A serious learning experience for me – The value of time management and being creative.
Two weeks ago my Grandfather passed away. I went to Louisiana to be with my family and celebrate his life. He was an inspiring person that would deserve a book’s length description on the lives he helped and the ways he fought for justice. I can’t do him justice in such a casual forum, but his death is worth mentioning as a preface to the 2 weeks that followed.
Love you, Granddad.
I spent 4 and a half days in Baton Rouge with family within arms reach. My Mom organized all of the logistics of getting herself, myself, and my sister to Louisiana. If you know me, you know that it is a rare occasion for my siblings and I to all be in one place, much less for me to have all my siblings AND both my parents. Because of the circumstances, cherishing the company of family and extended family was the theme of the week. I was without my laptop and phone for most of this time.
My Sister and Mom on the flight from Houston to Baton Rouge
When I returned to Los Angeles, I felt like I could take on anything. I was inspired after hearing stories of my Grandfather all weekend, and I was recharged after a few days away from work and being loved on constantly by family from all directions. I came back to Los Angeles ready to take on the world, and promptly fell flat on my face less than 2 days after being back.
As many of you know, I started a company this past year to help enable me to pursue music while also keeping food on the table. For a long time, I’ve fought with the idea of doing anything aside from art as not giving your art everything you can. However, after living on almost nothing in Los Angeles for 3 years, I saw an opportunity to continue to do my music, not rely on someone else “finding me” and “making me” into something in order to “make it in the industry” and therefore be able to then eat! The industry is horse poop and everyone knows it, and the only possibility I saw to keep pursing music aggressively, is for me not to go down with their crappy ship, and therefore not depend on it to potentially live better. I want to do music. I just also want to be accountable for feeding myself.
Starting a social media company with Max helped me to take ownership over my own financial situation and not be a martyr for my art. However, after landing back in Los Angeles last Sunday night and spending 2 straight days in front of a computer screen, it was painfully clear that I hadn’t thought things through quite thoroughly enough.
Anyone who is feeling off balance and unhappy, I strongly suggest you do what I did next.
I made a list of everything I need in order to be a complete, happy, balanced, productive, and creative person. If I’m not all of those things, then I’m really any of those things. For me, this list included exercise, uninterrupted time to write, time at the piano and outdoors, etc. I also made a list of the company’s needs including work hours, time to take care of organizational tasks, time for meetings and phone calls, etc., I then spent a good part of the rest of the week organizing this into an actual schedule on my Google Calendar. For all of the things on my “to-do” list, I further organized it into “Today” “Tomorrow” “This Week” and “Next Week”. That way, I can be more realistic when telling people when I can have something done. I always say “today” or “tomorrow” because I CAN. However, I can’t keep doing it because I’m not as excited about the job when I don’t make time for the other things that are important to me, and if I’m not excited, I can’t do anything very well.
Evidence of my previous level of organization. A "To-Do" list that stretched for miles and was never complete.
I finished up the week with a show at Molly Malone’s on Sunday night. I opened the night for The Long Holidays and Oak Street Blues. Because of the activities of these past two weeks, the show was not promoted on my end as heavily as I normally do, and as a result, at the beginning of the set, I was playing to the other bands and a couple of my loyal supporters.
Because I was playing alone, the light was so direct and bright, I couldn’t see the audience at all, and with the help of Richard (the sound man) being TOTALLY ON, I was able to go somewhere else and be mostly oblivious to the size of the crowd. It was just piano and vocal, so I was able to take a lot of space and time with my delivery, and the room was silent during each song. The only way I could even tell anyone was there was the applause break between songs. A few songs in, the applause breaks began to represent a larger audience, and at the end of the set the room was mostly full. I couldn’t believe how many people had come in so quietly and politely and joined me in that moment! It was a life-affirming thing to know I could still take myself to that place, and occasionally bring someone else with me.
Photo from Katelyn Benton at Molly Malone's, Los Angeles, 2/19/12
Pictures from yesterday’s run, 50k at Point Mugu!
