September 1, 2025 • 22 mins
Bubba Startz introduces Nolan Schmidt, exploring his musical background and journey within the industry. The conversation moves to the formation of his network in Nashville, where collaborations with various artists and audition content come into play. Nolan sheds light on the importance of financial networking in the music industry, sharing insights from his experiences. The discussion highlights his project with Gary Spencer and collaboration with Midwest CMO, detailing the timeline and participation involved. This episode provides listeners with an understanding of Nolan's career progression and his strategic approach to building connections in the music scene.
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Episode Transcript
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(00:01):
Welcome in to another exciting episode of thescene.
I am your host Bubba Starts, and with me now isrecording and performing artist, Nolan Schmidt.
Nolan, welcome to the show, brother.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Man, we we got to chat last week as you were,seeking to do some content with some fellow
Midwest country music organization members.
(00:22):
You piqued my curiosity then.
I wanna allow you the time to explain all ofthat later in the show, but, let's get to know
you a little bit, man.
We'll get a little bit of backstory, and thenwe'll get into what you're working on now.
Yeah.
A little bit of backstory behind me.
So I've been playing drums for about, oh, boy,probably about eighteen, nineteen years or so.
(00:43):
Self taught.
Can't quite read music.
My parents gave me a guitar as my dad used tobe in a band when he was younger, he was a lead
guitarist.
So he ended up giving me his guitar, and, hekinda saw me tapping on it.
I like, oh, maybe he's a drummer.
Well, here we are, eighteen years later.
No.
I had a little bit of drum lessons here inSaint Cloud.
(01:04):
Did that for about three months, and then justkinda began to the point where my drum
instructor is just told my parents, you he hegets it.
He he understands that there's no no reason forhim to be here.
So I ended up, just kinda always going home andlistening to music and trying to play along
with it, watched a couple, YouTube drum coverguys that I follow still to this day.
(01:27):
Yeah.
Kinda just got into it.
And, one day, I ended up making a Craigslist adlooking for a drummer, and then Levi Peltzer
ended up reaching out to me and ended upmeeting him and ended up, playing with him for
about a year and a half to two years.
And that's what probably really got meintroduced to the country music scene and
really got me into a dive deep of music andplaying.
(01:51):
We did about a 170 plus shows here in fivedifferent states, so it was it was a constant
drive.
So I ended up, getting married, having somekids, and now being able to slowly dive into
collaborating and networking, you know,networking with a bunch of Nashville musician
artists like Rich Redman, Jason Aldean'sdrummer, couple other guys out in Nashville.
(02:17):
I ended up visiting Nashville a few times andkinda really got out there and started
networking.
And, I ended up building a team together with,Greg Huberty, Bo Allen, and Doug, with Sport
Willow Studios.
We ended up kinda putting, some drum coverstogether.
I wanted to be able to frame myself as far aswhat can I do to put myself out there, and be
(02:42):
able to show people what I can do, in arecorded, professional setting?
The way I look at it is anybody can look walkup to any musician and say, I'm a drummer or
I'm a guitar player.
It's like, okay.
Great.
What do you have to show for?
You know?
And, I think that's where this team kinda cameinto play, and, yeah, we're able to make some
really good content and be able to put a lot ofopportunities out there.
(03:05):
And, I definitely gained some really coolstuff.
I actually just worked with and filled in with,Keith Anderson.
He's a number one hitmaker with Pick nWildflowers and I think double XL as well.
We kinda ended up meeting Toby Keith's basisand just just it kept going.
So, some of these guys I talked to on a dailybasis.
(03:25):
Couple couple of Terry Clark's lead guitarplayer, worked with him as well.
So, just this whole broad of networking hasopened up so much, and those professional
videos that I do with my team have opened up alot of those gigs.
So, yeah, that's kinda where I come from.
Yeah.
Well and you you're touching on so many greatthings in there.
(03:47):
One, that this business is all who you know.
Right.
It's not how good you are at your instrument.
Yes.
You have to be some modicum of of a talent.
Right?
But it's all about who you know that can getyou into the gigs or the job or whatever it is.
Secondly, how how much different it is forsomeone who is a player as opposed to an
(04:08):
artist.
Right?
Like, I I am a songwriter, so I've always beenat the front of that stage.
I have plenty of material of me out thereplaying and singing, but it's not common, I
would say, for most drummer, bass player,guitar players that do that exclusively and
aren't their own, you know, kind of front ofthe thing to have audition tapes.
(04:30):
And Right.
I know we're not calling them.
You're calling them drum cover videos, but theyare they are an audition tape.
You are showing what you can do for the world,and then that content is going out there.
And, yes, some of them can become a a viral oror to help in that, but it proves not just who
you are, because I think people can get a asense of that just by talking to you, but
(04:51):
really what you can do behind the kit.
That's I loved what I was hearing from you whenwe spoke on the phone just a few weeks ago
because I don't think a lot of, you know, justdrummers and players are thinking about any of
this stuff.
