Musician Macie Stewart has been performing since her teens, from early bands like Kids These Days to co-founding Finom & becoming a fixture in Chicago’s improvised music scene. In this episode, she talks about finding community at Constellation (an excellent Chicago venue), balancing the realities of freelance income with creative freedom, and what success looks like for her today. One key takeaway: building a sustainable creative life means balancing financial practicality with artistic curiosity and community.

Macie's question for Tim: how to make a yearly budget when income fluctuates so greatly? 

Key takeaways:

1. Macie began touring as a teen and later found her way into Chicago’s improvised music scene through current bandmate Sima Cunningham.
2. Although she's been a working musician for many years, only in the past five years has she fully realized music can be her career.
3. Macie supports herself through touring, session work (especially strings and arranging), licensing, scoring, grants, royalties, and collaborations.
4. She saves regularly, uses a high-yield savings account, contributes to a Roth IRA, and focuses on building stability as a self-employed musician.
5. For Macie, success means creative freedom, sustainable touring, and the ability to pursue unconventional projects like theater or dance collaborations

Links
Send me a question to be answered on a future episode.
Sign up for the Keep It Easy newsletter.
Macie's website
Finom's website
Constellation in Chicago

Kids These Days wiki page

Sound & Gravity festival