TPM 12 | Reality Singing Show

 

There are many ways to launch a career in singing, but the advent of reality TV has changed this world forever. Almost overnight, an aspiring singer can go from complete obscurity to global fame if they play their cards right. This episode’s guest, however, reminds us that singing for a reality singing show is not an end to itself, but an opportunity to launch a more serious career as an artist or anything else you would want to be in the industry. Joining Bree Noble to give us a glimpse into this potent force in the music industry is Brianna Ruelas, a strategy consultant, reality music coach, singer-songwriter and author who once had her shot at reality TV back in the day. Joining 100,000 other hopefuls for the American Idol Season 4 auditions, Brianna was chosen as one of the 100 destined for Hollywood. That one didn’t go well, but that wasn’t the end, either. Leveraging the lessons that she learned from that experience, she now helps indie artists and bands achieve successful careers in music.

Listen to the podcast here

 

How Reality TV Can Ignite Your Career In Singing With Brianna Ruelas

I am here with Brianna Ruelas and I’m excited to talk to her. We were running a lot of the same circles and somehow, we’d never met. I’m glad that we’ve met now. We’ve got a lot to talk about. She’s been on reality TV, she’s got a book and all kinds of stuff. Give them the rundown on how did you start in music? Show them a little bit of your journey up to where you are now.

First of all, thank you for having me. I’m super excited to be here and to meet you as well. I admire and respect you very much. I’ve been singing my whole life like many people in the music industry have. I started in musical theater. When I was growing up, that was the avenue and the path. There weren’t artists’ development programs on every corner like there are now. That might be a slight exaggeration, but ultimately, I did musical theater as my path. I graduated from Pepperdine University with a BA in Theater Arts, but it was right after Pepperdine that I realized I’m burnt out on musical theater.

As much as I love it, it wasn’t for me anymore. Because I was in Los Angeles, I segued into commercial and radio voiceover and thought, “I’m an LA. Why don’t I be an actress and do acting?” It didn’t take long for me to realize that music was my first love and specifically singing. Not musical theater, but vocals and singing. I joined a band and living in LA, at that time, reality television was kicking off. It had been maybe the third season on American Idol and auditions were underway. I decided to audition for American idol and that was back in season four.

I’m bitter because American Idol came out right when I started having kids. I’m like, “I’m not in a position to do this now.” I was probably too old at that point anyway, but I never got that opportunity. I would have hated it. I’m curious to hear what you say about it, but I didn’t get to do American Idol, so I was always watching on the sidelines there. Tell us about American Idol.

For me, it’s interesting because I knew that music was for me and I knew I could sing. However, at the time I feel like the record labels, that was your only avenue into the music industry, to my knowledge. The thought of trying to have a career in music was a pipe dream. That was not attainable. I had to be like Britney Spears or something like that and get discovered when I was twelve years old if I wanted something like that. That was the frame of mine. When these reality singing shows came up, I thought, “This is a foot in the door. This is an opportunity for me to identify and decide whether or not I can make it or get an opportunity.”

I viewed it as an opportunity, plus I knew I wanted to sing. They had singers on the show. That was my experience at the time. I had no idea who I was as an artist. I had zero artists’ vibe. I was literally off the musical theater boat. I showed up for the auditions and my song choice was all over the place. I auditioned several times before I made it onto the show. When I did, it was a rocky experience, which I talk about a lot in my book. I talk about, “These are the mistakes that I made.” I’m doing everything in my power to prepare others so that they can have success not just on the show, but beyond the show. That’s my whole thing is like, if reality singing shows are something you’re wanting to consider, it is not the end-all-be-all. It’s an opportunity. It’s the beginning. It’s potentially a springboard for your music career or find a way to leverage it to continue moving you onward into whatever it is you want to do with music.

People need to look at it as a leverage point, not an endpoint. Even the people that win, some of them, their career doesn’t take off because they’re dependent on the label and they haven’t put in their own time to build their fan base on the side and everything. What was the song that you did that got you on?

