30 days.
I’m glad I did this.
Brew in the Stu gave me rhythm, reps, and a reason to keep showing up. It gave me a place to think out loud, share what I’ve been learning, and remind myself of things I need to hear too.
But it also made something clear:
Consistency is good.
But consistency can still get in the way of alignment.
This room is here for more than me talking to a camera.
More artists.
More collaboration.
More sessions.
More value to the community.
So no, this is not the end of Brew in the Stu.
But it is the end of this 30-day run.
Time to realign.
That feeling before the moment does not always mean stop.
Sometimes it means the moment is real.
A lot of us treat nerves, pressure, and angst like proof that something is wrong. But sometimes it just means we’re stepping into something that’s actually going to test us.
Breathe.
Keep moving.
Meet the moment.
Day 29 of Brew in the Stu.
That’s good brew.
You can get too close to your own art.
Too familiar.
Too aware of every flaw.
Too locked into every rough edge, every compromise, every place you wish it hit harder.
I played a show this past weekend, and the music that night was really good. At first, I caught myself falling into that comparison game.
But by the end of the night, I didn’t leave feeling shut down.
I left feeling inspired.
Because somebody else doing something beautifully does not make your thing worthless.
Sometimes it just reminds you what’s possible.
Take the inspiration.
Leave the self-rejection.
Day 28 of Brew in the Stu.
You can’t force the spark.
But you can be there when it shows up.
A lot of the battle is not talent. It’s friction.
Make your craft easier to touch.
Return to it often.
Stay close enough to catch the good day when it comes.
Day 27 of Brew in the Stu.
That’s good brew.
#BrewInTheStu #CreativeProcess #Songwriting #MusicProduction #ArtistLife #StudioSession
Nobody can take away your originality but yourself.
That’s one of those truths I keep coming back to.
The one thing that continues to outperform my own doubt is my voice.
My actual human voice.
The way I phrase things.
The way I mean something when I sing it.
My life, my experiences, my feelings, my perceptions — all of that lives inside the voice.
And still, the voice in my head tries to get in.
It tells me:
* the progression is too simple
* the idea is too basic
* it’s cliché
* it’s corny
* it’s been said before
Okay. Maybe it has.
But that does not automatically make it worthless.
You can ruin a good thing by trying too hard not to be cliché.
Because originality is not always about saying something nobody has ever said.
A lot of the time, it’s about saying something true in your voice.
And just because somebody has sung it before doesn’t mean you’ve sung it before.
That voice in my head has taken more from me than any lack of originality ever has.
I know that pattern so well that I turned it into a song years ago.
“I’ve got this voice in my head causing me to stop… twisting words around in circles of winding thought.”
That’s real.
And it’s not just true in music.
Your originality might not be your literal voice.
It might be your fingerprint.
Your perspective.
Your way of seeing.
Your way of telling the truth.
So when that voice shows up, don’t just quiet it.
Prove it wrong.
Sing anyway.
Write anyway.
Play anyway.
Show up anyway.
Day 26 of Brew in the Stu.
That’s good brew.
#BrewInTheStu #Songwriting #CreativeProcess #Originality #MusicProduction
When the heart is gone, lower the stakes.
I needed to hear that myself.
Lately I’ve been noticing that I can sit down with the piano or guitar, have ideas, even want to create… and still not feel connected to what I’m playing.
And when that happens, it’s easy to start asking the wrong question:
What’s the point?
But I don’t think that question is always telling the whole truth.
A lot of the time, life is just life.
Stress is real.
Context matters.
Your inner world changes what comes out of you.
That doesn’t automatically mean something is wrong with your art.
It may just mean you need a different kind of session.
Not every session should be recorded.
Not every session should have pressure.
Not every session should ask you to be “on.”
Sometimes you need to sit somewhere quiet, pick up the instrument, play softly, hum under your breath, and let it be small.
No take.
No audience.
No clock.
No pressure to make it count.
Just play.
Play to discover.
Play because you can.
Because when nobody is listening, that’s often when the heart comes back.
And when the heart comes back, the rest can follow.
Day 25 of Brew in the Stu.
That’s good brew.
#BrewInTheStu #Songwriting #CreativeProcess #MusicProduction #ArtistLife
Courage gets you in the room. Preparation changes what the room can give back.
Not every session ends with a finished product you’re ready to throw out into the world.
Sometimes what you leave with is clarity.
You find out: • which idea actually has legs • what should’ve been written beforehand • what files needed to be ready • what decisions were still missing
That does not make the session a failure.
It makes it useful.
The studio amplifies whatever you bring into it.
