Wow. 2022 was an incredible year and I'm ridiculously excited about what's in store for 2023 already! I'm sitting in my shared rented apartment in Nashville after I've been here for 14 months now. Here's a scene for you (imagine a Ghosts of Christmas Past type of thing)

 

18-year-old Shanna: Homework stinks. I'm gonna learn guitar instead. 

23-year-old Shanna: Being a nanny is fun. That was a solid use of my college degree. I love writing songs and performing!

26-year-old Shanna: Wait, people I've never heard of make a LIVING sharing songs and performing? I wanna do THAT! Thank you song school!

30-something-year-old Shanna: Hey 18-year-old Shanna, did you know that you're going to make your entire living singing your songs for people? And mentoring other songwriters and writing custom songs for people to use as meaningful presents? You're gonna go to Europe three times playing music! You're going to play big stages at festivals and people will play your CD in their car! You're going to move to Nashville and tour every month! Because of an epic platform called Patreon, you'll even have a direct way to connect with your biggest fans and they'll pay your rent! 

18-year-old Shanna: STAAAHP LYING TO ME ARE YOU FOR REAL???

 

 

40-year-old Shanna: Taylor Swift just called me up, she needs a co-writer for this song idea she's got, and she thought of me. I think I'll do it. 

 

----and scene. ------

 

2023 by the numbers!

 

Most importantly:

FannaShannas on Patreon: 262, 2271/month 

When we reach 4000/month, my goal is to get my own place so I can have creative privacy and space to livestream and create elevated video quality content for you guys. 

Goal is 1000 True Fans!

 

FINALLY RELEASED MY DEBUT RECORD Robot! Thank you Adam Dawson and Ken Stahl for all your help spreading the word! Thank you Megan Burtt and John McVey for making me a beautiful record!

 

On Road for: 155/365 days  

# of Shows: 121 (includes Livestreamed shows on other people's channels and Monthly Patreon Parties)

-- PLUS 60 days of going Live on FB 

 

Touring Life:

January- 9. Texas tour

February- 14. Florida tour

March- 14. Colorado & Texas tour. Opened for Steve Poltz at eTown!

April- 13. Midwestern tour. Played the Bluebird in Nashville!

May- 14. Texas, Virginia, North Carolina, Kansas City! Played Kerrville Folk Festival, released Robot album!!

June- 7. Colorado and Philly tours!

July- 8. Colorado and Connecticut tours! Goshenstock and Falcon Ridge Folk Festival!

August- 8. Colorado! Won the RMSS contest and got to play at Rocky Mountain Folks Fest! 

September- 9. Connecticut, North Carolina, Texas! 

October- 9.  Connecticut and Texas tours! Black Bear Americana Fest, Dipping Springs Songwriter Fest!

November- 11. PA, NY, NJ, VA! Godfrey Daniels, oppened for Susan Werner!

December- 5. Nashville with a short personal trip out to Montana 

 

New songs: 24

You Don't Even Know, Sand, Seagull, Sweet Spot, Rip It Open, Better Than You Found It, I Used To, Other Woman, Paris, If This Is Over, Learn Me, 31 Days, Sorry Fluffy, Too Serious, Boy From Virginia, Stick it to the Man, Trying to Be, 3 Minutes at a Time, Raise My Hell Up, Dangerous Addictions, I'm Gonna Be Happy, Nomo Fomo, I Married You, Hold Me  (plus some Custom Song Presents)

Almosts: 14

Falling for a Creative, Baby Don't Wake Me, Talented Children, I Wish, Badass Bitch, Nashville, Woo Woo, Sink my head, Guest House, Guilty Pleasure, Tornado, Stray, Objectify, Swan Effect

Got to co-write with: David Wilcox, Steve Seskin, Tom Prasada-Rao, Jamie Floyd, Claire Kelly, Grace Morrison, Daniel Neihoff, Koli Kohler, Abigayle Kompst, Lindsay Foote, Zach Berkman, Brian Kalinec, Nancy Deckant & Cindi, Clint Alphin, Grace Pettis, Molli McMills, Keenan Shepherd, Tai Shan

Epic co-bills: Rachael Kilgour, Steve Poltz!, Kemp Harris, Susan Werner, Antje Duvekot, Adam Ezra, Alice Howe & Freebo & Brian Kalinec joined me at Kerrville, Guest on Ellis Paul's livestream, Christine Lavin (2021)

Worked with Wilson Harwood at Elevated Music to produce some tracks, recorded with Shawn Byrne on a few tracks, recorded some with Seth Glier! 