My song choice was so all over the place. I sang a Christina Aguilera song called Fly. They’re like, “Do you have something else?” I then sang Joan Osborne’s Spider Web.

Those are not very well-known songs.

TPM 12 | Reality Singing Show

Reality Singing Show: It is such a real thing for moms to believe that because they’re a mom now, there’s no room for their passion. That’s just a big fat lie.

 

They’re obscure. Learn from my mistakes. Don’t pick obscure songs, but thankfully, they gave me a shot. They also weren’t connected. It’s like when I talk to people and coach people on going on a reality singing show, I always have to tell them, “You want to have those 4 or 5 songs in your back pocket, but they need to align with one another. They need a fit.” They need to be part of the puzzle piece together so that it’s like an extension like, “Do you want another song? No problem. I’ll pull this out.” It shows another layer of your ability as a singer performer. Those Christina Aguilera and the Joan Osborne songs, the one thing that they did was they showcased my range. However, I had no idea who I was an artist at the time. I love that soulful rock vibe of Joan Osborne. That is very much a part of who I am as a vocalist. It was crazy. It was a lot of fun though.

When you were on the show, don’t they have the group round at the beginning?

It was such a wild experience. I made it to the top 100 out of 100,000 that audition that season. That’s what I tell people. This was back when we would circle cattle call around these stadiums. Nowadays, it’s different. A lot of times, you have a scheduled time, especially now, it is clearly with virtual. One hundred thousand people lined up physically to audition during that season. It was intimidating. There’s a lot of hurry up and wait and different rounds with show producers. Teenagers who are show producers or line producers. They weren’t teenagers, but they sure look like it. They were trying to go from one stage to the next. When I got onto the show, you were told to prepare some music leading up to the Hollywood rounds.

I had moved apartments from Sherman Oaks to Woodland Hills at the time. I forgot to tell American Idol that I moved. They sent out a package for me to prepare for Hollywood the whole time because Randy Jackson told me that I need to prepare Melissa Etheridge because I’ve got a Melissa Etheridge vibe. I’m spending all summer working with a great vocal coach. His name is Steven Memel, which you may or may not know him. He was my vocal coach. He and I worked a ton on Melissa Etheridge.

Two days before Hollywood, I realized I’ve been preparing the wrong music because they want me to learn The Letter from The Box Tops or Ain’t No Mountain High Enough. I always say that was one of my biggest mistakes was I did not stay in communication. I was unprepared. I thought I was preparing, but I was completely unprepared. I royally stunk up my audition once I got to Hollywood because I wasn’t prepared. It was a good experience. There’s a lot that I would do-over. There’s a lot that I would change, which is why I wrote a book about it.

Would you do it again though? Do you think that’s a formative experience?

I would do it again, but it would be different from my 20s to my 41-year-old self.

There are many things like that in life.

For me, as I continue to do music, I was in the studio last time. I recorded the first original single. I’ve been songwriting for years, but I never went into a studio to do my own music. I did it for the first time and I told my girls, “I realized a lifelong dream of recording my own music. I can’t believe it took me this long.” I always tell people, “This is a long game and it’s a journey.” You’re never too old to hold on, to harness that passion and keep the dream alive.

Thank you for saying that. That is a big mantra of mine that you’re never too old. I have students that are in their 70s that are making amazing music. I have people on this show that are in their 50s that are have done amazing things. I hope everyone listens to that, that you’re never too old. Also, the life stages. Something I know we have in common is we have kids. We’re moms. I started my career in Earnest when my oldest daughter was two. It sounds like the craziest time to start your music career, but before that, I was clueless and not succeeding. Once I finally figured that out, I happened to be in the stage where my daughter was two. It presented some challenges, but it also made some things easier than it is now or years ago when they were 10 and 5 or something.

I would love to hear, once you moved on from the reality show, I did read on your website that you went into hibernation for a while, which I understand. When I first became a mom, I was like, “This is what I do now. I don’t do music anymore because that’s too complicated. I don’t have time for that.” That lasted for about six weeks because I thought I was going to go nuts. I know you waited a little bit longer, but that hits you where it’s like, “This is my passion and I’m not myself without this piece in my life.” Why don’t you talk a little bit about that transformational moment and how you figured out how to fit it into your life when your life was being a mom?

