Songs For The Struggling Artist

When I read about the three people who challenged Harvey Weinstein at a show for young artists, I tried to imagine what I would have done if I’d walked in to an event and found him there. I hope I’d have been as brave as Kelly Bachman, Zoe Stuckless and Amber Rollo but I don’t know. Would I be the first person to say something to him? Probably not. I’m not particularly confrontational. But I would have, I’m fairly certain, created a hex on the spot and I would have quietly but forcefully cast some kind of spell. I’m not a witch – but I think I’d just become one if I were put in a room with a monster. To keep reading What to Do When Weinstein Shows Up at the Bar, visit the Songs for the Struggling Artist. This is Episode 177 Song: Brave by Sara Bareilles To support the podcast: Give it 5 stars in Apple Podcasts. Write a nice review! Join my mailing list: www.emilyrainbowdavis.com/ Like the blog/show on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SongsfortheStrugglingArtist/ Support me on Patreon: www.patreon.com/emilyr

I decided I needed to find a way to adapt to these screwed up circumstances. I decided to scream every time I read or heard some new infuriating fact. Screaming is releasing and physical and expressive. I thought it might help get the fury out of me rather than letting its poison build up in there. But. I do live in a dense urban area. And probably my neighbors don’t need the extra worry of a woman screaming all the time. So I’ve implemented the Silent Scream response. To read more of My New Coping Mechanism visit the Songs for the Struggling Artist blog. This is Episode 176 Song: "Let Me Hear You Scream" by Ozzy Osbourne To support the podcast: Give it 5 stars in Apple Podcasts. Write a nice review! Join my mailing list: www.emilyrainbowdavis.com/ Like the blog/show on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SongsfortheStrugglingArtist/ Support me on Patreon: www.patreon.com/emilyrdavis Or buy me a coffee on Kofi: http://ko-fi.com/emilyrainbowdavis Follow me on Twitter @erainbowd Instagram and Pinterest Tell a fr

It WAS a magical show. It’s not that we didn’t have difficulties – it’s just that they were so minor in the face of the magic afoot. The cast was talented and smart and game. The design team was innovative and generous. The musicians were curious and supportive. The three of us who made it happen thought of ourselves as Charmed Ones – bringing forth good art magic. It was a charmed time, I think. And I don’t think I’m wrong about how good it actually was. Anyway – that was 18 years ago. A baby who was born on the day we started rehearsals is probably preparing to go to college. Time has passed. But for me, it still feels quite fresh. To read more of The Weird Perils of Surviving in the Arts, visit the Songs for the Struggling Artist blog.  This is Episode 175 Image via Pixabay Song: Sleeping Beauty by Emily Rainbow Davis To support the podcast: Give it 5 stars in Apple Podcasts. Write a nice review! Join my mailing list: www.emilyrainbowdavis.com/ Like the blog/show on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/

You guys. Sometimes I get a little cranky about how common my name is. Like that time, a while back, when some other Emily Davis got into some serious debt and caused debt collectors to call me at various relatives’ houses because they couldn’t be sure I wasn’t THAT Emily Davis and they really wanted to find her. Or when they wouldn’t give me a mailbox at my college post office because they said I’d just come in and withdrawn. Uh. Nope. I’d just arrived for my first year of college and I was super freaked out and the thought of not getting mail seriously wigged me out. (It was before email. No mail was serious back then.) When I started to explore putting solo music online, I discovered an Australian Emily Davis who seemed to be doing pretty well. That was one other Emily. Then, a few years ago, I started to get tagged in Facebook events for shows I was not in. There was a new actress in town with my name and she was starting to get some traction. Then recently I got a postcard in the mail for a show that dec

