- 12 minutes 23 secondsInside a Big Win
I almost didn’t go. If the wind had blown just a little harder in any direction, I would not have been there. But I went. And for the first time in a long time, it was worth the effort because I won big. Like biggest font at the end of the award list big. And it was an extraordinary change of pace.
To read Inside a Big Win visit the Songs for the Struggling Artist blog.
Episode 496
Song: King for a Day
Image by Jacki Jing
Give this podcast 5 stars. Write a nice review!
Mastodon - @[email protected]
BlueSky - @erainbowd.bsky.social
Instagram & Pinterest
Listen to The Dragoning here and The Defense here
12 May 2026, 2:09 am - 20 minutes 10 secondsRe-Broadcast of Awards Cost Money
I'm in Los Angeles for LA WebFest so this is a re-broadcast of Episode 347. I'm posting this now so I don't say any of this out loud this week!
Well – I paid $175 to be considered for an Ambie award for The Dragoning (in the DIY category for low budget productions). The Ambies are the podcast awards that the entertainment business seem to take seriously. They’re discussed in publications like Variety and the Hollywood Reporter. Was it a smart investment to spend $175 to try and get nominated? If we’d gotten selected for the finals, it definitely would have been. But for a return of absolutely bupkiss, it feels like it’s not. It feels like a lot of money to lose just to lose.
But then there’s the Oscars. This is why I decided to apply and spend the $175, because of how the Oscars work. The average person imagines that the Oscars are chosen by groups of people getting together, evaluating all the movies and then nominating the best ones. I used to imagine that they watched all the movies that came out that year and awarded the ones the group liked best.
It doesn’t work like that, come to find out.
To read more of Awards Cost Money visit the Songs for the Struggling Artist blog.
This is Episode 347
Song: Participation Award
Image: AxxLC via Pixabay
To support this podcast:
Give it 5 stars in Apple Podcasts. Write a nice review!
Rate it wherever you listen or via: https://ratethispodcast.com/strugglingartist
Join my mailing list: www.emilyrainbowdavis.com/
Like the blog/show on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SongsfortheStrugglingArtist/
Support me on Patreon: www.patreon.com/emilyrdavis
Or help me get to Crete on Kofi: http://ko-fi.com/emilyrainbowdavis
or PayPal me: https://www.paypal.me/strugglingartist
Follow me on Twitter @erainbowd
Me on Mastodon - @[email protected]
Me on Hive - @erainbowd
Tell a friend!
Listen to The Dragoning here (it's my audio drama) and support via Ko-fi here: https://ko-fi.com/messengertheatrecompany
As ever, I am yours,
Emily Rainbow Davis
5 May 2026, 12:34 am - 19 minutes 26 secondsA Decade of Podcasting
Two old podcast episodes were missing. In my search for them, I started to realize that I’d recorded them in 2016. Which means they were almost a decade old. I looked up the date of my first episode and discovered it was EXACTLY ten years ago. To the day. What kind of date magic is that? I recorded my first episode on March 20th 2016. And there we were ten years later.
To read A Decade of Podcasting visit the Songs for the Struggling Artist blog.
Episode 495
Song: Anniversary
Image from Spotify Wrapped
Give this podcast 5 stars. Write a nice review!
Mastodon - @[email protected]
BlueSky - @erainbowd.bsky.social
Instagram & Pinterest
Listen to The Dragoning here and The Defense here.
28 April 2026, 1:17 am - 14 minutes 43 secondsWhat Happened to First Night?
Every New Year’s Eve, my friend and I wish we had a First Night celebration to go to. We both went to many First Nights in our youth and wish such a thing were happening here in NYC. It was a great way to spend the last night of the year and take in a lot of local arts culture in one big burst. It was a lovely way to bring a community together.
To read What Happened to First Night? visit the Songs for the Struggling Artist blog.
Episode 494
Song: What Are You Doing New Year's Eve?
Image from the First Night Boston site
Give this podcast 5 stars. Write a nice review!
Mastodon - @[email protected]
BlueSky - @erainbowd.bsky.social
Instagram & Pinterest
Listen to The Dragoning here and The Defense here.
20 April 2026, 11:25 pm - 12 minutes 18 secondsRe-Broadcast of Episode Three - Why Going Away for Inspiration Is a Good Idea
My allergies have stolen my voice for the day so I'm re-posting this episode from ten years ago, in honor of a decade of podcasting. This early episode has no song and the sound quality is a little chaotic. (No mic yet!) But if you want to hear what this sounded like in the beginning, here you go!
To read Why Going Away for Inspiration Is a Good Idea visit the Songs for the Struggling Artist blog.
Give this podcast 5 stars. Write a nice review!
Mastodon - @[email protected]
BlueSky - @erainbowd.bsky.social
Instagram & Pinterest
Listen to The Dragoning here and The Defense here.