Yesterday I went out to Point Mugu to join the Coyotes for an attempt at a 31 mile run. I haven’t run further than 9 miles since Leona Divide at the end of April, but I didn’t really feel like that was going to be an issue. However, I did need to borrow a Camalbak since both of mine need a replacement bladder. My plan was to show up to the run at 8:30, a half an hour early, and transfer all my food, salt, my camera, etc., into this borrowed Camelbak. Instead, I got lost looking for my group in the wrong location, parked the car at 9, and got to the trail head right after they left. I had a handful of GU that couldn’t all fit into the single handheld water bottle that I brought. I was a little bummed that there was no way I could go out and attempt 31 miles now that I didn’t have a way to carry water, but I figured I could squeeze a few GUs into the water bottle and I could probably make the water bottle stretch for a 2 hour run, so not all was lost.
Early in the run, catching up to Kevin.
About 35 minutes into the run, I caught up with my friend Kevin, who also started running late and knew I didn’t have water or food. He told me that he never drank all of his water and he had extra food and salt, so I could run with him if I wanted to. I definitely wanted to. However, about 20 minutes later I really wasn’t feeling good about it. I had a GU and it made me so extremely thirsty that I sucked down most of the rest of my water bottle. I told Kevin that I didn’t want to not drink enough water because I was worried of taking too much and it might be a safer idea if I cut my run short. Right about then, we saw Jimmy up ahead with a handful of other Coyotes.
This made me feel much better about my situation. We also found out that there would be water at 2 places during the run, so we’d be able to fill up Kevin’s pack a few times. Kevin and I both decided to just run until we felt like making a call on the distance. We had a lot of opportunities to cut the run short, but neither of us really wanted to take them.
Photo by Kevin Chan
It was also quite windy. Even some of the flat stuff was quite challenging with wind resistance. Not that there was a lot of flat stuff – this course is no joke. It’s got some big climbs throughout, including one of the steepest right at 25 miles in.
Photo by Kevin Chan - mileage is in the early 20's here.
Beginning the final descent! These views were stupidly pretty.
Near the end of the 31 mile run. Me and my little water bottle. Photo by Kevin Chan
Meet Kevin - my friend and camel for the day.
I’m glad I was able to complete the run yesterday. I’ve been wanting to spend the day on the trails for a long time and with Shmedia and music, it’s really difficult to spend an entire day running as often as I used to. I wouldn’t have been able to attempt the run if it weren’t for Kevin’s generosity. He shared his food, his water, and salt all day long.
I’m so happy I did that run. It was so much fun and I feel surprisingly pretty good today! Not destroyed!! More please!
Pictures from NAMM!
I originally was planning to do this whole long update describing each day of NAMM, but truly, it’s all a giant blur of performing, playing instruments, and walking around with TONS of people. Also, my Twitter pretty much covered it and by this point most of you are probably sick of hearing about it 
Anyway, this past weekend at NAMM is probably best described by some of the photos below. Enjoy!
Katelyn Benton + Band performing at the Sennheiser NAMM booth, 2012
Katelyn Benton + Band performing at the Sennheiser NAMM booth, 2012
Sound check!
Toby's setlist
Scott Nickoley and Toby Karlin
Katelyn Benton + Band at the Sennheiser NAMM booth, 2012
Katelyn Benton at the PreSonus NAMM booth, 2012
Want!
I could have spent an entire day with the pianos.
Getting some love from the PreSonus crowd.
NAMM 2012 Begins – An inspired backward glance
Today is the first day of the 2012 NAMM trade show. It’s the largest of it’s kind in the world. Musicians and vendors come from everywhere to scope out and present all the newest gadgets and gear in the music world. It’s pretty much the best if you’re a visiting musician. You get to check out endless (and I mean endless) rows of cool stuff – instruments, microphones, pedals, interfaces, software, accessories, and you can touch and sample almost anything! The show lasts for 4 days, and you need 4 days to cover everything. It’s that big.
