April 7, 2023 • 25 mins
Unsigned & Independent is back with 16 new episodes for season 2. Episode 1 features an artist from St. Louis named Tera Fister. Kevin and Tera talk about her first visit to Nashville and how getting called on stage by a band led to her ultimately moving to music city. Tera has been in Nashville for a decade, and she tells Kevin why trusting her own path during this time has been the backbone to get her through the good and bad days. Plus, Tera talks about some upcoming shows, and much more!
Follow: @KickOffKevin
Podcast Description:
Unsigned and Independent is a six episode season podcast hosted by Kevin O’Connell that features unsigned and independent artists and bands in Nashville. The purpose of this podcast is to highlight the journey and grind musicians go through trying to make it in the industry; the journey most fans don’t see leading up to national success. People move to music city from all over the country to chase something they have only dreamed of – making music and performing for a living. This podcast will dive into stories on the road, late nights and early mornings on the infamous Broadway, their background story, and if there is an ultimate goal for each artist or band. The artists featured on this podcast don’t have the backing of a label or sometimes even management, or a publishing team to handle their bookings, travel, etc.… But what they all have in common is a genuine passion for the love of music and performing. There is hidden talent spread throughout music city and the aim of this podcast is to give this hidden talent an opportunity to have a platform for an audience to hear their story, what the process is really like in the industry, and hopefully gain a new fan or two.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
Welcome to season two of Unsigned and Independent. We have
another episode and another season of this and Kevin kind
of restate your goal for why you started this show.
So the goal was when I first came into Nashville,
I saw these bands, artists that I thought were really good,
and I didn't understand why I've never heard of this
person or this group, and I wanted to get them
(00:30):
on to talk about, you know, the late nights of Broadway.
I'm playing late, getting up early, and just the whole
grind of the industry without the backing of a label
or a record company, or a management team or which
all the things I hope to get right and want
to be coolest to see some of these some of
these folks develop into signed and not independent exactly because
when we started the Bobbycast a long time ago, that
(00:52):
was a deal. We had a lot of artists on
and songwriters that later became stars I met. I think
about Ryan Hurd, who was just a songwriter. We talked
to him, is all right, new guy heard? You know,
he would talk about how hard it was to write
songs get a publishing deal. But this is what you're doing.
Even a step farther back, it's like a prequel. He
had an early Bobby cast. And so who'd you talk
with this time? This is Tara Fister. Why Tara? Because
(01:15):
I met her through somebody I had on the first
season last year. Actually his name is Graham, and he
kind of told me about her, introduced me to her,
came across her stuff, and she had this presence about her,
has this presence about her. She's got bright hair, bright clothes, tattoos,
she's got this presence on stage where just like, I
need to know more about this girl. She good live, Yeah,
it's great. So you talk with her. She's from Saint Louis,
(01:37):
she's been here for ten years or so. Does she
have the frustration of, hey, why hasn't this happened for
me yet? No? She has such a good outlook on
you know, I'm gonna do what I need to do
and everything else would kind of take care of itself.
She's had her frustrated days or her weeks, you know,
taking care of everything, funding everything, managing everything, but overall
she's got a good outlook on the bigger picture. All right.
(01:58):
Here we go, Unsigned and Independent with Kevin O'Connell aka
kick Off Kevin. Here is Tara Fister here on the
Bobby Cast in a special edition? By the way, is
this a new season? Yes? Oh I did Music to
My Ears season two, episode one of Unsigned and Independent.
Hey Tara, good to see you, Good to have you
in here. How long has it been since you moved
(02:18):
to Nashville. It'll be ten years this July, I believe. Wow, Yeah, Forest,
I moved down. Okay, I like literally pulled into town
as a fireworks are going off. Really yeah, so it's
a little it's a cute old story. That's awesome. I
saw the fireworks show here a couple of years ago,
and it's probably the best I've ever seen. Yeah, as
long as the smoke doesn't blur it out right? Yea,
that is true. What was your mindset coming in from
(02:40):
Saint Louis to Nashville? Where you like, oh my gosh,
I want to be all over the radio. I want to,
you know, sign with this purse or this label and
do this and this or was it kind of just
a freelancing let's see what happens, let's move and just
chase a dream here. Yeah, well I had. I had
just turned twenty one. I worked at a Ford dealership, okay,
And I was coming to Nashville about once a month
to do a writer's round and try to create some
(03:02):
type of circle or community or just you know, get
my feet wet. And one night after a writer's round,
I was hanging out with a group of friends and
we were going to the Preds game. So we were
standing in Rippy's and just standing there, you know, taking
in the scene, and a guy on stage whose name
was Greg Humphrey. He just pointed me out in the
crowd and he was like, you're a singer. And at
(03:23):
that time I had had enough beverages where I was like,
hell yeah, I'm a singer. And he got me on
stage and I sang a couple of songs and he
through the tip jog at me and he was like,
if you can come back with this tip jugful, I'll
have a job for you. I was like deal. So
I ran the tip jar and I came back and
I gave him my card and he called me. Two
weeks later. I went to the game, went back to
(03:45):
Saint Louis, you know, went about my life, and he
called me about two weeks later and he was like,
what are you doing for cmafest And I was like,
whatever you tell me, I'm doing. So he's like, oh,
why don't you come down you can play with my band,
blahlah blah. So I came down two weeks later, played
with this band, went back home, and then he called
me again about two weeks later and said, if you
want to move, you have a job. Wow. So I
packed up everything, which was like a bag of shoes,
(04:08):
a bag of clothes, my guitar, a microphone in my
car and moved like a week later and slept on
one of my girlfriend's couches for a couple of weeks,
and then segued into somebody's apartment that the roommate situation
didn't work out, and then into a house. And here
I am ten years later. Do you like the idea
that it was just so sudden and like you had
(04:29):
to make a decision right then and there, almost as
if you didn't have to maybe build up too and
think about it too much, or just like, you know what,
why not, let's do it? Well, to be if I
was being honest with myself, I would say that I
always knew, even when I was aty biddy, like when
people would ask me when I was little, you know,
what do you want to do? I would always answer,
I want to be the girl in music videos, and
I meant the singer, like, you know, the not the
(04:50):
main character, but me watching like rebuff on the TV
or whatever. Okay, I want to be the girl in
music videos. And so I think there was no really
thinking having to be done. I've always known in my
core that no matter what I was doing, it would
be revolved around music. What surprises me the most about
it is my parents just looked at me and you're like, okay,
see you later. I was that. When I think about it,
(05:12):
I'm like, oh my gosh. I was so naive. I
had never lived out in my house. I had never
paid bills, Like even when I was in college, I
was going to a university right on the road, so
I had lived with my parents. Like there was never
any I just looked at my parents, was like, I
think when we move Nashville. My mom was like, great,
we'll see you later. Like, oh, okay, bye. Were you
did you think she might have be a little reluctant
(05:33):
to it, either of your parents like, oh, I don't know,
this is such a good idea. You don't know if
you're gonna really make it or are they always been
that supportive? They've always been really supportive. I was. I'd
like to think that I was always pretty straightforward with
them too. I wasn't a big head like. I wasn't
a you know, I wasn't sneaking out and lying and
do whatever. So and they've known, you know, my first
job was working in a music store, and I started
taking piano lessons when I was itty bitty and took
(05:55):
every lesson you can think of from there on out,
and it just I think it was a very natural
segue into where I am at now. Was music always
a big thing for you? Yes, it's um a little
bit of everything. So I have a My dad is
one of six and all of his all of his sisters.