I love that we have that in common because it is such a real thing for moms to believe that because they’re a mom now, there’s no room for their passion, their music, or whatever that passion might be. For me, I call it a big fat lie. I believe the lie that because I was a mom, it would be selfish of me to still try to pursue my passions, my dreams of music. I also hadn’t realized that, “This can look different and it’s okay.” I can continue doing music. It may look different than what I envisioned as a teenager or someone in their early twenties, but I can still do music. It took me years.

You’re never too old to harness your passion and keep the dream alive. Click To Tweet

Shortly after American Idol, I had my first daughter. First of all, I didn’t finish as well as I wanted to on American Idol. That was the first lie that I believed that my music career is over because American Idol is my last shot. I believe that junk for a little while. I got pregnant with my first daughter and I’m like, “This is a sign. I’m done. Not only did I get rejected from American Idol, but now I’m pregnant.” About years later, it was right after we moved to Dallas. My husband sits me down. We were on a couple vacation. It was the first one we had taken for a family wedding.

We were laying at the pool and he goes, “If you do not start singing, writing, performing or whatever it is. If you don’t start getting connected with music again, not only are you going to make yourself crazy, but you’re going to make me crazy.” I was depressed and I couldn’t figure out why. I’m like, “I got married. I’ve got a kid. We’ve got a house and all the things that I should be thankful for and happy for, but why am I so depressed? What is wrong?” It was that lack of connection, my lifeline to music because it’s in my bones. It’s in my fiber and being. I always tell people that if it’s in you, you better find a way to use it or you’re going to suffer and everyone around you is going to suffer.

It’s true. I always talk about it like, “It’s in your blood. It’s in your bones.” People that don’t have that don’t get it. They are like, “You are being ridiculous.” You don’t have to be, “Yes, I do.”

It’s my mental, physical, emotional and spiritual health.

How did that manifest itself when you were a mom?

I got back. We were in Vegas and got back to Dallas. I hit the ground running that Monday. I started doing research and found an audition opportunity for someone who was doing a showcase at the House of Blues. I booked it at that showcase with a bunch of other vocalists. I met my producer, I met my band leader. I met all these musicians and I started plugging into the Dallas Music Community. I started gigging and formed a band here in Dallas. I was gigging around Dallas for several years until I got pregnant with my second daughter. I was like, “This is becoming a lot trying to gig on the weekends.” I had a 9:00 to 5:00 job at the time. I was doing 9:00 to 5:00, then on the weekends, I was gigging and I was pregnant.

It became a lot. I took a little break to have baby number two. I then started gigging again. When baby number three came, I was like, “This is a lot.” That’s when I shifted into more vocal coaching and performance coaching. I was working with a lot of bands, local bands and young bands on performance. As I was working with them, that’s when I started developing the material for my first book, which is called the Performing Artist Pathway. That book is all about navigating the highs and lows of your music journey. I always felt like there’s a lot out there. That’s how to sing or how to play guitar, but no one talks about the real-life stuff that you go through as an artist. Self-care is a prevalent topic now, but years ago, people weren’t as hot on it as they are.

That’s for sure, especially right now, it’s a big talk. I feel like there’s this weird convergence like our names are similar and our books’ name. I didn’t steal it from you, but my book name is The Musician’s Profit Path. My name is with EE and yours is with an I. There is this weird synergy that I’m seeing, but I didn’t even know about your book or the title or anything.

You can tell when you’re aligning with missions, hearts, and desires to help others. I know everything that you do, you’re constantly showing artists and musicians how they can succeed and thrive. I always say, “Stop being in survival mode all the time. How can you create an opportunity for yourself where you feel alive every day?” For the reality television book, I did an online course first and I realized, “Not everyone’s going to be able to access my online course. I want to put this in a more accessible format.” I want to put it in the book format as well and I’m working on an audiobook.