The show nailed the standard white American male theatre director so well, I found I had fantasies of kicking his head down the road a few days later. Forgive me the violent imagery but I guess I’m a little bit furious. American Moor is a show about an actor grappling with the weight of Othello. Caught in a tug of war between the demands of the racist American Theatre system and his African American peers, the character rails and resists. He wants to rage against the injustices that rain down but he keeps himself in check. He also attempts to audition for the role. To read more of Who Gets to Rage in American Theatre? Or, Some Stuff I Learned from American Moor visit the Songs for the Struggling Artist This is Episode 173 Song:  Wouldn't It Be Good by Nik Kershaw Image via Flickr To support the podcast: Give it 5 stars in Apple Podcasts. Write a nice review! Join my mailing list: www.emilyrainbowdavis.com/ Like the blog/show on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SongsfortheStrugglingArtist/ Support me on

I am so used to rejections that when I saw the email in my inbox, I thought, “I don’t think I can handle that rejection today.” So it took me a little minute to open it and read it and see that was actually an acknowledgement that the play is moving on to the semi-finals and woot! To read more of Small Victories, visit the Songs for the Struggling Artist blog. This is Episode 172 Song: Things Can Only Get Better by Howard Jones Image by skeeze via Pixabay To support the podcast: Give it 5 stars in Apple Podcasts. Write a nice review! Join my mailing list: www.emilyrainbowdavis.com/ Like the blog/show on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SongsfortheStrugglingArtist/ Support me on Patreon: www.patreon.com/emilyrdavis Or buy me a coffee on Kofi: http://ko-fi.com/emilyrainbowdavis Follow me on Twitter @erainbowd Instagram and Pinterest Tell a friend! As ever, I am yours, Emily Rainbow Davis --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/songs-for-the-struggling-artist/support

Look – I’ve always been a LITTLE bit weird. I wore my tutu with pants and an engineer’s cap to school when I was a kid. (I might still wear this, given a chance.) I don’t care much for social conventions or fashion trends or behavioral controls. I’m sort of constitutionally an artist and a certain amount of difference discomfort is just a normal part of my life experience. But recently, I’ve been feeling like I’m much weirder than I used to be. Or rather, I’m as weird as I’ve always been but I seem to seem weirder to the outside world. To read more of Be the Weirdo You Want to See in the World, visit the Songs for the Struggling Artist blog.  This is Episode 171 Song: Still a Weirdo by KT Tunstall To support the podcast: Give it 5 stars in Apple Podcasts. Write a nice review! Join my mailing list: www.emilyrainbowdavis.com/ Like the blog/show on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SongsfortheStrugglingArtist/ Support me on Patreon: www.patreon.com/emilyrdavis Or buy me a coffee on Kofi: http://ko-fi.com/

In the bathroom at my local café, someone has written on the wall with chalk, in what I’m sure is meant to be an inspirational font: “Believe in Yourself!” I hate this note. I know it’s meant to be uplifting but I cannot imagine that anyone could look at a note on the bathroom wall and change their belief or lack of belief in themselves. In response to this cheery message, I may have given a bathroom wall the finger. I’m not proud of it – but I think I’ve been pushed to my Believing in Myself limit. To read more of "Believe in Yourself" visit the Songs for the Struggling Artist blog.  This is Episode 170 Song: Don't Stop Believin' by Journey. Had to do it.  Image by HassebPhotography via Pixabay To support the podcast: Give it 5 stars in Apple Podcasts. Write a nice review! Join my mailing list: www.emilyrainbowdavis.com/ Like the blog/show on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SongsfortheStrugglingArtist/ Support me on Patreon: www.patreon.com/emilyrdavis Or buy me a coffee on Kofi: http://ko-fi.co

Are you having a party? Invite me. I would like to come. Can I guarantee that I will make it? No. Stuff happens and sometimes migraines happen to me. So I am unfortunately not a terribly reliable guest anymore. Also if it’s super late and the trains aren’t running again on the weekends, it can get a little sticky but please invite me anyway. To read more of Invite Me to Your Party, visit the Songs for the Struggling Artist blog. Episode 169 Song: People's Parties by Joni Mitchell Image by Markito via Pixabay To support the podcast: Give it 5 stars in Apple Podcasts. Write a nice review! Join my mailing list: www.emilyrainbowdavis.com/ Like the blog/show on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SongsfortheStrugglingArtist/ Support me on Patreon: www.patreon.com/emilyrdavis Or buy me a coffee on Kofi: http://ko-fi.com/emilyrainbowdavis Follow me on Twitter @erainbowd Instagram and Pinterest Tell a friend! --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/songs-for-the-struggling-artist/support