And what what can they have if they're notwriting their own music to really showcase
(05:11):
their talents?
And what you're doing with Greg, great guy.
We were actually up against Greg, I do believe,for the content creator of the year that we
ended up taking home this year, but it couldhave been anybody.
I Bo was also nominated as well, so I love Ilove these gentlemen.
I I love what they've done for the MidwestCountry Music Organization and for artists
throughout our region.
(05:33):
Right?
I mean, I was up close to your area.
I was in Saint Cloud a couple of times actuallythis year for other purposes.
I was there to watch some, you know, like,middle school, high school football camps, but
I have a deep connection now with the Minnesotamusic scene.
And to see people like yourself that have goneout and have kind of, you know, gotten close to
(05:56):
the sun, right, have gotten close to thatindustry and and now bringing some of that
knowledge you have back with you is soimportant.
Because I think what happens to a lot of peoplethat end up in Nashville is that they go there
with the dream, they stay there too long, theyget burnt out, and they come home pretty much
with the, yeah.
(06:16):
You don't wanna do any of that.
And and you're almost kind of poo pooing it.
Right?
And not I mean, I'm not a big Nashville guy.
Right?
I'm almost 40.
I'm not I'm not landing in Nashville and makinganything happen for myself.
And I don't have a quarter million dollars toinvest in my artist to really make that upper
echelon.
Right?
Sure.
You could probably attest to that that it's notnecessarily about who you know in Nashville
(06:40):
anymore.
It's how much money you got.
Yeah.
I mean, I guess what I've what I've reallylearned is, you know, you don't have to be in
Nashville to make it.
But at the end of the day, what I've gatheredis, yes, the the the the financials definitely
help out a lot, obviously, when when you wannamake, you know, an album or an EP or a song or
(07:06):
anything like that.
I mean, I I definitely understand the thefinance aspect of it.
Obviously, it's it's pretty expensive to livein Nashville, and I've seen, enough to
understand that.
Now on the flip side, however, networking isdefinitely huge, though, in Nashville.
And what I mean by that or even just even,like, the music industry in general, to make
(07:29):
anything really possible.
You know?
It's just it's networking.
I mean, it just anything can happen, whetherdrummer is sick or his wife has to work late or
whatever the case is.
You know, lot of it comes back to a oh, wait.
I know this guy by the name of Nolan or, youknow, or and, you know, how does guitar play?
Know very well.
It's from Minnesota.
You know?
I know you guys are going to Minnesota, but,you know, networking also works in multiple
(07:54):
different ways of even just getting your nameout there with other people, that know of you
and have seen your videos and say, oh, man.
He seems like a cool guy.
I should, you know, reach out to him.
You know?
Maybe ask if he wants to, you know, fill in theshoulder of the cases.
So I think networking is definitely huge, but,yes.
I mean, I guess, financially, yes, it it itdefinitely plays its part in the puzzle.
(08:18):
But I'd say the biggest thing would benetworking, and being able to be a good vibe, a
good hang understanding, but, yeah, also beingable to play, well, you know.
So
Well and and I it seems like you've definitelytaken full advantage of not just in person
networking, but social networking as well.
And that's what really great content can do foryou as well.
(08:42):
Right?
It's not just being present on some of theseplatforms, but to be sharing some really cool
stuff of you playing and doing those things isso important.
I think in most people's heads, when you see aband out there playing, you know, like a Brooks
and Dunn, and maybe they're a bad examplebecause some of these guys have probably been
with them for twenty years, but maybe a JasonAldine or they're they're playing with
(09:03):
different people.
Right?
They're playing with, you know, road musicians,and the band can look totally different because
when you're a star, nobody's there necessarilyto see the band.
The band has to be good and to play your songswell, but nobody's showing up to see the guitar
player from Jason Aldine besides maybe his, youknow, wife and family.
(09:23):
Right?
You know?
Like
Right.
So, so it's so important, I think, for youngmusicians out there to realize that you are a
business yourself.
It's not all about joining a band.
I love that.
I you know, bands like, you know, somebodythat's, you know, and around and in the
Northern Minnesota area.
You know, a lot of these bands that we're nowfriends with, like an if nothing else band, who
(09:47):
are themselves.
Right?
They are they are a sum of the parts.
Right?
That's never been a reality for me growing upin rural South Dakota pretty much my entire
life.
I've had hundreds of bandmates that have cycledthrough this thing.
So I'm always looking to expand my networkbecause I don't travel with my drummer I play
with in South Dakota when I come to Minnesota.
(10:09):
Right?
Because that's another mouth to feed, and Iwould much rather network my way into those
positions knowing a Nolan Schmidt is just aphone call away.
And, hey, buddy.
I got three dates up there this weekend.
Are you available?
If not, you're moving down the list.
Gary Spencer.
Gary's played some shows with me up there.
I know you guys are working together on somestuff now as well and doing some more, cover.
(10:31):
I'm assuming he's getting behind the drums anddoing some covers as well then.