TPM 12 | Reality Singing Show

Reality Singing Show: Reality singing shows are not for everyone, but it is an opportunity to get your message, your music and your brand seen and heard by millions of people.

 

I feel like if I can offer this in any way because there’s nothing out there that talks about this stuff. I’m passionate about it and it’s so much fun. I enjoy at least talking about for the people who are serious about doing it, but I’ve got artists, musicians, they’re professional musicians, they’ve been doing it forever and they’ve been on the fence about whether reality television show is for them. I always tell them, “I don’t believe that reality singing shows are for everyone, but it is an opportunity to get your message, your music and your brand seen and heard by millions of people. If you can get past the fact that it’s an entertainment television show, be yourself, be authentic, go on there and give everything you got, I don’t see how you can lose.”

I’m not sure that I’m for reality TV. It would be odd for me, but who knows? I wasn’t young in the days when that came out. I probably would have done it in my twenties and as you did mention, I had such a different idea of what my career would and should look like when I was in my twenties versus when I had my career, which was in my 30s. I had to be okay with like, “This is not what I originally thought it was going to look like. I didn’t know I was going to bring my daughter along with me on tour and my mom was going to be babysitting while I was performing on stage.” I didn’t know it was going to be like that, but I’m glad that’s what it was like.

I love that you did that. It’s incredible.

Many moms that reach out to me and they’re like, “I’m pregnant. Is this even possible once I have a kid?” I always encourage them like, “I couldn’t figure it out until I had one so it is possible.” It is going to be different than you expected. You’re not going to be playing bars until 2:00 AM. That’s a good thing anyway. Most of us singer-songwriters don’t want to play that scene.

It’s hard on your voice too. It is tiring. As people always say, “How do you get so much done? How did you write your book? When did you have time to write your book between three kids?” My husband and I own a restaurant here in Dallas. We have a lot going on and my wake-up call is early when I’m on a project like that. It’s a 4:30 AM wakeup call and I know not everyone is an early riser, but for me, those are my genius hours. From 4:45 to 6:30, that is when I get my stuff done. My kiddos wake up at 6:30. I get them ready for school and out the door.

I get up at 4:00 and even during the pandemic, my kids aren’t leaving the house because we don’t have a school here in LA. It’s all online, but they’re getting themselves up. They’re doing their thing and I am working from 4:00 to 8:00 and then I need to go make sure that they’re up doing their thing. Those are my genius hours too.

A lot of people get scared when I tell them that. They’re like, “I can’t do that.” I’m like, “That’s okay. You don’t have to do that, but that’s what works for me.” That worked for me on my first book, on my online courses and it worked for me on my second book so why would I try to recreate a different rhythm when I know that works for me?

You wouldn’t. I always tell artists like, “If you know that you suck at 4:00 AM or even 6:00 AM, don’t try to do that just because that’s what I do. You’re going to be frustrated.” It’s not some genius formula. It’s what works with your own body rhythms. If your prime time is from 8:00 to 11:00 PM after you put the kids to bed, that’s when you do it.

It is important for people to know that.

You’ve got your book. What else are you doing with artists beyond your book and then the online course that you mentioned?

I work with a lot of independent artists inside their music businesses with online business strategies. I will sit down with them. I’ll look at all the puzzle pieces. Typically, we look in three month periods where we’ll sit down and go, “Are we rolling out music? Are we launching new music?” We are carving out plans for where they are at. I always tell people, “Every artist is different and every artist has either different goals.” They’re tackling different things in their stage, whatever stage that they’re at. I’m a strategist. I do a lot of strategy work with my clients. I’m a maximizer and I’m a strategist. When I sit down with artists, I have a great ability to be able to see exactly how things need to layout and then carve out that plan to move forward. I find that a lot of my clients struggle with that. They struggle because they’re such in that creative zone that they can’t identify the path.

I call it scattered creatives. Many of my students identify with that. I’m not saying that’s a bad thing. The creativeness and having many ideas kind of thing, that’s how we’re able to write music and that’s when we’re in our creative flow, but sometimes those can get in our way because they can make us all over the place.

