I can count, and 100% of the time it's because the art's not steering the ship. When the art's not steering the ship, the vision's unclear, and therefore the label doesn't know what they're selling, management doesn't know how to schmooze, etc. Then people start talking about how you don't have enough instagram followers or some similar nonsense and you're dead in the water.

When the vision's crystaline and the personality's are undeniable - ie when the art's in control - the right industry folks get behind the project, true fans are made and you have a career forever. And that takes time. So, be patient. Make sure the bills are paid, create and share unapologetically and enjoy cultivating your unique artistic voice free of extraneous bullshit. Trust me, it's worth it.