Correct?
Yeah.
So, I know he plays with Haley James and Travisas well.
He kinda
plays with and ends on occasion.
Exactly.
As far as drum covers and stuff, I'm notentirely sure if he's doing what I'm doing
necessarily, but I know he's been doing morestudioizing stuff and Okay.
(10:57):
So he's been working with you on the productionside then?
Yep.
Yeah.
Definitely.
So, as far as, like, the project that, Gary andI are working on, kinda all goes back to, my
team.
So, obviously, I've seen what my team can do,and we keep getting better and better every
single time.
(11:17):
Bo definitely comes up with some really goodideas to get, you know, different shot ideas,
and, it just keeps getting better and better byevery video.
Going back to the networking portion, I knowGary and I have spoke on Facebook a few times,
but we've never met.
We've never met in person, never talked to eachother like this.
(11:39):
But it was kinda one of those things where I'vealways seen them filling with filling in with
other people and always seen him with Haileyand Travis.
And I've always questioned, you know, who isthis guy?
What is this guy kind of thing?
Obviously, learning about, you know, Gary overthe years.
The particular, project that I'm looking to dois, it's two drummers taking in, a bunch of
(12:05):
songs, whether if it's fifteen to twenty fiveseconds per song and we mulled them all
together all in one giant song.
Right?
Where I got the idea from, going back to myyounger earlier days of drumming, there was a
drum, cover guy that I always used to follow.
He did a, video with another drummer with onegiant, six minute song.
(12:26):
And just the way they evened out, and it didn'tmake it look like a drum battle.
They they collaborated in such a way.
I always told myself, if I can find a team andthen another drummer that can play, let's do
it.
And, honestly and that's where Gary comes in.
You know?
He's he's a phenomenal drummer, great guy forwhat I've seen.
(12:46):
And, after talking to him on FaceTime for thefirst time last couple weeks ago, great guy.
I actually introduced the project to, to Gregfirst just to see if it's even an option.
Greg is fully on board.
I brought it up to Bull and then split littlestudios with, Doug.
They're all on board.
It's definitely a huge project.
It's definitely bigger than what my team hasever done.
(13:09):
But I said, hey.
You know what?
I know this team's, good and able to do it.
Let's let's let's hammer it out.
So, no.
I definitely threw it across the table at Garyand said, let's let's make some magic while
brainstorming.
Because, obviously, when you have that big of aproject, your your brain starts to kinda spin
off and starts to go into multiple differentyou know, what if we did this?
(13:30):
What if we did that?
What if we did this?
You know?
Where it all comes back to now the Midwest CMO.
So I became a member with them actually withprobably a couple months ago in July for the
first time.
Greg and Boer enough to jump in that and be apart of the organization.
I said, sure.
(13:50):
And that's what that's when I ended up meeting,one of the chairman, I believe, that was or is
with, the CMO.
I think her name is Jeanette, I believe.
And she had nothing but great things to sayabout it.
So I said, sure.
You know, I'll jump in with it.
But going back to thinking of a bunch ofdifferent ideas with this project.
(14:15):
Now going back to networking, I was thinking, alot of people from the Midwest CMO aren't
really collaborating much that I've noticing.
So I'm thinking, okay.
What can I do to bring everybody all in?
Because as a musician, we are all one giantfamily.
Right?
We may sing different genres.
(14:36):
We may play different instruments, whatever.
But at the end the day, we're all trying to getto the same finish line.
And my biggest thing is I think networking andcollaborating are huge, and nobody's doing that
in the Midwest area.
And so I figured, hey.
Why not throw a post out there asking for othermusicians to take one of their best songs, send
(15:01):
it to Gary and I and my team so we can take alook at it and try to take in fifteen to thirty
seconds of each of those songs and pile it intoone big deal.
That way, one, everybody is winning.
Right?
Both drummers are winning because they'regetting their names out there.
The producers, the engineers, thevideographers, they're winning because they're
getting their shots out there.
(15:21):
And, also, everybody from the Midwest CMO thatparticipated in the project is also winning
because they're also getting their song outthere.
So to me, it's it's one giant win for a giantfamily at the end of the day.
Yeah.
That's huge.
So this is the first time that I've actuallyhad you say exactly what it all is.
I had kinda put together that's that's what youwere after, but this is the first time I've
(15:44):
heard it verbalized and just I think my headexploded.
Yeah.
It's brilliant, and it will definitely benominated for collaboration of the year, and
it's gonna be hard for it not to be the winnerbecause you're just able to involve so many
people with this.
I will definitely be sending you songs.
I know I will be recommending it to all of ourMidwest CMO listeners and all of our members,
(16:06):
our friends, our family that that would beabsolutely thrilled with this.
So kudos to you for a great idea.
Thank Bringing it all together, networking withthe guys, and bring I mean, you got a super
team.
I mean, the team is incredible.
That's the first thing that kind of attractedme.
I was like, oh, he's working with he's workingwith all the guys.
You know?
