Songs For The Struggling Artist

The experience of being back onstage after many years away has not been quite what I expected. I’m not getting the major highs or the “Do they like me?” lows. The major feeling is a sense of being built for it. In performing again, I feel a sense of relief at doing what I’m built for. It’s a strange feeling actually, because I have largely set acting aside to focus on other lanes of theatre, as well as other arts – and to suddenly realize how much I am still made for performing is disruptive. To read more of What I'm Built For visit the Songs for the Struggling Artist blog. This is Episode 192 Song: Judy Schmooder by Emily Rainbow Davis Image by Efraimstochter via Pixabay Record a title for The Dragoning - https://www.speakpipe.com/TheDragoning To support the podcast: Give it 5 stars in Apple Podcasts. Write a nice review! Rate it wherever you listen or through: https://ratethispodcast.com/strugglingartist Join my mailing list: www.emilyrainbowdavis.com/ Like the blog/show on Facebook: https://www.facebook.co

We were watching a streaming show wherein one of the heroes wore glasses. He looked like a model but they dressed him like a nerdy bad boy, in dark framed glasses. We cracked up every time his glasses came off. “Who’s that hunk? Where did that hunk come from? There was a nerd there a minute ago!” And then he’d put the glasses on and we’d say, “There he is! He’s back! But where did that hunk go all of a sudden?” To keep reading Beautiful People Wearing Glasses visit the Songs for the Struggling Artist blog.  Episode 191 Song: "Beautiful People" by Ed Sheeran Image via Pixabay Listen Up, Brooklyn is on March 14th at 7pm at Brooklyn Central Library To support the podcast: Give it 5 stars in Apple Podcasts. Write a nice review! Rate it wherever you listen or through: https://ratethispodcast.com/strugglingartist Join my mailing list: www.emilyrainbowdavis.com/ Like the blog/show on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SongsfortheStrugglingArtist/ Support me on Patreon: www.patreon.com/emilyrdavis Or buy me a co

About a month ago, I saw a tweet that made me sob for much longer than I expected a tweet could. The tweet featured a photo of a little plastic action figure nestled into a child’s bed. It reads, in part: I found my 5yo daughter’s Elizabeth Warren action figure in her bed when I was making it this morning. When I asked her why, she said “I was scared and she makes me feel brave”. Because the thing of it is, Elizabeth Warren makes me feel brave, too. I am in solid agreement with this small child. I haven’t felt brave in such a long time but something about Warren gives me hope and strength and a sense that safety could come again. To keep reading Something About Warren visit the Songs for the Struggling Artist blog.  This is Episode 190 Song: Listen to Me Now by Emily Rainbow Davis Image by DirtyDucko via Twitter To support the podcast: Give it 5 stars in Apple Podcasts. Write a nice review! Rate it wherever you listen or through: https://ratethispodcast.com/strugglingartist Join my mailing list: www.emi

When I write a new play, I’ll usually gather a group of friends together, give them wine and snacks and we’ll read it. It’s a great way for me to hear what’s on the page and for us all to see one another. Every time, someone says, “We should do this more often.” Because a large portion of my network has largely left town to go raise their kids or whatever, I am always trying to add new people. Those people will go on to be the people I recommend when asked for actors. They’ll become the people I ask to join me if/when I get stuck into a bigger project. Fundamentally, it’s a way to get to know one another in a low stakes, pleasant, creative atmosphere – which is, of course, the way I like to work. It’s not a financial transaction. I make it clear I can’t pay anyone and people self select for the experience. To read more of The Other Currency in Theatre Economics visit the Songs for the Struggling Artist blog.  This is Episode 189 Song: Chariot by Gavin DeGraw Image by Capri23Auto via Pixabay. To support t

A few months ago, a friend sent me an article about Gen X and the presidency that was in the Financial Times. (Write a whole series on Gen X, people will send you Gen X articles.) In the article – the millennial writer expresses his admiration for Generation X while simultaneously declaring that we are about to miss our shot to have one of our own become president. I started to write something about it but then I let it go. It seemed to just be a fleeting inconsequential opinion piece in the Financial Times. I can’t catch every single bit of silly Gen X-ery that floats by! To keep reading There Will Never Be a Gen X President?!? visit the Songs for the Struggling Artist blog. This is Episode 188 Song: Every State Line by ani difranco Image by Alexander Wende via Unsplash To support the podcast: Give it 5 stars in Apple Podcasts. Write a nice review! Join my mailing list: www.emilyrainbowdavis.com/ Like the blog/show on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SongsfortheStrugglingArtist/ Support me on Patreon: www.