He's there's three boys and three girls, all of them saying.
My grandma plays killer piano. I just have vivid memories
(06:18):
of show tunes when dinner was over in washing dishes,
and all of my aunts would split into harmonies and
sing Oklahoma or Carousel or whatever was in their mind
that day. UM so kind of started there, and I
just my mom always joked about that, I kind of
came out singing my brother was in theater. My sister
was a big rockhead. My dad loved the rat Pack,
(06:38):
my mom was into country so and I was the youngest.
So I was just kind of a little a little
melting pot. Oh wow, okay, yeah, youngest, just a brother
and a sister. Okay, so youngest of three? Are you
the only artist in the I guess you guys all
have some musical talent involved. My brother does. So it's
my sister Lee, my brother Stephen, and myself, and I'm
Stephen is a theater kid, so he did it, you know,
(06:59):
an adult as well. And he's phenomenal. He's one of
those guys that, like, they always told him that his
biggest challenge and I would be deciding if he wants
to build and paint the stage or be on it. Wow. Yeah,
he can do anything. Wow. That's awesome. So you're not
the most talented in the family, or are you equally talented?
I'd like to say equally talented, different tastes. It's like
(07:22):
apples and oranges. You know, we're still we're still the
same things. You mentioned Reebo. You'd watch her on TV
growing up. Who are some of your other idols or musicians?
Bands that you looked up to and maybe still look
up to well when I was little. It's interesting I
was kind of forced. Sounds harsh, but it wasn't harsh.
I just I wasn't allowed to watch MTV, so really
(07:44):
the only thing I could watch was CMT that had
music involved, you know. So, um, Lean Walmock was huge
for me. Leon Womack was kind of my like my lady.
She's still my lady crush, but at this point in
my life, I think someone who has a huge phone
over me. I love the Food Fighters, I love Billy
Joel Um. Those two are kind of my main like
(08:06):
they can and honestly, I'm am a pretty huge John
Mayer fan. And I know people can talk all sorts
of smack, but I really do enjoy his guitar playing
like I just love his tone. Anything he does, I'm like, yeah,
I'm there, I'm right there with you. He has an
album that kind of changed the way that I started
playing that I started singing um just listening to him
The Search for Everything, and I had to still feel
(08:27):
like a man. Um. I love that whole album, so
that's awesome. I've never seen him. I would love to
see him he's fantastic. He really is. My friend. Garrett
and I went Garrett throwing. He's a fellow artist as well,
um Wisconsin guy. But we made the agreement going in.
I was like, neither of us is going to talk
like at all, and he was like, I agree. So
we literally just went in there and like stood next
(08:48):
to each other and just like consumed the entire show
in silence. It was great and soaked at all and
stoked at all. I mean, yeah, that's a great idea.
I don't think you've ever even thought about doing something
like that. But it's almost like one of these we're like,
you know what, I'm going to live in the moment
right now, right here. I don't want to talk to you.
I don't, Yeah, I just want to act like I'm
sitting in my car listening to them by myself or
(09:09):
something like that. Well, and I've learned that the older
I get and the more I can kind of like
sit and reflect on myself and who I am and
how I've grown, I've noticed that I just I really
cannot concentrate if there's music in the room, Like if
there's music going on, if it's if even if it's
a bar downtown and people are trying to talk or
have conversations and you know, mingle my brain. I'm just
(09:30):
watching the music. I'm just I'm like, you know. So
it's nice to have concert buddies that kind of have
the same mindset. You just go in. They're like, Okay,
we're both going to thoroughly enjoy this standing next to
each other, and that's it. And as an arty talk later,
are you, like, are you watching or listening? I should say,
more than anything listening and thinking? Are you are you
(09:50):
hearing everything going on? Like you're not just hearing a song?
If that makes sense? Are you kind of breaking it
down in your head? Oh yeah, I think yeah, because
you have an ear for it and you're in it
like I'm not. I don't play any I'm not musically
talented at all. Yeah, so I wouldn't understand like I
would some other things like you would with it. So
it's just interesting to me. If you sit there and
listen to it, you're probably listening to a whole different
sound then say, I would be, Um, yeah, I think
(10:14):
that's a fair statement. But I also think, you know,
with this being what I do, it's also nice to
watch other people, you know, even the visuals. You look
and you're like, okay, well, you know, like how am
I consuming this? Like well, obviously like auditorian visual, So
how would I've done that? Would I have put that
piano there? Would I have set the stage that way?
(10:36):
Would I have these lights at this time? Was that
confetti on point? You know? Like whatever it is you're doing,
big or small, I just like to like research how
other people present their passion. Do you find yourself It's
funny and bring that up because I'll do that with
like TV shows or radio shows, you know, working in
the industry, and I'll be like, well, where is the producer?
(10:58):
Why isn't he telling this person to do this or whatever?
