Rory Sullivan

A Tribe of Noise Spotlight Interview with a soulful singer-songwriter.

On Rory’s website you will find:

Rory is an award winning singer-songwriter with soulful undertones of folk, pop, and Americana. Los Angeles based with east coast, New Orleans, and Chicago roots, he has played over 600 clubs, colleges, and festivals. He has shared the stage with Stephane Wrembel, Ernie Halter, Jamie Kent, Todd Carey, Royal Southern Brotherhood, Mutlu, and Curtis Peoples. His song “From the Bottom” was featured on an album with John Oates, Neko Case, Cyndi Lauper, and Emmylou Harris.

In addition to winning numerous awards through Indaba Music and CD Baby, and taking home the grand prize in the Sarah Evans songwriting competition, he was also picked as songwriter of the week by American Songwriter Magazine. Additionally, his song “Better Now” was featured in the award winning documentary Finding Seoul. Rory has a strong presence on satellite, internet, and college radio, as well as NPR.

But when did Rory start, what has been his biggest surprise/lesson along the way and what is he working on right now?

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What got you started?

I always had a music ear. I started with the violin and that quickly grew into playing guitar and writing songs. Writing was my way to express myself. I'm a bit of an introvert!

What has changed since you started out?

I think probably growing into my business mind to charter the music industry landscape in the past decade. I made a record when I was very young and after we were finished it was like, "okay, good luck!". It was a shock and I quickly realised I needed to know how to run my musical business if I was going to survive and continue making music.

What has been the biggest surprise/lesson along the way?

I think the biggest lesson is perseverance. Keep going. Habits are what make us successful and if you want to be great you've got to put in the time. That's a general life lesson but is also specific towards art of any kind.

What would you do if you were not doing this/making music?

Great question. I think it would be something involved with tech or creating something of another art.

Do you have advice for other musicians?

I think I've mentioned some but keep working at it every day. Sooner or later your brain will start to work on autopilot and the notes or songs you thought you couldn't write end up coming out more naturally. As Nike says, just do it.

What are you working on right now?

I recently moved to LA and am working on a song with my producer for my sync project and also writing songs for the next Rory Sullivan release.

Any cool features lately?

Was happy to get some TV placements on MTV's Teen Mom not long ago. Many more to come hopefully!

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