4 years ago I had just graduated from Berklee, was working for PreSonus Audio and was attending NAMM for the first time. I loved my time with PreSonus, although from day one on the job, I knew I couldn’t last in a situation where I wasn’t actively involved in pursuing my own music career. The jobs that have followed taught me that I don’t like having a boss in general – and not in the “well, duh, no one wants a boss” kind of way. I am just not nearly as efficient, productive or creative when I’m in a situation with a boss. I’m too worried about making mistakes when someone is “accountable” for me and it prevents me from taking risks.
21-year-old me (right) during NAMM, working for PreSonus.
I moved to Los Angeles 10 months after taking the PreSonus job. I spent the next few years not having a place to live, being on food stamps, working several jobs, but being completely dedicated to nurturing my own ideas and letting myself have adventures. I upgraded my living situation to the dining room of a 1 bedroom apartment that I shared with 4 other people, started running ultra-marathons, and started working on my new record with Scott Nickoley.
Today I’ve been holding down the fort in an apartment of my own for the past 8 months, 4 of which were paid for by my brand new company. I still have no idea how I’m going to pay rent most months up until the days before it’s due, but that’s a lot of people.
This year at NAMM I’ll be performing in the PreSonus booth and the Sennheiser booth. Me from 2008 is high-fiving the present me SO HARD right now.
Have you ever quit your job(s) to work for yourself? Any insight to offer?
Don’t understand #SOPA? Here’s a video to help explain it -
PROTECT IP / SOPA Breaks The Internet from Fight for the Future on Vimeo.
Big News: ShmediaMedia.com is UP!
Back in June, when progress temporarily halted on my album, Max Goldberg and I started Shmedia, a Social Media Marketing company that develops strategy and runs the social accounts for brands, non-profits, and artists. Max and I both have knowledge and passion for Social Media and the Internet thanks in part to it’s importance within our artistic endeavors. We have both been working professionally with social media for the past several years, though until recently we had not realized that we could make this into a functioning business of our own, and help other people grow their business’s online communities. We got the chance to work on some great brands right off the bat and we have been able to grow our experience, our skill set, and our resume over these past 8 months.
I’d like to invite you to see what we’ve been working so hard on, since we haven’t shared this information in any public way before and this is probably the only time I will dedicate a post on this blog to Shmedia. Please take a look around and let me know what you think! Thanks for your support!
Oh, and just a heads up, look into SOPA if you haven’t already, and be prepared for blackouts on some major websites tomorrow.
My “Me in my Place” Interview!
Go check it out!! Just posted!
And in case you missed the shoot – you can check it out here
Want to support my music? Here’s how:
Friends,
As many of you know, I am currently fundraising in order to finish my album. I’m working with film composer/producer Scott Nickoley (best known for South Park) on a collection of all new Katelyn Benton songs. This is my first full length album in 10 years and I am very excited about it! Once the record is finished, our goal is immediate and widespread television, movie and commercial placement, and we have the resources and energy to do this. However, we cannot complete this record without the help of donations. We are committed to doing this project right. We believe in what we are doing, we’re excited about it, and we want you to get excited about it too!
Thank you for keeping the arts alive! YOU are the reason we are here!
$15+ FREE copy of the new CD, before it is officially released
$100+ Receive liner note credit on the album
$500+ 5 copies of the new CD before it is officially released, your name or logo on www.KatelynBenton.com, plus all of the above
$1000+ 10 copies of the new CD before it is officially released, “Guest list” priority to all Katelyn Benton shows plus all of the above
Please e-mail Katelyn.Benton@gmail.com if you would like to receive more information on our fundraising efforts.
The Story Behind the Most Hated Video of Me on the Internet
The clip below is from the filming of my music video for Impossible Love. We shot the video in 2009 and that Summer we won Best Music Video at the Just Plain Folks Awards in Nashville. We shot it on a $250 budget, which included gas for my car (which was also our power generator), and food for my volunteer cast/crew.
I have played the piano since I was a toddler. I’ve been taking lessons since I was 5. I’ve treated the piano like it was an extension of my own body since I was a kid. I studied music on scholarship from Berklee College of Music and to this day, I have never had my own piano. The piano in this video is the first and only piano I have ever owned, and it was immediately donated to this art project. I got it for free from a church. They said it was “un-playable”, although they certainly have no idea what un-playable means.
