Huelskamp's Music now on YouTube

This week, I started migrating all the recordings of my music to YouTube. It's a great way to share music, and I love how I can create one big playlist of all my pieces. It also makes it incredibly easy to share the files on my website and throughout social media.

It will take me some time to upload all the videos/audio files to my list on YouTube, so check back there often. Here's the link to access the playlist:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlPLB_BrM-rl9lJLB6TQFYjyXUc2vHcAo

Under 1/4 - still a starving artist

It's been a while since I have written a post that focuses on the more personal side of my life. Many of my colleagues know that I have slowed my music production for the past three years for a couple of reasons: (1) I recently had twins, and they are a lot of work. And (2) we are trying to pay off all our debt (read student loans, because that's all the debt we have). We would like to be a debt-free family.

Why? In essence, if I had no debt, I could live on an artist's take-home salary. I wouldn't have to take on a "day job" to pay for my expenses and then hope to have time to complete my compositions and productions on the side (an impossible concept now that I have twins). I would have the ability to choose to do whatever I want with my time.

I will admit that the past three years have been a little rough, and it requires sacrifice to achieve this goal. To that end, we cut back on all our "extracurricular" spending: eating out, vacations, and all the fun (read expensive) perks of life. It has been tough, but I have to remember that this debt paid for my past, awesome adventures...expensive private conservatory, Paris, living in Boston, music programs over several summers, and more. I don't regret my choices, but I do regret the debt.

And, the plan is working, and I know the lifestyle restrictions are merely temporary. We now have less than 1/4 of our original debt remaining, and we are well on our way of being out of debt. That is super exciting! The closer we get to paying off the debt entirely, the more focused I am about not spending money on lifestyle enhancements. I want all those extra dollars to pay off this debt, so my family can be free!

Then what??? Well...first I'm taking a vacation. After that, I am going to pursue my dreams, and I am going to do so without the limitations of debt. In the meantime...I am still a self-appointed starving artist.