And I've worked with all of these gentlemen inone way or another in the last year.
(16:30):
I've only been a member since February 2024.
So relatively new to the organization as well,but have definitely seen its capacity for
advancing someone's career in the Midwest whereit can feel a lot of times like you're just
spinning your wheels out here and things aren'tgoing anywhere.
Personally, now having won an award and seeing,how well High on Bubba starts, have an award
(16:52):
winning podcast, is it opening doors for me?
I I realized really what this organization, canbe.
And for a mere $50 a month, I don't know howany or $50 a year.
Sorry.
Okay.
That that are we don't have more members.
But it's just getting stuff like this out thereso people can see what it really does, because
that's kind of the big question.
(17:12):
And beyond the syndicated radio show that goesout there that you have access to maybe get
your songs out, it's about the community thatwe are.
It's about the members that are already herethat are investing of themselves into the org
as well.
You know, I've kind of built out some of my ownstuff because I have people that are outside of
country music.
Not that the CMO wouldn't accept a rock orbands like that.
(17:34):
Their radio show isn't for that.
So we're trying to open up and build even morerelationships with people that are, you know,
in rock, in hip hop, in in EDM, and in any kindof music.
You know what?
I don't even care if you're making AI music.
If you're expressing yourself if you'reexpressing yourself in this day and age and
you're able to get your thoughts and feelingsout there to the world because nobody's making
(17:57):
any money.
You know?
It's not like somebody coming along with an AIsong is taking money away from me.
I'm not making any money anyway from streamingor from anything else.
And if you do crack it with an AI, kudos toyou.
You probably did something really awesome onthe marketing side of that that made that a
success, not because the song was better orworse than anything.
(18:19):
I don't necessarily think that that's what,we're here to do anyway.
We're here to be creative.
We're here to express ourselves, and we're hereto, connect with other creative people.
And, Nolan, you are epitomizing all of thosethings with this one small little project.
Right?
A six minute video that you and Gary, hopefullywill be, shooting.
(18:42):
Oh, you said October, you're kinda tryingsetting as a filming date?
Yeah.
So we're with with with a project this big, itdefinitely takes a lot of prepping.
You know?
Well, you and Gary are gonna have to learn abunch of songs.
If you're only doing twenty seconds of eachone, it's a lot of songs to fill up six
minutes.
It is.
So we've we've definitely got some ideas, kindarolling through the brain.
(19:06):
The the idea is to probably shoot somewhere atthe September, October, somewhere in that
general region.
There's there's definitely a lot of homeworkyet to be done, and we're we're, you know,
working with as as a team, FaceTiming, Zoomtiming, whatever it is, Zoom meetings, just
(19:28):
kinda working over some ideas and connectingwith some of the other people that have,
particular locations and particular materialsand stuff like that just to make it all happen.
And, like, it's something this big of a projecttakes a lot of prepping with this many people
in it.
And, yeah, at at at the end of the day, I justwant everybody to win at the end of the day.
(19:51):
You know?
I'm not I'm not in it for myself because, likeI said, we're all one giant family.
And my biggest thing is if if if you're gonnamake it in the music world, you're you're
you're better off collaborating and networkingbecause it takes a team to do something, huge,
you know, or if it's making an EP, making analbum, booking a show, setting up for a show,
(20:12):
playing a show.
I mean, you you you you definitely need a teamto be grateful at it.
Yeah.
Not just the behind the scenes team, but also ateam of artists and and stars.
Right?
Collaborating between the stars, a big one wejust saw coming out soon.
Our friend our good friend Christine Pasig andLee Klett got together and did a duet.
(20:35):
So really cool to see more of this.
And, Nolan, how can our Midwest CMO members,how can they submit a song for you guys to
review and maybe be part of this amazingproject?
Yeah.
So if you go to the, Midwest CMO organizationpage, there's actually gonna be a post in
there.
You'll see, it's like a post and it has twodrummers on.
(20:56):
It'll say, send your your video or your song inand, kind of thing.
And, yeah, if you wanna post it in the commentsor if you wanna direct, DM me directly through
Facebook Messenger, Instagram, whatever thecase is, my my team and myself would be happy
to take a look at that song and, try to fit itin there the best way we can.
(21:16):
Incredible stuff, Nolan.
Where can people find you as well and connectwith you and see some of the drum cover videos
that you've already done.
Yeah.
So I, on Facebook, obviously, and thenInstagram as well.
My Instagram, I believe, is gonna be nolan dotschmidt.
I think it's nolan underscore schmidt twentyeight, I believe.
(21:37):
Otherwise, it's linked in the bio and myFacebook as well.
Facebook, you can find me at Nolan Schmidt,proper spelling, n o l a n, and then Schmidt
like Schmidt beer.
So it's pretty standard.
I love a good beer reference on this show.
Nolan, absolutely appreciate what you guys aredoing.
I hope that one of my songs, can can float itsway into this drum cover video because I really
(22:00):
wanna be a part of it myself.