Regardless, the music video is the artwork of director, Brandon Nicholas and cinematographer, James Mann. Destroying a piano was not my idea, although, in the finished product, it looks amazing. The piano then went on to be in the movie Desert Son, another Nicholas/Mann project which you can watch instantly on netflix!
Anyway, that is the story of this piano. I think it got a lot more love from us than it did sitting and collecting dust in the church basement we rescued it from, but the video still pisses people off. I hope you hate this video of me smashing it as much as everyone else on the internet does! By the way, when we really start beating it up, it’s not for fun. It’s for close-up shots of the pieces flying everywhere. This is extremely dangerous. Do not try this at home.
Below is also the official “Making Of” video as well as the award-winning finished product! Also included is a preview for Desert Son. See if you can spot the piano! Enjoy!
Katelyn Benton FREE Fundraising Show!
Ok friends – if you’ve been following this blog, then you’ve caught on that I’m raising money to finish my record right now. Once we get together the rest of the money we need to move forward, we’re probably only a month worth of work away from being finished! Come out to our free show on December 7th to enjoy our music, and donate to the record if you dig it!
RSVP to the Facebook Event Here!
Picture of me back at the mothership
I missed this place terribly. It was GREAT to be back for a few days.
Letter to Los Angeles
Today I started a new project. I wrote a letter to my Los Angeles acquaintances inviting them to be a part of it. You don’t have to know me to participate. The letter I sent to them is posted below. If you want me to keep you in the loop going forward, let me know
Greetings Friends -
I am writing to you because I am starting a new project and want to
know if you want to be a part of it. It’s really simple, it won’t take
hardly any of your time, and I think it could change the world.
I was talking with my friend Scott yesterday. He’s another L.A.
implant out of Colorado and we both seemed to have a similar opinion
about the state of human nature here in Los Angeles. Scott put it best
when he said, “It feels as though everyone is racing to get ahead of
everyone else, whether you’re in the super market or on the freeway,
and they’re willing to hurt you to do it.” I think Los Angeles is
actually filled with a lot of good, artistic, smart, progressive
people. I’ve never had a closer and more supportive social and music
community. However, you can’t argue that in a city of 18 million
people, many of which have very competitive careers with long hours,
people sometimes forget their manners when dealing with strangers.
I’m definitely guilty of this. It’s contagious and ugly. If we live in
a community where pain is projected onto each other continuously and
randomly, you start to see the world in a dimmer, more defensive way
and before you know it, you’ve passed your own pain onto a stranger.
When I first moved to Los Angeles I worked at a running shop and found
it surprising how many people came into the store ready to attack me
rather than assume I can help them. If I showed them I was sincere and
patient, it would disarm them and they would most likely be talking to
me as a friend by the end of the transaction. On the flip side of
that, if a neutral customer came into the store and I had just had a
bad experience with an ugly customer, I would be more likely to be
less patient with my new customer. They’ll get a more defensive,
less-engaged version of me and the next interaction they have with
someone is more likely to be ugly as well.
I have generally believed that I am responsible for myself and all I
can do is try not to be affected by other people’s actions so much.
Now, though, I’m starting to wonder if that isn’t a cop-out. I think
that there are things I can do to possibly reverse this cycle.
I was inspired by Patience Salgad, author of kindnessgirl.com. She has
a blog of all kinds of random good deeds she does for people and I
felt like there was really a lot to that. It can be anything from
leaving an anonymous nice note on a park bench to leaving flowers at a
stranger’s door. The acts are so small and take almost zero time, but
the impact is profound.
Even if I personally only ever reach a few people, it would be worth
my time. I’ve decided that I need to be proactive and produce love
rather than assume I’m only responsible for keeping myself from
becoming jaded by hate.
I’m looking for anyone who would be interested in subscribing to
either an e-mail newsletter or a facebook group that would give
instructions for a small good deed to do that week or month. Sort of
like a flash mob, but you do it on your own time and it’s always
anonymous. I’m not asking if you will follow my project, I’m asking
you to please be a part of it. It’s worth it to me if I make a
difference to anyone, but if more people commit to changing the way
they treat strangers and go out of their way once in a while to make
someone feel good, I think it would only make you feel good too and
possibly change the way our community’s citizens treat each other. It
doesn’t take much time or money to do either.