 

Sold out of all of the Shanna in a Dress on a Bike t-shirts! That means we get to make a new design!

 

Joined the Black Oak Artists roster and got my rad booking agent, JD Miller!

 

My righthand man and most dedicated team member Kevin Nordlie moved to a merchandise, advancing, and promotional role

 

Other fun things: 

-- Got see my family more this year than I ever have in all my Colorado years!

-- Girls trip with the besties in Mexico!

-- I took improv classes! I was bad! ha! But they're so fun!

-- Started learning to cook! I'm braising a rump roast in the oven as we speak! (I just wanted an excuse to say rump. what a cute word)

-- MY ROOM IS CLEAN and has been for more than 2 months! Contrary to what I claim in "wanna go out" I actually DO make my bed now! Shanna's growing up!

-- Quit sugar and flour (and hair pulling) to help stop my binge eating and it's working!

-- Read >25 books!

 

Vanity/ Sanity/ Meaningless Stats:

Average Shannanigans Newsletter open rate: 41.4% (You mean 59% of you don't read my epic emails? WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME?)

FB likes: 4238 followers 

Instagram followers: 3023 

YouTube videos: 112 

YouTube subscribers: 1845 

 BandsInTown followers: 733 

TikTok followers: 99 (funny considering I've never posted)

Spotify followers: 94 monthly listeners 

 

2022 Festival Life: 

Kerrville Folk Festival! 

Falcon Ridge Folk Festival! 

Black Bear Americana Fest! 

Antlers and Acorns Songwriting Festival! 

Dripping Springs Songwriter Festival! 

Rocky Mountain Folks Fest pavilion stage!

 

Significant Performances (outside of the rad festivals):

Won the Rocky Mountain Songwriter Contest and get to play Folks Fest MainStage next year!

Official SWRFA Showcase

Opened for Steve Poltz at eTown! 

Opened for Susan Werner at Godfrey Daniels! 

Opened for Christine Lavin at NJ Folk Project! (in nov 2021) 

Opened for Antje Duvekot in Richmond! 

Opening for Adam Ezra at Goshenstock!

 

Teaching/Service positions: 

-Judged in the New Folk Songwriting Competition 

-Taught beginning songwriting and funny songwriting workshops at Black Bear 

-Taught mindset workshop at Rocky Mountain Song School and it was a hit! 

-Moderated a co-writing panel at NERFA 

-2 panels at SWRFA and led a mindset workshop 

-Began coaching and consulting with various artists

 

Projects that I've Begun:

-Athena Movement

-book, Lazy Person's Guide on How to Make Friends

-CLAPS methodology workshop

 

Things I Want: 

Write a song with Taylor Swift! Open for Ingrid Michaelson! Go on tour with Poltzy!

My own place in Nashville!

A really pro music video for Mmm That's Hot, Face Like Yours, Shelli, Seagull, Sweet Spot! Also You Don't Even Know and Stacy!

 

My WHY is that I want to bring joy to everybody on the planet! I'm realizing how small I've been playing by chasing a thriving indie music career and I have been the recipient of SO much kindness that it's time to shift more attention to service in 2023. 

What I'm realizing is that we could make a far greater impact on the world than simply through my music, and I've decided 2023 is the Year of Contribution. I'm going to start teaching songwriting to ex-offenders at this really cool organization called Dolmas House in Nashville. I'm also going to LOVE on all the FannaShannas who have supported me to such an extreme degree across these past few years!

Let's also put together a group of volunteers who would want to contribute at Project Somos Children's Village in Guatemala for a week. I'm headed there in February and I'm thinking October might be a good 2nd time to go back! Priority for spaces will go to FannaShanna Patreon members. I also have an idea cooking that will allow female creatives to band together and support one another in achieving their dreams. 

