We recently connected with Chad Hollister and have shared our conversation below.

Chad, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Are you able to earn a full-time living from your creative work? If so, can you walk us through your journey and how you made it happen?

I’ve been able to earn a living as a musician and songwriter through years of dedication , belief and extremely hard work. It takes time to find your community and who is going to resonate with your message and music. Once I started to find that,it built from there and continues to build to this day.
From day one, I was playing , putting bands together and doing all the PR, advertising, recordings,touring, and booking on my own. This takes belief and true dedication to the craft and my moniker in all of it as I dealt with people is “pleasant persistence”. Everybody is busy and nobody wants to he harped on for not getting back to you. If you continue to reach out with kindness and appreciation, it goes a long way.
We also give back to our community which is very important to me. We’ve raised funds for Women Helping Battered Women of VT, Prevent Child Abuse Vermont, The VT Federation of Families for Childrens Mental Health and I’m currently working on creating a foundation to create more beds in Vermont for mental health.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

My band is Chad Hollister Band (https://www.chadmusic.com) where you can buy all my recordings and band merch as well. Socials are at linktree.com/chadhollister.
I started my love for music as a drummer when I was seven years old. I continued to follow the passion playing in school band, jazz band and eventually starting my own band where I was the drummer and one of the lead singers. I started to write music and realized after college that I didn’t want to be a cover band(band that plays other other peoples songs), and I wanted to write and play my own music. I chose my favorite musicians in Burlington , VT and the journey continued.
I’ve recorded seven full length recordings and have toured the globe with my music. I’ve always approached the business side of the music with confidence (getting paid what I deserve) and kindness as well. This has served me very well. On top of recording, touring and selling my music, I also create custom songs for special occasions (weddings, anniversaries, birthdays etc..) as well as perform house concerts which is a strong part of my touring these days. I also produce for other artists and teach songwriting workshops in the schools across the country.
I’m very proud of all these elements of the busic biz that I’ve achieved and feel that diversity is key for many reasons. Number one is variety saves one from monotony. Two, it increases your client field and three, it’s great to share multiple skills .
My Spotify channel is Chad Hollister and hope to see you down the road.

What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?

Society should be lifting up artists and paying them accordingly. The pay scale is the same as it was thirty years ago (musicians are still playing for $100/gig) which is embarrasing. We’re also te first ones to be asked to perform benefits. Everyone wants music for FREE. It’s not free and you wouldn’t ask your lawyer of plumber to donate their services.
The arts make the world a better place and support among artists is also key. My friends and myself are always helping each other out and promoting each other as well. This is key.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

The most rewarding aspect of being an artist is the ability to inspire. In this time we are in right now, people need love , kindness and to be lifted up and showed some appreciation and not torn down as hate brings hate and that gets us nowhere .

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.chadmusic.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chadhollister
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/chadhollisterband
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/chadhollister
• Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/chadhollister
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/chadhollister

Image Credits

Bootleggers Beware photos by Ross Mickel.