100. A Special Tribute to the Independent Musician
Originally Published on March 12th, 2025
I Can’t Believe We Are Here
I’ve been thinking a lot about what I would want to say in this article. Looking back a year ago, it was about a month before I went on to Threads and first uttered the words “Fifteen Minutes of Fame.” I was hyping a new single I had heard by Tones and I and I had posted a picture of an adorable baby goat I had seen while taking my dogs to the vet. I had very few followers and no idea how to connect to other independent artists.
My wife and I have been listening to the audio book of Al Pacino's autobiography, called Sonny Boy. There was a particular part that stuck out to me. It was in the very early parts of his adulthood, before he had a career, when he was still aspiring to be a stage actor. He was living in a small apartment in New York with Martin Sheen and they both worked in this theater as janitors, actors, handymen, etc. they described doing “off, off, off, off Broadway” shows where a few friends would just perform for each other at a little coffee shop or diner. They always passed the hat around for each other. Not because they were trying to make a living as an actor. Because they were trying to earn enough to have a meal that night. It was the true embodiment of being a “starving artist.”
As I look at Fifteen Minutes of Fame, I see a very diverse group of musicians. So many genres represented. All in all, more than 100 artists have been featured in a review or a blind reaction. We come from all walks of life, we are at varying stages and places in our lives. Some of us are just beginning, some of us are looking at the horizon of a setting sun. Some of are performing in our bedroom to a few dozen people on the internet, some of us have opened for major recording artists and have had some pretty extraordinary opportunities.
Some of us have a real shot at making it in the music industry. For any that do, I am beaming with pride. But I will always remember this moment in our careers the most. No matter where we end up, we are here today, passing the hat around for each other.
Independent musicians were here long before the recording industry was. Long before business men and women discovered they could market and profit from the exploitation of artists. This planet is finite. It’s not a question of if, but a question of when. One day, all that we have. All that we’ve made will be gone. For the ones that will be left to figure out the aftermath, I can guarantee they will still be plucking strings and singing songs about the world. About the universe. And when all that’s left is gone too, all of the music created in the universe will still be there; its atomic energy floating and blending with the universe, waiting to bond with something. To become something once again.
That’s a fancy way to say music will always be bigger than us. But music wouldn’t exist without us. I think about the legacy of the independent artist. There are so many. Everybody starts out as independent. Even the biggest artists are independent before they sign to a label.
Lisa Loeb
Often times, the story I go to is that of Lisa Loeb. Today, Lisa Loren has a million listeners on Spotify. She currently resides in Nashville and she mostly releases children’s music. But, in the 90’s, she released what would be her biggest hit of her career. A song called Stay (I Missed You). It would be featured in the credits for the movie Reality Bites. It also featured a really cool music video where the world was introduced to the cute little artsy girl with the crazy vintage glasses. Stay would be a sensational hit; rising to the number 1 spot on the billboard charts. Her album would be nominated for a Grammy. The most special thing about these accomplishments: Loeb was an unsigned, independent artist.
It certainly helped that her neighbor was up and coming actor Ethan Hawke, who would not only pitch her song to be played in the credits of Reality Bites, but also direct the now famous music video (that is all filmed in one take). But Hawke wasn’t a famous actor yet. He had heard Loeb as a struggling actor living in a New York Apartment where he too was waiting for his break. They belonged to a community of happy passers, just as Pacino and Sheen had in that same city, 30 years before them.
Tones and I and Chappell Roan
I also think about artists like Tones and I, who I mentioned earlier, and Chappell Roan. Tones and I, didn’t get discovered by playing some impressive showcase for a bunch of record executives. She was working in retail in Australia and, in her spare time, taking her synthesizer and would busk as a street performer until an attorney would hear her and become her talent manager. Now, she is the first (and possibly still the only) female recording artist to have a song pass 3 billion streams on Spotify.
Chappell Roan, was actually dropped from Atlantic Records in 2017 after her debut EP flopped. Working to find a new commitment and somebody who could help channel her sound, she would have many ups and downs in the coming years. She would even leave LA and move back to the midwest, as she would find a part time job and continue to work on her music, even doing some busking as well. Today, she is a Grammy Winner who has 45 million monthly listeners on Spotify.
