Suppose you are an artist, write songs, sing, even record and tour— and most important— have a DREAM! Suppose you’re just starting out (great:) or have been doing this for a while (how’s it going).
There have been many days in my career that I wished there was someone I could TRUST to show me the ropes, tell me the TRUTH about this business I’m in, and give me PERSPECTIVE in terms of where I’ve been, where I am, and where I need to go on my journey. Someone who would treat me with respect and whose heart was in it for the music and not just for the money. I found a person like that. Her name is Sheree Spoltore!
I have lived or worked in Nashville for over 20 years. I have known and worked with Sheree for 10 of those years through the world’s largest organization that advocates for songwriters, Nashville Songwriters Association, International (NSAI). She has personally mentored me and been one of my biggest cheerleaders in her capacity as Director of Membership Services, NSAI. I also worked with Sheree in my capacity as an NSAI GAP Board Member, a group that nurtured up & coming writers and performers. She has always been a knowledgeable and consummate professional.
Well, Sheree is hanging her own shingle. She has formed her own company, Global Songwriters Connection. This company is designed to assist the pure songwriter and the artist who is looking to advance their career in a music business environment where old paradigms are giving away to new DIY (do it yourself) models. But the question is: what does DIY really mean? It means a lot of work—–and a maze of decisions to make. Need some help? I mean some really specific how-do-I-do-this help?
Put simply, Sheree can outline, step by step, how to advance the kind of career you’re hoping to sustain. For me, the question is always the same, “What do I do next?” Sheree is a master at answering that kind of question. Think of it as going to school to learn about the biz you’re in. Warning: You’ll get homework! But if you nail the homework, you’ll get the results, the kind you’re most likely looking for–like being able to do your LIFE’S WORK!
OK, you might have to gut check your work ethic. But here’s the good news, you don’t have to spend years going down long, questionable roads, making more wrong turns than a road trip without a GPS, and quite possibly ending up in a place that takes your soul’s breath right out of you. Or, worse, you don’t begin the journey because you don’t even know how to get started.
Sheree Spoltore told me a long time ago: We all need to be recognized, appreciated, validated. I have found her to mean every word! And I am better off from knowing her.
—David G Smith (Several indie cuts to include major indie artist, Rissi Palmer. 2008 First Place, Country Category, International Song Contest. Song placements on Fox TV and Cable TV’s Travel Channel; 2011 winner of RK Oermann’s DISCovery Award for self-release cd, Non-Fiction. Has played with or opened for: Justin Townes Earle, Rory Block, Buddy Mondlock, Jelly Roll Johnson.)
