Talk to me.

Plus One Me is a series of interviews and essays. My goal is to explore those things people do that are essential to the music business, but that don't involve being a musician.

I will speak with a lot of musicians, obviously, but also with label owners, editors, writers, publicists, managers, photographers, booking agents, roadies, and pretty much anyone involved in keeping the music world turning. Many of these roles overlap, which is cool, and I will speak with people from across the spectrum—whether they are corporate suits, DIY-lifers, or somewhere in between. I want to learn about what they do, how they discovered their niche, the challenges and frustrations they encounter, the mistakes they see artists make that sabotage their careers, crazy stories and experiences they've had, changes they've observed in the industry, how often people ask them to be added to the guest list (hence the name, Plus One Me), etc, etc.

The interviews are done live and in real time—no one emails it in—and I then transcribe our conversations, edit them for syntax and clarity, and post the final version here. I was going to make this a podcast, but after doing a few interviews I found the format frustrating, and besides, the written word rules.

If you subscribe—and you should—in addition to being able to read the content here, every new edition will be sent to your inbox. We live in the future. FOMO is passé.

Who are you?

I am a Boston-based freelance writer. I write about music—and a few other things—for publications like Premier Guitar, Bandcamp Daily, Reverb, Vinyl Me Please, and a few others. I have a degree in Jazz Studies from the New England Conservatory of Music (I graduated a long time ago), but my interests are not limited—at all—to jazz. I like music with personality and edge, and that includes loud guitars, daredevil improvisation, fast tempos, never-ending-trance-inducing grooves, raw production, lo-fi, no-fi, weird dissonance, noise, singable melodies, world grooves, and basically anything where it’s obvious the artist is real. Visit my site to see what I am up to.

I started Plus One Me because I speak with a lot of musicians, and I often wonder, "What did you do—besides becoming a great musician—to get to the level that someone hired me to interview you?" I want to figure that out, and I want to share that wisdom with others.

What else?

I am also an orthodox rabbi. I spend most of my non-music time in online Jewish education. You can learn more about my Jewish-interest work and writing here.

How do you pronounce your name?

My name is Tzvi, and it’s easier than it looks. Take "tz," as in ritz. Add "vee." It's one syllable and it rhymes with "ski." Got it?

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A series that explores those things that are essential to the music business, but that don't involve being a musician.

People

I am a Boston-based freelance writer and I write about music for a number of publications.