We recently connected with Lillian Glanton and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Lillian, thanks for joining us today. What was it like going from idea to execution? Can you share some of the backstory and some of the major steps or milestones?
From my childhood, I have been deeply immersed in the music industry. My journey began at the age of 8, when I started composing songs and learning to play guitar. Gradually, my passion for music solidified, leading me to aspire to carve a niche for myself within the industry. At the age of 15, I auditioned for American Idol. Successfully obtaining the golden ticket to Hollywood, I experienced a brief moment of fame on national television.
Following my departure from American Idol, I embraced the experience and capitalized on the exposure it provided. I tirelessly performed at every fair and festival available, yet I realized that my focus on live performances was overshadowing my desire to create. Reflecting on this realization, I made a conscious decision to prioritize songwriting. This led me to participate in songwriters festivals, where I found immense fulfillment in showcasing my original compositions to an audience that truly appreciated them.
The turning point in my career occurred with my involvement in the Muscle Shoals music scene. Growing up right outside of Muscle Shoals, I understood the history of what the town was known for – great music and great people. The one thing that was missing in the Muscle Shoals at the time was a songwriters festival. Just as Muscle Shoals is a recording town, it’s also a songwriting town – that deserves its own ray of light. At this point in time, I was a college student majoring in Music Business at the University of North Alabama in the Shoals. I knew that someone had to start a songwriters festival, but I had no idea that it would be myself to ultimately make the first leap. I had no idea how to plan an event, let alone a festival, but I started with the doing. I was basically flying the plane as I was building it. I put a proposal together of how I wanted it to look and took some past experiences from other songwriters festivals that I had previously performed in to create a sponsorship package. From there, I reached out to over 75+ local businesses to see if they would be interested in becoming a partner for the festival. I’ll never forget when that first sponsorship check came in the mail – it was from Listerhill Credit Union, a local bank in The Shoals area. In my head I’m thinking ‘this money can pay for sound techs, performers, and everything else in between.’ Trust me, I made that check stretch further than any penny I had ever had. The real truth? It gave me the confidence to know that I was on the right path and that I could really do this. Because of my lasting connections in the music industry that I had been making for over the last 10+ years as a pre-teen and teenager, I called every single music business contact in my phone and said ‘Hey, I’m planning a songwriters festival in Muscle Shoals. Here’s the dates. I don’t have hardly any money to pay you, but I promise you’ll have fun!’ The rest is kind of history. I really do think it was because of how much I believed in the idea myself – I started to get other folks to believe in the idea as well. Thus, The Muscle Shoals Songwriters Festival become a reality.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
My name is Lillian Glanton and I’m from a small town of Rogersville/Athens, right outside of The Shoals area. I started playing guitar and writing songs when I was 8 years old. My mother encouraged me to pursue a career in music ever since I was a child. She herself has an incredible voice and knack for songwriting. She was a driving force behind my passion for the music business.
At the age of 15, I auditioned for American Idol. I was 200 out of a million people to receive the golden ticket to Hollywood. I got let go from the show early on, but I was able to run with the ‘American Idol Contestant’ title when I got back home to The Shoals area. I put a band together and we played fairs and festivals all over Alabama. The one thing I didn’t realize is that being an artist is a lifestyle – one that I was not willing to live as a now 16 year old. I took a step back and focused on my favorite part of the music business – songwriting. I still had the itch to perform LIVE so I started playing songwriters festivals.
But there was always something in the back of my mind that really bothered me. I realized that there was a key component missing in The Shoals area- there was no songwriters festival in Muscle Shoals at the time. This led me to create the Muscle Shoals Songwriters Festival in the spring of 2019. Our very first festival, we had over 100+ songwriters and 1000 attendees. The Muscle Shoals Songwriters Festival is now spearheaded by the Muscle Shoals Songwriters Foundation, a 501 c 3 nonprofit organization that I founded in 2020. What makes us unique in the festival space is that not only do we have the Muscle Shoals Songwriters Festival, but we have several other events that happen throughout the year that tailors to both songwriters and the Shoals area in general. We have an educational component to the festival called the Shoals Songwriter Workshop where songwriters can connect and collaborate with music business professionals. We have a fishing tournament and boat party that celebrates the river that sings in The Shoals. We have a music initiative called ‘Chords for Change’ where we donate high-quality guitars to songwriters in need. The festival is our stepping-stone to helping aspiring songwriters achieve their biggest dreams and goals. In doing all of these events and endeavors, our ultimate mission is to continue to not only shine a light on songwriters, but on Muscle Shoals Music. Muscle Shoals is alive, thriving, and has a robust music scene that we want to continue to grow and flourish through every action step that we take.
Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?
I firmly believe that the most potent approach to cultivating a clientele, be it in the music industry or a cozy coffee shop on Main Street, revolves around maintaining a steadfast presence as the embodiment of the brand. What does this entail? It entails infusing every interaction with a personal touch, ensuring that each engagement resonates with authenticity and genuine connection.
People don’t want to connect with an idea – they want to connect with a person. I think you should be as forward facing as you can in business. Every word that I say and everything that I do is a complete reflection of my business, the way I do business, how I work.. and 99% of people understand all of these things within the first five minutes of meeting me because I am forward facing in everything that I do. My team knows this as well.
Your business isn’t a reflection of you. YOU are the reflection of the business. When you start to understand this concept, your clientele will skyrocket because it’s not about the product. It’s about the people.
We’d love to hear the story of how you turned a side-hustle into a something much bigger.
Growing up, my parents always had mainly stable jobs – the 401K, the retirement plan, the insurance… so it was scary for me to take the leap. Granted, both of my parents did and still do have side-hustles, but it was never their full-time gig.
I had several jobs when I turned 16 and worked up into college. I worked at a gym, a clothing store, a furniture store… It was almost like the paycheck was a drug that I never wanted to quit. But I was always working on a project or a side-hustle behind-the-scenes. The Muscle Shoals Songwriters Festival is a nonprofit endeavor so every penny goes back into the events, the organization, etc; therefore I’ve never really placed it into a category of it becoming my full-time gig. It was when I started building my digital marketing company, LG Media Co., as a side-hustle during COVID of 2020 that I had the extreme itch to go off on my own because I had hit a glass ceiling financially. I needed some motivation to do this. As a result, I leased a brand new Range Rover as soon as I got out of college and told myself that the only way I could pay for this car is through my digital marketing company. No bi-weekly paycheck. Just me. My parents thought I was absolutely insane and that it was the worst financial decision I had ever made. But it triggered something in me. It was like a motivator in a way. Not only did I have personal bills, but I also had this gigantic payment that I had to cover each month. And every month, I covered it. It made me work 1000% harder in the beginning. The trick is to find something that motivates you that helps you taste a hint of your dream life. Is it a luxury vehicle? Is it a high-rise in New York City? Is it giving your kids a trip to Disney World? What is it? Figure that out, work towards it, and money will always show up.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.mssongfest.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lillianglanton/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lillian.glanton
Image Credits
Black and White Photo of Lillian Playing Guitar – Jeff Fasano Photography TedX Wilson Park Photo – N/A (myself) Lillian on Couch in Pink with MacBook- Whitney Gernert Photography Marriott Shoals Photo of Lillian opening door- Andrea Belk Photography