Meet John Salaway

 

We recently connected with John Salaway and have shared our conversation below.

John, thanks so much for taking the time to share your insights and lessons with us today. We’re particularly interested in hearing about how you became such a resilient person. Where do you get your resilience from?

You have to be resilient in the music business or you won’t find any success. It comes from being told no and being let down countless times but knowing in your heart that music is the gift you were given. To have perseverance no matter how challenging the path is. Not giving up and continuing to show up is how you become resilient. The disappointments and failures are what make you better and stronger and more resilient.

Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?

My career in the music industry has been a very interesting and diverse one. I moved to Tennessee in 2003 and got my degree in Music Business/Recording Industry from Middle Tennessee State University in 2006. After graduation, I started my journey of working on the business side of music while also performing and booking/hosting songwriter’s rounds and blues jams around Murfreesboro and Nashville. I had received custody of my daughter in 2004 and since I was new to Tennessee, we were pretty much on our own. This made it impossible to work any long touring jobs, be on the road for long periods or be able to work places that required me to work after school/daycare hours. This forced me to think outside the box and have to create my own work and my own business. I was always good at booking my bands for shows so I leaned into the booking side of the industry and started booking multiple acts. From there I kept leveling up and gaining new relationships with professional venues, and more professional bands and artists. Soon I was booking bands that had musicians and producers who worked with famous artists. Then I started booking some famous artists. All the while, I was still writing constantly, and working on my musicianship and building my home studio so I could produce my music and others at home. Its been a long hard road but eventually I created Music First Productions and created a long resume of work in literally every field of the music industry. I have worked with many labels, publishing companies, sync companies, managers, booking agents, venues, and Grammy winning artists, songwriters and producers.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

The main skill was perseverance and not giving up because there are so many challenges and let downs that make you want to quit. You got to have thick skin. It’s probably the hardest business in the world especially since music became devalued with the loss of album sales and the fact that streaming does not pay artists well. Besides that, its being open minded, positive and optimistic and trying to attract goodness. Doing what you love is priceless so you have to stay positive and keep showing up even when its incredibly challenging and discouraging.

Okay, so before we go we always love to ask if you are looking for folks to partner or collaborate with?

Collaboration is one of my favorite things in the music industry. Im constantly collaborating with amazing songwriters, producers and musicians who are the best of the best in Nashville. Thats an honor. I’d love to collaborate more with people who are involved in sync licensing for film and tv and someone who can help get my original music streaming to reach more people.

Contact Info:

Image Credits

Photos by Shayne Wolfe, Ben Neely & Tokenbrit Photography

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