Regardless, I'm gonna be sharing it everywherethat I can, and, we're gonna turn this episode
right around and get it out as soon as possibleso that our, our family out there can, get
involved and really know what's going on withthis.
Nolan, thank you so much for being part of thescene.
No problem.
Thanks for the invite.
Welcome in to another exciting episode of thescene.
I am your host Bubba Starts, and with me now isrecording and performing artist, Nolan Schmidt.
Nolan, welcome to the show, brother.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Man, we we got to chat last week as you were,seeking to do some content with some fellow
Midwest country music organization members.
(00:22):
You piqued my curiosity then.
I wanna allow you the time to explain all ofthat later in the show, but, let's get to know
you a little bit, man.
We'll get a little bit of backstory, and thenwe'll get into what you're working on now.
Yeah.
A little bit of backstory behind me.
So I've been playing drums for about, oh, boy,probably about eighteen, nineteen years or so.
(00:43):
Self taught.
Can't quite read music.
My parents gave me a guitar as my dad used tobe in a band when he was younger, he was a lead
guitarist.
So he ended up giving me his guitar, and, hekinda saw me tapping on it.
I like, oh, maybe he's a drummer.
Well, here we are, eighteen years later.
No.
I had a little bit of drum lessons here inSaint Cloud.
(01:04):
Did that for about three months, and then justkinda began to the point where my drum
instructor is just told my parents, you he hegets it.
He he understands that there's no no reason forhim to be here.
So I ended up, just kinda always going home andlistening to music and trying to play along
with it, watched a couple, YouTube drum coverguys that I follow still to this day.
(01:27):
Yeah.
Kinda just got into it.
And, one day, I ended up making a Craigslist adlooking for a drummer, and then Levi Peltzer
ended up reaching out to me and ended upmeeting him and ended up, playing with him for
about a year and a half to two years.
And that's what probably really got meintroduced to the country music scene and
really got me into a dive deep of music andplaying.
(01:51):
We did about a 170 plus shows here in fivedifferent states, so it was it was a constant
drive.
So I ended up, getting married, having somekids, and now being able to slowly dive into
collaborating and networking, you know,networking with a bunch of Nashville musician
artists like Rich Redman, Jason Aldean'sdrummer, couple other guys out in Nashville.
(02:17):
I ended up visiting Nashville a few times andkinda really got out there and started
networking.
And, I ended up building a team together with,Greg Huberty, Bo Allen, and Doug, with Sport
Willow Studios.
We ended up kinda putting, some drum coverstogether.
I wanted to be able to frame myself as far aswhat can I do to put myself out there, and be
(02:42):
able to show people what I can do, in arecorded, professional setting?
The way I look at it is anybody can look walkup to any musician and say, I'm a drummer or
I'm a guitar player.
It's like, okay.
Great.
What do you have to show for?
You know?
And, I think that's where this team kinda cameinto play, and, yeah, we're able to make some
really good content and be able to put a lot ofopportunities out there.
(03:05):
And, I definitely gained some really coolstuff.
I actually just worked with and filled in with,Keith Anderson.
He's a number one hitmaker with Pick nWildflowers and I think double XL as well.
We kinda ended up meeting Toby Keith's basisand just just it kept going.
So, some of these guys I talked to on a dailybasis.
(03:25):
Couple couple of Terry Clark's lead guitarplayer, worked with him as well.
So, just this whole broad of networking hasopened up so much, and those professional
videos that I do with my team have opened up alot of those gigs.
So, yeah, that's kinda where I come from.
Yeah.
Well and you you're touching on so many greatthings in there.
(03:47):
One, that this business is all who you know.
Right.
It's not how good you are at your instrument.
Yes.
You have to be some modicum of of a talent.
Right?
But it's all about who you know that can getyou into the gigs or the job or whatever it is.
Secondly, how how much different it is forsomeone who is a player as opposed to an
(04:08):
artist.
Right?
Like, I I am a songwriter, so I've always beenat the front of that stage.
I have plenty of material of me out thereplaying and singing, but it's not common, I
would say, for most drummer, bass player,guitar players that do that exclusively and
aren't their own, you know, kind of front ofthe thing to have audition tapes.
(04:30):
And Right.
I know we're not calling them.
You're calling them drum cover videos, but theyare they are an audition tape.
You are showing what you can do for the world,and then that content is going out there.
And, yes, some of them can become a a viral oror to help in that, but it proves not just who
you are, because I think people can get a asense of that just by talking to you, but
(04:51):
really what you can do behind the kit.
That's I loved what I was hearing from you whenwe spoke on the phone just a few weeks ago
because I don't think a lot of, you know, justdrummers and players are thinking about any of
this stuff.
And what what can they have if they're notwriting their own music to really showcase
(05:11):
their talents?
And what you're doing with Greg, great guy.
We were actually up against Greg, I do believe,for the content creator of the year that we
ended up taking home this year, but it couldhave been anybody.
I Bo was also nominated as well, so I love Ilove these gentlemen.
