Joining 'Em

So I built a website about myself. It went live last night. And now, you're standing in it.

Let me get the embarrassing part out of the way: I know how this looks. A huge site with my name on the door and a tip jar by the exit. Be still, my cynicism.

"Entertainment's a bitch, isn't it!?" says the glowing ring light.

It is. Because here's the truth I keep tripping over, I loved designing this place. The months spent building it. I love the tech. I loved going back through my thirty-five years of making music to write the bios. Dusting off photos I'd forgotten about. It was rewarding in a lot of ways.

It's the next part I'm not so sure about. And that's the selling-myself part.

See, I'm a confident performer. On stage I sink into the work. That's the job, and I love it. And I love the making part: the music, the writing, the building. That's never been the problem. The problem is the selling. Standing on a corner, waving my arms, pitching Nathan Dale to people who never asked for him. I've never been one to want a spot in a room where I wasn't invited. But the attention economy runs on barging in.

So why do it? Simple: it's the economy, stupid. I'm a working musician, and the room we all perform in now is this one: the feed, the algorithm, the market of identities. I can stand outside it with my arms crossed, or I can walk in and try to make it work for me. I've got studio work to land, and the kids need a brand new pair of shoes.

So here's the factory and I work it alone. Producer, writer, singer, mixer, engineer. Social media director, photographer, video editor, web designer, graphic designer, server admin. I built the whole tech stack this place runs on, top to bottom. And hardest of all, I am the guy out front, smiling, telling you it's worth a look.

But it really is. That part is not a bluff. The music is real, the work is real, and I made all of it with my own HEAD, HEART, and SHADOW. So I'll hold my nose about the selling and do it anyway. Because the alternative is not making the thing, and that's the one price I don't want to pay.

And here's the thing I am most grateful for. You came through the door on your own. Nobody forced you in. Which makes this the one room I don't have to barge into. You already want to be here.

So welcome in. Look around.

If you want to help keep the lights on, there's a way to do that too.

I'll be over here, working on... myself.