Some friends published this great DIY guide – “Thrive and Survive in the Music Business: Learn how to book your band, book a tour and get your royalties…

If you are on my socials, you might remember that time early in quarantine….in my hammock…on my tablet. Editing. Writing. Out in the early spring sunshine.

So why should you care? Well, here’s the story….and my part in it starts at Winter NAMM 2019.

For the record, Liza Carbe is kickass. So is JP Durand, but I technically knew Liza longer because I read about Vixen when I was a budding teenage nerd-girl guitarist. They were interviewed in a fanzine I read. And now that you know that strange fact….let’s take you to that Winter NAMM 2019 (blog post here). I offered Liza one of my KitKats one night outside an all-night convenience store in LA.

I’m still feeling tired from jet lag, NAMM-lag and battling a case of NAMMthrax…(in spite of Umcka and a mighty multi-dose of antibiotics coursing through my system)…and I’m still managing to be emotionally high as a kite…all at the same time from the Gun Club meeting and seeing Muriel Anderson at LA Talk Radio…like playing harp guitar 5 feet from my face!! Wait, wait…..was that Joe Bonamassa? Omg. Pedal nerd session with ANOTHER GIRL who BUILDS PEDALBOARDS…what the fuck alternate reality am I in?! And CAN I JUST FLY ANANDA OUT HERE AND NEVER GO HOME? Lol.

So, as I offer this KitKat to Liza, I’m somewhere between “OMG!!! OMG!!!”….and “wow, so grateful”…and “brain is trying to become mush…is it bedtime yet?”….all at the same time……and quietly, my subconscious brain blurted out, “Hey…remember that Vixen interview…about their favorite candy?” Thanks, outside voice. The KitKat was already extended to Liza, being offered, and my fucking brain does that bit of Teenage Years recall.

*blinking*

Inside voice; “Although the facts made this obvious from the start….HOLY FUCK I did not see this coming. At all. Thank you 15 or 16 year old me.”
Liza takes the KitKat. Ok, I’m probably tired AND even more weird now. Uh…quiet brain, let me handle this.

I quietly ask her about the interview with Vixen….(because learning the dirt about Les Paul and Mary Ford’s divorce from one of Les’ guitar techs was already a lot of red pill/blue pill for one day. Nope. It clearly wasn’t.) And yup, Liza remembers the interview. Ok, cool…I tell her about reading it. We laugh over KitKats. Life is pretty ok. No red or blue pill needed anymore, unless it happens to say amoxicillin.

Yeah, life has a funny way of playing the best tricks on me, ever.

Ok, so with that strange rambling (thank you for your indulgence), Liza is officially cooler…(lol)…


But ASIDE from that bit of awesome, she and her hubby JP know A LOT about the business, and how to get your music career further along than it is. Film placements, collecting royalties, gigging, music conferences. Students kinda get shoved out of school with a great grasp of academic music, but not a good grasp of how to be an entrepreneurial musician…the REAL survival skill they need to teach EVERYONE before anyone gets their diploma.


So, I was excited when they did a Thrive and Survive video call around 2017 or 2018 for selected folks and mentioned they would be writing a book.
I kept asking, (nicely but excitedly); “When is the book coming out?” And in March, I found myself very happily editing an early (draft) edition. 🤛🏻
And it’s finally ready…available for pre-order on Amazon. There is so much info in this book and it costs LESS THAN A PRIVATE LESSON. I have seen books like TourSmart that cost much more! Please…get this thing onto your Kindle and get reading. There’s no excuse to NOT check this out ESPECIALLY if you are considering a career in music or already have one. I will be making ALL my serious students read this book.

Many thanks to Liza and JP for letting me check out/edit an early edition…very grateful for that.


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