That with movies all the time, now I'm like, oh,
look at this shot. I'm like, no, Tara, I get
consumed exactly. You're not enjoying the movie now, you're just
looking at the background. So that's what I was going
to ask. Can you do you think it like kind
of hinders your enjoyment of a show or no? Is
it more of an art to you that you're just
trying to figure out your mind? I think it's more
(11:18):
of an art, and I think something else. So I've
made my New Year's resolution was to see one show
a month, because I think when you're a creator, when
you're making music constantly, you forget to go get it,
like you forget to go get it in your in
your blood again, and you kind of forget, you know,
I'm like, oh, I've got to play that night, Like
I'm not going to go see this show, you know,
(11:41):
But every time I leave a concert, I'm always so
happy I did that. I'm always like, oh man, I
needed that. Like I think as an artist, you forget,
you know, you're like giving, giving, giving, but you forget
that when you go to the concert that artist is
giving to you, like you fill your cut back up,
and you forget that you can do that at concerts,
even in small venues. You know, there's so many great
(12:02):
stages in Nashville that are itty bitty that you can
just go and you're like, oh man, I didn't even
know I needed that. You just walk out of there
going like I feel different than I did walking in.
You have a very profound look to you where it's
like you walk in and you have this bright hair
and these tattoos and a lot of your outfits are
very bright and colorful. Yeah, And is that something that
(12:23):
you have always done throughout your life? Like growing up
as a teenager, did you always have different How many
hair color shade have you had? Do you think probably
most of them? Is that something that you dive into
and you just really enjoy just bringing out your personality
with it, whether it's your tattoos or your outfits or
your hair because I love it. I mean you walk
in and you just scream confidence. Oh yeah, so it
(12:46):
just that's what Okay, So maybe it's just a front
and then no, I think with each passing year, I
definitely settle more and more into it. I think it's
who I've always been. I think as a teenager, you
know you're always you don't really I don't think majority
of us know exactly who we are as teenagers. We
have a vague outline, right, yes, but m yeah, No,
(13:08):
the colors have always been part of me. I enjoy colors.
I don't have. I like a nice solid black dress
every once in a while, but other than matt, I'm
whatever catches my eye that day is going on. So
and a lot of times I don't think they really
make a whole lot of sense, but my friends tell
me I look cool, So that's great. Thanks. Since you
(13:33):
moved to Nashville and you started playing music right away,
has this always been your source of income for you?
Or have you had to have multiple jobs at some points? Like?
What's that been like for you? Um, there was about
a year where I bartended, but um, that was mostly
because I wanted to bartend. I'd never bartended before and
I just woke up and was like, I want to
(13:54):
dry bartending one day. So I did that for about
a year and um no, But other than that, IVE
always been music full time since I was twenty one. Okay,
do you think that's pretty rare for you too? Because
I talk to some people and they'll be like, yeah,
I've had to serve for a year, like had to
serve or had to barten, or had to do another
job during the day and then perform at night. So
do you find yourself pretty lucky are you? Or do
(14:17):
you find other people as well who can come here
and make a living just doing music from the get go?
I think it really depends on your personality. Depends on
your personality and your work ethic, and you're honestly your
ability to live at a lower income at moments in
your life, like if you have the ability to go like, Okay,
(14:38):
well you know my bank account is has four dollars
in it, but I know I'm going to work tonight,
and I know I'm working this weekend, and so I
just have to make four dollars. I have to not
freak out at having four dollars. If you can have
the wherewithal to just like chill yourself out, you'll be fine.
I've always eaten. My dad has a great saying of
like what did He always used to tell some real
(15:00):
It was something along the lines of like you may
never have excess, but somehow you will always have enough.
So I don't know if that's like a blind faith
thing or if it's just like a you know, you
get what you put out. But I have always had enough,
and there's been moments of like, you know, holy that
was a big paycheck. So I'd like more of those.
(15:23):
Anybody's listening, Yeah, Universe, if you're out there, I'd like
some more of those places. If you get into existence, yes,
I'm here, show me which door to walk through when
you hit those low moments, whether it's monetarily or professionally.
Have you had a moment where you're like, I don't
know if this is what I want to do anymore? No,
you've never gotten there. No, I've had moments of like,
(15:43):
I may have moments of going like, man, what am
I doing with my life? But it always resolves to
exactly what you're supposed to be doing, and it's just
not easy. So you're gonna be uncomfortable. You are human,
You're gonna be uncomfortable. You're gonna have self doubt, You're
going to compare yourself set time, you know, to those
around you and wonder why you didn't get that call
(16:04):
or you know, oh my gosh, there's so much you know,
thinking someone's better than you are, but no one can
do it like I can do it, and I can't
do it like they can do it. Do you play
downtown a lot or no? Um, I played down there
when I'm in town like Monday through Wednesday, and then
you're traveling on the weekend. Traveling on the weekends, Yeah,
(16:24):
you are? You like on tour right now or you
I did a little tour last year. As of right now,
my next thing I think is in Uh, I'm going
to Oregon I haven't done like a tour, like a
drive by drive mine or more like flight dates. I
guess you'd say, are you filling in kind of thing
or is it like a band that you're with. It's
kind of about half and half. Okay, so half of
(16:45):
them will be acoustic dates and half of them will
be band dates. Okay, yeah, okay, you got a pretty
busy year coming up, or I hope. So, yeah, it's
I've got a couple of dates I'm supposed to be playing,
and I think it's October. I'm going over to Switzerland
to play a festivals called Bottom Part, so that'll be
I'm excited for that one. They have like a ten
day festival where the whole city shuts down, and I've
(17:06):
been over there a couple of times, I think three
or four times now, So shout out to Bottom Switzerland,
high guys looking forward to that. Do you pay for
all this out of pocket? Everything I've ever done is
out of my own pocket? What's that like for you?
Trying to You're booking your own stuff, You're paying your
your your own everything, right, correct, So what is that
(17:28):
entail overwhelming for you? There are moments where, especially last
year and I feel going into this year where I'm like, Okay,
I understand why this takes a team, because sometimes I
just kind of look around. I'm like, ah, there's a
lot of things I need to do right now. But
I think it's also I'm I'm grateful for it now
(17:50):
because I think when the time comes that I'm able
to afford to have that team, I will be understanding
of their situations. You know, it won't be so expected.
It'll be more like a, Okay, it happens that, Yeah
that was weird. Let's you know, segue this way or
whatever we have to do. And it's allowed me to
just learn the business, you know five Like what do
(18:11):
they call it? Baptism by fire? So um, yeah, that's
an interesting perspective. So if anything goes wrong in the
future and you have a team, you're like, well, I've
been there, I understand. Here's how we can either fix it,
or you can understand and not just yell at them
right within reason, or I have my feelings hurt or
be frustrated. You know, it's like frustration can only get
you so far, and then it's like you just have
to do something about it, you know, right, right, So
(18:35):
but it's so the last two years I've been in
the studio making my second album, and everything I have
has been put into this album, financially, emotionally, musically, anything, sonically, whatever,
you know, everything I have has gone into this album.
And just within this past month are they like cherry
(18:58):
on top being sent to mix master. And it's been
such an enjoyable process. And you know, the creating part
is always the fun part is always the that's you know,
why I'm here. It's like why the souls in this
body doing what I'm doing. But now it's coming down
to the business part where I'm going to have to
present this to investor or you know, shot myself around
(19:21):
whatever it is. And I have my ideas of how
I want to do it in but I'm looking now
for those people to help me execute, and I am
I'm just really excited to see what happens. Do you
have a date set or a time frame set for
the launch? I mean, honestly, you're promoted here. What's the
(19:42):
album called? What do you think? In the mic? Is
all your floors all yours? Oh? Well, thank you? I'm
going to So I've got ten songs. I'm going to
release them single for single to get my wear and
tear out of it. But I've also told myself with
this project because my first experience recording my first album,
I was so like deadline, deadline, deadline, which I was
(20:02):
only doing to myself. Nobody was doing this to me.
I was just gonna like, no, I want it by
this time. I want to do it, dear. And and
I've learned that listening back to those songs, I'm like,
those things that bothered me. Even though I was like, oh,
it's not a big deal, I was like, they still
bother me. Till this day. I listened to those songs
and all I hear are the parts that bother me.
So I've told myself that I'm allowing myself to take
(20:23):
as much time as this is where I know that
it is exactly what I want. And although it's more
money and it's more time and it's time's not real, right,
let's talk about it. Clocks are made up. This is
actually a time podcast. Yeah. So yeah, I'm just I'm
trying to allow myself grace and like, let my OCD
(20:45):
just rest for a second anytime. I'm like, I want
to now. And the guy that I'm working with my
He's one of my very good friends. His name is Jaycott's.
He plays bass for Randy Houser. He's helped me produce
this whole thing. And he's always like, hey, remember, you've
got to like, I know you want to do it.
I know you want to I know we want to
push this forward. He's like, but let's live with it,
give it a couple of days, let your ears come
(21:07):
in and out of it, and let's see how we
attack it from here. And he's always right, I'm like, no,
let's you know, like, I think this is great, let's
move where. He's like, just give it a couple of days.
You know. You're like, and I'm so grateful for him
talking me off the ledge all the time. It's hard
to be patient though. It's like that old saying where
if you go buy a car or a house or something,
the first one you look like like, oh I love this,
I want to get this, and you're like, well, no,
let's look at a couple of other ones for yeah,
and if you still like that one, then we'll come
(21:29):
back to that one, right. Yeah. It's kind of like
that same mentality where you're like, you can't just jump
on something and then just get it out there or
buy it, purchase it and then be like, well, I
probably should have thought about this little hard Yeah, and
that previous album you're talking about is your self titled
debut album? Correct? It was? Yeah, twenty nine years of learning.
That's just how I described it, Okay. Yeah, I was
just self titled. I was Tarilyn Pisto. Okay, And that's
(21:52):
that pretty much self explanatory. Twenty nine years of learning
and stuff you learned over the years, and yeah, have
a lot of fun and a lot of it was
just that was kind of a coming of age album.
I think those songs are even when I play them now,
although a few of them have kind of evolved for
me in my mind, but m or like change meaning
(22:12):
you know, not what they once were. I thought it
was interesting because they're three songs, are Hell raisor Scars
at Home. All three to me were totally different than
each other. Yeah, Like you had your the hell raisors
like this old almost like a blues old, like your
raising hell kind of girl, I'm a badass girl kind
of thing, and then the Scars kind of had like
(22:32):
the rock feel to it, and then Home is like
this homeie feel to it, So yeah, I thought it
was interesting, and all three are great, by the way.
So if you're listening to this, go stream that. Go
check it out now. And is that something that you
aim for is to is it a song that comes
to you and whatever however it comes out. You're not
really aiming at a certain genre or a certain feel
to it. It's just like this is how I listen
(22:54):
to it, is that I hear it and it comes
out yeah, okay, Yeah, I've I stand firmly on the
ground of like a good song as a good song period.
And if I feel as if I were to create
music to fit in a certain genre, I would be
denying myself. As I explained to you earlier, I grew
(23:15):
up around everything. So I feel like if I tried
to whether I go like, oh, this is just gonna
be a rock album, or this is just going to
be a country album, or this is just going to
be a roots album, or you know, however it would go.
And maybe I can talk to someone who knows more
than I am that or more than I do that
can kind of help me, you know, round out the edges.
But I just try to live by a good song
(23:36):
as a good song, and if you can play an
acoustic and it stands on its own, it's a good song.
So whether it's country or it's rock, I'm going to
put it out, you know, because somewhere down the line
someone's going to listen to it and go like I
needed that today. Thanks. I like it. I like the versatility,
thank you, And I want to close out with this.
I try to ask everybody this, what advice because moving
(23:59):
in all chasing the dream, live in a life that
doesn't really there's not much security in it. Everyone knows
it for the love of it, right, Yeah, So what
what advice would you give somebody listen to this that's like, Hey,
you know, I have a job that I hate and
I really want to kind of try this, but I
don't know if it's gonna work out that are on
the ropes or whatever it might be. Do you have
any advice for advice for somebody that maybe sitting there?
(24:22):
Do it? Just do it, and you don't have to
know what it looks like, and you don't have to
know what it tastes like or feels like or what
room you're in. But if you are sincerely doing something,
every day that is not feeding your soul or making
you grow as a human being. Stop. Don't do that.
(24:47):
Whether you have to live with your parents for another
year or however, you have to figure it out, find
what makes you tick and go for it. Jump do it,
take the leap. Yeah, I get Tara. Thank you so
much for coming on. Where can you find you on
social media? Everything? My handles at I am pister, my
last name F I S T E R. Okay, go
check her out. Check out our music that self titled
(25:09):
debut album, Hell Raiser, Scars and Home and the three
songs are awesome. Check it out, terras or anything else
you'd like the sex. Thanks for having me, of course,
have a beer a thank you
Welcome to season two of Unsigned and Independent. We have
another episode and another season of this and Kevin kind
of restate your goal for why you started this show.
So the goal was when I first came into Nashville,
I saw these bands, artists that I thought were really good,
and I didn't understand why I've never heard of this
person or this group, and I wanted to get them
(00:30):
on to talk about, you know, the late nights of Broadway.
I'm playing late, getting up early, and just the whole
grind of the industry without the backing of a label
or a record company, or a management team or which
all the things I hope to get right and want
to be coolest to see some of these some of
these folks develop into signed and not independent exactly because
when we started the Bobbycast a long time ago, that
(00:52):
was a deal. We had a lot of artists on
and songwriters that later became stars I met. I think
about Ryan Hurd, who was just a songwriter. We talked
to him, is all right, new guy heard? You know,
he would talk about how hard it was to write
songs get a publishing deal. But this is what you're doing.
Even a step farther back, it's like a prequel. He
had an early Bobby cast. And so who'd you talk
with this time? This is Tara Fister. Why Tara? Because
(01:15):
I met her through somebody I had on the first
season last year. Actually his name is Graham, and he
kind of told me about her, introduced me to her,
came across her stuff, and she had this presence about her,
has this presence about her. She's got bright hair, bright clothes, tattoos,
she's got this presence on stage where just like, I
need to know more about this girl. She good live, Yeah,
it's great. So you talk with her. She's from Saint Louis,
(01:37):
she's been here for ten years or so. Does she
have the frustration of, hey, why hasn't this happened for
me yet? No? She has such a good outlook on
you know, I'm gonna do what I need to do
and everything else would kind of take care of itself.
She's had her frustrated days or her weeks, you know,
taking care of everything, funding everything, managing everything, but overall
she's got a good outlook on the bigger picture. All right.
(01:58):
Here we go, Unsigned and Independent with Kevin O'Connell aka
kick Off Kevin. Here is Tara Fister here on the
Bobby Cast in a special edition? By the way, is
this a new season? Yes? Oh I did Music to
My Ears season two, episode one of Unsigned and Independent.
Hey Tara, good to see you, Good to have you
in here. How long has it been since you moved
(02:18):
to Nashville. It'll be ten years this July, I believe. Wow, Yeah, Forest,
I moved down. Okay, I like literally pulled into town
as a fireworks are going off. Really yeah, so it's
a little it's a cute old story. That's awesome. I
saw the fireworks show here a couple of years ago,
and it's probably the best I've ever seen. Yeah, as
long as the smoke doesn't blur it out right? Yea,
that is true. What was your mindset coming in from
(02:40):
Saint Louis to Nashville? Where you like, oh my gosh,
I want to be all over the radio. I want to,
you know, sign with this purse or this label and
do this and this or was it kind of just
a freelancing let's see what happens, let's move and just
chase a dream here. Yeah, well I had. I had
just turned twenty one. I worked at a Ford dealership, okay,
And I was coming to Nashville about once a month
to do a writer's round and try to create some
(03:02):
type of circle or community or just you know, get
my feet wet. And one night after a writer's round,
I was hanging out with a group of friends and
we were going to the Preds game. So we were
standing in Rippy's and just standing there, you know, taking
in the scene, and a guy on stage whose name
was Greg Humphrey. He just pointed me out in the
crowd and he was like, you're a singer. And at
(03:23):
that time I had had enough beverages where I was like,
hell yeah, I'm a singer. And he got me on
stage and I sang a couple of songs and he
through the tip jog at me and he was like,
if you can come back with this tip jugful, I'll
have a job for you. I was like deal. So
I ran the tip jar and I came back and
I gave him my card and he called me. Two
weeks later. I went to the game, went back to
(03:45):
Saint Louis, you know, went about my life, and he
called me about two weeks later and he was like,
what are you doing for cmafest And I was like,
whatever you tell me, I'm doing. So he's like, oh,
why don't you come down you can play with my band,
blahlah blah. So I came down two weeks later, played
with this band, went back home, and then he called
me again about two weeks later and said, if you
want to move, you have a job. Wow. So I
packed up everything, which was like a bag of shoes,
(04:08):
a bag of clothes, my guitar, a microphone in my
car and moved like a week later and slept on
one of my girlfriend's couches for a couple of weeks,
and then segued into somebody's apartment that the roommate situation
didn't work out, and then into a house. And here
I am ten years later. Do you like the idea
that it was just so sudden and like you had
(04:29):
to make a decision right then and there, almost as
if you didn't have to maybe build up too and
think about it too much, or just like, you know what,
why not, let's do it? Well, to be if I
was being honest with myself, I would say that I
always knew, even when I was aty biddy, like when
people would ask me when I was little, you know,
what do you want to do? I would always answer,
I want to be the girl in music videos, and
I meant the singer, like, you know, the not the
(04:50):
main character, but me watching like rebuff on the TV
or whatever. Okay, I want to be the girl in
music videos. And so I think there was no really
thinking having to be done. I've always known in my
core that no matter what I was doing, it would
be revolved around music. What surprises me the most about
it is my parents just looked at me and you're like, okay,
see you later. I was that. When I think about it,
(05:12):
I'm like, oh my gosh. I was so naive. I
had never lived out in my house. I had never
paid bills, Like even when I was in college, I
was going to a university right on the road, so
I had lived with my parents. Like there was never
any I just looked at my parents, was like, I
think when we move Nashville. My mom was like, great,
we'll see you later. Like, oh, okay, bye. Were you
did you think she might have be a little reluctant
(05:33):
to it, either of your parents like, oh, I don't know,
this is such a good idea. You don't know if
you're gonna really make it or are they always been
that supportive? They've always been really supportive. I was. I'd
like to think that I was always pretty straightforward with
them too. I wasn't a big head like. I wasn't
a you know, I wasn't sneaking out and lying and
do whatever. So and they've known, you know, my first
job was working in a music store, and I started
taking piano lessons when I was itty bitty and took
(05:55):
every lesson you can think of from there on out,
and it just I think it was a very natural
segue into where I am at now. Was music always
a big thing for you? Yes, it's um a little
bit of everything. So I have a My dad is
one of six and all of his all of his sisters.
He's there's three boys and three girls, all of them saying.
My grandma plays killer piano. I just have vivid memories
(06:18):
of show tunes when dinner was over in washing dishes,
and all of my aunts would split into harmonies and
sing Oklahoma or Carousel or whatever was in their mind
that day. UM so kind of started there, and I
just my mom always joked about that, I kind of
came out singing my brother was in theater. My sister
was a big rockhead. My dad loved the rat Pack,
(06:38):
my mom was into country so and I was the youngest.
So I was just kind of a little a little
melting pot. Oh wow, okay, yeah, youngest, just a brother
and a sister. Okay, so youngest of three? Are you
the only artist in the I guess you guys all
have some musical talent involved. My brother does. So it's
my sister Lee, my brother Stephen, and myself, and I'm
Stephen is a theater kid, so he did it, you know,
(06:59):
an adult as well. And he's phenomenal. He's one of
those guys that, like, they always told him that his
biggest challenge and I would be deciding if he wants
to build and paint the stage or be on it. Wow. Yeah,
he can do anything. Wow. That's awesome. So you're not
the most talented in the family, or are you equally talented?
I'd like to say equally talented, different tastes. It's like
(07:22):
apples and oranges. You know, we're still we're still the
same things. You mentioned Reebo. You'd watch her on TV
growing up. Who are some of your other idols or musicians?
Bands that you looked up to and maybe still look
up to well when I was little. It's interesting I
was kind of forced. Sounds harsh, but it wasn't harsh.
I just I wasn't allowed to watch MTV, so really
(07:44):
the only thing I could watch was CMT that had
music involved, you know. So, um, Lean Walmock was huge
for me. Leon Womack was kind of my like my lady.
She's still my lady crush, but at this point in
my life, I think someone who has a huge phone
over me. I love the Food Fighters, I love Billy
Joel Um. Those two are kind of my main like
(08:06):
they can and honestly, I'm am a pretty huge John
Mayer fan. And I know people can talk all sorts
of smack, but I really do enjoy his guitar playing
like I just love his tone. Anything he does, I'm like, yeah,
I'm there, I'm right there with you. He has an
album that kind of changed the way that I started
playing that I started singing um just listening to him
The Search for Everything, and I had to still feel
(08:27):
like a man. Um. I love that whole album, so
that's awesome. I've never seen him. I would love to
see him he's fantastic. He really is. My friend. Garrett
and I went Garrett throwing. He's a fellow artist as well,
um Wisconsin guy. But we made the agreement going in.
I was like, neither of us is going to talk
like at all, and he was like, I agree. So
we literally just went in there and like stood next
(08:48):
to each other and just like consumed the entire show
in silence. It was great and soaked at all and
stoked at all. I mean, yeah, that's a great idea.
I don't think you've ever even thought about doing something
like that. But it's almost like one of these we're like,
you know what, I'm going to live in the moment
right now, right here. I don't want to talk to you.
I don't, Yeah, I just want to act like I'm
sitting in my car listening to them by myself or
(09:09):
something like that. Well, and I've learned that the older
I get and the more I can kind of like
sit and reflect on myself and who I am and
how I've grown, I've noticed that I just I really
cannot concentrate if there's music in the room, Like if
there's music going on, if it's if even if it's
a bar downtown and people are trying to talk or
have conversations and you know, mingle my brain. I'm just
(09:30):
watching the music. I'm just I'm like, you know. So
it's nice to have concert buddies that kind of have
the same mindset. You just go in. They're like, Okay,
we're both going to thoroughly enjoy this standing next to
each other, and that's it. And as an arty talk later,
are you, like, are you watching or listening? I should say,
more than anything listening and thinking? Are you are you
(09:50):
hearing everything going on? Like you're not just hearing a song?
If that makes sense? Are you kind of breaking it
down in your head? Oh yeah, I think yeah, because
you have an ear for it and you're in it
like I'm not. I don't play any I'm not musically
talented at all. Yeah, so I wouldn't understand like I
would some other things like you would with it. So
it's just interesting to me. If you sit there and
listen to it, you're probably listening to a whole different
sound then say, I would be, Um, yeah, I think
(10:14):
that's a fair statement. But I also think, you know,
with this being what I do, it's also nice to
watch other people, you know, even the visuals. You look
and you're like, okay, well, you know, like how am
I consuming this? Like well, obviously like auditorian visual, So
how would I've done that? Would I have put that
piano there? Would I have set the stage that way?
(10:36):
Would I have these lights at this time? Was that
confetti on point? You know? Like whatever it is you're doing,
big or small, I just like to like research how
other people present their passion. Do you find yourself It's
funny and bring that up because I'll do that with
like TV shows or radio shows, you know, working in
the industry, and I'll be like, well, where is the producer?
(10:58):
Why isn't he telling this person to do this or whatever?
That with movies all the time, now I'm like, oh,
look at this shot. I'm like, no, Tara, I get
consumed exactly. You're not enjoying the movie now, you're just
looking at the background. So that's what I was going
to ask. Can you do you think it like kind
of hinders your enjoyment of a show or no? Is
it more of an art to you that you're just
trying to figure out your mind? I think it's more
(11:18):
of an art, and I think something else. So I've
made my New Year's resolution was to see one show
a month, because I think when you're a creator, when
you're making music constantly, you forget to go get it,
like you forget to go get it in your in
your blood again, and you kind of forget, you know,
I'm like, oh, I've got to play that night, Like
I'm not going to go see this show, you know,
(11:41):
But every time I leave a concert, I'm always so
happy I did that. I'm always like, oh man, I
needed that. Like I think as an artist, you forget,
you know, you're like giving, giving, giving, but you forget
that when you go to the concert that artist is
giving to you, like you fill your cut back up,
and you forget that you can do that at concerts,
even in small venues. You know, there's so many great
(12:02):
stages in Nashville that are itty bitty that you can
just go and you're like, oh man, I didn't even
know I needed that. You just walk out of there
going like I feel different than I did walking in.
You have a very profound look to you where it's
like you walk in and you have this bright hair
and these tattoos and a lot of your outfits are
very bright and colorful. Yeah, And is that something that
(12:23):
you have always done throughout your life? Like growing up
as a teenager, did you always have different How many
hair color shade have you had? Do you think probably
most of them? Is that something that you dive into
and you just really enjoy just bringing out your personality
with it, whether it's your tattoos or your outfits or
your hair because I love it. I mean you walk
in and you just scream confidence. Oh yeah, so it
(12:46):
just that's what Okay, So maybe it's just a front
and then no, I think with each passing year, I
definitely settle more and more into it. I think it's
who I've always been. I think as a teenager, you
know you're always you don't really I don't think majority
of us know exactly who we are as teenagers. We
have a vague outline, right, yes, but m yeah, No,
(13:08):
the colors have always been part of me. I enjoy colors.
I don't have. I like a nice solid black dress
every once in a while, but other than matt, I'm
whatever catches my eye that day is going on. So
and a lot of times I don't think they really
make a whole lot of sense, but my friends tell
me I look cool, So that's great. Thanks. Since you
(13:33):
moved to Nashville and you started playing music right away,
has this always been your source of income for you?
Or have you had to have multiple jobs at some points? Like?
What's that been like for you? Um, there was about
a year where I bartended, but um, that was mostly
because I wanted to bartend. I'd never bartended before and
I just woke up and was like, I want to
(13:54):
dry bartending one day. So I did that for about
a year and um no, But other than that, IVE
always been music full time since I was twenty one. Okay,
do you think that's pretty rare for you too? Because
I talk to some people and they'll be like, yeah,
I've had to serve for a year, like had to
serve or had to barten, or had to do another
job during the day and then perform at night. So
do you find yourself pretty lucky are you? Or do
(14:17):
you find other people as well who can come here
and make a living just doing music from the get go?
I think it really depends on your personality. Depends on
your personality and your work ethic, and you're honestly your
ability to live at a lower income at moments in
your life, like if you have the ability to go like, Okay,
(14:38):
well you know my bank account is has four dollars
in it, but I know I'm going to work tonight,
and I know I'm working this weekend, and so I
just have to make four dollars. I have to not
freak out at having four dollars. If you can have
the wherewithal to just like chill yourself out, you'll be fine.
I've always eaten. My dad has a great saying of
like what did He always used to tell some real
(15:00):
It was something along the lines of like you may
never have excess, but somehow you will always have enough.
So I don't know if that's like a blind faith
thing or if it's just like a you know, you
get what you put out. But I have always had enough,
and there's been moments of like, you know, holy that
was a big paycheck. So I'd like more of those.
(15:23):
Anybody's listening, Yeah, Universe, if you're out there, I'd like
some more of those places. If you get into existence, yes,
I'm here, show me which door to walk through when
you hit those low moments, whether it's monetarily or professionally.
Have you had a moment where you're like, I don't
know if this is what I want to do anymore? No,
you've never gotten there. No, I've had moments of like,
(15:43):
I may have moments of going like, man, what am
I doing with my life? But it always resolves to
exactly what you're supposed to be doing, and it's just
not easy. So you're gonna be uncomfortable. You are human,
You're gonna be uncomfortable. You're gonna have self doubt, You're
going to compare yourself set time, you know, to those
around you and wonder why you didn't get that call
(16:04):
or you know, oh my gosh, there's so much you know,
thinking someone's better than you are, but no one can
do it like I can do it, and I can't
do it like they can do it. Do you play
downtown a lot or no? Um, I played down there
when I'm in town like Monday through Wednesday, and then
you're traveling on the weekend. Traveling on the weekends, Yeah,
(16:24):
you are? You like on tour right now or you
I did a little tour last year. As of right now,
my next thing I think is in Uh, I'm going
to Oregon I haven't done like a tour, like a
drive by drive mine or more like flight dates. I
guess you'd say, are you filling in kind of thing
or is it like a band that you're with. It's
kind of about half and half. Okay, so half of
(16:45):
them will be acoustic dates and half of them will
be band dates. Okay, yeah, okay, you got a pretty
busy year coming up, or I hope. So, yeah, it's
I've got a couple of dates I'm supposed to be playing,
and I think it's October. I'm going over to Switzerland
to play a festivals called Bottom Part, so that'll be
I'm excited for that one. They have like a ten
day festival where the whole city shuts down, and I've
(17:06):
been over there a couple of times, I think three
or four times now, So shout out to Bottom Switzerland,
high guys looking forward to that. Do you pay for
all this out of pocket? Everything I've ever done is
out of my own pocket? What's that like for you?
Trying to You're booking your own stuff, You're paying your
your your own everything, right, correct, So what is that
(17:28):
entail overwhelming for you? There are moments where, especially last
year and I feel going into this year where I'm like, Okay,
I understand why this takes a team, because sometimes I
just kind of look around. I'm like, ah, there's a
lot of things I need to do right now. But
I think it's also I'm I'm grateful for it now
(17:50):
because I think when the time comes that I'm able
to afford to have that team, I will be understanding
of their situations. You know, it won't be so expected.
It'll be more like a, Okay, it happens that, Yeah
that was weird. Let's you know, segue this way or
whatever we have to do. And it's allowed me to
just learn the business, you know five Like what do
(18:11):
they call it? Baptism by fire? So um, yeah, that's
an interesting perspective. So if anything goes wrong in the
future and you have a team, you're like, well, I've
been there, I understand. Here's how we can either fix it,
or you can understand and not just yell at them
right within reason, or I have my feelings hurt or
be frustrated. You know, it's like frustration can only get
you so far, and then it's like you just have
to do something about it, you know, right, right, So
(18:35):
but it's so the last two years I've been in
the studio making my second album, and everything I have
has been put into this album, financially, emotionally, musically, anything, sonically, whatever,
you know, everything I have has gone into this album.
And just within this past month are they like cherry
(18:58):
on top being sent to mix master. And it's been
such an enjoyable process. And you know, the creating part
is always the fun part is always the that's you know,
why I'm here. It's like why the souls in this
body doing what I'm doing. But now it's coming down
to the business part where I'm going to have to
present this to investor or you know, shot myself around
(19:21):
whatever it is. And I have my ideas of how
I want to do it in but I'm looking now
for those people to help me execute, and I am
I'm just really excited to see what happens. Do you
have a date set or a time frame set for
the launch? I mean, honestly, you're promoted here. What's the
(19:42):
album called? What do you think? In the mic? Is
all your floors all yours? Oh? Well, thank you? I'm
going to So I've got ten songs. I'm going to
release them single for single to get my wear and
tear out of it. But I've also told myself with
this project because my first experience recording my first album,
I was so like deadline, deadline, deadline, which I was
(20:02):
only doing to myself. Nobody was doing this to me.
I was just gonna like, no, I want it by
this time. I want to do it, dear. And and
I've learned that listening back to those songs, I'm like,
those things that bothered me. Even though I was like, oh,
it's not a big deal, I was like, they still
bother me. Till this day. I listened to those songs
and all I hear are the parts that bother me.
So I've told myself that I'm allowing myself to take
(20:23):
as much time as this is where I know that
it is exactly what I want. And although it's more
money and it's more time and it's time's not real, right,
let's talk about it. Clocks are made up. This is
actually a time podcast. Yeah. So yeah, I'm just I'm
trying to allow myself grace and like, let my OCD
(20:45):
just rest for a second anytime. I'm like, I want
to now. And the guy that I'm working with my
He's one of my very good friends. His name is Jaycott's.
He plays bass for Randy Houser. He's helped me produce
this whole thing. And he's always like, hey, remember, you've
got to like, I know you want to do it.
I know you want to I know we want to
push this forward. He's like, but let's live with it,
give it a couple of days, let your ears come
(21:07):
in and out of it, and let's see how we
attack it from here. And he's always right, I'm like, no,
let's you know, like, I think this is great, let's
move where. He's like, just give it a couple of days.
You know. You're like, and I'm so grateful for him
talking me off the ledge all the time. It's hard
to be patient though. It's like that old saying where
if you go buy a car or a house or something,
the first one you look like like, oh I love this,
I want to get this, and you're like, well, no,
let's look at a couple of other ones for yeah,
and if you still like that one, then we'll come
(21:29):
back to that one, right. Yeah. It's kind of like
that same mentality where you're like, you can't just jump
on something and then just get it out there or
buy it, purchase it and then be like, well, I
probably should have thought about this little hard Yeah, and
that previous album you're talking about is your self titled
debut album? Correct? It was? Yeah, twenty nine years of learning.
That's just how I described it, Okay. Yeah, I was
just self titled. I was Tarilyn Pisto. Okay, And that's
(21:52):
that pretty much self explanatory. Twenty nine years of learning
and stuff you learned over the years, and yeah, have
a lot of fun and a lot of it was
just that was kind of a coming of age album.
I think those songs are even when I play them now,
although a few of them have kind of evolved for
me in my mind, but m or like change meaning
(22:12):
you know, not what they once were. I thought it
was interesting because they're three songs, are Hell raisor Scars
at Home. All three to me were totally different than
each other. Yeah, Like you had your the hell raisors
like this old almost like a blues old, like your
raising hell kind of girl, I'm a badass girl kind
of thing, and then the Scars kind of had like
(22:32):
the rock feel to it, and then Home is like
this homeie feel to it, So yeah, I thought it
was interesting, and all three are great, by the way.
So if you're listening to this, go stream that. Go
check it out now. And is that something that you
aim for is to is it a song that comes
to you and whatever however it comes out. You're not
really aiming at a certain genre or a certain feel
to it. It's just like this is how I listen
(22:54):
to it, is that I hear it and it comes
out yeah, okay, Yeah, I've I stand firmly on the
ground of like a good song as a good song period.
And if I feel as if I were to create
music to fit in a certain genre, I would be
denying myself. As I explained to you earlier, I grew
(23:15):
up around everything. So I feel like if I tried
to whether I go like, oh, this is just gonna
be a rock album, or this is just going to
be a country album, or this is just going to
be a roots album, or you know, however it would go.
And maybe I can talk to someone who knows more
than I am that or more than I do that
can kind of help me, you know, round out the edges.
But I just try to live by a good song
(23:36):
as a good song, and if you can play an
acoustic and it stands on its own, it's a good song.
So whether it's country or it's rock, I'm going to
put it out, you know, because somewhere down the line
someone's going to listen to it and go like I
needed that today. Thanks. I like it. I like the versatility,
thank you, And I want to close out with this.
I try to ask everybody this, what advice because moving
(23:59):
in all chasing the dream, live in a life that
doesn't really there's not much security in it. Everyone knows
it for the love of it, right, Yeah, So what
what advice would you give somebody listen to this that's like, Hey,
you know, I have a job that I hate and
I really want to kind of try this, but I
don't know if it's gonna work out that are on
the ropes or whatever it might be. Do you have
any advice for advice for somebody that maybe sitting there?
(24:22):
Do it? Just do it, and you don't have to
know what it looks like, and you don't have to
know what it tastes like or feels like or what
room you're in. But if you are sincerely doing something,
every day that is not feeding your soul or making
you grow as a human being. Stop. Don't do that.
(24:47):
Whether you have to live with your parents for another
year or however, you have to figure it out, find
what makes you tick and go for it. Jump do it,
take the leap. Yeah, I get Tara. Thank you so
much for coming on. Where can you find you on
social media? Everything? My handles at I am pister, my
last name F I S T E R. Okay, go
check her out. Check out our music that self titled
(25:09):
debut album, Hell Raiser, Scars and Home and the three
songs are awesome. Check it out, terras or anything else
you'd like the sex. Thanks for having me, of course,
have a beer a thank you
Host
Bobby Bones
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