In 2024, we asked Artists You Should Know, “What advice would you give artists just starting out?” Here’s their answers along with the Spotify playlist of their music. These answers aren’t just advice from some backseat staring at their phone for the show critic. These answers are drawn from the sweat and tears behind cultivating songs and pounding the pavement on the road. Take their advice to heart.

Do it because you love it – not to make money or become famous – because you love it.

Kim Richey

It sounds stupidly simple: write LOTS of songs — good ones and meh ones and a few great ones. Don’t write what you think folks want to hear. Write what makes you feel something. If you are telling the truth in your songs and it comes from your gut (without it being too self-indulgent), most likely you are going to find other humans who resonate deeply with what you do. Don’t worry about finding the perfect manager or agents to help you. If your songs are good and you are doing the work, those things will come in due time. If your song can shine alone without 34 layers of production on top of it, that’s the goal. Will it mean you will be wildly successful? I don’t know — but after doing this job for 23 years, I can say, at the very least, that I have a career that is truly mine and that I’m deeply proud of. I will likely never be a household name, but I get to do work that makes me feel deeply connected to myself and to others and I can’t imagine a better job than that. 

Edie Carey

Your songs are your legacy and ONLY that which you can build a career on. If you only have time to do one thing, let it be to write songs.

Megan Burtt

1. Find someone who you admire (a songwriter, a business person, etc…) and ask if you can buy them lunch and pick their brain. People love to be asked to share what they’ve learned.

2. Don’t take advice from anyone and everyone. Take your work to people YOU trust. Take your work to people whose work YOU admire. Just because someone has some sort of degree, award, or professional position doesn’t mean you should take their advice.

3. Go to a songwriting workshop. I had been writing for thirteen years before I did this. I wish I hadn’t waited so long. Songwriting workshops are so helpful and inspiring. Courage inspires courage. Meeting other people who are willing to learn and who remain curious is a game changer. I recommend Performing Songwriter Workshops in Nashville (Mary Gauthier, Gretchen Peters, Beth Neilsen Chapman), Rocky Mountain Folks Fest Song School (Lyons, CO), and Sister Folk Festival Song School (Sisters, OR).

Jaimee Harris

Study the heroes of your heroes. Pay less attention to the business and more attention to writing the best song that you can write.

Tim Easton

Be patient. Don’t let yourself become discouraged if you don’t feel as though you have progressed after a week of practice. Be diligent in spending time with the instrument, developing a relationship with it. Look back over your progress every year to see how you’ve done. If you can learn to play by ear before learning to read music. I think it is better to develop the ear first. Learn to “follow along” and mimic with the instrument as a child would when learning speech. After all, this is just another form of communication. Reading and writing and the study of great literature can come later. Share your music with as many people as possible. I used to even go knock on my neighbors’ door and play for them when they answered. One must practice what he is wanting to do – If you want to become a performer then one must practice performing. If going door to door in your neighborhood seems a stretch, maybe try contacting a local nursing home. You could go room to room there and never run out of opportunity to practice performing for some people who would be overjoyed by your visit and your music. This also brings purpose to our music. If our music is just about us, then we don’t ever need to leave our house. My hope and prayer is always that God will use me and my music to somehow change somebody’s life for the better – to Inspire, Encourage and Heal.

Kyle Dillingham

Stay true to who you are. Don’t chase trends music and art was invented to break rules not confine yourself to other people’s expectations. When people tell you they know everything they usually don’t. Listen to your gut, even when they call you crazy. If they do call you crazy then you’re doing something right.

WESLEY DEAN

Don’t let others distract you from your goals. The comparison game is fruitless. We all know that to be true and most of us still fall back into it occasionally because admittedly it can be hard to feel like someone is “passing you”. Your journey is your own journey, your life will happen on your timeline not someone else’s, and ultimately there is only one YOU, so focus on being the best YOU that you can be.

