The Death and Rebirth of Ellis Williams: "Death Part 1"

Introduction

They say that you can judge the measure of a man by witnessing the path from which he came. What is true passion when it comes to the art of music?  Is there a standard that we use to measure the true passion of a musician? 

I used to think when someone said, “I love music” that they meant that they like to listen to and/or perform it.  The past year has given me many blessings, I can not deny that, but I believe that it took me losing my passion and drive to realize just how serious and crazy you must be to live the life of a music entertainer.  A few weeks ago I saw a movie called “The Inevitable Defeat of Mister and Pete” that inspired me to blog again. So for my first blog entry in almost 7 months this is it, the death and inevitable rebirth of Ellis Williams. 

High Expectations

You know how they tell you never to give up on your passion?  Its a damn lie, well, in most cases at least.  Sometimes God wants you to slow down and reevaluate what his original guidelines are for you.  In my case he wanted me to stop dead in my tracks so I could see where I was going. 

Over a year ago I believed that my purpose was leading me back to where it all begin; Broward County, Florida.  I had plans of finishing my Euphoria album, gaining local fame, attaining my masters, marring my girlfriend, and starting up my own business.  Unfortunately, 60% of my plans failed due to my pride, believe it or not.  Pride was the strongest and most dangerous characteristic in my life and it took God stripping me of a lot of “false happiness” to see how bad I let it get. 

Losing a promising relationship was just the first step of a slow death for me.  Separating from my ex gave me the liberation to do whatever I wanted in South Florida but I had a hard time coming to grips with it.  I was never the type of person to let go so easily and didn't believe the idea of, "To get over someone you have to get into another." The fault in my ways was sacrificing a lot of time from my music so that I could work tiring jobs in hopes of building a future that was never meant to be . . . 

To Be Continued . . . 

"Euphoria" Album Release!

Welcome back music heads! Thanks to this handy Blogger application on my iPhone I am fortunate to be able to post from anywhere! While I am on this train to South Carolina I figured I could burn some time by writing about my album "Euphoria".

Releasing an album to a recording artist is like earning a win at a qualifying track meet for an Olympic hopeful. Athletes train for years preparing their bodies for the opportunity to showcase their skills to the public and earn a shot at gold. In my case this gold is in the form of a Grammy award. 

"Euphoria" is my intimate showcase to you of all the styles of music I've mastered since I've decided to make a career out of music. This album, like any album, is an extension of myself and my upbringing. Latin, jazz, Gospel, hip hop, r&b, and fusion are all elements that make Euphoria the true sense of the word.

From a rocking intro track to the rhythmic sounds of "Funkin' 4 Cuba" and to the smooth sounds of the ending chord progressions in the last track "Joyride" this album delivers! Euphoria promises to give you the experience and imagination that most of today's music is lacking. To get your copy follow this link here or go to any of your online stores and search "Euphoria by Ellis Williams." This album will not disappoint! 

Most artist do not see themselves as entrepreneurs but when you take a deeper look into the project of music production the two are much related.  As I created and presented my demo to my producer 5 years ago it was very much like pitching a new business.  As an artist I am already preparing my next album and will look into finding more investors who are interested in bringing more independent projects to the mainstream audience. If you are interested email me for information on how to make a donation!

Live the Music. . .

Learning from the Professionals

Welcome back music heads! Last post I highlighted two influential individuals in the business plan field.  Tim Berry and CindyPadnos are two professionals who assist young entrepreneurs in their business start-up plans.  While Tim Berry has started many successful businesses and written many top selling books on business plans, Cindy Padnos is known for her investment choices and executive stills while running a business.  Since my last post, I have studied the principals taught by these professionals and have applied them to not only my own business plan for E Willz Music, but to my current resume. 

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Tim made a really good point about keeping things simple and easy to read for investors to understand.  I made revisions throughout my plan so that anyone can comprehend the true purpose of my business.  Like Berry, I now believe that getting straight to the facts of cash flow and return on investments will hold investors long enough to want to send money my way.  Padnos stated in one of her many videos that investors are more interested in the individual seeking funds.  I wish for investors to admire my qualities as a leader and businessman when it comes having others around me.  

When it comes to my actual business plan I believe that all of the sections are laid out pretty solid.  Perhaps the strongest section in that plan would be the spreadsheets that list the details and numerical factors that investors really care about.  Within these spreadsheets you will find everything from the marketing budgets to the start-up costs and to the income statements.  All of these worksheets within my plan foreshadow costs and revenue over the first 3 years of operations. For more information on how to gain investors and start up your business visit Tim’s website at timberry.com.

Live the Music. . .