My Taxi Story

Did you get a deal through TAXI? Lets hear about it!

Moderators: admin, mdc, TAXIstaff

johnlewitt
Serious Musician
Serious Musician
Posts: 1525
Joined: Mon Oct 21, 2013 6:44 am
Gender: Male
Contact:

My Taxi Story

Post by johnlewitt » Sun Feb 24, 2019 1:13 pm

Success is something that can be measured in many ways. A lot of times people equate their success with Taxi as, “I got a forward! I signed a song to a library! My song was just used in a TV show!” That’s great, but that’s not the only way Taxi can help you. Here’s my story.

I went to my first Rally in 2013. At the time I think I’d had a couple forwards and had signed one song to a library, though I could be wrong about the timing - it was a long time ago. After going to that Rally, I knew I would be back the next year. You see, Taxi gathers together a community of like minded musicians and puts them in a situation where they can thrive - I think this is the best thing they do! I’ve learned so much at the Rally over the years about songwriting, gear, plugins, performing, mixing, mastering, and the ins and outs of the industry (basically anything anyone could want to know). This event alone is enough to join Taxi. But let’s talk about tangible success.

1) I have dozens and dozens of songs in a handful of music libraries that I consider my go to libraries, ones that I can pitch to and trust that they will then go out and try to get me placements (I have songs in many other libraries that I think are gathering dust, but you live and learn). And guess what? These libraries all go to the Rally, maybe not every year, but that is where I first heard about them and then met them. And when it came time to pitch to them. it was my Taxi Rally friends that pointed me in the right direction.

2) I have met many collaborators through the Rally and the Forum and have had several successes of varying levels with many of them. And regardless of the outcome of our labours I have usually come away with a new musical friend. My most successful collaboration has been with Jeff Allen. We’ve collaborated on so many songs that are now signed and out there working for us (one of our songs has been used 9 times in the past 5 months on the Y&R!). We also co-wrote and performed two songs on my most recent album and they have been getting some good airplay across Canada the past few months (the other day a station In Quebec played one of them 3 times in a day). Another successful collaboration I have is with Tom Hoy. We’ve written several songs together, signed a couple to a great library and one of those tunes is the most successful song on my current album. It’s in rotation on a bunch of radio stations and has been put on a bunch of cool Spotify playlists (as well as being my second most streamed song on Spotify, soon to be number one). Guess what? I wouldn’t know these guys if it weren’t for Taxi. And these are just two examples of many!

3) So if you’ve got this far you’ll realize that I am someone who licences stuff to Film and TV while also releasing music under their own name. Back in the fall I released an album I was really proud of called ‘All Good Things’ (BTW check out the title track, that’s Richard Dance on lead guitar - if it weren’t for Taxi I would never have met this amazing guitarist). It was good enough that I wanted to promote it to the best of my efforts. That meant putting together a band to do so. So who did I ask? My Toronto Taxi Rally Friends! It’s a group of people who have all been to a Rally and we try and get together quarterly to discuss where we are at. So Bamtone became my drummer. You might know him from all of his vocal work, but he is an absolutely incredible drummer. Then David Hayes slotted in on bass duties - he’s a lead guitarist and did me the favour of switching over to bass! Earlier this month we played the legendary Horseshoe Tavern in Toronto (previous performers there include the Rolling Stones, The Police, The Talking Heads, The Tragically Hip, the list goes on and on). And guess what? I wouldn’t know these guys if it weren’t for Taxi.

4) Finally, I have made so many great friends who I’ve meet at the Rally. There are a bunch that I don’t collaborate with, but we share information and can ask each other’s opinions on songs, mixes and business decisions 365 days a year. And I truly look forward to seeing them at the Rally each year and catching up. This is a network of people that did not exist for me before joining Taxi.

If I hadn't gone to the Rally I wouldn't be where I am today and it's a story I wanted to share with you all.