Kiely Connell

If you really really want to work in a creative field like music, there will be long hours and even longer days of struggle and doubt. With a lot of sweat and luck, the decades will pass in what feels like no time at all and you will have built a career that is full of challenges and surprises. I wish that for all young artists. Everyone must forge their own paths, based on decisions made after long consideration, made on the fly. John Lennon was right: life is what happens while you’re busy making other plans. And he only made it to 40! Try and pay attention. Keep a journal. Listen to your heart. Your voice is unique to you. The world needs to hear it.

Will Kimbrough

Stay true to yourself.

Matt Joe Gow

Above everything else, figure out what you want to say. Focus on the art the most, and less on external factors.

Denitia

Print out the lyrics to your favorite songs and study them. Study the structure, the rhyme pattern, the storyline, etc. Go see live music often whether that’s at an open mic night or at a venue. Study what others are doing and learn tips and tricks. It takes a while to find your voice as an artist so soak up all the art you can to cultivate your own uniqueness and deepen your understanding of who you are. Try to learn how to record music as well. This is an important skill. Even if that means just being able to record a guitar / vocal on GarageBand and not releasing the track but simply being able to record it will help you have a better understanding of production and capturing sound.

Olivia Frances 

Be kind to yourself, and invest in what you love about music. Keep moving forward, and celebrate every little thing you do, over time it will add up and you will grow and change and mature as a creator, let yourself do that! And keep going, because the over culture does not want us free, or expressive, or honest and feeling our feelings, or sensations, our ‘truth’, but as humans we need that. And we need formats to share that, face to face, as well as virtually. We need you. Keep being truthful and try to be kind when and where you can. Figure out you ‘seed’ what you want to seed your music and intuition with. Whatever healing, or change-making that might entail…figure out a little bigger purpose than just yourself or basic self-promotion, but really understand early what you love and why you participate and make art or story, or music. It will help you when things are confusing or hard. Make friends, and enjoy your artistic circles, as well as the wider community who enjoy and support music or writing or art. Be in the world. ‘Serve the music’ and Share what you have to share. Trust that it’s going to connect where it needs to for you and others.

Cat Terrones

I’ve always been inspired by the folk method of recycling ideas into new ones. I think listening to the music that makes the most sense to you and allowing it to soak in then flow out in a new form is the easiest way to approach songwriting. Just like anything else in life you can’t force it, but I believe that by consuming as much music as you can, working on your instrument every day and trying your best to not get discouraged are a few steps to getting what’s inside of you to the outside world.

RT Valine

Do it yourself as much as you can for as long as you can. No one is going to care about your career in music more than YOU.

Cody Clinton of Desi and Cody

Find your voice by leaving no stone unturned. Find elements from other artists that you like and find out how you can emulate that element. If it’s music, learn the songs and find likeminded folks to play those songs with! Go to open mics, challenge yourself by trying things that make you a little uncomfortable and conqeur that feeling! Be conscious of what kind of environments inspire you and what drains you so that you can put yourself in the position to be inspired. One of my biggest faults growing up was resigning myself to the notion that inspiration spurs spontaneously. Which can be true, but we have the ability to foster an environment to be inspired and make art!

Andy Vaggalis of The Wildwoods

Just keep doing it and don’t be afraid to invest in yourself.

Sad Daddy

Are you sure you’re good? Are you sure this is the best you have to offer the world?

Willie Watson

Write more songs. Play more shows. Remember that music is an ancient human tradition that is rooted in community, and that the music business is not music.

Parker Millsap

Practice everyday – go see people you respect perform as much as you can – listen to everything – write every day and read everyday. Maybe throw your phone away and get lost once in awhile.

Luke Callen

Live your life. Don’t be in a hurry. It doesn’t f’n matter. Just keep singing or playing and have fun.

Francesca Brown

Play what makes you happy! And don’t always beat yourself up! Believe in what you do and go for it!

McKinley James