We were lucky to catch up with Joe Michaels recently and have shared our conversation below.
Joe, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Can you open up about a risk you’ve taken – what it was like taking that risk, why you took the risk and how it turned out?
I say I’m not really a risk taker, but I think my history would say otherwise. As far back as I can remember I’ve always been a fan of extreme sports and participated in them on some level since I was in my early teens. So yeah, I suppose I am a risk taker. One of the biggest risks I took in life was opening my own chiropractic practice. I had gone to school to become a chiropractic physician and worked for a doctor up in the mountains of Colorado. It was really quite a struggle, the cost of living was really high and the pay was not really enough to survive. Both my wife and I would commute an hour across mountain passes to get to work every day and I worked a part-time job on my days off just to try to make ends meet.
The doctor I was working for wasn’t really much help as a mentor, and being fresh out of school I was ill-equipped to build a business. Because we were in a resort town, business was very seasonal, so as time went on it was just not possible to survive on what I was making and I had to leave and go back to work in construction.
After a few years with the construction company, I got a promotion, they moved me down to Denver and I was now working in the corporate office doing project management. It was about 5-6 years into my time with that company that I had a really bad crash on the motocross track and was injured pretty badly. It’s amazing how a bad injury can give you time to reflect on your life. It was at that moment that I said “what am I doing? I went to school to get out of this (construction) business”.
That’s when I decided I was going to go back into practice, but I wasn’t going to work for anyone else! Now comes the first big risk; I took a second mortgage on our house, rented a space in an emerging area of town, built the office out myself, answered the phones, took care of the patients, and everything else. I did that for the first 2 years while my wife worked at a title company.
Then risk 2; my wife quit her job and came to work in the office. Our eggs were literally all in one basket now! I used to say “failure is not an option” and it wasn’t, we had no choice but to succeed. And we did. We grew the practice from a small office to one of the busiest offices in the area.
We had been running that office for about 18 years when someone offered to buy it from us. Now risk 3; I had contemplated selling before but not really seriously considered it until that moment. The money was right. So sell it we did!
Then we packed everything up and left everything we had known for more than 25 years to move to Nashville!
Now here I am, in the middle of Risk 4; writing songs and playing music hoping that I can be in the right place at the right time with the right song, so I can find some level of success in the music industry.
If you ask my family, they’ll tell you that I will usually pick the road less traveled. You know the ones with the biggest obstacles. And the music industry road, although well traveled, has some of the biggest obstacles to get around, but “failure is not an option!”. LOL
Joe, 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?
I did’nt play music consistantly when I was younger, but it has always been a huge part in my life. I was in the choir and played drums in Jr. High. then for a short time I was in a band in high school but we never left the garage. That was kind of my 80s pop/rock phase.
After that I didn’t do anything musically again until I was in my late 30s. My wife got me a guitar for Christmas and I began to teach myself how to play. Then I started writing a bit, played here and there with a punk band and a rockabilly band for a short time, did some open mics. I know it’s cliche, but that’s what kind of reignited the fire and brought us to Nashville.
Since being here I have had the opportunity to make some really great friends and write with some amazing people. I’v played at CMA Fest, The Music City Grand Prix, and on the outside stage at The Grand Ol Opry! I’m constantly trying to release new music and have just released a 4 song EP “Some Things Never Change”. There’s something for everyone on it too! From “The Boot” that’s kinda of a honkytonkin line dance song to a The title track “Some Things Never Change” which is a very dark, what my co-writer Andrea Goodman and I refer to as a Kentucky Murder Ballad (think Tyler Childers). But in all that I think one of the things I am most proud of is being associated with a great veteran’s charity, Forgotten Coast K-9, they provide service dogs and training to veterans and first responders to help with PTSD. I am really honored they chose to use my song “Pain You Don’t Know” on all of their social platforms and have had me headline many of their fund raising events!
I think what sets me apart from many others is a desire to write songs that impact people’s emotions and make them feel something. So I really resonate with the country songs of 70s and 80s. If it was a drinking song, it was because someone got their heart broken. I feel like a song should tell a story and take the listener on a journey or put them in the place the song was written from. So I tend to lean more into that style of writing. I guess I’m trying to bring back that classic outlaw country feel.
What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?
One of the biggest rewards – at least for me, is when you’re up on stage and the audience knows the words to your song and they’re singing along like nobody’s listening. Whether it’s ten people or a thousand people, it’s such a rush to see people just let go, even if it’s just for a few minutes. Seeing them really enjoying what you have created and sharing that moment with them is huge. When that happens you know you’ve connected with them on some level and hopefully brought some joy into their lives.
How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?
These days it’s all about social media! Years ago you would go to the music store and buy a CD, record, tape (or whatever) go see a show and that’s how the artists got to be known and got paid. But now it’s all about social platforms, you can become world famous and never leave your bedroom! It’s crazy!
So if you like an artist, even a little bit, follow them on their social media platforms, listen to their music on the streaming platforms, download a song and follow them there too. Also share their posts with people you know, that’s a huge help. You can also buy a t-shirt or sticker every little bit helps. To sum it up, Listen, Download, Follow, and Share.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.joemichaelsmusic.com
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/joemichaelsmusic
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/joemichaelsmusic
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/joemichaelsmsc
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/channel/UCgGTwJ5x1AMzAvkmZec18FA
- Other: TikTok –https://www.tiktok.com/@joemichaelsmusic Linktree –https://linktr.ee/joemichaelsmusic Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/699LALJKemik0Doijtj7r5
Image Credits
Artisan Imagery Nashville