Everybody Has a Story. That Doesn’t Make Them Derivative.
Whether our stories follow paths like Lisa Loeb, Tones and I, or Chappell Roan, or we end up telling different stories. Like Donut Larsen, who was sitting outside of a liquor store and asked for a case of beer and, in exchange, offered to play the patron an original song. The poster’s TikTok, which was posted in September, immediately went viral, and now Larsen’s song, Ghost of You, has been played more than 2 million times.
Or like Jesse Welles, who started singing the news on his social media platforms. Now he has half a million monthly listeners, and he is currently touring the country.
Or like AiramFM, who gained courage to start releasing her music after the passing of her mother.
Or Neccos for Breakfast who suffered extraordinary adversity, being forced in an impossible David vs. Goliath situation, had all but decided to give up music, until he found a video of the synthpop troubadour being bullied online and, after finding a friendly community of indie artists, he decided to do something about it
Or Circumstantial Saint, who has put his community, his culture, and the fight for social justice before his very own life.
Or LuisG, a small independent artist from New Mexico who wrote a song about Burgers & Fries that wasn’t really about burgers and fries at all. It was a telling and compelling social observation that served as a spark that ignited this entire movement.
If ever I need inspiration, I need not look no further than the community that had been established through Fifteen Minutes of Fame. Your stories of inspiration, heartbreak, passion, compassion, faith, healing, and rebirth. Each and every artist has shown a determination to have their story heard. We represent a fraction of the greater community of independent artists in the world and our collected efforts merely bite at the ankles of mainstream artists who monopolize the music industry.
But do not despair.
Your stories have a deep connection with me. They’ve changed me forever. Every day your voices find desperate ears. It is in this relationship we find what truly matters. The real reason we make music. The reason music was ever made to begin with, a thousand years ago, when monks a capella chants echoed through stone walls of ancient cathedrals that are mere ruins today.
Final Thoughts
I deliberated on what I wanted to do for article 100. In the end, I decided I didn’t want this to be a big deal. Because this has never been about me or about any accomplishment I could possibly fathom as my own. I am merely a person who has discovered wonderful people making wonderful music.
It’s silly to think about how history remembers the subjects who make discoveries, rather than the objects they’ve discovered. That’s not the story that Fifteen Minutes of Fame will tell. This story is all about the artists who make this little community what is has been, what it is, and what it will be.
But Fifteen Minutes of Fame and communities like it are extraordinarily important. In time, they will serve to be increasingly so. Soon, this platform will move to its home base, the website I’m currently developing, and will be partnered with CAN!. I believe we have timed these changes necessarily as the state of our world is in duress. I had the horrible thought yesterday that the artists who collectively represent Fifteen Minutes of Fame all belong to different states in the US and in different countries in the world. There is a real possibility that some of our countries can find ourselves at war in the near future. Maybe even at war with each other.
We will not let the evil actions of our leaders tear this community apart. In fact, these will be the moments our voices will be needed most. It will be in these stories, we find our way out of the chaotic mess these tragedies will create. I hope this doesn’t come to pass, but I can’t predict the actions or the agendas of a mad man.
All things begin and all things end, and so will Fifteen Minutes of Fame. Perhaps, one day, we will read article 200, perhaps 1,000. Maybe we will feature an artist that becomes a breakout sensation. Maybe we already have. All I know is, if it ends tomorrow, I will not forget the joy this blog has given me. I won’t forget the people I’ve met along the way. The songs I’ve heard. As a lifetime fan of music, I can proudly say I’m fulfilled as a listener.
So, in conclusion, I’m happy Fifteen Minutes of Fame has made it to 100 articles. I’m more excited though, to start 101. What can I say?
All I want to do is to go press play.
Tones and I and Chappell Roan
I also think about artists like Tones and I, who I mentioned earlier, and Chappell Roan. Tones and I, didn’t get discovered by playing some impressive showcase for a bunch of record executives. She was working in retail in Australia and, in her spare time, taking her synthesizer and would busk as a street performer until an attorney would hear her and become her talent manager. Now, she is the first (and possibly still the only) female recording artist to have a song pass 3 billion streams on Spotify.
