Meet Simon Widdowson

We recently connected with Simon Widdowson and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Simon, so happy to have you with us today and there is so much we want to ask you about. So many of us go through similar pain points throughout our journeys and so hearing about how others developed certain skills or qualities that we are struggling with can be helpful. Along those lines, we’d love to hear from you about how you developed your ability to take risk?

After growing up in Leeds England at the age of 22 I got on a plane for the USA (Minneapolis) with about $200 and a suitcase full of records. I had a dream of making a living as a musician and I’d met an American girl while attending Lancaster at University so I went to stay with her. I had been inspired as a child by great explorers and their tales of courage and endurance and I wanted a little adventure myself. I was jumping into the unknown and it actually proved to be fairly simple. I got a job, started playing music on the weekends and 8 years later I figured I would throw caution to the wind, quit my job, sell most of my things except my guitar and some clothes and relocate to Santa Fe New Mexico. I intended to make a living solely from music. That was 30 years ago and I’ve had an amazing life living only from my activities as a musician. I’ve learned that by being in a place where I felt really good I attracted the experiences and seemingly coincidental meetings that have allowed me to live my dream. The more I followed my intuition and tried to avoid listening to the voices of fear or doubt the better things seem to work out. Jump and the net will appear I often said to myself. After 7 years based in Santa Fe and around 1000 concerts under my belt I moved to Portland Oregon with a dream of owning a big recording studio. I went there again with almost nothing in terms of material wealth and 2 years later I had a huge recording studio. I went on to live in Ireland and then France and I continue to set new goals and have faith that anything is possible.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?

My career is based around music. I taught myself to play guitar when I was about 10 years old by listening to records by Neil Young, Led Zeppelin, Eric Clapton etc I started writing songs when I was about 16 and played my first solo acoustic concerts after moving to the US and went on to play around 250 concerts a year but I was also very passionate about recording equipment and recording studios. My Dad used to make 8mm films in the 70’s and I was fascinated with microphones and tape recorders. I felt I was a good recording engineer and producer because I was also very familiar with being the artist. My first studio was in Portland Oregon from 2000 to 2004 where I recorded and produced albums for about 30 artists including the Decemberists. After leaving the US and moving to Ireland in 2005 I created another recording studio and I currently have a studio in the South of France where I’ve been for the last 15 years. Working in the studio I can use my skills in the service of others which I think is very important. As a child all I ever wanted to do was listen to music and I’ve somehow made a living doing exactly that for the last 30 years. I’ve recorded about 50 albums for other artists and I’ve also released 10 albums of my own music which you can find on all the streaming platforms. I still play about 20 small concerts a year in cafes, bars and festivals and I have my recording studio in a little village in France where I help other music artists realise their artistic vision.

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

I think I was fortunate early on in life to realise and acknowledge my love of music and no matter how hard it may have seemed to build a career around that I wasn’t going to compromise. I believed in myself which is ironic because as a child I didn’t feel that confident. I worked very hard at it but that was relatively easy because it’s what I loved to do the most. I think it all comes back to that idea of just “do what you love”. I’ve always enjoyed daydreaming which I think is a crucial element. Letting my imagination roam freely, usually while spending quiet time in nature, is where all my ideas have come from. Meditation and visualisation I would consider essential in establishing our goals.

How can folks who want to work with you connect?

As a musician I’m always interested in collaborations and I am always looking for artists who would like to come and record their music with me. You can find out more about me on my website: www.simonwiddowsonmusic.com and all the usual social media platforms.

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