I I love what they've done for the MidwestCountry Music Organization and for artists
throughout our region.
(05:33):
Right?
I mean, I was up close to your area.
I was in Saint Cloud a couple of times actuallythis year for other purposes.
I was there to watch some, you know, like,middle school, high school football camps, but
I have a deep connection now with the Minnesotamusic scene.
And to see people like yourself that have goneout and have kind of, you know, gotten close to
(05:56):
the sun, right, have gotten close to thatindustry and and now bringing some of that
knowledge you have back with you is soimportant.
Because I think what happens to a lot of peoplethat end up in Nashville is that they go there
with the dream, they stay there too long, theyget burnt out, and they come home pretty much
with the, yeah.
(06:16):
You don't wanna do any of that.
And and you're almost kind of poo pooing it.
Right?
And not I mean, I'm not a big Nashville guy.
Right?
I'm almost 40.
I'm not I'm not landing in Nashville and makinganything happen for myself.
And I don't have a quarter million dollars toinvest in my artist to really make that upper
echelon.
Right?
Sure.
You could probably attest to that that it's notnecessarily about who you know in Nashville
(06:40):
anymore.
It's how much money you got.
Yeah.
I mean, I guess what I've what I've reallylearned is, you know, you don't have to be in
Nashville to make it.
But at the end of the day, what I've gatheredis, yes, the the the the financials definitely
help out a lot, obviously, when when you wannamake, you know, an album or an EP or a song or
(07:06):
anything like that.
I mean, I I definitely understand the thefinance aspect of it.
Obviously, it's it's pretty expensive to livein Nashville, and I've seen, enough to
understand that.
Now on the flip side, however, networking isdefinitely huge, though, in Nashville.
And what I mean by that or even just even,like, the music industry in general, to make
(07:29):
anything really possible.
You know?
It's just it's networking.
I mean, it just anything can happen, whetherdrummer is sick or his wife has to work late or
whatever the case is.
You know, lot of it comes back to a oh, wait.
I know this guy by the name of Nolan or, youknow, or and, you know, how does guitar play?
Know very well.
It's from Minnesota.
You know?
I know you guys are going to Minnesota, but,you know, networking also works in multiple
(07:54):
different ways of even just getting your nameout there with other people, that know of you
and have seen your videos and say, oh, man.
He seems like a cool guy.
I should, you know, reach out to him.
You know?
Maybe ask if he wants to, you know, fill in theshoulder of the cases.
So I think networking is definitely huge, but,yes.
I mean, I guess, financially, yes, it it itdefinitely plays its part in the puzzle.
(08:18):
But I'd say the biggest thing would benetworking, and being able to be a good vibe, a
good hang understanding, but, yeah, also beingable to play, well, you know.
So
Well and and I it seems like you've definitelytaken full advantage of not just in person
networking, but social networking as well.
And that's what really great content can do foryou as well.
(08:42):
Right?
It's not just being present on some of theseplatforms, but to be sharing some really cool
stuff of you playing and doing those things isso important.
I think in most people's heads, when you see aband out there playing, you know, like a Brooks
and Dunn, and maybe they're a bad examplebecause some of these guys have probably been
with them for twenty years, but maybe a JasonAldine or they're they're playing with
(09:03):
different people.
Right?
They're playing with, you know, road musicians,and the band can look totally different because
when you're a star, nobody's there necessarilyto see the band.
The band has to be good and to play your songswell, but nobody's showing up to see the guitar
player from Jason Aldine besides maybe his, youknow, wife and family.
(09:23):
Right?
You know?
Like
Right.
So, so it's so important, I think, for youngmusicians out there to realize that you are a
business yourself.
It's not all about joining a band.
I love that.
I you know, bands like, you know, somebodythat's, you know, and around and in the
Northern Minnesota area.
You know, a lot of these bands that we're nowfriends with, like an if nothing else band, who
(09:47):
are themselves.
Right?
They are they are a sum of the parts.
Right?
That's never been a reality for me growing upin rural South Dakota pretty much my entire
life.
I've had hundreds of bandmates that have cycledthrough this thing.
So I'm always looking to expand my networkbecause I don't travel with my drummer I play
with in South Dakota when I come to Minnesota.
(10:09):
Right?
Because that's another mouth to feed, and Iwould much rather network my way into those
positions knowing a Nolan Schmidt is just aphone call away.
And, hey, buddy.
I got three dates up there this weekend.
Are you available?
If not, you're moving down the list.
Gary Spencer.
Gary's played some shows with me up there.
I know you guys are working together on somestuff now as well and doing some more, cover.
(10:31):
I'm assuming he's getting behind the drums anddoing some covers as well then.
Correct?
Yeah.
So, I know he plays with Haley James and Travisas well.
He kinda
plays with and ends on occasion.
Exactly.
As far as drum covers and stuff, I'm notentirely sure if he's doing what I'm doing
necessarily, but I know he's been doing morestudioizing stuff and Okay.