 

PHEW!!! 2022 was busy and wonderful and I'm privileged to get to do this life on the shoulders of all the folks helping me, hosting me, spreading my music, booking me for house concerts, festivals, and private events. I really couldn't do it without you. Thank you FannaShannas for allowing me the freedom to move to Nashville and keep pursuing my dreams, for sending me gifts, believing in me, and staying engaged with the endless amount of content I'm cranking out. Thank you Kevin Nordlie, Ken Stahl, Ira Grollman, and Warren Shaklee for going above and beyond dedicating yourselves to SiaD. 

I thought I'd be living in suburbia with a husband and 2.5 kids by now. Life took a different turn and it's been a wild ride and I suspect 2023 is going to be even wilder! 

 

<3 Shanna in a black-and-white swing Dress

 

 

 

 

 

 

Holy Smokes. I didn't know if the day would ever come- but my debut record Robot is out and available to be bought and streamed on any platform you listen to music! 

 

Confession coming up: Why I'm a Big Liar. 

My personal manifesto is POPPING with freedom, joy, playfulness, and authenticity among other things. My debut record is out and I just realized my own hypocrisy regarding the sharing of it. The title track, Robot, (which comes out this Friday) describes the state of being numb and indifferent to the world. This song is my description of what life is like when we're not present. It's what life is like when it doesn't really matter- and I've been operating like this record doesn't really matter. 

I LOVE JOY. And because of this, it's really challenging for me to acknowledge or uncover pain, fear, and shame. So in the spirit of LEARNING from the Robot song- I would love to share all of my BULL**** with you. Many people think I don't care what other people think, but if I dig deep enough, of course I do. 

List of Shamey Shanna's Internal Shit: 

*I don't know if I'm worthy enough to make a fuss out of my music. 

*Recording this (ask my producer and sound engineer- who are fabulous!) and getting this record out and promoting it properly as been like pulling my own teeth for the last five years. I feel should-y and shame-y about it. 

*It's just a record. Yea I like it but it's a freaking record. Do I really have to tell everyone OMG ITS A BIG DEAL THERE ARE 9 MORE SONGS AVAILABLE ON MAY 27 LETS START THE COUNTDOWN TIL YOUR LIFE IS CHANGED FOREVER! 

*I'm afraid of having recorded music that could in any way distract from the incentive to see a live show, my happy place. 

*I'm embarrassed on behalf of my incredible Kickstarter supporters and know I should have released this ages ago. 

*I should have more music out on streamable platforms by now. I've been writing copious amounts of songs for the last fifteen years and I'm embarrassed that this is my debut record. I feel like an experienced songwriter coming out to the world as a baby. 

*I used the excuse of "I can't release this if I haven't promoted it properly" to keep myself from releasing it for 3 years and I still haven't promoted it much and this should have come out four years ago because I still don't have my best publicity effort surrounding it. 

*I shouldn't have dumped my savings into a publicist (who is actually a wonderful human being and hard-working publicist) 

*I'm embarrassed to share some of the publicity efforts that have resulted from aforementioned publicity. The self-promotion is too much. 

*I'm SHOULDing all over myself and this record and this music and it's completely stunting the possibility of these songs being appreciated 

*I feel like a hypocrite- "I want and deserve a thriving music career! These songs deserve to be heard! This album will make a difference for somebody!" and yet even though I'm about to put it out there, I'm still hiding them from the world. 

*I should have music videos for these songs. I can't afford said music videos. 

I read these things and it makes me sad. I'm able to catch my disempowering thoughts so well in other areas of my life but I haven't been celebrating this upcoming breakthrough at all. 

I don't want Shame-y Shanna to keep hiding. Here she is, in all her glory, trying to strip her Robot exterior (which can be disguised as joyful-while-vehemently-ignoring-her-fear-Robot) 

The TRUTH is (because Shamey Shanna is mean and convincing, but she's not real) I'm so very grateful to my incredible producer Megan Burtt and sound engineer John McVey for bringing these songs alive in a new format so more people can hear them! I'm grateful that Adam Dawson has been spreading it to folk radio stations and music bloggers! I love these songs! I love the way they sound produced! Each tune means something deeply personal to me and I am going to find a way to share about each one, whether it be on Instagram, Patreon, my FB music page, the FannaShanna Community Page on FB, or to my email list. https://shannainadress.bandcamp.com/album/robot

2020 WAS NOT THE WORST! 

Let’s be honest here. Crappy things about 2020- global pandemic!  I was GOING to tour Europe, open for Red Molly on an east coast tour, and release my debut record this year. Those things did NOT happen. Also I wasn’t super consistent on my monthly songwriter study. The world came to a halt. But luckily, I didn’t and neither did YOU guys reading this, and I think it’s worth reflecting on all the good that came out of 2020! THANK YOU FOR BEING A PART OF THIS JOURNEY WITH ME! 