Chappell Roan, was actually dropped from Atlantic Records in 2017 after her debut EP flopped. Working to find a new commitment and somebody who could help channel her sound, she would have many ups and downs in the coming years. She would even leave LA and move back to the midwest, as she would find a part time job and continue to work on her music, even doing some busking as well. Today, she is a Grammy Winner who has 45 million monthly listeners on Spotify.
Everybody Has a Story. That Doesn’t Make Them Derivative.
Whether our stories follow paths like Lisa Loeb, Tones and I, or Chappell Roan, or we end up telling different stories. Like Donut Larsen, who was sitting outside of a liquor store and asked for a case of beer and, in exchange, offered to play the patron an original song. The poster’s TikTok, which was posted in September, immediately went viral, and now Larsen’s song, Ghost of You, has been played more than 2 million times.
Or like Jesse Welles, who started singing the news on his social media platforms. Now he has half a million monthly listeners, and he is currently touring the country.
Or like AiramFM, who gained courage to start releasing her music after the passing of her mother.
Or Neccos for Breakfast who suffered extraordinary adversity, being forced in an impossible David vs. Goliath situation, had all but decided to give up music, until he found a video of the synthpop troubadour being bullied online and, after finding a friendly community of indie artists, he decided to do something about it
Or Circumstantial Saint, who has put his community, his culture, and the fight for social justice before his very own life.
Or LuisG, a small independent artist from New Mexico who wrote a song about Burgers & Fries that wasn’t really about burgers and fries at all. It was a telling and compelling social observation that served as a spark that ignited this entire movement.
If ever I need inspiration, I need not look no further than the community that had been established through Fifteen Minutes of Fame. Your stories of inspiration, heartbreak, passion, compassion, faith, healing, and rebirth. Each and every artist has shown a determination to have their story heard. We represent a fraction of the greater community of independent artists in the world and our collected efforts merely bite at the ankles of mainstream artists who monopolize the music industry.
But do not despair.
Your stories have a deep connection with me. They’ve changed me forever. Every day your voices find desperate ears. It is in this relationship we find what truly matters. The real reason we make music. The reason music was ever made to begin with, a thousand years ago, when monks a capella chants echoed through stone walls of ancient cathedrals that are mere ruins today.
Final Thoughts
I deliberated on what I wanted to do for article 100. In the end, I decided I didn’t want this to be a big deal. Because this has never been about me or about any accomplishment I could possibly fathom as my own. I am merely a person who has discovered wonderful people making wonderful music.
It’s silly to think about how history remembers the subjects who make discoveries, rather than the objects they’ve discovered. That’s not the story that Fifteen Minutes of Fame will tell. This story is all about the artists who make this little community what is has been, what it is, and what it will be.
But Fifteen Minutes of Fame and communities like it are extraordinarily important. In time, they will serve to be increasingly so. Soon, this platform will move to its home base, the website I’m currently developing, and will be partnered with CAN!. I believe we have timed these changes necessarily as the state of our world is in duress. I had the horrible thought yesterday that the artists who collectively represent Fifteen Minutes of Fame all belong to different states in the US and in different countries in the world. There is a real possibility that some of our countries can find ourselves at war in the near future. Maybe even at war with each other.
We will not let the evil actions of our leaders tear this community apart. In fact, these will be the moments our voices will be needed most. It will be in these stories, we find our way out of the chaotic mess these tragedies will create. I hope this doesn’t come to pass, but I can’t predict the actions or the agendas of a mad man.
All things begin and all things end, and so will Fifteen Minutes of Fame. Perhaps, one day, we will read article 200, perhaps 1,000. Maybe we will feature an artist that becomes a breakout sensation. Maybe we already have. All I know is, if it ends tomorrow, I will not forget the joy this blog has given me. I won’t forget the people I’ve met along the way. The songs I’ve heard. As a lifetime fan of music, I can proudly say I’m fulfilled as a listener.
So, in conclusion, I’m happy Fifteen Minutes of Fame has made it to 100 articles. I’m more excited though, to start 101. What can I say?
All I want to do is to go press play.
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