Meet ZB Savoy | Musician

We had the good fortune of connecting with ZB Savoy and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi ZB, have there been any changes in how you think about work-life balance?
I have a 1 year old girl and a 3 year old boy and we are expecting a 3rd in April ’24 so balance seems to become more and more important bout every second of the day. Haha

I think the secret weapon is having a partner that you really jive with. If you arent on the same page with what the priorities are, and what keeps each other fulfilled, and how to work the logistics and scheduling of “running” a little family, things can fall apart pretty quickly. I have seen a lot of this even in my network.

The priorities and fulfillment thing is interesting and takes some thought. I play music full time doing the local (SoCal) Venue and Festival scene with my band or solo, I call those the “sexy shows”. But then I mostly play corporate events, private parties and resort gigs as my main income stream.

And my wife and I discussed explicitly how, and wether, to pursue both. So the priority is to make enough money in the short term that we can put food on the table and keep a roof over our heads, so the more lucrative event stuff is the meat and potatoes.

But I would feel artistically stagnant if I wasn’t still playing original music and doing bigger festival venue shows even though they don’t make as much money over the course of the year.

But beyond that, I am a big believer in the idea that being healthy mentally and physically can really make you happier and feel better and therefore can mak you more effective at what youre doing. Whatever that is.

I’ve been a on a daily meditation regiment for 6 or 7 years. Nothing crazy. Usually just 20-30 minutes in the morning. I use an app called Waking Up from Sam Harris. The meditation thing, once it is a regular part of your life, is an absolute game changer. It changes your perspective on the world, how you interact with people, how your emotions effect your actions… there are just endless benefits.

That, when I wake up is my priority. Well… after coffee. Coffee is the first priority. But after coffee I do everything in my power to get in a meditation.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
So I was a little bit of a late comer to music. But I always had a knack for melody. My middle school buddy Kevin Curren, who i still hangout with regularly, had a one stringed guitar. Or rather a regular guitar that only had one string on it… for like 3 years. But I specifically remember plucking out the melody to Paint It Black. Just hearing in my head that the next note was either higher or lower. And then some Beatles vocal lines and zeppelin and all that. But I didn’t learn a proper guitar chord until I was 18 or something.

BUT once i learned about bar chords I was off and running. haha

In my early 20s I started listening to Alt Country stuff like the Old 97’s and Uncle Tupelo, Drive By Truckers, Whiskeytown all that kinda stuff. I had an older sister Amy who was really into those bands and so I’d just steal her CDs when I could. But that semi country vibe always resonated with me and I am still playing, essentially, alt country music today.

Two things I am most proud of professionally at this moment are my new record “Dear World” and my “Songs of Willie Nelson” project.

The first batch of songs from the “Dear World” album are available on all your streamers. And the full album will be out summer of 2024.

The Willie stuff has just been so much fun. Willie has been such a steward of the musical history prior to his own success and then also such an enormous piece of history himself. So I wanted to take his songs, both those he’s written and those he has kept relevant from before his time, and help (along with 100s of other artists) keep that spirit alive. So I have a great little show put together where I give a little bit of the history of the songs before we play them. And then have some really amazing musicians playing on them all.

We’ve played a few teaser versions of this and they have just been fantastically received. I am currently trying to set up some tours at local civic centers and other 500+(ish) person seated venues to put this on.

Starting in the Southwest, but the goal is obviously to take this all over the country.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
There really are so many people that have been so helpful throughout the years so it is hard to choose one.

But I think one of the most supportive and impactful people has been Lenny Lieberman. Lenny was a friend of my extended family and I used to run into him at big family events. And he’s just a hilarious dude, super sharp and ran a studio producing commercials and TV. So I had actually submitted music to him a few times for Commercial stuff.

But as I started the ZB Savoy Men’s brand (offshoot of my music stuff) we would chat about it whenever we saw each other and then I’d call him when I needed advice on stuff and then he kinda became my mentor/consultant and he ended up helping find investors in the start up stage.

I owe Lenny a huge debt of gratitude.

Website: www.ZBSavoyMusic.com

Instagram: @ZBSavoy

Linkedin: @ZBSavoy

Twitter: @ZBSavoy

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ZBSavoyMusic/

Youtube: UCDyl5cMO94_CRq9Zfc5TiLQ

Image Credits
Seated black and white/ Standing Saloon shot – Patrick McClory @PatrickMcCloryPhoto Colored Live Shots – Jen Acosta @Jenegrl