--Launched Patreon and now have 188 patrons on my team! Goal was 200 by the new year but HEY- 188 is still something to write home about! 

--Song contests really worked out! Kerrville New Folk winner, Emerging Artist at Falcon Ridge, Great River Folk Fest winner, and got into Songwriter Serenade! 

--Released live album! 

--Played a sold-out birthday show at Swallow Hill! 

--Developed a fun Fanna Pack merch pack! 

--Don White and Christine Lavin totally believe in me and invited me to play at their NYE show 

--Rich Warren invited me play Folkstage in Chicago in February 

--Focused on YouTube and have released 62 YouTube videos (some were livestreams and soundchecks though), including EVERY Wednesday without fail since June 10 

--Gained 780 YouTube subscribers and 2800 watch hours in the past year 

--Performed many livestream shows for tips and connected with new people (Neal B, Ken, Trung, Suzanne and Al, Allen, Kerrville finalists to name a few) 

--Folk Music Notebook listed my live album in their top 10 favorite albums alongside Tom Prasada Rao and Ellis Delaney and other people i love! 

--Filmed a professional music video to Boomerang with Scott Wilson 

--Did mini-tours in Florida, Utah, Texas (twice), the midwest (WI, KS, IL) 

--Went to Guatemala and connected with Project Somos and Antje and 15 wonderful people 

--Went to Folk Alliance in New Orleans and had breakfast with Steve Poltz. I love him.  

--Got to be a guest on Ellis Paul’s stream, guests on Don and Christine’s zoom concerts 

--Got to connect with Rod Abernathy and friends weekly- Kim Moberg, Suzie Vinnick, Kathy, Joel Simpson to name a few 

--Got to play a song in front of Dar williams (via a songwriting class) 

--Wrote 28 songs (some of which still need editing/memorizing): Honest, Naked, Whatcha Got to Say, Te Veo, Smoke under the Carpet, You are a Song, Wanna Go Out, Cry Happy, Guillotine, Treehouse, Red Lights, Boxing, Hand-Me-Down Human, Hindsight, Penmanship, Someday, Here Comes Autumn, In the Spaces, Toy with my Heart, Unlimited Time, Blindfold, Ticker-Tape Parade, Kool-aid, Christmas before Covid (w/ Neale Eckstein) 

--Wrote and delivered 4 custom-written songs for people (Bruce, Joe, Trudy, Shanna) (not me- a girl named Shah-na. I don’t hire myself to write songs for me) 

--Performed at South Florida Folk Fest, LoveBurn Miami 

--Co-wrote with Tom Prasada-Rao 

--Livestreamed with Alicia, Jan Seides, Grace, Aubryn, Faith & Daniel, Kim Moberg, had a number of guests on my stream (Alex Wong, Clint Alphin, Susan Cattaneo, Scott Hays, Aubryn) 

--Got invited to do a virtual NERFA showcase for 2021 

--Got invited to do On Your Radar radio show with John Platt 

--Connected with Molli and Ken’s Texas community and met Bill that way, who made me a video! 

--Got to hang with Sam Baker in Texas  

--Connected with Karl’s community 

--Got invited to do Real Women Real Songs 2021 (Terri Hendrix, Tracey Grammer, Ellis, Cary Cooper) 

--Got invited to perform for the Cambridge Folk Club (a virtual international gig!) 

--Gained a few songwriting/creativity students, which is my favorite thing to teach 

 

Other fun things: 

--Got to see my family for an extended visit and bond with my nieces! 

--Bestie Julia moved back to the states! 

