We recently connected with Clay Fulton and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Clay , thanks for joining us today. Looking back, do you think you started your business at the right time? Do you wish you had started sooner or later

Before I started my full-time pursuit of music, I was in the restaurant business. For 12 years I helped my mom run our neighborhood bar & grill that was in the family for 29 years. In February of 2020 we sold our restaurant, and a month later Covid came along. The timing of everything was overwhelming. On one hand we were able to sell our business before a pandemic happened and on the other I was stopped dead in my tracks to pursue my venture into the music business. At first, I was devastated. I had worked so hard and so long to get to this point of trying to gig full time and their wasn’t anything I could do about it. However, after some time passed I realized that a break was just what I needed. I was incredibly burnt out from the time at the restaurant and I was finally able to dive head first into to a creative space for the first time in years. Looking back now I don’t think I would change anything. It was rough getting through the first year of covid and not playing a lot of shows to support myself, but money isn’t everything and I wouldn’t trade that time for anything.

Clay , before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

My name is Clay Fulton. I live in Rochester. MN. I am a singer-songwriter/ performing artist. I support myself by playing shows with my band, Clay Fulton & The Lost Forty and playing solo/duet acoustic type shows. I’ve been playing guitar since I was five years old and started writing songs, playing in bands and performing in middle school. I put my music career aside for a long time to help with my family business. I am now 3 years into being a self-employed musician and it feels great. I am most proud of the progress that the band and I have made in some pretty lean times for the music scene. Gigs were really hard to come by for quite some time and despite all of that we have opened for Them Coulee Boys, Charlie Parr, The Big Wu, Nur-D and Yam Haus. We have released two albums and have been lucky enough to play lots of amazing local festivals, the 7th St Entry and even made it down to SXSW week in Austin, TX for a showcase we did with Tinderbox Music. To be able to perform and share our music with people is such a blessing!

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

I think it helped that I was a business owner in Rochester before I set out to be a performer in the area. I had a lot of relationships in the community, so it really helped getting my name out there. Also, having personal relationships with businesses that host live music was very helpful and provided me the much-needed stage to perform for people.

Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?

The most effective strategy is to play as many gigs as possible. Online campaigns and streaming services are obviously huge if you want to grow into a household name but the people who come to your shows are the ones who are really out there telling others to listen to your music. Without people like that, no musician would ever make it. So, the most effective strategy is to treat every gig like it’s your most important because you never know who is listening.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.clayfulton.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/clayfultonmusic/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/clayfultonmusic
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXnYED1TdIaqtwLnwL0-VrA

Image Credits
Jason Ehrreich Corrie Strommen Danni Trester