Brave Musician

In this episode, which is part 2 of a 2-part series, Monica continues her conversation with saxophonist Joel Frahm about rebuilding in Nashville, why he chose Nashville, and how they are starting to see things sputtering back to life. They chat about the importance of keeping plugged in and being social, how they both enjoy bouncing ideas off other people, and mitigating negative thought loops. They dive into some deep, vulnerable conversation sparked by Joel's answers to the "Behind the Curtain" questions.

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To support Brave Musician, including the production of this podcast, please visit BraveMusician.com for information on our Pay-It-Forward model and how you can help.

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See the show notes at BraveMusician.com/podcasts.

In this episode, which is part 1 of a 2-part series, Monica sits down with saxophonist Joel Frahm to discuss his musical upbringing, the first jazz LP's he was given, and his early professional gigs and record hunting with pianist Brad Mehldau, and his move to NYC. They talk about the importance of listening, first transcriptions, going through jaw surgery, and have an honest discussion about perfectionism, joy, showing vulnerability, struggling, and not losing hope. They share stories about discipline with practicing, playing with other people, and the fear of being left behind. Joel shares his process and philosophy about making records and offers Monica (and anyone else who needs it) some encouragement about recording.

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To support Brave Musician, including the production of this podcast, please visit BraveMusician.com for information on our Pay-It-Forward model and how you can help.

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See the show notes at BraveMusician.com/podcasts.

In the episode, Monica talks with music teacher, trumpet player, classically-trained singer, and author, Nick Burdick about his book The Practice Habit. They discuss creating an intentional life, coping with severe burnout, the importance of reflection and experimenting with your goals and different sources of influence. They dig into the three different pieces of the book: direct practice, domain knowledge, and self management. Nick shares why he wrote the book and the process of researching and writing it. Listeners of the podcast can get a discount on the book by going to ThePracticeHabit.com/brave

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To support Brave Musician, including the production of this podcast, please visit BraveMusician.com for information on our Pay-It-Forward model and how you can help.

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See the show notes at BraveMusician.com/podcasts.

In this episode, Monica talks with musician, clinician, composer, and Tube Visionary, Bill Muter about creating job security and empowerment in the music industry through diversifying income streams, preparation vs impossible situations, building relationships and bringing what you can to the table. They discuss individual goals with social media, musical resumes, over-producing vs putting out content where you are, and Bill shares why he makes videos on IG. They open up about their individual stories dealing with performance anxiety, what it means to them, and how they have learned to handle it. They also talk about the importance of the hang and conversation.

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To support Brave Musician, including the production of this podcast, please visit BraveMusician.com for information on our Pay-It-Forward model and how you can help.

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See the show notes at BraveMusician.com/podcasts.

In this episode, Monica sits down with saxophonist, educator and advocate, Jessica Stover to discuss her musical journey from how she got started with music to realizing that teaching music was her passion. She shares how the challenges she has faced being legally blind has inspired her to advocate for herself, her classmates, and her future students. They talk about learning music, both by ear and reading Braille music, classroom management, Jessica's amazing guide dog, Inca, resilience, awesome sisters, and what ground cherries are.

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To support Brave Musician, including the production of this podcast, please visit BraveMusician.com for information on our Pay-It-Forward model and how you can help.

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See the show notes at BraveMusician.com/podcasts.

In Part 2, Monica continues where she left off in Part 1, and Bravely discusses her journey and process rebuilding her "profession", her career struggles, goals, and possible solutions. She shares some of the questions that she uses to explore what's going on inside her brain, how she is learning to trust herself again, what she wants to do professionally, and some of the mental blocks that she's learning to remove. Monica shows how she plans to move forward with her goals in a way that allows her to be safe to make mistakes, be imperfect, and be authentic.

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To support Brave Musician, including the production of this podcast, please visit BraveMusician.com for information on our Pay-It-Forward model and how you can help.

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See the show notes at BraveMusician.com/podcasts

In this first episode of season 5, Monica talks about this season's theme, which is "Rebuilding" where we explore how Brave Musician's are overcoming challenges around passion, creation, and music-making opportunities, and talk about how we are rebuilding and reconnecting with our Brave selves musically and personally. Monica shares her personal rebuilding and introduces a new Q&A segment to the show, "Behind the Curtain".

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To support Brave Musician, including the production of this podcast, please visit BraveMusician.com for information on our Pay-It-Forward model and how you can help.

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See the show notes at BraveMusician.com/podcasts.

In this episode, Monica reconnects with Kayoko Dan, the music director of the Chattanooga Symphony and Opera. They are old friends from their days at Arizona State University who both now live in TN now. Kayoko talks about being an orchestra conductor, how she always wanted to be a music teacher growing up, and how she landed first professional gig. She shares her method of studying scores, programming, and the logistics behind putting a symphony season together. Monica and Kayoko talk about their experiences as women in their fields and what they have learned about courage and standing up for themselves. They reflect on the preparation process, growth and improvement. Kayoko shares her hobbies including sewing, crafts, playing duets with her sister using the Acapella App, and recording Japanese children's songs. She also gives her thoughts on being brave and vulnerable.

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To support Brave Musician, including the production of this podcast, please visit BraveMusician.com for information on our Pay-It-Forward model and how you can help.

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See the show notes at BraveMusician.com/podcasts

In this episode, Monica has a thought-provoking conversation with Matt Jefferson, who is a trombonist, studio musician, educator, and videographer in Nashville, TN. They talk about getting by in the pandemic and the need to pivot and adjust when life throws you curveballs. Matt shares what a typical gig in the recording studio looks like as well as the formation and growth of the Maniacal 4 Trombone Quartet. They explore the idea of being comfortable with being uncomfortable, how resistance can be a barometer for something you really care or want to know more about, and how to keep doing things you suck at if you enjoy them. They talk about balance, rest, and determining what's worth giving up to accomplish something else.

Matt and Monica share revelations about anxiety, perfection, passion, ego and work within the context of recording and performance. They talk about production, finding gear, separating your selfworth from your music, and mental breakthroughs. They deep drive into process, product, and the mental and professional pros and cons of using social media and figuring out how and what to share. Matt talks about how he got into video editing and the joy and vulnerability of learning by trial and error. We tie everything up with an honest discussion about choosing and owning your passion and journey.

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To support Brave Musician, including the production of this podcast, please visit BraveMusician.com for information on our Pay-It-Forward model and how you can help.

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See the show notes at BraveMusician.com/podcast.

In this episode, Monica reflects on all of the new information she consumed at the Jazz Education Network virtual conference in January 2021. She considers how we can process and then do something with "what" we learn, how this idea is applicable to aspects of life and learning outside of music, and offers her 4 steps on processing and applying new information. This episode includes thought-provoking questions and ways to start answering them.

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To support Brave Musician, including the production of this podcast, please visit BraveMusician.com for information on our Pay-It-Forward model and how you can help.

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See the show notes at BraveMusician.com/podcast.