Gaelynn Lea's
May Newsletter
Greetings!

I hope you are doing well and warming up after a a long and cold winter! Summer is still quite a ways off in Duluth but I can't help but dream of lilacs and sunshine and maybe even a getting the teeniest bit of sunburn sitting by the shores of Lake Superior. Living in Duluth, Minnesota is funny this time of year because you begin to realize just how far North we sit compared to most of the country.... I saw my first flowers only a couple of days ago and the leaves are still forming on the trees (and it's halfway through May)! At least there aren't any mosquitoes... YET. Anyway, it felt like time to fill you in on my Summer/Fall plans... Feel free to write back with your own warm-weather dreams!
Meet the Team!
As many of you know, I am a DIY artist (no record label, management company, PR agency) and this means I have the freedom to build my career in the way that feels best for me.... I love being independent! But I still need help with the many details of a music career, so I've hired a few part-time assistants. They are an awesome group of humans and have been so helpful over the last year. I've been meaning to introduce them for quite some time, so here goes!
Amanda lives in the Twin Cities area with her adorable little family. She teaches music from home and over the last year she has become my PR / Social Media Assistant Extraordinaire. She helps promote my tours by setting up interviews and writing posts on social media. She loves growing micro-greens in her spare time. It's always a joy checking in with her on the phone - she's fun to talk with and a great sounding board.

Brett lives in Budapest, Hungary with his new fiance. He's an ex-pat from New Orleans who is stand-up comedian by night and my booking assistant by day. Thanks to Brett I've been able to find lots of new venues and meet many wonderful promoters around the US. He's a hilarious guy with lots of great ideas and enthusiasm... it's been great working with him!

Richard lives in London, UK. He is a musician, instrument guru and tech consultant. He also helps me book and promote my shows in the UK and Europe. I met him at my very first show in London back in 2016 and since then he's become one of our favorite faces to see across the pond - he even made an appearance on the last album playing the magical theremin on "Grace and a Tender Hand"!

Peggy is my own loving mother and she lives in Minnesota with my Dad. She just retired from her position as a campus operator, so now she's going to help me keep up with emails while I am on the road. My mom also enjoys spending time with her grandchildren, directing the church choir and coordinating an annual arts and crafts festival with her newly-acquired downtime. Apparently keeping busy is in our blood!

So that's the team! I owe a lot to these amazing humans in four far-flung cities. Thanks to the magic of email and video chat we've been able to grow and learn together over the past year and I am looking forward to many more years of collaboration with them!
Plans and Hopes for Patreon
So in my April newsletter I explained how my next big project is going to be a BOOK! I am super excited to write about music, touring and the changing landscape of disability culture. It's definitely gonna take some quiet time to reflect on my experience as a disabled artist in America, especially the past three years of non-stop travel. That's why I started a Patreon page , as a tangible way for you folks to support the writing process in the short term, and to help co-create a sustainable music career (like helping to employ my awesome assistants!) in the long term.

What is Patreon, you might ask? It is an online platform that allows you to support the artists you love by making a small, recurring monthly donation that is directly deposited into their account. It's kind of like public radio - lots of little contributions add up over the year to keep your favorite programs running. As a thank you for the support, I will be sharing regular updates with you and give you access to fun Patreon bonuses - like new releases, signed posters, exclusive online performances, free tickets to shows, and more stuff I haven't even thought of yet!
I made this new video to better explain my intentions with this Patreon , because I know it's a new concept to many. As far as my timeline goes, I want to start writing my book in earnest in 2020. This gives me the next 7 months to build up my Patreon team's monthly donations so that I can take several months off to write next year. Then in 2021 I am planning to edit, rewrite and get the book ready for publishing. It is my goal to release my memoir in 2022 and then embark on a big ol' book / music tour shortly after its release! I know writing a book is going to be a lot of work, but with your help I do believe it's possible! If you haven't checked out my Patreon page, please take a peek here!
Mindful May
Have you ever taken a deliberate break from the internet? How did it go? I am currently in the midst of my own experiment... It's been just over two beautiful weeks since I last posted on social media! I decided to take the month of May off from Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. I had a lot of shows on the West Coast last month, which meant I was spending a pretty significant amount of time updating multiple social media platforms every day for the tour, not to mention the minutes / hours lost to the rabbit holes I'd fall into thanks to curated content "just for me" on Google and Twitter. It's not that I think the information you can learn online is bad, but if you're seeing it because of an algorithm designed to capture and monetize your attention... Well, the whole thing feels kind of gross. 