--Connected a lot more with my college friends 

--My girl Taylor dropping 2 albums that she wrote during lockdown cause she’s a boss 

--Learned and still learning how to build an artist career when the heart of what you do and love (performing live) isn’t as available 

 

Superlatives: 

“Best” new song- I’m going to say either Wanna Go Out or Hand-Me-Down Human. Got a different vote? 

Best trip- Guatemala, for sure. I want to lead a trip there next chance I get!  

2021 is going to be ridiculous. I’m going to bike across the country and gather stories from all kinds of different people, write a song a WEEK due to the accountability of Real Women Real Songs, and then chase my dreams and move to Nashville in the fall! My hope is that if enough people join me on Patreon I’ll have enough financial support to make that really happen.  

The goal was 200 FannaShannas by Dec 31, 2020 and I’m at 188 now so all in all- 2020 has NOT BEEN TOO SHABBY. Thank you immensely for actually taking the time to read this if you’ve gotten this far. I feel so ridiculously lucky to be living the creative life I do and I can’t wait to step up my game for you guys. MWAH MWAH MWAH AND to everyone with me on Patreon We'll be doing a December Zoom Party on TUESDAY DEC 29 at 5:30 MST/7:30 EST and I can't wait to see your lovely faces and thank you in "real life!" Come join us! 

Love, Shanna in (it’s 27 degrees and snowing here in Boulder so I’m actually not wearing) a Dress

Hi friends, time for some public journaling.

Yesterday was a rough day for me. I had gone to bed late, woken up late, missed a webinar, taught some piano/guitar/voice lessons virtually, then stayed in bed doing NOTHING for the rest of the day. I ordered food in and tried to think of what I could do to break the cycle of nothingness, but the inertia was too strong. I called a few friends to see if they wanted to hang out 6 feet apart, but didn't get any yeses. I didn't exercise, or brush my teeth, or read, or make music, or do any of the things that help me feel good.

I video chatted with some people and saw that they, too, were hitting a wall. Maybe there's some science to lack of socialization after this amount of time or maybe we're all PMS-ing, but I just craved human contact. Doing nothing for a day feels ok when there's someone to spend it with, but I was should-ing on myself all day and resisting everything I came up with.

The day before I had an amazing conversation with my friend Hope Dunbar about music dreams. I picked her brain on what she wish she had known a decade earlier in this seemingly glacial-growth of a folk music career. She told me, among many other gems, to give yourself permission to JUMP THE LINE, that you have already built all the skills, talent, and foundation to DESERVE big asks. Your hero artist is coming through? You deserve to open for them. To give yourself permission to go for your dream and not be one-foot in, one-foot out. She told me to write myself a letter from the Shanna who has accomplished her dreams- the Shanna who has co-written with Taylor Swift, and toured with Steve Poltz, and opened for Ingrid Michaelson. I started to write that letter, and it was inspiring, but also, the underlying thread of it was- hey, you've done great so far, now it's time to WORK HARDER.

...and then I did the exact opposite of that one day later. Ugh. But it's ok. Because this is a long haul, not a fast where if you broke the fast you ruined the objective. I'm back to life today, and I worked out and set my mind straight and I'm really looking forward to the Saturday Night LiveSTREAM show tonight to share music and feelings and be with people, albeit virtually. 

In Alanis's song "Hand in my Pocket" she talks about all these contradictions. "I'm scared, but I'm restless. I'm free, but I'm really gone. I'm broke, but I'm happy" And that's what I'm feeling right now. I'm not depressed. I'm happy. I love my life. I love that enough people believed in me to fund an album that I'm still working on, and that enough people believed in me to contribute to me every month and be a part of the club over at Patreon. There are so many people that have my back, but I'm still scared. I'm afraid of getting where I want to be on my own, without a team. I don't know how to critically listen to my album mixes because I don't have the language around what I wish I was hearing. I'm afraid if my musical dreams are always in MY hands then they'll be as scattered and unfocused as my brain is. I'm afraid there's so much that I can do that even a day of not taking a step forward means I don't have what it takes. I'm afraid people with money to pay for high-dollar publicists and videographers and social media experts and producers will hare-past me while I'm tortoise-ing along, trying to figure this out. I need help. 