Live From My Living Room – Smile
This is one of my all-time favorite songs. Ever. It was written by Charlie Chaplin for the film, Modern Times. If you haven’t seen it, you definitely should. I think it would resonate with a lot of people today.
The lyrics weren’t added until the 1950′s. They were written by John Turner and Geoffrey Parsons and in 1954, Nat King Cole recorded it. When I was a kid, Natalie Cole’s album Unforgettable… With Love came out and my Dad and I used to sing so loud in the car! We would mostly sing “When I Fall in Love” over and over again, but it was around this time that I heard “Smile” for the very first time. Since then, I’ve adopted it as my own anthem. When I was a freshmen in high school, my friend Courtney would ask me to sing it to her every day in class. I’ve never recorded it until today for this series. Maybe one day I’ll have a better sound situation for these videos As always, lyrics posted below the video!
Smile though your heart is aching
Smile even though it’s breaking
When there are clouds in the sky you’ll get by
If you smile through your fear and sorrow
Smile and maybe tomorrow
You’ll see the sun come shining through for you
Light up your face with gladness
Hide every trace of sadness
Although a tear may be ever so near
That’s the time you must keep on trying
Smile what’s the use of crying
You’ll find that life is still worth while
If you just smile
Live From My Living Room – Somebody Else
Here’s a song from my upcoming record! I was also featured singing a clip of this on Me in my Place back when my shoot was up. Enjoy!
(Lyrics posted below the video)
Somebody Else
By: Katelyn Benton Copyright 2011
Somebody else’s love
Somebody else’s dreams
Somebody else’s life is
Right here in front of me
How long until I break
How long until they see
Something I cannot fake
Somebody’s dream has me
This can’t be right there’s been a mixup of some kind
The longer I stay in somebody else’s life
Somebody else has mine
Maybe I’ll hold my breath
Maybe I’ll pinch my skin
Will that wake me from this sleep
I have been living in?
This can’t be right my dreams have been here all this time
The longer I wait for somebody else’s life
The longer I’m stuck with mine
Live from my Living Room – “Burning Down”
Thanks for everyone who reached out last week about the very first Live from my Living Room video. Here’s another brand new song for you, which I am calling “Burning Down” for the time being at least. Enjoy 
(Lyrics posted below the video)
Burning Down
It happens every day
Your back is turned away
The home you thought was safe
Has now gone up in flames
I try to catch my breath
I long to see the sky
But I am still inside
And it’s as bad as being burned alive
Now you cannot hear my call
Fire’s climbing up the wall
God save me ’cause this house is burning down
I’m on the second floor
There are no windows and no doors
God save me ‘case this house is burning down
You blindly look away
You don’t know what to say
You watch me from the road
And without warning see this house explode
They’ll surely come to save me
I’ll know they’ll come no doubt
They wouldn’t leave a baby
With a fire to put out
It’s getting mighty toasty
It’s getting hard to breath
While I continue fighting off this smoke with no reprieve
Live from my Living Room – Empty Boxes
Ladies and Gents, Runners, Musicians, Fans, Friends, Family and Stalkers, I present to you the very first edition of “Live from my Living Room!” The goal is that every week I write a song, I record it in my living room, and then give it to you! I hope you like it. This week’s song is called Empty Boxes. It’s brand new. The lyrics are posted below the video. Enjoy!
Empty Boxes
By Katelyn Benton
Empty Boxes
Unpacked suitcase
Gives the impression he’s settling in
Don’t get your hopes up
It’s a matter of time
Before all those boxes are sealed up again
Believe me
I’ve been down this road
Everything is wonderful ’til everything gets old
He’ll leave, it’s just a matter of when
He’ll be un-packing boxes again
Same man, new place
New heart, old game
I see it coming it’s happening now
Who can blame him
He doesn’t know how
To finish the story before taking a bow
Who says that people can’t change
He’s just a product of his pain
I’ll tell you now
What I wish I’d been told
He’s harded and cold with more wounds than his boxes can hold
Today on KCRW…
…there was a song playing on Morning Becomes Eclectic that kind of annoyed me. It didn’t have a lot of lyrics and it sounded really, really emo. I’ll say this though – the lyrics kept repeating “don’t give up” and I have to admit, I was in a “giving up” kind of mood when I heard it. I’m glad the universe intervened.