(10:57):
So he's been working with you on the productionside then?
Yep.
Yeah.
Definitely.
So, as far as, like, the project that, Gary andI are working on, kinda all goes back to, my
team.
So, obviously, I've seen what my team can do,and we keep getting better and better every
single time.
(11:17):
Bo definitely comes up with some really goodideas to get, you know, different shot ideas,
and, it just keeps getting better and better byevery video.
Going back to the networking portion, I knowGary and I have spoke on Facebook a few times,
but we've never met.
We've never met in person, never talked to eachother like this.
(11:39):
But it was kinda one of those things where I'vealways seen them filling with filling in with
other people and always seen him with Haileyand Travis.
And I've always questioned, you know, who isthis guy?
What is this guy kind of thing?
Obviously, learning about, you know, Gary overthe years.
The particular, project that I'm looking to dois, it's two drummers taking in, a bunch of
(12:05):
songs, whether if it's fifteen to twenty fiveseconds per song and we mulled them all
together all in one giant song.
Right?
Where I got the idea from, going back to myyounger earlier days of drumming, there was a
drum, cover guy that I always used to follow.
He did a, video with another drummer with onegiant, six minute song.
(12:26):
And just the way they evened out, and it didn'tmake it look like a drum battle.
They they collaborated in such a way.
I always told myself, if I can find a team andthen another drummer that can play, let's do
it.
And, honestly and that's where Gary comes in.
You know?
He's he's a phenomenal drummer, great guy forwhat I've seen.
(12:46):
And, after talking to him on FaceTime for thefirst time last couple weeks ago, great guy.
I actually introduced the project to, to Gregfirst just to see if it's even an option.
Greg is fully on board.
I brought it up to Bull and then split littlestudios with, Doug.
They're all on board.
It's definitely a huge project.
It's definitely bigger than what my team hasever done.
(13:09):
But I said, hey.
You know what?
I know this team's, good and able to do it.
Let's let's let's hammer it out.
So, no.
I definitely threw it across the table at Garyand said, let's let's make some magic while
brainstorming.
Because, obviously, when you have that big of aproject, your your brain starts to kinda spin
off and starts to go into multiple differentyou know, what if we did this?
(13:30):
What if we did that?
What if we did this?
You know?
Where it all comes back to now the Midwest CMO.
So I became a member with them actually withprobably a couple months ago in July for the
first time.
Greg and Boer enough to jump in that and be apart of the organization.
I said, sure.
(13:50):
And that's what that's when I ended up meeting,one of the chairman, I believe, that was or is
with, the CMO.
I think her name is Jeanette, I believe.
And she had nothing but great things to sayabout it.
So I said, sure.
You know, I'll jump in with it.
But going back to thinking of a bunch ofdifferent ideas with this project.
(14:15):
Now going back to networking, I was thinking, alot of people from the Midwest CMO aren't
really collaborating much that I've noticing.
So I'm thinking, okay.
What can I do to bring everybody all in?
Because as a musician, we are all one giantfamily.
Right?
We may sing different genres.
(14:36):
We may play different instruments, whatever.
But at the end the day, we're all trying to getto the same finish line.
And my biggest thing is I think networking andcollaborating are huge, and nobody's doing that
in the Midwest area.
And so I figured, hey.
Why not throw a post out there asking for othermusicians to take one of their best songs, send
(15:01):
it to Gary and I and my team so we can take alook at it and try to take in fifteen to thirty
seconds of each of those songs and pile it intoone big deal.
That way, one, everybody is winning.
Right?
Both drummers are winning because they'regetting their names out there.
The producers, the engineers, thevideographers, they're winning because they're
getting their shots out there.
(15:21):
And, also, everybody from the Midwest CMO thatparticipated in the project is also winning
because they're also getting their song outthere.
So to me, it's it's one giant win for a giantfamily at the end of the day.
Yeah.
That's huge.
So this is the first time that I've actuallyhad you say exactly what it all is.
I had kinda put together that's that's what youwere after, but this is the first time I've
(15:44):
heard it verbalized and just I think my headexploded.
Yeah.
It's brilliant, and it will definitely benominated for collaboration of the year, and
it's gonna be hard for it not to be the winnerbecause you're just able to involve so many
people with this.
I will definitely be sending you songs.
I know I will be recommending it to all of ourMidwest CMO listeners and all of our members,
(16:06):
our friends, our family that that would beabsolutely thrilled with this.
So kudos to you for a great idea.
Thank Bringing it all together, networking withthe guys, and bring I mean, you got a super
team.
I mean, the team is incredible.
That's the first thing that kind of attractedme.
I was like, oh, he's working with he's workingwith all the guys.
You know?
And I've worked with all of these gentlemen inone way or another in the last year.
(16:30):
I've only been a member since February 2024.
So relatively new to the organization as well,but have definitely seen its capacity for
advancing someone's career in the Midwest whereit can feel a lot of times like you're just
spinning your wheels out here and things aren'tgoing anywhere.
