Episode 8: Keith Everette Smith - Go Beyond Expectations YOU CAN Make a Living In The Music Industry Podcast

 
My friend Keith Everette Smith and I sat down together recently to discuss his rise through the ranks of the music industry to create his own path to success as a producer, artist developer, session player and touring musician working with some of the biggest names in all of music.
Show Notes:
Sponsors: Edenbrooke Productions - We offer consulting services and are offering listeners a 1-hour introductory special. To request more info on consulting services, email Marty at contact@johnmartinkeith.com. 
Talking Points:
*Keith plays trumpet, piano, drums, guitar and bass. He also produces music and does artist development.
*I started out learning trumpet and drums as a small child and added other instruments along the way.
*I started producing music in high school and college for friend’s bands by reading articles in magazines.
*Enthusiasm has always led what I’ve done.
*I produced an album and did some road managing for college friend Meredith Andrews who is now a well known worship artist.
ARTIST DEVLOPMENT
*I Enjoyed the aspect Artist Development and helping build a career from the ground up.
*I was invited to be on staff as Instrumental Director at Saddleback Church in CA because of a relationship.
*I produced the boy band Anthem Lights while at Saddleback Church.
*I began artist development for Anthem Lights and got them signed to Provident Music in Nashville. That was my door in to Nashville. Plus, I had already produced other albums independently.
*I did not expect to play trumpet when moving to Nashville. I came to Nashville to be a producer.
*What does it mean to do Artist Development? Developing your gut, your ability to evaluate talent and people of good character. It’s a very gut level thing in terms of finding people to develop.
*The non-negotiable thing for me is finding people with great character.
*Fame is a really dangerous thing.
*I consider it a great responsibility to make sure I’m helping good people steward success well.
*It’s an exercise in taking something great and making it even greater by exaggerating it and making it stand out even more than it already does.
*Most people spend their artistic life trying to fit in.
*You have to figure out how to join the ranks of those you respect, then how to stand out from them.
*The way you win at artist development is exaggerate what makes them great.
*Sometimes you can take a negative thing about an artist and turn it into a positive.
*Limitations are wonderful breeding grounds for opportunity and success.
*Comparison can be very important or detrimental.
*What are day to day attributes of being an artist developer? It’s making sure the music is great, making sure the artist is on social media and streaming services, helping an artist figure out who they are and what makes them unique, who they are as a person.
*Keith’s wife Tasha Layton is an artist and vocal coach and she says “you grow as a singer as you grow as a person.”
*What do you (artist) care about? Are you believable? Is your message trustworthy. That’s why an audience will listen to you.
*I am looking for inconsistencies in the message all day long.
*There is much about artist development and producing an artist that is simply psychology.
*Labels want to know: Can I sell it? Do people want it? Can I make money off of it?
*You have to be careful with your own artistic integrity.
*I’m trying to develop the artist into something that is appealing and consistent enough to be a good investment for the record label.
*You are doing whatever it take to be able to present the artist the way they need to be presented to labels, publishers, managers, etc.
*Social Proofing - building an artists career enough to prove to the labels that they are worth signing and investing in because other people have already proven that they like this artist. So you can trust that if you decide to sign this artist, it’s worth it because the masses already like it.
PLAYING FOR, PRODUCING AND ARRANGING