Even as I wrote the piece that shortly follows, I knew it was going to be true only for the moment. I knew that whatever happened before, I would feel differently after. I just didn’t know how. I wrote this about a month ago before a reading of my work and you can be in the future with me and know that it went as well as it could go. I saw very clearly what needed to change, as well as what format it should probably take and this story has a happy ending. But I thought it would still be worth sharing for those of you who might be standing at that precipice I was standing on when I wrote this. * To read more of Charting the Journey of a Creative Ship visit the Songs for the Struggling Artist blog. This is Episode 187 Song: All at Sea by Jamie Cullum Image by Kranich17 via Pixabay To support the podcast: Give it 5 stars in Apple Podcasts. Write a nice review! Join my mailing list: www.emilyrainbowdavis.com/ Like the blog/show on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SongsfortheStrugglingArtist/ Support me on Patre

“Mum! Dad! It’s evil! Don’t touch it!” This is the final line of one of my all time favorite movies, Time Bandits. I loved Time Bandits as a child and in the many subsequent viewings of it, as an adult, it has not diminished in my estimation. It is a delightful film made by one of my favorite filmmakers. And I didn’t just love Terry Gilliam’s Time Bandits, no. I also admired his Brazil, The Fisher King, and even his relatively unknown and under-appreciated, Tideland. Tideland is a deep cut in the Gilliam oeuvre and I was a big fan. After reading his interview in The Independent, to say that I’m disappointed in him is a massive understatement. I’d heard he’d said some pigheaded garbage before but this was sustained pigheaded garbage. This was relentless pigheaded garbage. To read more of Terry Gilliam in the Toaster Oven, visit the Songs for the Struggling Artist blog. This is Episode 186 Song: "Dream Away" by George Harrison, theme from Time Bandits Image from Time Bandits To support the podcast: Give it 5 s

Due to having lived in London for a bit, I am on the mailing lists of many English theatres and arts organizations. On New Year’s Eve, I received an email from the Institute for Contemporary Art wishing me a Happy New Year with an animated drawing of a duck. And that was it. That was the whole message. They wished me a Happy New Year with a drawing of a duck. They didn’t let me know how many hours were left in the day to make their fundraising goals. Nope. They just sent me a fun drawing of a duck. To keep reading A Duck Message on New Year's Eve visit the Songs for the Struggling Artist blog. This is Episode 185 Song: Rubber Duckie from Sesame Street Image by Daniel Brisbin via Unsplash To support the podcast: Give it 5 stars in Apple Podcasts. Write a nice review! Join my mailing list: www.emilyrainbowdavis.com/ Like the blog/show on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SongsfortheStrugglingArtist/ Support me on Patreon: www.patreon.com/emilyrdavis Or buy me a coffee on Kofi: http://ko-fi.com/emilyrainbowdavi

As I thumbed through the first draft of the zine that I make every year for my Patreon patrons, I thought “I actually wrote some good stuff this year.” In the same breath, I thought “That’s probably all I have. I’ve written all the best things. The well has run dry. I’ve just been coasting the last month and I don’t see how I could possibly get my mojo back. It was nice while it lasted but all I have left to write are sad documentary posts about the rejections I receive.” I’d worry that I was in the middle of writer’s block if I hadn’t felt this same way many times before. To read more of All the Times I Wrote My Last Thing visit the Songs for the Struggling Artist blog.  This is Episode 184  Song: It Ain't Over Til It's Over by Lenny Kravitz Image by Victoria Borodinova via Pixabay. To support the podcast: Give it 5 stars in Apple Podcasts. Write a nice review! Join my mailing list: www.emilyrainbowdavis.com/ Like the blog/show on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SongsfortheStrugglingArtist/ Supp

While watching a much lauded play by a Millennial playwright, I found myself thinking I was watching a very Millennial play. I’ve had that feeling in theatres a lot lately and it made me wonder where all the Gen X plays were. What is – what was – the Gen X Theatre? Do we have one? Or did the theatre world just sort of skip us? To read more of Is There, Was There, a Gen X Theatre? visit the Songs for the Struggling Artist blog.  This is Episode 183  Song: Schadenfreude from Avenue Q Image by coltsfan via Pixabay To support the podcast: Give it 5 stars in Apple Podcasts. Write a nice review! Join my mailing list: www.emilyrainbowdavis.com/ Like the blog/show on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SongsfortheStrugglingArtist/ Support me on Patreon: www.patreon.com/emilyrdavis Or buy me a coffee on Kofi: http://ko-fi.com/emilyrainbowdavis Follow me on Twitter @erainbowd Instagram and Pinterest Tell a friend! As ever, I am yours, Emily Rainbow Davis --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/songs-for