Hey girl. It’s me, yourself from a few minutes ago. I’m just writing you this little post from your past so that you can refer to it in your future the next time you’re feeling bad or insecure or despondent about how no one came to see your show or read your blog or listened to your podcast or your music or read your book. I’m going to need you to remember the nearly three hours you spent in the audience of a musical I’m going to call Bike. To read more of In Which I Learn Again that Popularity Does Not Equal Quality, or a Show Called Bike visit the Songs for the Struggling Artist blog.  This is Episode 168 Song: Motorcycle Song by Arlo Guthrie Image of a Dumpster Fire via Wikicommons To support the podcast: Give it 5 stars in Apple Podcasts. Write a nice review! Join my mailing list: www.emilyrainbowdavis.com/ Like the blog/show on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SongsfortheStrugglingArtist/ Support me on Patreon: www.patreon.com/emilyrdavis Or buy me a coffee on Kofi: http://ko-fi.com/emilyrainbowd

They were doing a screening of Roma in my neighborhood so I went. The theatre was dotted with audience members – so everyone sort of had a little bubble of space for themselves. About two rows behind me sat two elderly Latino men. They were possibly the only Latinx people in the place. Once the movie began, they spoke to each other in Spanish. In a movie that is so much about atmosphere, their voices added to the experience. I was only sorry that my Spanish is not good enough to eavesdrop a little. But some guy on the other side of their row was not happy about their conversation. He shouted at them to be quiet. His shouting was very jarring. And he did it again about ten minutes later. He was really mad about those old guys talking. The third time, he shouted “Be quiet. You’re disturbing the movie.” To keep reading Be Quiet. You're Disturbing the Movie. visit the Songs for the Struggling Artist blog. This is Episode 165 Song: Voices Carry by 'Til Tuesday Image by mermyhh via Pixabay To support the podcast:

When I first started making things, I thought the hard part of making things was the making of things. I was always reading about people who never wrote their novels or their plays or songs or whatever. From reading all these creativity books, I got the sense that just FINISHING something would put me ahead of the pack. This sense is often reinforced, even now. Just the other day I was listening to a podcast about writing and the guest and the host agreed that 95% of writers don’t finish their manuscripts. They made it sound like, just by finishing something, you were already well on your way to success. But I’ve been finishing things my whole creative life and I’m no closer to the front of the pack than I was when I began. Despite a large body of work behind me, I still feel like I’m running like mad to keep up. To read more of Finishing Things visit the Songs for the Struggling Artist blog. This is Episode 164 Song: "Here's Where the Story Ends" by The Sundays Image via Pixabay To support the podcast: Give

We watched The Hangover one night, when it seemed like a couple of dumb laughs might be just the remedy for the world’s cruelties. A couple of dumb laughs were about all we got out of it in the end and half of them were from us about what extraordinary stereotypes all the “killjoy” women were. We cracked ourselves up adding lines, “That no-fun bride is mad we lost her fiancé right before her wedding. God! Women are so annoying!” My friend could not get over how conventional and conservative it was.......... Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is a lot better a play than The Hangover is a movie. It’s funnier, too. But like The Hangover, it is remarkably conventional and conservative. To read the full Harry Potter and the Hangover visit the Songs for the Struggling Artist blog. This is Episode 162 Song: "Goodnight and Go" by Imogen Heap Image via Pixabay To support the podcast: Give it 5 stars in Apple Podcasts. Write a nice review! Join my mailing list: www.emilyrainbowdavis.com/ Like the blog/show on Facebook:

The interviewer had asked me about my early career as a classical actor. I was explaining the math I did after a few years of acting wherein I realized how terrible the odds were for me in classical theatre. I’d realized I had little interest in performing in contemporary work and that the jobs in Shakespeare for women were so few that I had really very little chance of continuing to work. Then she asked me, “Do you think it would have different if you were a man?” To continue reading O God, that I were a man! visit the Songs for the Struggling Artist blog.  This is Episode 161. Song: The Man by The Killers Image via Pixabay To support the podcast: Give it 5 stars in Apple Podcasts. Write a nice review!  Join my mailing list: www.emilyrainbowdavis.com/  Like the blog/show on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SongsfortheStrugglingArtist/ Support me on Patreon: www.patreon.com/emilyrdavis  Or buy me a coffee on Kofi: http://ko-fi.com/emilyrainbowdavis Follow me on Twitter @erainbowd  I

The café where I came up with the idea is long gone. I think it’s three to four businesses ago in that spot now. But the project that was born there took me through eight to nine years. It started in that café out of a need to goose my creative practice. I was finding my writing process to be a little less smooth than I liked. When I turned on the faucet, the creativity didn’t always flow the way it used to. I felt I needed a structure within my daily practice that might drop me in to a better state of flow. Hamlet came to me because – at the time – I was working toward playing the role. I had a goal of getting back to acting and Hamlet was the top of that mountain. I thought if I wrote in response to Hamlet, I’d tackle two goals at once. I could prepare to play Hamlet while goosing my writing practice. To read more of The Hamlet Project - 'Tis a Knavish Piece of Work visit the Songs for the Struggling Artist blog. This is Episode 160. Song: Good Night Uncle Vanya by Emily Rainbow Davis Image via New York Pub

When I apply for artist residencies, I am almost always asked to describe the project I would work on while there. Sometimes a rather substantial word count is suggested for such things. I suspect that the application lives or dies based on my ability to pitch a possible project. (Mostly my applications die – so it would seem I am not great at this part. Either that or the application ACTUALLY lives or dies based on the résumé, in which case the project may not matter at all.) But the truth is, whatever I say in these project descriptions, I am just making things up. To keep reading I Am Literally Making All This Up, visit the Songs for the Struggling Artist blog.  This is Episode 159  Song: You Got Me by Emily Rainbow Davis Image via Pixabay To support the podcast: Give it 5 stars in Apple Podcasts. Write a nice review!  Join my mailing list: www.emilyrainbowdavis.com/  Like the blog/show on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SongsfortheStrugglingArtist/ Support me on Patreon: www.patreon

What with the kids in cages, gerrymandering given a pass by the Supreme Court and civil liberties under constant attack, I found it a little difficult to work up any enthusiasm for the Fourth of July. I would have been fine to grab a pizza and watch TV, maybe try and squeeze in a little activism – but, sort of by chance, we ended up at Gantry Park in Long Island City, Queens, which is not far from where I live. It’s a waterfront park developed in the last few years and so a lot of people had gathered there to see the fireworks. We walked past people from all over the world. We saw families of a multitude of religions and races. People streamed into the park and while I don’t love crowds, I was actually grateful to be among so many people of so many varieties on a day like the Fourth. To read more of I've Got My Plans for July 4th Next Year Already visit the Songs for the Struggling Artist blog. This is Episode 158 Song: America by Simon and Garfunkle Image via Pixabay To support the podcast: Give it 5 stars i

I have read endless articles and books on this topic and they all offer more or else the same thing in more or less optimistic language, depending on the publication. They all know that this is what everyone wants to know, so this is what they tell you, even though no one has the secret. I’m not going to lie to you – the reason why there are so many articles about how to make money from your art is because everyone wants the answer and no one knows how to do it, aside from the Steve Martin, “First, get a million dollars” way. There are some things to try, for sure. There are possibilities and methods. Maybe one will work for you but there are no guarantees. However – I don’t want to deny what you came here for – so at the risk of repeating what every other article about this says – I will, in fact, offer you some strategies for making money on your art work. I will be unable to avoid drawing on my experience and of other artists I’ve known, though, so you can expect, perhaps, an uncomfortable amount of realis