Preview Mode Links will not work in preview mode

The Unstarving Musician


The Unstarving Musician’s Podcast features interviews with indie music artists an industry pros who share their experience and expertise on songwriting, recording, touring, getting gigs, marketing, and much more. It’s all intended to help indie artists to more of what they love–make music.

Jun 22, 2019

Crystal & Pete Damore of Ordinary Elephant | Staying Creative and Nurturing a Music Community | A successful Kickstarter campaign funding their new album Honest | Life on the RoadStaying creative and nurturing a music community is part of life on the road for Crystal and Pete Damore of Ordinary Elephant. This is their second appearance on the podcast, which was a great opportunity to talk about their recent Kickstarter campaign, their new album Honest, and more.

Episode Highlights

In addition to finding out what they’ve been up to since our last talk, I also discuss the following with Crystal and Pete.

  • The evolution of their life on the road
  • The development of the upcoming Ordinary Elephant tour
  • Their criteria for attending a conference
  • How Crystal and Pete handle (or avoid) periods of writer’s block
  • The benefits of writer’s groups and songwriting workshops
  • How to build a community around your music

3 Key Points

  1. Create a lifestyle (and tour) that works for you.
  2. Give yourself the time you need to be creative and don’t feel guilty about it.
  3. Take the time to build and nurture your community.

Tweetable Quotes

“Even if it doesn’t always feel like we’re writing [a great song], it keeps those mental muscles going. It keeps you in a habit.” – Pete Damore

“The mentality of you have to be busy to be productive – it’s not true.” – Crystal Damore

“As long as you keep learning, that’s a good way to fight becoming stagnant.” – Pete Damore

“Your email list is the only sure way that you know you’ll reach people.” – Crystal Damore

Pledge support for Unstarving Musician on Patreon

Patreon is a little like Kickstarter, but instead of culminating in one large project, it’s a way of crowdfunding ongoing creative endeavors. Patreon also serves as a community site where supporters can communicate and discuss new creations.

Become a Patron!

Visit UnstarvingMusician.com for additional content related to this episode.