13 April 2026, 11:30 pm - 15 minutes 6 secondsPronounce "Queens"
The voice of the GPS sounds like a British man, with an RP accent, and he gives his instructions to turn right or left like he’s a butler guiding the staff. He mispronounces some things funny because he does not have local knowledge. For example, he’ll tell us to take the Ed Cock Bridge when everyone knows that, our former mayor, Ed Koch’s name is pronounced with a clear “CH”.
To read Pronounce "Queens" visit the Songs for the Struggling Artist blog.
Episode 493
Song: A New England
Image by Samuel Regan-Asante via Unsplash
Give this podcast 5 stars. Write a nice review!
Mastodon - @[email protected]
BlueSky - @erainbowd.bsky.social
Instagram & Pinterest
Listen to The Dragoning here and The Defense here.
7 April 2026, 1:29 am - 12 minutes 31 secondsChalamet Gate
This Timothée Chalamet story about his dismissal of opera and ballet, calling them arts nobody cares about might be too up my street to resist. Art that nobody cares about is kind of my beat! I am also an artist that “nobody” cares about so I’m well placed to discuss this particular controversy.
To read Chalamet Gate visit the Songs for the Struggling Artist blog.
Episode 492
Song: Opera Singer
Image by Kazuo Ota via Unsplash
Give this podcast 5 stars. Write a nice review!
Mastodon - @[email protected]
BlueSky - @erainbowd.bsky.social
Instagram & Pinterest
Listen to The Dragoning here and The Defense here.
*Explicit due to dumb-a**ery
31 March 2026, 12:56 am - 15 minutes 42 secondsActing Is Embarrassing
We had some men in the class but that day we were all women and we were playing a ball game of tossing the ball around the room, to music, trying to find the pleasure and searching for complicity in our classmates. Then our teacher, Jane, gave us the next task. When we caught the ball, we had to hold it up and say, “Look at me! I’m an actress in New York City!”
To read Acting Is Embarrassing visit the Songs for the Struggling Artist blog.
Episode 491
Song: Looking at Me
Image by Jason Vail
Give this podcast 5 stars. Write a nice review!
Mastodon - @[email protected]
BlueSky - @erainbowd.bsky.social
Instagram & Pinterest
Listen to The Dragoning here and The Defense here.
*Explicit due to Eltaway's book title
24 March 2026, 12:17 am - 16 minutes 27 secondsThe Credulous and the Scammed
Scammers know their scams are not believable. They know most of us we know that the Prince of Nigeria has not emailed us to help with his fortune. They don’t want to scam everyone. They’re looking for the most credulous people they can find and the Prince of Nigeria is a filter. They don’t want anyone who’s going to ask too many questions. They make these things hard to believe on purpose. They want only the extremely credulous.
To keep reading The Credulous and the Scammed visit the Songs for the Struggling Artist blog.
Episode 490
Song: Scam Song
Image by Yuliya Strizhkina via Unsplash
Give this podcast 5 stars. Write a nice review!
Mastodon - @[email protected]
BlueSky - @erainbowd.bsky.social
Instagram & Pinterest
Listen to The Dragoning here and The Defense here.
*Explicit due to Sweary Song
17 March 2026, 2:35 am - 14 minutes 48 secondsPreparing for Editing
What’s funny is, I like editing. I’m not sure why I was dragging my feet around editing our book. I’d already made some major changes. The big re-structure had already happened. But somehow I couldn’t bring myself to sit down and fix up some details.
I finally decided I needed to buckle down, though, and instead of getting into the document, I watched a movie made in the year our book was set. It was a great movie and I thought it would get me inspired.
To keep reading Preparing for Editing visit the Songs for the Struggling Artist blog.
This is Episode 489
Song: Ready to Go
Image by Jainath Ponnala via Unsplash
Give this podcast 5 stars in Apple Podcasts. Write a nice review!
Mastodon - @[email protected]
Blue sky - @erainbowd.bsky.social
Instagram & Pinterest
Listen to The Dragoning here and The Defense here.
10 March 2026, 2:01 am - 19 minutes 25 secondsA Clown Teacher Exits
If you felt a bit of a tremor in the fabric of the universe last week, you’re probably a clown. One of the most influential clown teachers made his exit and more people than I would have expected felt the impact of his loss.
I never studied with Philippe Gaulier but I studied with several teachers who did. I guess I’m a second generation Gaulier clown. I think there are a lot of benefits to being the second-generation student.
To keep reading A Clown Teacher Exits visit the Songs for the Struggling Artist blog.
This is Episode 488
Song: Clown Strike
Image via Wikipedia
To support this podcast:
Give it 5 stars in Apple Podcasts. Write a nice review!
Mastodon - @[email protected]
Blue sky - @erainbowd.bsky.social
Instagram & Pinterest
Listen to The Dragoning here and The Defense here.
Explicit due to clowns getting in the sh*t
3 March 2026, 2:20 am - More Episodes? Get the App