So yes, be brave enough to start.
But also respect the opportunity enough to prepare for what you want back.
Write the lyric.
Bounce the file.
Pick the song.
Make the plan.
Day 24 of Brew in the Stu.
That’s good brew.
#BrewInTheStu #MusicProduction #CreativeProcess #RecordingStudio #Songwriting
Discipline matters.
But if you’re not careful, you can force it in a way that poisons the thing you’re trying to love.
There’s a huge difference between being disciplined and being at war with yourself.
The goal is not just to get better.
The goal is to still want to come back tomorrow.
So ask yourself:
Am I actually practicing right now?
Or am I just punishing myself because I feel guilty?
That is not the same thing.
Because once resentment gets in, it starts talking: • maybe I’m not good enough • maybe this isn’t for me • maybe I don’t actually love this
But that voice is not always the truth.
Sometimes it’s just exhaustion mixed with disappointment.
Discipline should strengthen the bond.
It should not destroy it.
Day 23 of Brew in the Stu.
That’s good brew.
#BrewInTheStu #CreativeProcess #Practice #Discipline #ArtistLife #MusicProduction
Boredom is not always a sign that something is wrong.
Sometimes it’s a sign that the work has stopped entertaining you… and started building you.
We live in a time where everything is trying to keep us stimulated:
short videos, constant scrolling, instant answers, instant distraction.
So when practice gets quiet, repetitive, and slow, it can start to feel like it’s not working.
But a lot of real growth gets boring long before it starts looking impressive.
The metronome.
The same section again.
The same correction again.
The same rep again.
That part may not feel magical.
But that doesn’t mean it isn’t meaningful.
The danger is letting boredom turn into complacency.
So don’t go dead inside the repetition.
Stay awake in it.
Shrink the rep if you need to.
Focus on one bar, one phrase, one transition, one problem.
Do five honest reps instead of thirty half-awake ones.
The quick hit is not the same thing as the real reward.
And some of the deepest satisfaction in life comes from the pursuit — from feeling yourself build something that wasn’t there before.
So if you’re practicing and you feel bored, don’t immediately tell yourself it isn’t working.
Ask yourself if maybe you’ve just reached the point where growth stops entertaining you… and starts asking something of you.
Day 22 of Brew in the Stu.
That’s good brew.
Accidents are not the end of the story.
That’s the heart of Day 21.
I think a lot of musicians act like nothing unexpected is allowed to happen between the beginning and end of a song.
But why would that be true?
A lyric slips.
A note comes out weird.
Tempo shifts.
A stick flies.
A cable acts funny.
Somebody comes in early.
The accident is not automatically the mistake.
The mistake usually happens after the accident:
when you tense up, panic, shut down, stop listening, or lose the thread.
That’s why I think accidents can actually be a doorway.
A doorway into: • new information • a new problem to solve • a more human performance • something alive that you did not plan
Prepare, of course.
Practice.
Learn your part.
Build your reps.
But don’t prepare in such a way that makes you brittle.
Prepare in a way that leaves room for life.
Day 21 of Brew in the Stu.
That’s good brew.
#BrewInTheStu #MusicProduction #CreativeProcess
Pressure reveals what comfort let you hide. 👏
That’s the deepest truth underneath this whole mini-series.
A lot of us think pressure is the problem.
But sometimes pressure is just revealing the gap between what we can do when we feel safe… and what we can do when it actually counts.
That’s uncomfortable.
But it’s also useful.
Because once you stop treating pressure like an enemy, you can start using it as information.
It shows you: • where you rush • where you tighten up • where you disappear from yourself • where your preparation was real • and where it was only real in comfort
If this series leaves you with one thing, let it be this:
Stop asking how to avoid pressure.
Start asking what pressure is showing you.
And then do something with that information.
Put yourself in one honest rep this week.
Day 20. Part 4 of 4.
That’s good brew.
#BrewInTheStu #CreativeProcess #MusicProduction #Performance #Songwriting #RecordingStudio #GrowthMindset #MusiciansOfInstagram
Free can grow you.
Skin in the game can focus you.
That’s the heart of Day 19.
I don’t think “skin in the game” only means money. I think it means something real is on the line.
Sometimes that’s money.
Sometimes it’s trust.
Sometimes it’s effort, time, discomfort, or the possibility of embarrassment.
But when something matters, you tend to show up differently.
That’s true in music, and honestly, it’s true in life too.
Day 19 - Part 3/4 of the Brew in the Stu mini-series.
#BrewInTheStu #CreativeProcess #MusicProduction #Performance #Songwriting #RecordingStudio #GrowthMindset
