We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Ian Pendlington a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, so we’re so thrilled to have Ian with us today – welcome and maybe we can jump right into it with a question about one of your qualities that we most admire. How did you develop your work ethic? Where do you think you get it from?
My dad has always been my role model when it comes to working. Watching him get home from after long hours, days, or even weeks and not only not complaining, but immediately being very present at home. He showed me how important and helpful it can be to be completely focused on whatever it is you are currently doing. It’s something I am still working on.
Over the years he’s shown me how to be patient, intentional, and focused while working. Early on with my band and now full time job, Highbeams, he helped us realize that working based on objectives instead of just putting in hours was far more productive and made working feel more purposeful.
Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
I mainly play music for a living! I am in two bands: Highbeams, a Folk-Rock trio going on about 13 years now, and Run Katie Run, a 5 piece Roots-Rock/Country/Americana that has all three members of Highbeams in it. I do the booking for Highbeams and I assist with booking for RKR. On top of that I mix record and mix all of Highbeams albums, and have mixed two RKR albums.
Currently both bands are working on recording new music, and booking Summer tours. Most notably, Run Katie Run will be opening for Dawes, Melissa Etheridge, and The Blind Boys of Alabama at the Amplify Decatur Music Festival on April 13th. Dawes is one of my favorite bands, and I never thought I would get an opportunity like this. The entire band is absolutely thrilled for it!
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
Managing time has been a big challenge that has only gotten more complicated. Looking back to when we all still lived with our parents, I am so happy that we spent as much time as we did practicing playing and harmonizing and going to open mic nights every night, because there is no way we would have enough time to do all of that ground work now.
I would strongly recommend having a team to pursue your dream with. The team doesn’t even need to be very skilled! You just need to all get along well with each other and you can all learn complimentary skills as you go. I have been through so much with Highbeams, and when we are faced with a challenge, we can always think back to the numbers of crazy challenges we have made it though already.
It’s important to allow your vision or dream to change as you are pursuing it. When we started out, our goal was to make a living playing music. We weren’t sure how that was going to happen, whether it was ticketed shows or playing at bars for a guarantee. It turned out to include those things, but has included so much more that I never expected. We just kept going and adapting and never gave up.
Any advice for folks feeling overwhelmed?
When I feel overwhelmed, I try to take a step back and make this very big feeling smaller. I think of a quote I heard from the musician Passenger, where he roughly says that, as long as you do, one thing every day that moves you towards your goal that can be enough. So if that day, I only do one little thing, I can let go and come back to it later when the feeling passes.
When you’re a musician, a lot of behind the scenes work can feel like it isn’t going anywhere. So taking comfort in the fact that you still did, some thing helps me a lot.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.highbeamsmusic.com , https://www.runkatierun.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/highbeamsmusic
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/highbeamsmusic/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/Highbeamsmusic
- SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/highbeamsmusic
Image Credits
Photos by Jordan Dale, Em Pearson, Luigi Jones