New Los Angeles Show Announced!
Hey Friends! I’ll be playing at Genghis Cohen on October 28th AND I’ll be giving away 2 copies of Red Stick Sounds, a compilation featuring Baton Rouge artists which I have been featured on! Be sure to RSVP to the facebook event and arrive early to enter for the CD drawing.
Thinsiration Blogs: Need Not Re-Post
As most of you know, a photoshot I did for meinmyplace was recently posted. I was going through my collection on their site and noticed something…
(click image to make larger)
Wow, that’s a lot of notes! Most of the other photos have closer to 100-500 notes. 3,000 seemed suspiciously high. Because I’m a little bit of a social media nerd, I wanted to know why this photo, out of all of the other photos, got so popular.
What I found is kind of lame.
(click image to make larger)
Page after page of tumblr accounts that are mostly “thinspiration” – which, for those of you who don’t know, are blogs basically posting skeletal images of girls as a means to get or stay sick with anorexia and other eating disorders.
It seems that this one image, taken completely out of context, has done a lot of damage. So I wrote an open letter to Tumblr to kindly ask that they not re-blog this image for a pro-anorexia account. If you already have, expect to hear from me soon…
To all of the thinspiration blogs who have re-blogged this photo,
Hi! My name is Katelyn and this is a picture of my hips. This photo was originally posted by meinmyplace from a photo shoot I did for their site. The site promotes beautiful women of all shapes and sizes, embracing their sexiness and showing off their natural beauty. Because of this, I’ve been a huge fan of the site and when I got the chance to shoot for them, it was one of the most positive experiences of my life.
True, I have quite prominent hipbones. What is also true is this: The photo you are reblogging was taken during a photo shoot that was meant to promote inner beauty and self-love. I have very specifically struggled with body image issues and I especially know firsthand that posting pictures like this one, in a way that promotes anorexia, is extremely damaging and hurtful. While you are within your rights as a blogger to re-post photos you see and like, I would like you to consider removing the picture of me from your blog, because I do not want my body causing someone else harm.
Kind Regards,
Katelyn
Good Morning Coyotes!
It’s my first day back on the trails in LA. As always, I got my butt kicked by the SoCal Coyotes.
Delicious snack to fuel your runs and rockstar career!
It is not even 10:30am and already this morning has consisted of 2 hours of office work, a 40 minute run, 2 loads of laundry, making homemade oatmeal for breakfast, and cleaning the apartment. I just took a 10 minute break to make this delicious, energizing, vegan-friendly, EASY snack!
Forgive my poor food photography. It’s good, trust me.
1. Toast bread of your choice. I use something called “sunflower bread” from my local co-op. I love it because it has all kinds of seeds baked into the bread crust. YUM.
2. (Optional) lightly butter with ghee or whatever butter/oil you use
3. Slice and spread about 1/4 of a ripe avocado over bread. Mix in about a teaspoon of chia seeds as you spread.
4. Top off with sliced almonds! Enjoy!
Thanks Me in My Place!
Today is my last day as the featured model on meinmyplace. It’s been such a fun experience. Thanks to everyone who said such nice things! Here’s a few goodies:
I keep a web series on this site that documents adventures in ultra-marathoning and making a career in music. You can find them under the video tab up at the top under “Music and LSD Episodes.”
Here’s one of my favorites:
Here’s the making of the music video I posted a couple of days ago:
You can get my music on itunes here
Keep up with me, touring, new music, videos, pictures, etc, here!
Photo from American Thrift Show!
American Thrift (Baton Rouge, LA) posted some photos of my show last month. I can’t wait to return to this awesome venue!!
