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2018 RECAP!

It's super easy for me to to keep performing year after year and feel like I haven't accomplished anything or moved forward in the year. SO in the spirit of gratitude, here are some musical highlights from 2018.

In 2018, I:

  • Did my first European tour and played shows in 4 different countries 
  • Curated 14 successful Women in Song shows (2 in Allenspark) 
  • Had my highest paying gig of all time 
  • Got to play Walnut Room and eTown, which were goals of mine 
  • Successfully crowdfunded over 200% of my goal for an album with 300+ backers (this one is huge!!!)
  • Attended SWRFA, FAI, and Song School, and part of DSE 
  • Started recording 2 bonus tracks with Sawyer and Kyle 
  • Became full(ish) time guitar, piano, voice, horn, songwriting teacher as opposed to nannying. Instead of 5 private students, I have 11 (about to be 13)  + 12 studio students. That’s 33 students 
  • Tried out for the Denver Pops Orchestra and got in (playing French horn)
  • Played 92 shows
  • Sang solo in 4 non-traditional shows with classic repertoire that stretched my range beyond my originals 
  • Wrote 10 songs (Mundane Love, 20 hrs in Prague, Talented Children, Mirror Mirror, Daddy's Little Girl, Finite, the 2 songs from song school, How Lucky (Gator's song), and the Xmas song for Hannah)
  • Gained 756 mailing list subscribers
  • Acquired about 600 followers of my FB page
  • Finished recording 1 full track for my upcoming album
  • Found a voice teacher I'm learning a lot from and explored my voice even further

 

In 2019, I'm shifting my focus toward higher quality shows (listening rooms, corporate events, colleges, weddings), finishing the album and promoting it properly, and investing more into marketing and promotional costs. I've always been really freaked out about spending money toward things I know would help me (a nicer speaker system, having a marketing budget AT ALL, hiring potential team members) and I'm going to be less stingy this year and be willing to invest in my career. So many other people have invested into me when I did the Kickstarter, and by coming out and supporting me at my shows monetarily and otherwise, and I need to show the same trust in myself. 

2019 will be for sharing more, taking more risks, and collaborating more and more. Even though I want to get better at the business side of things, as long as I keep getting better at writing, singing, and playing, that will always come first. Stay tuned for a new post about my 2019 Songwriter Study! 

 

Thanks for caring enough to read this, for helping to keep me accountable, and for rooting for me! 2019 SHANNA IS GONNA BE A FORCE. 

 

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