“The best part about this business is when you find those people who are connected and believe in you but you also become great friends.” – @stacystonemusic

Episode #276 : A.V.A Live Radio Behind The Music with Jacqueline Jax
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/avaliveradio/2015/11/19/episode-276-ava-live-radio-behind-the-music-with-jacqueline-jax

GETTING TO KNOW STACY STONE
by Jacqueline Jax host of A.V.A Live Radio

I feel like you have to realize that you can’t take anything personally in this business…
because it is in fact, a business. The only way to overcome it is to have thick skin and keep pushing when something upsets you. The best part about this business is when you find those people who are connected and believe in you but you also become great friends. It’s great when you get to work with people you adore. The not so good part about the business as an artist is that rarely someone wants to pay you for a gig but you have to pay the band members so a lot of the time it becomes out of pocket to gig around. There is a balance between very strong minded but not too stubborn in order to overcome the hurdles in this music world. You must be smart with a business brain and thick skinned.

I live in Nashville, Tennessee…
The music scene is pretty country for the most part. Which I don’t mind at all being a Pop-Rock artist because I think I stand out sometimes when I play out. But besides that, the people in the country music business are some of the nicest and most genuine people out there and I don’t think you can find that in any other city as much as you can here. There are a lot of historical land marks to go to in Nashville, for example, The Country Music Hall of Fame, The Grand Ole Opry, The Ryman Auditorium and lots more.

Back home in California, we would snowboard every weekend in the winter. I miss it sooo much! Besides music, snowboarding is one of my favorite things to do.

I love social media…
because it’s an easy way to reach your fans. Of course everyone has challenges they have to overcome. I think the biggest challenge for me is not worrying about what everyone else is doing around you. It’s easy to get caught up in comparing yourself to others who are more successful and then feel down about yourself.

I think when you are an up and coming artist…
who isn’t very well known yet it makes more sense to release a single. Then if a buzz is created, it’s time to release an album.

I’ve always loved singing since I can remember…
The first artist I ever covered was Gretchen Wilson. I was attracted to her big vocal songs and there is also a rock edge to her that I was drawn to. The very first song I sang in front of an audience was “Redneck Woman” at my 5th grade spaghetti feed when I was ten years old. After that, there was no stopping my future of performing.

Do Ya…
I wrote this song with Jan Buckingham and she is the edgiest 67 year old woman I have ever met! We never hold back with conversations about our lives. I tell her my stories and she tells me her crazy stories from the 60’s. I guess we just related this song idea with our lives and thought ‘There are some people you want to date and there are some people you just want to have fun and not be serious with at all. So why can’t we just write a really simple, meaningless but relatable song about doin’ it?!’ And of course it’s one of my favorite songs and tracks in which my great friend and co-writer produced, Charles Longoria.

My last EP is from a year ago and this song “Do Ya” isn’t on it. Lately I’ve just been writing and writing and getting edgier and edgier (or cooler and cooler). I think right now as an artist I’m in the thick of finding my sound. I absolutely love every recent song I’ve cut. I think from this point forward, people can expect a light hearted bluntness from my music. To me that’s an awesome way to be because I’m saying things out loud that most people are thinking but aren’t comfortable enough to say themselves. It’s okay to feel like a bad-ass and to be confident and to not care what people think! Be your own deal. That’s what I’d like to get across to people.

I’d love to have 5 minutes alone with…
P!NK. She’s such a badass and doesn’t hold back one bit! She’s such a big influence on me as far as her “no bull-S***” attitude.

Obviously you want to write music that is true to yourself….
I don’t think you should ever settle for something that is not you. Everything I’ve been writing since I moved to Nashville hasn’t been a lick short of who I am or what I want to say.

I think not going to college or anything scares me a little for my future…
if being a performing artist doesn’t work out. But at the same time I truly believe that if a person doesn’t give up they will be successful no matter what.

I recently just got offered a booking for a promotion deal…
That is a great successful to me because I’ve been doing this on my own as an independent artist with the help of my mom for years, but we can only get so far on our own. You need a team to make it to the next level and having a booking company that believes in you can take you to the next level.

My overall goal is…
to reach as many people as possible and hopefully spread confidence with my music.

I challenge myself by…
always trying to come up with a cool and different song idea and by putting myself in situations that put me out of my comfort zone.