Personally, now having won an award and seeing,how well High on Bubba starts, have an award
(16:52):
winning podcast, is it opening doors for me?
I I realized really what this organization, canbe.
And for a mere $50 a month, I don't know howany or $50 a year.
Sorry.
Okay.
That that are we don't have more members.
But it's just getting stuff like this out thereso people can see what it really does, because
that's kind of the big question.
(17:12):
And beyond the syndicated radio show that goesout there that you have access to maybe get
your songs out, it's about the community thatwe are.
It's about the members that are already herethat are investing of themselves into the org
as well.
You know, I've kind of built out some of my ownstuff because I have people that are outside of
country music.
Not that the CMO wouldn't accept a rock orbands like that.
(17:34):
Their radio show isn't for that.
So we're trying to open up and build even morerelationships with people that are, you know,
in rock, in hip hop, in in EDM, and in any kindof music.
You know what?
I don't even care if you're making AI music.
If you're expressing yourself if you'reexpressing yourself in this day and age and
you're able to get your thoughts and feelingsout there to the world because nobody's making
(17:57):
any money.
You know?
It's not like somebody coming along with an AIsong is taking money away from me.
I'm not making any money anyway from streamingor from anything else.
And if you do crack it with an AI, kudos toyou.
You probably did something really awesome onthe marketing side of that that made that a
success, not because the song was better orworse than anything.
(18:19):
I don't necessarily think that that's what,we're here to do anyway.
We're here to be creative.
We're here to express ourselves, and we're hereto, connect with other creative people.
And, Nolan, you are epitomizing all of thosethings with this one small little project.
Right?
A six minute video that you and Gary, hopefullywill be, shooting.
(18:42):
Oh, you said October, you're kinda tryingsetting as a filming date?
Yeah.
So we're with with with a project this big, itdefinitely takes a lot of prepping.
You know?
Well, you and Gary are gonna have to learn abunch of songs.
If you're only doing twenty seconds of eachone, it's a lot of songs to fill up six
minutes.
It is.
So we've we've definitely got some ideas, kindarolling through the brain.
(19:06):
The the idea is to probably shoot somewhere atthe September, October, somewhere in that
general region.
There's there's definitely a lot of homeworkyet to be done, and we're we're, you know,
working with as as a team, FaceTiming, Zoomtiming, whatever it is, Zoom meetings, just
(19:28):
kinda working over some ideas and connectingwith some of the other people that have,
particular locations and particular materialsand stuff like that just to make it all happen.
And, like, it's something this big of a projecttakes a lot of prepping with this many people
in it.
And, yeah, at at at the end of the day, I justwant everybody to win at the end of the day.
(19:51):
You know?
I'm not I'm not in it for myself because, likeI said, we're all one giant family.
And my biggest thing is if if if you're gonnamake it in the music world, you're you're
you're better off collaborating and networkingbecause it takes a team to do something, huge,
you know, or if it's making an EP, making analbum, booking a show, setting up for a show,
(20:12):
playing a show.
I mean, you you you you definitely need a teamto be grateful at it.
Yeah.
Not just the behind the scenes team, but also ateam of artists and and stars.
Right?
Collaborating between the stars, a big one wejust saw coming out soon.
Our friend our good friend Christine Pasig andLee Klett got together and did a duet.
(20:35):
So really cool to see more of this.
And, Nolan, how can our Midwest CMO members,how can they submit a song for you guys to
review and maybe be part of this amazingproject?
Yeah.
So if you go to the, Midwest CMO organizationpage, there's actually gonna be a post in
there.
You'll see, it's like a post and it has twodrummers on.
(20:56):
It'll say, send your your video or your song inand, kind of thing.
And, yeah, if you wanna post it in the commentsor if you wanna direct, DM me directly through
Facebook Messenger, Instagram, whatever thecase is, my my team and myself would be happy
to take a look at that song and, try to fit itin there the best way we can.
(21:16):
Incredible stuff, Nolan.
Where can people find you as well and connectwith you and see some of the drum cover videos
that you've already done.
Yeah.
So I, on Facebook, obviously, and thenInstagram as well.
My Instagram, I believe, is gonna be nolan dotschmidt.
I think it's nolan underscore schmidt twentyeight, I believe.
(21:37):
Otherwise, it's linked in the bio and myFacebook as well.
Facebook, you can find me at Nolan Schmidt,proper spelling, n o l a n, and then Schmidt
like Schmidt beer.
So it's pretty standard.
I love a good beer reference on this show.
Nolan, absolutely appreciate what you guys aredoing.
I hope that one of my songs, can can float itsway into this drum cover video because I really
(22:00):
wanna be a part of it myself.
Regardless, I'm gonna be sharing it everywherethat I can, and, we're gonna turn this episode
right around and get it out as soon as possibleso that our, our family out there can, get
involved and really know what's going on withthis.
Nolan, thank you so much for being part of thescene.
No problem.
Thanks for the invite.
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