We recently connected with Ted Russell Kamp and have shared our conversation below.

Ted Russell, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today It’s easy to look at a business or industry as an outsider and assume it’s super profitable – but we’ve seen over and over again in our conversation with folks that most industries have factors that make profitability a challenge. What’s biggest challenge to profitability in your industry?

I am a professional musician and have been my entire adult life. One of the big challenges music creators have faced is the gradual devaluation of music. A few decades ago, people would have to buy the music they wanted to own and even with the profits that many record labels would be making, the musicians would actually get paid regularly for the music they recorded. As Napster and then years later streaming services have come along, it’s made being a consumer of music easier and easier which is great for the audience but now artists are making fractions of a penny per play. We’ve needed to stay creative while finding other ways to make a living while making music. For me that has been playing live and staying active in the recording studio, whether I am a session musician or a producer.

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?

I am a professional musician that has now been living and working in L.A. for over 20 years. I have been a bass player, guitarist, singer songwriter, producer, touring musician, session musician and arranger.

I was raised in the suburbs of New York City and was committed to the idea of making music for a living right from the day I finished college. I started by answering ads in papers looking for band members, playing on the streets, going to jazz and blues jams and just meeting anyone I could to de every local gig I could find. After a few years, I was able to get more selective with who I was playing with and could then also start to get known in my more specific music field which is Americana – the wonderful place between American roots music and modern music.

I’ve been a singer songwriter and I now have 14 albums of my own that I have written and produced, I’ve played bass in countless other bands on the road, at home and in the studio. I got my first Grammy a few years back for playing on a great Tanya Tucker record produced by Shooter Jennings and Brandi Carlile. I’ve also payed with and toured with Shooter for over 20 years now as well. I’ve also produced over 20 records for other friends and artists from the US and Europe.

Rolling Stone just did a great piece about me and my new record, California Son, and called me an MVP of the California Roots Music scene. I’ve also worked with Duff McKagan, Wilson Phillips, Marilyn Manson, Jessi Colter and many more friends and am proud to be part of the fabric of the professional music scene in L.A.

Have you ever had to pivot?

One of the great things about being a self-employed musician is that I have to stay in touch with the music I am making and the people I am working with on a day to day basis, as well as keep track of how happy I am and what I can possibly do to stay feeling fulfilled. We all change and grow and our values shift slightly as our confidence grows and as we look forward to the kind of future we want to have.

One big change for me happened after I was in L.A. for just a few years. I was getting more sure in the kinds of rock, country, singer songwriter and roots music I wanted to play. After I was working enough in my chosen genres, I was able to stop doing bigger pop and touring gigs that often paid well but were not the kind of music that inspired me. I felt I was becoming a great craftsman and that I was feeling like a musical mutli-tool that could help anyone do any style of music well but I was slowly losing touch with the kinds of music I loved that made me want to play in the first place.

I decided to switch my focus and only play music I love and relate to – even if it meant a pay cut.

I deliberately kept in touch with how happy I was and the people and groups I enjoyed being in and playing with. I have thankfully been able to stick to my guns and have made a good and happy living even if it’s on a more indie level.

Can you open up about a time when you had a really close call with the business?

In 2005, the first Shooter Jennings record was coming out. Shooter was the first major label artist I had worked with where I really was a band member, not an interchangeable sideman. I had written one of the songs from that first record and took a lot in being part of the band, working with him, his work ethic and his music. We all knew we were at the beginning of a great and long ride together and we deeply believed in wanting to be a new deeper, more rock and roll and more soulful part of mainstream country music.

When that album was coming out, Shooter and Universal South decided to do 3 album release shows in New York City at CBGBs. It would be a residency where we would play a show every two weeks and keep coming back to build some more buzz at every show.

This was also exactly the month my father was slowly passing away. The first of these weeks, I saw my dad at his home for the last time. The second, he was in hospice. The third visit just two weeks later, I was there when he passed away.

This was not a near death moment for me, but it was completely overwhelming to have such positivity and dreams coming through doing these shows with Shooter at CBGBs while at the same time dealing with such sadness and confusion in my personal life. Sometimes the best and the worst is all happening at the same time. And it was music, my wife, my mom and the band that pulled me through it all.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.tedrussellkamp.com
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/tedrussellkamp
• Facebook: https://facebook.com/tedrussellkamp
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/tedrussellkamp
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/tedrussellkamp
• Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/tedrussellkamp

Image Credits

Photos by:
Deb Morrison, Karman Kruschke and Mike Dunn