Kofy Brown on Being In-Demand and Creating a Joyful Music Career (Ep 115)

Photo by Irene Young

My guest for this episode is multi-instrumentalist and songwriter Kofy Brown. We navigate the balancing act of her many projects, how she’s managed to stay in high demand, and what she’d say to younger players about creating an in demand and joyful music career.

Episode Highlights

We start the episode by talking about her new album with Skip the Needle and how she got involved with The Little Village Foundation. We go on to talk about:

• How drums were new to her at the start of Skip the Needle
• Non-profit record labels and what that actually means
• The value of formal music theory
• Why it’s important not to limit yourself
• Areas in her career where she’s experiencing growth
• Her advice for young artists

Key Points

1. Make your experience creative and fun above all else.
2. Treat everyone the same. Be respectful, nice and courteous.
3.  Slow it down. Believe that you’ll get where you want to go. Be kind to yourself.

Quotable

“Sometimes in your life it’s just struggle, struggle, struggle, work, work, work. At this particular moment I feel the ying and the yang. I’m rolling in the joy of it.”
—Kofy Brown, Singer, Songwriter, Multi Instrumentalist

“For music, I could hear melody. I could listen to something and play it. It was good that I could do that, but it was bad because I didn’t have the discipline to learn music theory.”
—Kofy Brown, Singer, Songwriter, Multi Instrumentalist

“This is the only life I’m going to have, so I want to fill it up to the brim.”
—Kofy Brown, Singer, Songwriter, Multi Instrumentalist

“Trust in yourself. Be easy with yourself. In my twenties I pushed myself so hard. That can get you somewhere, but slow it down, have a little bit more patience, and trust that you will get it.”
—Kofy Brown, Singer, Songwriter, Multi Instrumentalist

Mentioned in this Episode

• Kofy Brown
• Skip the Needle and their August 17th event
• Little Village Foundation
• Unstarving Musician on Patreon
• The Unstarving Musician’s Guide to Getting Paid Gigs
• Marcelle Davies-Lashley

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