Basically I'm scared to care too much. Life is so much easier when there aren't stakes. I'm happy where I am, but I don't want to be here forever. I think that's ok. If I were a better guitar player, singer, songwriter, businessperson, maybe then.... That's the funny push-and-pull of satisfaction and ambition. I don't want to rest on my laurels, but I don't want to be ungrateful for what I have, and think "I'll be happy when."  I have an amazing life and people that support me, but funny how that "I have to do this all alone" feeling can still be so prominent. Anyway, rant over. Thanks for listening. 

 

Did you see my InstaStory demonstrating my hurricane-filled car that I’ve now fully cleaned and vacuumed (this happens once a year tops)? Have you seen the large pumpkin pie and pecan pie combo that I’ve annihilated (this happens a lot)? 

This is because I LOVE fresh slates. I love New Years and having an excuse to review and dream and evaluate the kind of life I’ve been living and how I’ll grow next. I love coming up with more ways to grow and don’t do the back-patting nearly enough as I should, so *drum roll please* here is your 2019 Recap! 

-- Played 104 shows 
-- first shows ever with a full band (Chad E. Mathis, Colin Robison, JJ Jones, Antonio Lopez, Pamela T. Machala, Kirsten Mathisen, Kari Clifton - you guys are amazing) 
-- First SOLD OUT headlining show 
-- 16 Weekly Wednesday FB live streams 
-- My first merch! Fun, soft t-shirts! 
-- Got drums, bass, and vocals tracked for my upcoming studio album 
-- Studied a new songwriter every month for my Song Study Project 
-- Had my highest paying gig of all time 
-- 3 Tours: Europe, Connecticut, and DC area 
-- Europe tour- 6 countries, 13 shows (Thanks Gregory Silvus for being the best travel buddy!) 
-- Successfully fundraised for the Guatemalan service trip in February (thank you!) 
-- 2 shows with one of my songwriting heroes, Steve Seskin 
-- Really affirming performances at Song School and NESR 
-- Showcased at Durango Songwriter's Expo w/ Tim Fagan and Caitlin Cannon 
-- Reconnected with people I love and sang backup for James Lee Baker at Swrfa Swrfa 
-- Snagged the sweetest mentor on the planet Laurie MacAllister 
-- Invested hardcore into my guitar playing (Molly Miller and Spencer Handley 
-- Wrote 22 new songs (Wanderlust, Puzzle, Jump!*, I Hope You Have a Great Day, Stagnant*, A Face Like Yours, Ooh bi da*, Punishment, Shitshow, Shelli, Highways on a Map, Jenga, When I’m Old*, Just Give Me a Minute, Bury the Truth*, You’re Gonna Break My Heart, Practice Room No. 8*, Goodbye to a Good Thing, Playing with Fire, Caroline*, A Fine Place to Be, Female Advantage) 
-- Did my first studio session as a session vocalist at Blue Rock Studios in TX 
-- won Honorable Mentions in the Folks Fest and Telluride Troubadour Song Contests 
-- Curated 13 Women in Song shows 
-- Played my first main stage festival slot at Black Bear Americana Fest and Casey Jones Music Fest 
-- Built up my private teaching to be on my own schedule 5 days of the week 
-- Started playing live music for CorePower Yoga 

Other fun things: 
-- My first big vacation with my best friends from childhood 
-- First time camp counselor-ing at Camp Oonie Koonie Cha 
-- Hosted my first student recitals 
-- Became an aunt for the second time! 

Superlatives: 
Most Unique Gig: Serenading theoretical physicists at their convention (Imagine Mm thats hot but swapping out the dad line with “i like it if you look like youre real good at math”) 
“Best” new song: I think my personal favorite is “A Face Like Yours”, inspired by JJ Jones 
Favorite Show: The live album gig at Elephant Hall w/ Sister Neapolitan was pretty special 

If I could do it from my music page, I would have tagged a million more people because my life would be nothing without the gobs of support I have from people like you that read and comment on my posts, respond to my newsletters, teach me a cool guitar lick, come to a show, tip me during my Weekly Wednesday streams, use their skills to make my music better, etc. etc. etc. THANK YOU FOR EVERYTHING. 

* this song isn’t actually edited and/or memorized to the level of being performable yet so maybe it shouldn’t count