Part of my mission on Steemit has been to support my community of artist/creator friends by exposing them to the possibilities of earning rewards for the content they are creating.
In 2018, as musicians, writers, bloggers, photographers, we are constantly growing our social media platforms with the promise of "engagement" and "exposure", but not seeing any income from it. Even more disturbingly, we now need to pay FB to access the audiences that we organically built on that platform.
So I have been happy and encouraged to see my creator friends jumping in to this grand Steemit adventure! They each are super talented, inspiring and connected individuals, who I hope will each thrive on this platform and bring others they know to this grand experiment.
On that note, I would love to give a brief intro to each of this Steemit bloggers, describing their gifts an talents, but also what they can offer to Steemit over the long term. If you are inspired by my thoughts, please follow me, upvote them, rested them, add them to your auto-voting bots, or whatever you are able to do to show your support. I believe each of these 6 people is a window to a whole universe of possibility for this platform.
Anyone who has dropped into the #openmic posts over the last couple of months will have, no doubt, been blown away by my friend Nathan's awe-inspiring work. An influential & inspirational part of the Australian blues and roots scene and renowned as the world's first didjeridu beatboxer, Nathan Kaye, the globe-trotting, energetic one-man-band who thumps out songs on slide guitar, slide-didge & electronic footdrums at festivals, organic cafés & has even been known to smash out uplifting 5 hour sets in outback hotel rooms. Honestly, this guy knows and is respected by EVERYONE in the Australian roots music and new age communities. Nathan truly aspires towards consciousness and being part of positive change.
Bonnie made a bit of a splash yesterday when she posted to Steemit for the first time, as the first link between Steemit and Star Wars - she played Beru Lars in Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones and Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith. But many don't know Bonnie is an INCREDIBLE singer/songwriter and, as importantly, a dedicated seeker of truth and justice. Bonnie is truly unafraid to take a stand and go out on a limb, but always from the heart, and always guided by her conscience. You are going to fall in love with the sound of her voice and her way of expressing her truth.
My old comrade! We have had semi-parallel careers - getting discovered as teenage rock n rollers - and once had a band together THE BENS with our mate Ben Folds. BK is one of the most tirelessly and effortlessly enthusiastic people you will every meet - and a natural musician, it really flows in his blood stream. One of my favorite anecdotes about BK came from Dave Grohl of the Foo Fighters who said “Just by chance, I bumped into an old friend that I hadn’t seen in about 16 years in an Austin studio. Right as I was recording a vocal. This motherfucker walks in — I’m like, ‘Hey, man!’ — and he starts fucking singing the most beautiful harmony to the thing I was singing. I was like, ‘Get your ass in the vocal booth right now.’ That is BK, in the right place, at the right time, with the right harmony! This guy is connected to Rock n Roll - toured with Kings of Leon and the Strokes, and now lives on a farm outside Austin with his family.
Jessica Cellona is a YouTuber, elementary school teacher, fashion maven and all round cool person who is working to bring some much needed flair and DIY distressed denim to the Steemit community. The fashion/style demographic of bloggers on Steemit is much less developed than say the music or obviously crypto communities, but it is an important segment of the market that Steemit will need to service for it to continue to grow and thrive. I am excited by Jessica's relatable and kind vibe while still being connected to what's hip and fashionable. She is an awesome person to connect with if you have interest in helping develop the fashion/style blogging side of Steemit.
Diego was the tour photographer and videographer for the Radnor & Lee Brazilian tour in January. His photographs are UNBELIEVABLE, even if my understanding of Portugese is non-existent. He has an incredible eye and is the go-to rock photographer in Brazil, shooting Rock in Rio each year. Supporting Diego's Steemit posts is also really a support for helping Steemit break into South America and supporting the community there. We need artists like Diego successful here as a proof of concept for other emerging South American talent.
Who else has been psyched about this guy showing up? Donal, along with being a Canadian-American film and television actor, producer and writer (roles include starring in the film The Tao of Steve, Sons of Anarchy, Vikings, the sitcom Grounded for Life, the television series Copper and the detective series Terriers) is also a kickass writer who has an infinite well of deep, dark, tender, though-provoking stories to share with us on Steemit. I thought about Charles Manson hypnotizing Danny Trejo in prison for days.... Get over to his page and lose yourself in his tales right now!
So there you go - those are my recommendations for some awesome creatives who could use your follows and support.
If we are going to grow this platform and take it into broader and broader realms, we need to lean on a successful foundation of salt of the earth creators who would be doing it even if they weren't getting paid. And thats what all of these people are.
They are my friends.
