It is a sad fact in the music world that many artist don’t truly realize that this is the music ‘business’. There is much more to building a successful career than just writing and playing songs. Taking your music seriously means treating it like the full blown business that it is. One artist that has a hold onto this concept is Jana Pochop.
The folk singer-songwriter grew up in New Mexico before moving to Austin, Texas to seek out an easier road for her music career. We all know that music doesn’t pay the bills right away so Jana sought out a steady administrative day job. Keeping herself busy performing at night led her to a meeting with Susan Gibson and joining her team as a hybrid booking agent/ road manager/ office assistant. This was a perfect day job for her to learn all about the business of folk music. Being the constant entrepreneur Jana Pochop started up her own booking agency Lodestar Artists. All these lessons and skills picked up along the way are sure to help her to her goal of achieving a successful music career.
Jana Pochop has released 2 EPs, her most recent being For & Against. The 5 song record is a great introduction to her Americana storytelling style. J-Po, as she has come to be known in certain Texas music circles, offers a dynamic mix of thoughtful writing and powerful musicianship both. The EP opener ‘Resurrection Buzz’ shows off her skills with an acoustic guitar right away. Mixing musical styles of bluegrass and folk creates something fresh that is all her own. The title track ‘For & Against’ slows down the tempo a little to allow the listener to focus on Jana’s heartfelt lyrics. One of her best aspects is her ability to relay a full story through song. This reviewer’s favorite track is the closer ‘Switzerland’. This song has an odd feel as if the pieces were put together as a collage with scotch tape but each listen allows you to focus on a separate part of the impressive song. Interesting guitar tones and background soundscape as well.
Go enter Jana Pochop’s world and hear her tunes at: