Cranston Dean – Songwriting Influence From Small Town Life And Jazz, Recording "Northern Town," Getting Started In Songwriting, The Value Of Open Mic Performance, Big Studio Lessons Applied To Home Recording #265

Singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Cranston Dean is my guest for this episode. Cranston is a New Jersey native whose music draws from Americana, folk, jazz, country, blues, pop, and soul. He sees songwriting and performing as a way to translate and transform the human condition into beautiful works of art.

Cranston's solo tours have taken him throughout the Mid-Atlantic to Nashville and north through New England to the coast of Maine.  In the summer of 2017, he supported his fourth studio album, "High Beams," with a tour spanning Chicago, Minnesota, Washington, Oregon, California, and Colorado. The album was named one of New Jersey music's 17 best albums of 2017 by New Jersey Advance Media (NJ.com) 

Educated at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia as a jazz pianist, Cranston is the 2017 & 2016 Asbury Park Music Award winner as Top Male Acoustic Act, and the winner of the 2015 Asbury Park Music Award as Top Multi-Instrumentalist, so yeah, he's pretty talented.

Cranston has an album release show at Asbury Lanes on May 28th (Northern Town), which dropped on his birthday this past May 11th.

Cranston and I talk about the small-town life and jazz influences in his music, the recording of "Northern Town," how he got his start in songwriting, the value of open mic performance, recording studio lessons that helped him record from home.

Please enjoy my conversation with Cranston Dean.

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Resources

The Unstarving Musician’s Guide to Getting Paid Gigs, by Robonzo

Music Marketing Method – The program that helps musicians find fans, grow an audience and make consistent income

Bandzoogle – The all-in-one platform that makes it easy to build a beautiful website for your music

Dreamhost – See the latest deals from Dreamhost, save money and support the UM in the process.

More Resources for musicians

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