So to combat the social media takeover of my brain, I decided to sign off for the month of May... So far, so good! My awesome assistant Amanda is doing a few posts of her own each week on FB and Twitter just to keep the accounts current, but I've been nary to be found! The first two days I was extremely tempted to log in, but as I spend more days away from it the draw is getting weaker and weaker. I still have a little over two weeks to go, and then I'll try to find a little more balanced approach to the social media after that.
How often do YOU post on social media? Never? Once a month? Once a week? Several times a day? Do you feel that it's time well spent? I've definitely met a lot of awesome real-life humans because of the internet, so in that way it's been really special. And it's certainly been helpful to promote shows. I just feel like it's been taking up time that I could be mindfully interacting with the world around me, especially the natural world. If self-control was higher up on my list of strengths perhaps this wouldn't be an issue, but alas! That's just not who I am presently.

So how am I filling the time without social media? I've been getting caught up on work, writing in my journal and being more engaged in the world... I've been reading a really interesting book called "Incognito" about the hidden workings of the brain, and it's clear that if we are rushing through life and not mindful our world is LITERALLY diminished, because our visual field doesn't pick up a myriad of details when we are just glancing at our surroundings. I don't want my life to go by in a blur, so it'll be fun to evaluate if staying off social media has a significant impact in this regard. What are YOUR thoughts? I'd love to hear them, so hit "reply" & send me a good old-fashioned email!
Anyway, that's all for now... Thanks for reading this newsletter! All my confirmed shows are listed below - it would be most excellent to see you at an event in the US or the UK. I hope you know how much I appreciate your support, in person and online... Looking forward to connecting with you soon!

Truly,
Gaelynn Lea
Upcoming Shows
Here's a list of my shows coming up this summer & fall... I'd love to see you at an event!

  • 5/17 in Yankton, SD: Events at the AME Chapel: Gaelynn Lea: Details

  • 5/18 in Aberdeen, SD: Gaelynn Lea with Raven and Better Ride at Red Rooster Coffee House: Details

  • 5/21 in St. Cloud, MN: Gaelynn Lea at Jules' Bistro: Tickets

  • 5/30 in Niagara Falls, NY: Gaelynn Lea is Keynote Speaker for DDDay at Niagara Falls Conference Center: Registration

  • 6/6 in Minneapolis, MN: Gaelynn Lea performs at the Young Dance Spring Gala: Details

  • 6/11 in Wenatchee, WA: Gaelynn Lea is Keynote Speaker for Community Summit at Wenatchee Convention Center: Registration

  • 6/21 in Bemidji, MN: Gaelynn Lea at Brigid's Pub: Details

  • 6/30 in Sioux Falls, SD: Levitt at the Falls Presents Gaelynn Lea + Full Band: Details

  • 7/1 in Sioux Falls, SD: White Wall Sessions: Gaelynn Lea (Solo Set): Tickets

  • 7/6 in Duluth, MN: Gaelynn Lea opens for Trampled by Turtles at Bayfront Festival Park: Tickets

  • 7/25 in Superior, WI: Gaelynn Lea performs at the North Country Independent Living Empowerment Expo 2019: Details

  • 8/18 in Montreal, QC: Gaelynn Lea Speaks and Performs at the 44th Annual SSF-IIIHS International Conference: "The NEXT STEP Forward": Details

  • 8/22 in Grand Rapids, MI: Gaelynn Lea at The Pyramid Scheme Bar: Tickets

  • 9/24 in Glasgow, UK: Gaelynn Lea + Kapil Seshasayee at The Glad Cafe: Tickets

  • 9/28 in Leeds, UK: Bomb The Twist & Brudenell Presents Gaelynn Lea + Rising Ashes at The Brudenell Social Club: Tickets

  • 10/5 in St. Paul, MN: The Current Presents Gaelynn Lea with Wheelchair Sports Camp, Billy McLaughlin, and DJ FunSize at The Ordway: Tickets