User avatar
funsongs
Total Pro
Total Pro
Posts: 7162
Joined: Fri Sep 06, 2013 11:18 am
Gender: Male
Location: So Cal
Contact:

Re: My Taxi Story

Post by funsongs » Sun Feb 24, 2019 2:00 pm

Good read & report; congrats, John.
(John plays a mean accordion, too, folks... just in case.) :? :)
Peter Rahill - aka "funsongs"
NOW, back on YouTube (2022)
https://www.youtube.com/@peterrahill9263/featured
https://soundcloud.com/funsongs-1
https://peterrahill.bandcamp.com/

“The future aint what it use to be.” - Yogi Berra

songmaster
Serious Musician
Serious Musician
Posts: 1955
Joined: Mon May 02, 2011 7:54 am
Gender: Male
Contact:

Re: My Taxi Story

Post by songmaster » Mon Feb 25, 2019 8:02 am

Thanks for sharing your story John. It is a great example of how Taxi is bringing people together who ordinarily would never have met. They say it takes a village, who knew you could fit a whole village in a Taxi :) It's been so great to work with you.

Tom

User avatar
edmondredd
Committed Musician
Committed Musician
Posts: 994
Joined: Thu Dec 17, 2015 2:01 am
Gender: Male
Location: Canada
Contact:

Re: My Taxi Story

Post by edmondredd » Wed Feb 27, 2019 1:20 pm

Thanks for sharing John. great insights and extremely nicely put!
edmond redd
________________________

Image Image Image Image

User avatar
cassmcentee
Serious Musician
Serious Musician
Posts: 3513
Joined: Wed Apr 03, 2013 10:40 am
Gender: Male
Contact:

Re: My Taxi Story

Post by cassmcentee » Wed Feb 27, 2019 4:07 pm

Inspiring Words!
Congrats John!
Robert "Cass" McEntee
"Making music on a spinning ball of Magma"
https://soundcloud.com/robert-cass-mcentee
https://www.taxi.com/members/DosPalmasRecordings

User avatar
Casey H
King of the World
King of the World
Posts: 14163
Joined: Tue Jan 27, 2004 3:22 pm
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Contact:

Re: My Taxi Story

Post by Casey H » Wed Feb 27, 2019 4:19 pm

Nice, John! :mrgreen:

I'm proud to say I am one of your collab-ers. And you ALWAYS pitch in and give feedback, much appreciated! :mrgreen:

See ya in November!!! (Bring your "inside voice") :P

Best
Casey

LamarPecorino
Serious Musician
Serious Musician
Posts: 1420
Joined: Tue Nov 12, 2013 5:00 pm
Gender: Male
Location: Austin, Texas
Contact:

Re: My Taxi Story

Post by LamarPecorino » Fri Mar 01, 2019 11:47 am

Thanks for sharing your Taxi story, John. Very inspiring. Congratulation on all of your successes!
Onward and upward!
Lamar

“We set sail on this new sea because there is new knowledge to be gained" JFK

Kolstad
Serious Musician
Serious Musician
Posts: 4620
Joined: Tue Jun 02, 2009 7:19 pm
Gender: Male
Contact:

Re: My Taxi Story

Post by Kolstad » Fri Mar 01, 2019 11:55 am

Well done, dude!
Ceo of my own life

User avatar
ResonantTone
Committed Musician
Committed Musician
Posts: 553
Joined: Tue Feb 26, 2019 10:32 am
Gender: Male
Contact:

Re: My Taxi Story

Post by ResonantTone » Fri Mar 01, 2019 7:56 pm

Thanks for sharing your awesome story and giving some additional perspective on success! The more I hang out on these forums, the more it seems like Taxi really is like a family. Pretty excited to continue to meet all the awesome people around here and hopefully get out to the Road Rally this November!

Andrew

DannyWeber
Serious Musician
Serious Musician
Posts: 1032
Joined: Wed Sep 04, 2013 3:48 pm
Gender: Male
Contact:

Re: My Taxi Story

Post by DannyWeber » Mon Mar 04, 2019 4:57 pm

Congrats on all your successes! Sounds like your on the right path, John.. thanks for sharing!

Dan
https://www.taxi.com/members/danweber

Go your own way! Out of necessity, drive, gumption, whatever.. don't let anyone tell you you can't!
It's not what goes into your music that's important, it's what comes out the speakers

Post Reply

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 8 guests