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I recorded this week’s podcast guest Nick Bearden live from his studio, Retro Lab Studios, in Nashville, Tennessee. He’s a sideman, bassist, guitar player, producer, and sound engineer.
Nick Bearden has played thousands of shows with Jamestown Revival, but we go heavy on the business side of managers, where he shares a story on one of the shadiest managers I’ve ever heard of. We also discuss how freelancers operate.
Quick links:
3:15 – Nick Bearden, Jamestown Revival, and his instruments
8:05 – How not to do business in the music industry + sync licensing boom of 2009
18:45 – Tour managing
22:05 – Shady managers and getting ripped off
31:48 – How to know when someone is ripping you off
34:07 – How Nick finds gigs as a freelancer and who he’s performing with
39:41 – The story of meeting and working with Jamestown Revival
1:12:58 – The music industry is always paying attention, whether you realize it or not
1:18:38 – Jamestown Revival’s experience being signed to a major label
1:28:05 – Nick’s advice for freelance musicians who want to be a “session cat” and touring musician
1:33:50 – How Nick defines making it in the new music business
