TEACHING, COACHING, & SUPPORT
They say that if you love what you do, you'll never work a day in your life.
Of course, as a performing songwriter, storyteller, and independent music-preneur, I know the reality first-hand: That when you love what you do, you're working on, thinking about, learning, and envisioning your career every day and night.
As artists we dedicate an enormous amount of time and resources to the development of our musicianship and songwriting craft. And then there's everything else. Like daily care for our mental state, physical health, and relationships
Often, building a career as an independent artist feels like being in the deepest jungle. We spend our days hacking away with all our strength and stamina, sometimes only to find by nightfall that we have barely cleared an inch. Many times, we don't know if we've been heading in the right direction. Other times, incredibly, we've cleared a path through. There's a new landscape in front of us, and we can see that the work we've done has gotten us somewhere.
That's when it's time to set a new vision for the next steps. As a songwriter and artist, I know this journey well.
As a longtime yoga practitioner and teacher since 2009, and a teacher and guide for students of all ages – from my college students at Antioch University, to middle school students at University of Wisconsin-Madison's Summer Music Clinic, to the adults who join me in classes, workshops, and yoga retreats – I offer the perspective of experience and knowledge gained by years of study and teaching.
THREE WAYS TO WORK WITH ME
One-On-One Coaching
We'll set up a mentor session via Zoom to focus on your vision and create an action plan with resources to help you clarify the what, why, and how of your goals and the tools to move forward.
Small Group Workshop
This option is great if you have a small (3-8) group of friends who are interested in songwriting, creative writing, and/or yoga philosophy study. In weekly, twice-monthly, or monthly Zoom or in-person sessions, I will guide your group through conscious conversation, creative workshop critique, and accountability.
Group Monthly Sessions
I hold a monthly group 1-hour Zoom session for my Patreon supporters at the Team Jupiter level and up. These sessions are open conversations about whatever topics the group is interested in discussing that day. Songcraft? Business? Yoga philosophy? You pick it, and we'll discuss. Sometimes, you may be the only one in the session. Other times, you will be joined by others in the "Far Out Planet" teams. Join Team Jupiter for $45 and let's talk.
TEACHING PHILOSOPHY
The beauty of being independent artists is that we have complete creative oversight over the course of our careers. The challenge, of course, is that we have complete creative oversight over the course of our careers...
But just because we're in charge doesn't mean we need to invent everything from scratch.
Sharing my experience and skills as a performing artist, creative writing coach, and a business indie-preneur, I am available to work one-on-one with independent musical artists on their own careers. From song-craft to pitch-craft, I am delighted to shine a light on various aspects of the art, craft, and business of being an independent performing artist.
In addition to my career as a performing songwriter, in my coaching I draw on my professional experience behind-the-scenes in post-production at the leading independent production music library, as well as my experiences working in branding and celebrity endorsements at one of the "Big Three" talent agencies.
Alongside my current artist career, I serve on faculty at Antioch University, where I teach courses in creative writing, music business, and creativity research for the Arts and Creative Writing departments in the Undergraduate division. All my work as an artist, coach, and teacher is also guided by philosophical ideas drawn from my two-decades of yoga study, twelve years of teaching yoga and leading creative vision retreats, and the mission of the online yoga studio that I co-founded in 2020, Bhavana Flow Yoga. My coaching integrates pragmatic tools with your big vision (and I'll help you clarify that, too), and draws on my expertise in the music business, the field of creativity research, creative writing, and of course music performance, as well as holistic mind / body / spirit practices.
I realize that many musical artists also have creative aspirations to explore literary writing. As a published writer and teacher of creative writing, I am also available to work with you on short- or long-form literary writing in memoir, personal essay, lyric essay, fiction, and poetry, as well as TEDTalks and presentations.
When you work with me on YOUR craft and career, we will toggle between the macro and the micro so that your daily work is aligned with your larger vision for your career. Our work together will be dictated by your interests, aspirations, and needs. We can work on clarifying the bullseye big picture of your career dreams, or get down-and-dirty with nitty-gritty pragmatic tools.
TOPICS
- SONGWRITING craft
- WEBSITE design / audits (I have discount referral codes to share with you)
- Overcoming PERFORMANCE ANXIETY and stage fright
- Building a WEBSITE and online presence
- Artist BRANDING
- Nuts & bolts of a SUSTAINABLE CAREER
- Crafting PITCH letters
- Building or refining PRESS KITS
- Understanding the INDIE MUSIC industry eco-system
- The 13 steps of BOOKING GIGS
- The BIG PICTURE: Clarifying your vision as an artist and performer
- Creating YOUR individualized career as a creative artist
- CROWDFUNDING
- MERCH
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VOCAL training and conditioning
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Album and Single RELEASE plans
- EMAIL LIST engagement
- ...and more. What QUESTIONS do you have?
TESTIMONIALS
Arielle,
I feel incredibly seen, and also in ways that I didn't expect, and truly that has made an impact on me. I hold your insights and feedback in high regard. I have observed you to be someone with a high level of intentionality as a teacher, but also as a conversation-partner. You are an attentive and sincere observer, and listener, and seem so genuinely invested in offering tools and feedback of substance. Also, because you yourself are an artist searching for good tools, and feedback. I suppose that I trust your mentorship because I know the value of your word.
When I write, I often follow sound and tonality, and you are a wonderful musician! (I mean that sincerely. I have watched many a-live-performance.) You are a purposeful storyteller, who is quick with their words, and you also pay attention to sound, tone, and the right words. I think you look at the integrity of each moving part in a piece, and still manage to reach the finish line of large, themed projects. You're an expert at splicing.
You guided me to make an artistic choice about what I prioritize in each line of my work. Sometimes I needed to follow my own artistic hunch, but nonetheless make that choice deliberately. I learned to write in ways I never would have considered if not pushed to materialize, and explain. You are also patient and kind, and have been patient and kind with my work, and its subject matter. And by no means is this email an exhaustive list.
Also, you're pretty fun to talk to.
- T.C. (Antioch University student, independent study project)