No label? No problem. Over the past three years, Tessa Violet has risen from basement shows to supporting a sold out theater tour, playing to over 800 every night. Writing and performing come naturally to many, but Tessa's story is unique, not only has she been the sole songwriter, she's also been her own manager. Seven tours so far, all in the black on ticket sales alone; tens of thousands made in merch.
Tessa's sold many of her tours through her own website, directly to fans. Through Patreon, she's raised over $7000 coming in every single month to fund the release of her upcoming record Bad Ideas.
When asked how she's done this, Tessa responded by citing her fans as being "amazing, creative and encouraging people. I'm grateful to be a part of such a wonderful community, and it goes without saying I wouldn't be where I was without them."
What's truly remarkable about Tessa's career path has been her ingenuity in problem solving and her unwillingness to take no for an answer.
"A lot of my career has been circling the questions 'Is this a problem I can solve?' and 'Why not me?' A lot of us struggle with self doubt, myself included. Why should I be the one who gets to live the dream when there are so many other talented people out there? This thinking can save us from the vulnerability of trying and then risking failing. 'Why not me?' acknowledges that some people are doing it full time, who's to say it shouldn't be me? On the other side, there's so many things I want to do - make amazing music, tour, fund music videos, create high quality merch. In the beginning, I was doing everything myself and I think that gave me an attitude of entering into challenges with the assumption that every problem is a problem that can be solved (whether or not that's actually true) with enough time and dedication. I think that's been a huge part of my success."