For me, I have to a lot times, like on Thursday, I’m going to song write or Thursday, I’m going to create content or whatever it is. It’s a different brain versus planning. My Fridays are my planning days. I spend an hour or so every single Friday. I carve out time to plan the week ahead. I time block to have, “This is my creative time.” I don’t try and blend them all the time. I try to separate them.

Me too. That’s why I said when we started, this is my third interview because this is my show day. I meet with people. I do interviews for other people, and I do for my own show all on the same day because I know that I’m going to be in that mode and that zone. I don’t want to get interrupted when I’m spending another day focusing on content creation of another kind, like if I’m updating my course or something like that.

Especially as a mom, you have to stick to that. Fridays are your show days, but because you are a business owner, a mom, a singer and all the things that makeup you, it’s imperative that you stick to your guns so when people say, “Can we go do this on Friday?” “I’m sorry. That’s my show day.”

If music is in you, you better find a way to use it or you’re going to suffer. Click To Tweet

Boundaries, especially in this time period, when people aren’t in a real school, there’ll be like, “We’re done with school at noon. Why can’t we go do this?” I have these things scheduled and they get it because they know that it’s a real business. I’m not just playing around in here. You have to have your time blocks. You have your themes and you have your boundaries and those work together. I know that sounds like some super strict regimented system, but it does feel good when you implement it because you know what you’re doing when and you know that other things aren’t going to distract you.

I think that avoiding those distractions is the key. The phone, think about how addictive it is. For me, at least, my phone is with the messenger or Instagram or my text messages, whatever’s on my phone, it’s almost like my hands are magnet. I have to put it away. I have to put it in airplane mode. I have to almost hide it.

I put it in the other room. In fact, I heard it ringing while we were talking. It’s in the kitchen over there. I’m like, “Nope, I’m busy. I’m not paying attention to that.” My kids are home so it can’t be them like, the school nurse calling or something so it’ll wait. I did want to ask you in your work with artists, what shifts have you seen during this pandemic time since March 2020? What have they been doing differently? What have you found that works? Where have you been able to reorient artists because they’re so used to doing things a certain way like, “I tour and now I can’t do that?”

It’s been a challenge. I know you got my back on this. I feel like I’ve been shouting from the rooftops for several years. Stop relying on live shows for your bread and butter. Stop relying on live shows for everything. If we are diversifying the streams of income, that’s one of them. How else are you going to diversify? The pandemic, it’s almost like now they get it, “I have to do other things as well. I have to leverage these other avenues and learn different ways of leveraging my brand or even building the brand.” For so long, they didn’t think it was important to have a consistent brand message to engage with their fans on Instagram or whatever it is. Now, they realize everything’s online now so I have to make it a priority to build that engagement.

A lot of artists saw it as a nuisance or as annoying and now they’re like, “These fans are a lifeline to income. I can still reach them, even though I’m not out there live.” That’s important for artists. The diversification of income is important and I’ve always been such a big proponent of that. One thing I do want to say is that like for a while, the whole landscape was everybody like, “You can make your entire income online. You don’t even need to perform. You can have this fan base and you don’t even ever have to get out there and perform.” I’m not on that bandwagon either, because I feel like as musicians, it is part of our lifeblood of being able to express ourselves. Not performing ever, that doesn’t sound fun to me either.

TPM 12 | Reality Singing Show

Make Reality TV Your Reality: Crush Your Reality Singing Show Audition and Ignite Your Music Career

We’re talking about self-help and self-care. A lot of my clients got pretty depressed because they were so used to feeding off of that energy that they get from the crowd and their gigs. That was something that they had to navigate as well is understanding that, “I cannot rely on those people to fuel me.” That’s a hard lesson, but it’s a great lesson because I’m with you. The performance aspect is important for many different reasons just to flex your chops, making sure you’re still on it and you still got it but also, that connection piece. There’s something about being with someone in person or experiencing that live show that builds a true connection with your fans. It gives them insight into who you are as an individual, as an artist, but also lets them think, “I want to keep watching this person. I want to be on this journey with them.”

It’s such a good testing ground too because if you never perform at all, I can even count live streams. Even if you can’t perform in person, you’re at least out there in front of an audience where you’re getting feedback. You don’t want to spend a ton of money on recording songs that won’t land with people. You have to test them in front of an audience to being able to be an artist and be authentic in front of people. When we’re on social media, a lot of times we’re trying to present our best selves and what’s great in front of us. I’ve said all kinds of crazy off the cuff things that were I’m like, “I shouldn’t have said that,” but you’re being yourself in front of your audience and they want to see that.

For me, with social media, a lot of the stories, whenever I dive into stories is me just being goofing off and showing people that I’m a goofball. In the feed, it’s professional. I got three seconds to show them who I am and what I do or whatever it is. That’s how quick the scroll happens. Do I want to learn more or not? Maybe not. Maybe yes. I don’t know. I don’t lose sleep over it, but it’s concerning what’s going to happen in the next year or so as far as live small venues coming back or not coming back. My husband and I own a small family-owned restaurant. We used to have live music at our restaurant prior to all this. I can’t wait to start booking artists again so that we can have live music returned to our restaurant, but we are in no hurry to do that. I hate to say that because I’m in the industry and I want to support artists, but we’re not there yet.

You can’t perform at capacity. What is your capacity now for the restaurant?

We’re in Dallas, so it’s at 75%, but we have a small spot. That puts us at 50 people inside the restaurant but it’s small. They wouldn’t be able to social distance at 50.

Here, they’re not even open inside. You have to have outside. It’s different everywhere, but it’s cool that you can see it from the perspective of the restaurant owner. It’s also good to know that you, as the restaurant owner, value the music and how it changes the ambiance and encourages people to come and all that stuff.

We always say, “We’re going to pay the artist well because we know what they’re bringing to the table.” Maybe I’m just biased, but I know I have done those gigs where I sang for three hours and made $100 or whatever it was. It was grueling. It was crazy.

We’ve all done them.

Some artists reading this might go, “A $100, that’s great,” but for three hours on top of all the preparation and on top of all the rehearsals, you have to factor in all of that. It’s not just those three hours. It’s the time and preparation that it takes leading up to that moment.

That’s another thing that I always say that being a mom gives you a perspective. Once I was a mom, I refuse to go out at all to do any gig, even if it was a 20-minute gig, unless I was paid at least $100 because it wasn’t worth it to me now. If I’m doing a three-hour gig, I better be paid a lot more than that. Even just to go provide music for a women’s group at a church or a community organization and you’re only doing 20-minutes of music, you have to pay me at least $100 because I can’t afford to do that. I have to get a babysitter or I have to find someone that’s willing to do it for me. It’s a lot of trouble.

I feel you. I remember thinking that I’m like, “I’m going to spend $100 on a babysitter alone for that night.”

It gives you a lot of clarity and it helps you draw a line in a boundary, which I thought was helpful once it happened, because I’m like, “It’s not worth it to me.” Is there anything else that we haven’t covered that you want to talk about while we’re here? We’ve talked about your books, which are awesome. I’m excited about the audiobook. As you know, I’m a big audiobook person, so I’ll read it when we get it.

I’m excited about the audiobook as well. It’s going to be a new learning curve for me. I’ve never done an audiobook before, so I’m excited to learn the process.

You’ve got that’s a big leg up because you’re already a voiceover artist.

That’s what I figured. I’m like, “This can’t be that hard.” I’ve been doing some training with another author who did an audiobook. I got some tips from her. I’m ready to roll on that. I have a mastermind group on Facebook called the Reality TV Music Mastermind. It’s specifically for artists who are interested in auditioning for a reality singing show. I’ve been doing some challenges, some reality TV show, like week-long challenges. I finished up a challenge about two weeks ago and I’ll be doing my next challenge most likely in January 2021, but it’s a lot of fun.

I spend five days diving into all the little things that you want to get into place prior to going on the show and how you can maximize the preparation. I always say, “It’s not about choosing a great song, but it’s about your story. It’s about your personality. It’s about networking while you’re in the environment and meeting people because I want you not only to get on the show, but I want you to get on the show and be able to leverage it.” There are many things that you can do from the show, from the people you meet to the people you connect with.

Don’t look at an opportunity as the last one you will ever get. Click To Tweet

That’s cool that you’re focusing on that. I don’t know anyone else’s that’s doing that. That’s like a super niche, but there are hundreds of thousands of people that are trying out for these shows. With the pandemic and the social distancing, do you think they’ll still keep doing these shows?

I do. That’s something I talk about a lot is that now is a great time to be considering auditioning for something like American Idol, The Voice, or even America’s Got Talent because they are casting. They are still filming. They’re in LA doing The Voice now. I think American Idol finished casting also. There are virtual auditions, which means you’re not having to pay to travel to go to one of these big auditions. You can audition in your living room, so it’s much easier. If you don’t make the next season, you’re in their system. They might think, “I already got someone like you for this one,” but maybe they’ll keep you in mind for a future season.

I talked to a casting scout from The Voice and she got let go from The Voice. I asked her, “What happened? What’s going on?” She said that they let go of all their talent scouts because everything shifted to virtual and they’re just combing through videos. They don’t need scouts to be going to locations. She would travel every other weekend to go scout talent at gigs or whatever it is. They don’t need anyone to scout talent anymore because the talent is coming to them through these virtual auditions. It nixed her position, which is interesting, but at the end of the day, the point is like, they’re not shutting down.

They make it easier for us.

There’s no skin off of our back. I feel like the pressure is off. I could go on there and schedule a time. I could schedule several times. I could audition. The Voice has auditions happening in the next months, all virtual. You can schedule and audition several times and keep trying. It’s great performance practice. It’s also an opportunity to test out your stuff and get some feedback. You have to go into its light. You have to go into it, having fun and not putting so much pressure on it. This is not your last chance. This is not your last opportunity. It’s simply just an opportunity.

We’re all going to crack if there is that kind of pressure on ourselves for it to be like, “This is my only opportunity. What if this doesn’t go well?”

TPM 12 | Reality Singing Show

Reality Singing Show: Now is actually a great time to be considering auditioning for reality singing shows because they’re casting virtually, which means you don’t have to travel to go to one of these big auditions.

 

There are many reasons they could be saying no. It could have nothing to do with the fact of your singing voice or whatever it is. It could be like, “We already have a voice like that that we’ve already cast. It’s just not what we’re looking for.” They may have something so specific in mind. It has nothing to do so often with how good of a singer you are. There’s so much that goes on.

That’s a good point. I’m glad you said that. How can people get in touch with you online and find out more about what’s going on? You did mention the mastermind that’s on Facebook.

The Reality TV Music Mastermind is on Facebook. I’m @BriannaRuelasMusic on Facebook and Instagram. My website is BriannaRuelasMusic.com.

I need to go make sure and follow you.

Also, go to Amazon and buy my books.

Go check out her books. Don’t confuse us. Our books have similar titles and we have similar names.

Make Reality TV Your Reality is my bestseller. That became a bestseller on Amazon and then my first book is Performing Artist Pathway. Do not confuse our books. I was going to say, buy them all.

Thank you. I appreciate you giving us your time and all of your knowledge and experience.

Thank you for having me. It’s such a pleasure to finally connect.

 

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About Brianna Ruelas

TPM 12 | Reality Singing ShowBrianna Ruelas is a Dallas Based Strategy Consultant to Performing Artists, Reality TV Music Coach and Best Selling Author to Make Reality TV Your Reality. As a singer/songwriter, Brianna has fronted her own band and experienced the reality television craze in its early days, as a Top 100 finalist on American Idol, Season 4. She’s actively learning the art of work/life respect, as she flows between her music career and family owned restaurant, while acting as Mom to three girls.