There's No Races, Only Runners

A very happy new year to you. I took the liberty of two weeks off sending these newsletters, because, let’s face it, Christmas and New Year is really not the time for emails.

I’m back, refreshed, and ready to make 2024 our year.

I say ‘our’ because this community is a shared endeavour. Together, we are building something, a union of like-minded musicians and artists who say ‘no need to wait – I have the means to do it myself.’

Community is one of the best ways of keeping ourselves accountable, and stick to those longer-term-goals.

Because doing it yourself doesn’t mean doing it alone.

Like many of us, I struggle with new year’s resolutions. It’s very normal to bite off more than you can chew, fall behind, and shame spiral.

So, this is not me asking you for your resolutions. Consider it a friendly challenge instead.

What’s one thing you can do to move your music one step closer into the world?

It might be finally finishing that track, or booking an open mic slot, or taking the plunge and publishing your first YouTube video.

There’s a song called ‘Two of Us on the Run’ by the band Lucius, with a wonderful lyric I think of often:

There's no race, there's only a runner/ Just keep one foot in front of the other.

There’s no deadline to this challenge. Only you can take that next step. But, to continue the running metaphor, if you’re reading this, then you’ve done the hardest bit. You’ve already put your shoes on.

(Next week’s letter will be a special guest post. I’ve always wanted this community to be more than just my voice, so I’m opening it up and expanding the team. If you have lessons you want to share, please email them in.)

Mary x

Independent Artist of the week: Les Bateliers from Santiago, Chile have just released ‘La Ventaja’, the first single from their second LP. Congratulations on ten years of making and releasing music. Thanks to Antonio for writing in.

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