True Jackson was just 16 when she recorded her first indie pop album in a backyard garage during the pandemic. Despite all the struggles of creating an album throughout quarantine she never seemed daunted by her dreams and the challenge to make them come true. Ever since she was a child, she had been expressing her feelings through songs and always longed to share them with others.
One year after releasing “Simulation,” Jackson’s album of original songs chronicling life as a teenager in a sudden virtual world, she yearned to connect with an audience. Live and in person. Her wish was to perform her surprisingly upbeat songs about what her generation had been experiencing and the isolation they felt.
But where and how would this dream of performing take shape? “I wanted to share my songs and interact with a crowd. Hear them sing and see everyone jump and have fun,” says Jackson. “Music brings me great joy and I wanted to see people happy and feeling a sense of togetherness.”
Jackson got motivated to do something to keep moving forward. “I was trying to establish myself in the music industry and had actually created music in the middle of a global pandemic,” she says. “Every aspect of my life was virtual and I didn’t want to look at a computer anymore.”
Yet several roadblocks stood between her performing live. First, her musicians and collaborators lived in Missouri. With their own solo careers getting them to Los Angeles was a challenge. Second, the venues were struggling with ticket sales. They promoted name headliners or would prefer to book acts that were over 21 years old and would attract an older crowd who would buy more alcohol. So that seemed like a dead end.
Each week Jackson contacted The Mint, Troubadour and the Whiskey A Go Go, venues that allow all ages to perform, but to no avail. With most of her other options dwindling, she had an idea. Jackson understood the event needed to be outdoors for safety, but she didn’t have a credit card to book a venue.
Taking matters into her own hands she threw a free “backyard” show to finally play the music from her album. With sixty happy attendees, she thought of another idea that would be collaborative, enterprising and support others.
Jackson also saw the need to help young independent artists. “My friends made music in the middle of a pandemic, and I thought they deserved to also play their music live and get it out to the world,” says Jackson. “While applying to colleges for songwriting and music business, it all clicked. I wanted to take this more seriously.”
With an entrepreneurial spirit she set out to put on a concert again, but this time she hoped to infuse more elements. Jackson’s second show became an art fest with all female bands and local artists. The artists marketed their wares, selling their albums. Even a group of high school seniors curated a photography magazine for sale. Jackson along with the music group Jaded the Band and Career Woman, who recently created an album on a record label but had nowhere to perform, sang to a sizable audience.
All rehearsals were in the very garage where Jackson created her album. With a new friendship with lead singer Lily Gudas of The Inky Scratches the two women set out to promote the concert on Snapchat and Instagram and booked bands from different high schools. Artists Paco and Jonah Roy came in from Missouri to open for and support Jackson. The bands Dreyted, Cohort, Malcolm Todd and Swandive were also headliners. Leo Blumenfield from the established Los Angeles band Not From England joined forces to help with sound and promotion. He created a solo piece for the event called Yoshi Circuit.
“As I have continued my journey playing live, I look back at that first show and compare it to recent ones,” says Jackson. “The show is still in my back yard, but the more recent one had five bands, ticket sales, merchandise and many more people. Neighbors attend for free and after two years of not hearing live music, most of them even thanked me.”
Jackson and Blumenfield organized the most recent concert. They created excel sheets, monitored ticket sales through Eventbrite and designed posters and t-shirts to sell. They also verified vaccination status and managed capacity. The two artists are saving money to produce a music festival of their own at a Los Angeles skate park this Spring. “We want to continue this music scene in Los Angeles, and it would be incredible to give exposure to these new artists and make a community, “says Blumenfield.
With each show costing around $700.00 to produce, the young entrepreneurs enlisted Jackson’s father, Josh Jackson a beloved chef and event planner at Great Taste Catering. He offered guidance on how to price out the event by square footage, provide security, and even helped them with production insurance. Learning about profit margins helped them to set aside money for the next show.
“I have grown up with severe stage fright. But when I’m on stage and the crowd is jumping and singing is when I’m most fearless,” says Jackson. “Also, I wanted to create an opportunity to reach audiences in my own way and provide a platform for new artists to grow and share their music organically.”
The stage time and experience performing has paid off. Most recently Jackson was invited to play a show at the music venue The Mint in April. She also directed a music video for the band Not From England and will star as Audrey in a local Culver City production of Little Shop of Horrors. She hopes to be accepted into her dream school, New York University and is waiting to hear.
In the meantime, Jackson has no intention of abandoning the backyard concerts and collaborating with young artists. “The concerts are a unique way for me to give credit to indie bands,” she says. “What a joy to bring people back together through music.”
