In this episode Durell is joined by Mike & Caroline Walker. Mike has over 30 years of experience as a multi-instrumentalist, producer, composer, songwriter and educator. Caroline is the co-owner of Dreamwalker Music Evolution which is their own artist development company along with Mike as well as a songwriter. The episode begins with Durell asking Mike and Caroline what are their earliest memories of music. Mike shared that he grew up playing football and once he got to high school he realized that he didn’t have the size to keep playing without getting hurt. He remembers seeing a poster with a guy playing a guitar and he knew instantly he wanted to try playing the guitar and he knew that he had a strong work ethic that would provide the ability for him to become really good and he knew he wouldn’t get hurt like he would have if he continued to play football. Caroline shares that her earliest memories of music were that she remembers her parents having a large record collection and listening to music all of the time. She shares that she remembers a lot of classical music as well as artists such as the Beatles, & James Taylor always being on. She shares that she played flute in the marching band in high school. Caroline says that her parents always had a lot of books around and that she was always reading which developed into a passion for writing. She ended up going into a career in counseling and it wasn’t until about 5 years ago that she really developed a passion for writing lyrics.


Durell asks Mike when did he know that he wanted to pursue music professionally as a career. He shares that he lost his mom and dad at an early age. He went to a recording school but his brothers were in the construction business and wanted him to join them because they didn’t think it was possible to make a living as a musician. Mike shares that he went to work with his brothers on the road for 3 months and he says all he kept thinking was that he had to figure out how to make music work professionally because he couldn’t see himself being a construction worker for the rest of his life. Mike says the first thing he did was he got a job in a music store as well as began teaching lessons which he says quickly picked up. He had several jobs that would allow him to stay around music and make a living. He shares that he decided to move to Orlando from Philadelphia because he wanted a new start. He moved down and began to establish himself within the music scene and started playing in studios as a session player. He shared that he was an original band and got nominated for a Grammy. The band disbanded and Mike decided that he would make the pivot into producing. He shared that he wanted to create a business and he knew that artists were no longer being developed the way they used to be so he along with Caroline decided that would be something worth getting into to help new artists prepare for the real world music industry. Caroline and Durell both agree that education is a major key to success.

Durell asks Mike & Caroline how they approach artist development. They share that the cornerstone of what they do is “craft development”. Mike does a lot of work to make sure that their clients know how to write songs and do the creative process to the best of their ability. Caroline shares that their clients don’t really enjoy the business aspect of music because it’s not as fun but absolutely necessary. Caroline says that social media is an aspect that so many creatives don’t like. Durell shares the reason why most indie creatives don’t particularly like social media is because they oftentimes don’t know who they are talking too and that’s why he makes it a point to focus on that when he’s working with his clients. Caroline shares that they tell their clients that if they just want to be famous then they can’t guarantee that but what they will guarantee is that when they’ve completed their program there will be opportunitie