Buzzpreneur of the Month- Adrienne Osborne of Performance High

Tim Wenger | April 1, 2014 | 0 Comments

by Angela Kerr & Leah Parker

Since joining her first band in 2007, Adrienne Osborn has been in nearly every type of band structure you can imagine: a 7-person consensus-driven band, one truly 50/50 joint-venture band, one band that was 50/50 on paper but not in reality, a 5-person democratic band, two bands where she was the leader and final decision maker, and one band where she was just along for the ride as a backup singer. She’s been lead singer, backup singer, keyboardist, bassist, and even a drummer.

As far as band roles, she’s been a booking agent, private client liaison, sound engineer, website builder, business manager, general manager, chart maker, band leader, merchandise buyer, songwriter, lyric writer, producer, and graphic designer. This May marks the five year anniversary of her business, Performance High, a vocal training and artist development studio. It’s our pleasure to introduce our April 2014 BuzzPreneur, Adrienne Osborn.

When asking Adrienne why she left the IT industry she replied, “I wanted to do something different than software development– write a book, become a teacher, I didn’t know. In 2006, my entire Boulder office was laid off, so I had time to look at my life and figure out the next move. On a hike that summer, I suddenly remembered my childhood dream of being a singer. And that was the beginning of the next chapter.”

Adrienne’s background in music is extensive. She has been in three cover bands, two original bands, a jazz quartet, a live karaoke rock band, and collaborative writing/recording relationships with 10-15 people. She also received stage training from Tom Jackson Productions in Nashville.

Adrienne shared that Performance High focuses on popular styles of music. Although they work with all levels, they particularly love working with singers who are starting to perform or are already out performing. Adrienne shared that Performance High has worked with quite a few of the Front Range’s lead singers, from American Idol finalist Casey Abrams to Denver artist Roniit to the lead singers of Pride in Pieces, Of Ashes, Starcar Sunday, and many others. On the artist development side, she works with new and experienced performers to help them understand and own the tools of the stage, understand their options within the music industry, and develop a more powerful show. Performance High has tremendous talent behind the scenes consisting of people who have been doing music their entire lives. Producer/engineer Justin Long is an Atlantic Records artist with national touring experience and lots of engineering and production credits. Kristin Henry has masters’ level study in vocal pedagogy, Rebecca Harrold and William Hughes have advanced voice degrees and over 10 years of experience teaching voice, and Caitie Gutierrez has a degree in music therapy.

As Adrienne continues to elaborate, we asked why performance coaching and artist development is so important, “We all know the music industry has been turned on its head. It’s always been important to put on a good live show, but now that other sources of income have dried up, the income from live shows is more important than ever before. If you can put on a good show, and connect with people emotionally, then you’ll sell more stuff and more people will return to your next show.” It is Adrienne’s opinion that without a good live show, you’re going to fight for audience and venue time against bands that have one.

We inquired as to other areas in which a band might focus and Adrienne pursued the business and networking facets. As Adrienne and her partner Jason Long will address the Own It Music Mastermind Series on April 8, 2014, with a panel discussion entitled, “Designing your Band – Band Member Roles and Organizational Structure” –

She responded, “There’s the business and networking side, which is why CREATE MSU Denver’s Own It Mastermind Series is doing what they’re doing. Sure, you can focus only on your craft. That’s a totally valid option. You just have to think about what your priorities are. There’s nothing wrong with making music just because you like making music, if you aren’t concerned with getting it out in front of people.”

Finally, as we asked for Adrienne’s advice for musicians on the rise, she said: “My first piece of advice is to be a good person. If you burn bridges, you might be surprised how quickly you’re faced with not being able to cross a particular river. I got burned by someone a few years ago, and over time I’ve heard others say similar things about that individual, using terms like scorched earth policy.” She felt that a reputation will precede you when doing business; if you treat people well, if you give freely with no strings attached, she believes it comes back to you in great, unexpected ways.

Her next piece of advice is to think of the whole journey as a marathon, not a sprint. If you’re in this music industry as a career, you have to think in terms of years and decades, not months. Don’t use yourself up in the first two years as you can burn yourself out. She reiterates pace yourself as it going to be a long run. Adrienne believes in building a big, strong foundation, so that when your moment comes, there’s a lot for people to check out.

Addressing Adrienne’s goals for the future for both Performance High and her own musical career, we heard about her plans to start filming a pop/rock vocal training product as her teaching schedule is getting too packed and she wants to be able to serve rock and pop singers that she can’t fit into her schedule. We should see this product in the summer.

On the band side, Adrienne O is releasing not one but two EP’s this summer. Two EP’s equals an album, but they’re conceptually different, so they are being released separately. The first one, Lines, to be released on June 14 at the Walnut Room, consists of the best songs people have come to love at her shows. Adrienne commented, “The second EP – which may end up a full-length album, because we’re on fire creatively right now – is a more exploratory, conceptual, groove-based, danceable album. It’s a bit inspired by Daft Punk’s Random Access Memories. It’ll have a perfect atmosphere for summer festivals.”

You can find Adrienne Osborn at Performance High (performancehigh.net) or follow her band Adrienne O online (adrienneo.com).