Ever since I realized we were outnumbered, I have been keeping my eyes open for my generational peers. We are harder and harder to find – for reasons that are not entirely clear to me. (How can there only be one Gen X-er in EVERY office? Don’t some Gen X-ers work together? Where IS everyone?) But my sense is that we’re all doing this keeping our eyes open for each other now, to some degree. I’ve noticed a new thing happening – a sort of guarded acknowledgment of one another – it is the Gen X nod. To read more of the Gen X Nod visit the Songs for the Struggling Artist blog. This is Episode 182 Song: Hello by Lionel Richie Image by Pexels via Pixabay To support the podcast: Give it 5 stars in Apple Podcasts. Write a nice review! Join my mailing list: www.emilyrainbowdavis.com/ Like the blog/show on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SongsfortheStrugglingArtist/ Support me on Patreon: www.patreon.com/emilyrdavis Or buy me a coffee on Kofi: http://ko-fi.com/emilyrainbowdavis Follow me on Twitter @erainbowd Inst

As I slid into my café chair on Thanksgiving Eve, a woman in sunglasses leaned in and asked, “Are you cooking Thanksgiving dinner?” “Nope,” I said. I was not interested in having a chat. I was there to write. To read more of A Thanksgiving Visit from the Patriarchy visit the Songs for the Struggling Artist blog.  This is Episode 181 Song: If You Want to Sing Out Sing Out by Cat Stevens Image by Dana Marin via Unsplash To support the podcast: Give it 5 stars in Apple Podcasts. Write a nice review! Join my mailing list: www.emilyrainbowdavis.com/ Like the blog/show on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SongsfortheStrugglingArtist/ Support me on Patreon: www.patreon.com/emilyrdavis Or buy me a coffee on Kofi: http://ko-fi.com/emilyrainbowdavis Follow me on Twitter @erainbowd Instagram and Pinterest Tell a friend! As ever, I am yours, Emily Rainbow Davis --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/songs-for-the-struggling-artist/support

For the podcast version of the blog, I try and find a song to pair it with – a song that speaks to the content of the piece. For my piece about screaming, I searched for songs on the subject. There are a fair amount of songs with the word “scream” or “yell” in the title but almost all of them, I found, were by white guys. I found this phenomenon curious. Why are there so many scream songs by white men? What do white guys have to scream about? EVERYONE LISTENS TO ME WHEN I TALK! PEOPLE CLEAR A PATH FOR ME WHEN I WALK DOWN THE STREET! WHEN WOMEN MAKE 70 CENTS, I MAKE A DOLLAR! I AM AT THE CENTER OF MOST STORIES! To read more of Screaming Songs for Men visit the Songs for the Struggling Artist blog. This is Episode 180 Image by Wolfgang Eckert via Pixabay To support the podcast: Give it 5 stars in Apple Podcasts. Write a nice review! Join my mailing list: www.emilyrainbowdavis.com/ Like the blog/show on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SongsfortheStrugglingArtist/ Support me on Patreon: www.patreon.com/emilyrd

Please put me in a show. You may know me more as a writer or director but I’m also a performer. I can act, sing, puppeteer, play guitar and ukulele or whatever you need. I would carry a spear like nobody’s business. I could also be a movement coach or dramaturg. Just. You know….ask me. To read more of Put Me In Your Show visit the Songs for the Struggling Artist blog.  This is Episode 179 Song: Trying by Emily Rainbow Davis Image is my headshot from six million years ago.  To support the podcast: Give it 5 stars in Apple Podcasts. Write a nice review! Join my mailing list: www.emilyrainbowdavis.com/ Like the blog/show on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SongsfortheStrugglingArtist/ Support me on Patreon: www.patreon.com/emilyrdavis Or buy me a coffee on Kofi: http://ko-fi.com/emilyrainbowdavis Follow me on Twitter @erainbowd Instagram and Pinterest Tell a friend! As ever, I am yours, Emily Rainbow Davis --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/songs-for-the-struggling-artist/support

I don’t know where the Legitimacy Fairy lives but I sure would like her to come visit and wave her wand over me. I know her magic doesn’t last for very long, even when she visits, but still – a visit would be nice. Also, I must have really pissed off the Rejection Fairy because she’s over here almost every day, kicking up dust and making me cry. To read more of A Visit from the Rejection Fairy and the Missing Legitimacy Fairy, visit the Songs for the Struggling Artist blog. This is Episode 178 Song: 2 Legit 2 Quit by MC Hammer To support the podcast: Give it 5 stars in Apple Podcasts. Write a nice review! Join my mailing list: www.emilyrainbowdavis.com/ Like the blog/show on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SongsfortheStrugglingArtist/ Support me on Patreon: www.patreon.com/emilyrdavis Or buy me a coffee on Kofi: http://ko-fi.com/emilyrainbowdavis Follow me on Twitter @erainbowd Instagram and Pinterest Tell a friend! As ever, I am yours, Emily Rainbow Davis --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/son

