Thanks so much to Sarah Boxx for having me on her show! We had a great time and it felt like chatting with an old friend. I hope you enjoy as much as I did!
Episode 028 – No Labels, No Limits – with Mella Barnes, Musical Artist Extraordinaire
Here is the write-up from their site:
We are continuing our spotlight on women in music and this week’s guest doesn’t disappoint! Mella Barnes is a current Project Manager, Songwriter, Session Singer and Voiceover Artist living in Nashville, TN. As a side note, she’s an animal lover with three dogs, an angora rabbit and a variety of fosters at home.
We dug deep with a few questions on what got her started and kept her going in the music industry. She says, “I started singing in my uncles and cousin’s recording studios at 14.”
When asked how she took big risks and progressed from a one-off singer at her family’s recording studio to a Tunedly Project Manager, she says, “It’s important to take every risk in and of itself and analyze it because it’s easy to get so bogged down, take each thing as its own separate piece. Even if it doesn’t work out, then you’ve learned something about yourself.”
We are all so busy; managing it all can be a daily struggle. Mella says, “Work as much as you can the days that you can. If you struggle with depression or anxiety or anything that might impede your work, on your good days, do as much work as you can and then save it up. Automate things so that it just becomes something you don’t have to think about.”
What advice does she have for new artists? “If you are just getting started as a singer or songwriter or any type of musician, I would say, LEARN EVERYTHING. Everything you can about everything. Most people think, okay, I want to be a guitar player so I just have to learn how to play guitar. It’s so much more than that. In today’s world, you really need to know how to do basic accounting, basic budgeting. You have to know social media, you have to figure out how you’re going to get yourself out there. There’s so much to learn. I really would say treat yourself, your singing, your song, writing as a business and then learn everything you can about that business because really that’s what you are. When you’re a musician, you’re running your own music business.
What’s her #1 piece of advice? “It all works out…that would be my one take-away. Everything will work out, even if the worst case scenario happens, it works out (maybe not the way you had planned but), you’ll be fine.”
Learn more about Mella here: mellamusic.com