When I read about the three people who challenged Harvey Weinstein at a show for young artists, I tried to imagine what I would have done if I’d walked in to an event and found him there. I hope I’d have been as brave as Kelly Bachman, Zoe Stuckless and Amber Rollo but I don’t know. Would I be the first person to say something to him? Probably not. I’m not particularly confrontational. But I would have, I’m fairly certain, created a hex on the spot and I would have quietly but forcefully cast some kind of spell. I’m not a witch – but I think I’d just become one if I were put in a room with a monster. To keep reading What to Do When Weinstein Shows Up at the Bar, visit the Songs for the Struggling Artist. This is Episode 177 Song: Brave by Sara Bareilles To support the podcast: Give it 5 stars in Apple Podcasts. Write a nice review! Join my mailing list: www.emilyrainbowdavis.com/ Like the blog/show on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SongsfortheStrugglingArtist/ Support me on Patreon: www.patreon.com/emilyr

I decided I needed to find a way to adapt to these screwed up circumstances. I decided to scream every time I read or heard some new infuriating fact. Screaming is releasing and physical and expressive. I thought it might help get the fury out of me rather than letting its poison build up in there. But. I do live in a dense urban area. And probably my neighbors don’t need the extra worry of a woman screaming all the time. So I’ve implemented the Silent Scream response. To read more of My New Coping Mechanism visit the Songs for the Struggling Artist blog. This is Episode 176 Song: "Let Me Hear You Scream" by Ozzy Osbourne To support the podcast: Give it 5 stars in Apple Podcasts. Write a nice review! Join my mailing list: www.emilyrainbowdavis.com/ Like the blog/show on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SongsfortheStrugglingArtist/ Support me on Patreon: www.patreon.com/emilyrdavis Or buy me a coffee on Kofi: http://ko-fi.com/emilyrainbowdavis Follow me on Twitter @erainbowd Instagram and Pinterest Tell a fr

It WAS a magical show. It’s not that we didn’t have difficulties – it’s just that they were so minor in the face of the magic afoot. The cast was talented and smart and game. The design team was innovative and generous. The musicians were curious and supportive. The three of us who made it happen thought of ourselves as Charmed Ones – bringing forth good art magic. It was a charmed time, I think. And I don’t think I’m wrong about how good it actually was. Anyway – that was 18 years ago. A baby who was born on the day we started rehearsals is probably preparing to go to college. Time has passed. But for me, it still feels quite fresh. To read more of The Weird Perils of Surviving in the Arts, visit the Songs for the Struggling Artist blog.  This is Episode 175 Image via Pixabay Song: Sleeping Beauty by Emily Rainbow Davis To support the podcast: Give it 5 stars in Apple Podcasts. Write a nice review! Join my mailing list: www.emilyrainbowdavis.com/ Like the blog/show on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/

You guys. Sometimes I get a little cranky about how common my name is. Like that time, a while back, when some other Emily Davis got into some serious debt and caused debt collectors to call me at various relatives’ houses because they couldn’t be sure I wasn’t THAT Emily Davis and they really wanted to find her. Or when they wouldn’t give me a mailbox at my college post office because they said I’d just come in and withdrawn. Uh. Nope. I’d just arrived for my first year of college and I was super freaked out and the thought of not getting mail seriously wigged me out. (It was before email. No mail was serious back then.) When I started to explore putting solo music online, I discovered an Australian Emily Davis who seemed to be doing pretty well. That was one other Emily. Then, a few years ago, I started to get tagged in Facebook events for shows I was not in. There was a new actress in town with my name and she was starting to get some traction. Then recently I got a postcard in the mail for a show that dec

The show nailed the standard white American male theatre director so well, I found I had fantasies of kicking his head down the road a few days later. Forgive me the violent imagery but I guess I’m a little bit furious. American Moor is a show about an actor grappling with the weight of Othello. Caught in a tug of war between the demands of the racist American Theatre system and his African American peers, the character rails and resists. He wants to rage against the injustices that rain down but he keeps himself in check. He also attempts to audition for the role. To read more of Who Gets to Rage in American Theatre? Or, Some Stuff I Learned from American Moor visit the Songs for the Struggling Artist This is Episode 173 Song:  Wouldn't It Be Good by Nik Kershaw Image via Flickr To support the podcast: Give it 5 stars in Apple Podcasts. Write a nice review! Join my mailing list: www.emilyrainbowdavis.com/ Like the blog/show on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SongsfortheStrugglingArtist/ Support me on