Salvadore Liberto | Melodies and Milestones | Episode 32

In this episode of the Mosaic Minds Podcast, we sit down with talented musician Salvadore Liberto, who shares his journey and invaluable tips on achieving success in the music industry. From overcoming personal challenges to performing at iconic venues, Salvadore offers a wealth of knowledge for aspiring musicians and music lovers alike.

🔹 What You’ll Learn:

*How to navigate the music industry and build a successful career
*Proven strategies for overcoming obstacles and staying motivated
*Tips for booking  at notable venues and connecting with fans
*Salvadore’s personal experiences and lessons learned from his career

📌 Key Takeaways:

*Overcoming Challenges: Learn how Salvadore turned adversity into   opportunities.
*Building Connections: Discover how to effectively network and book performances.
*Career Growth: Gain insights into developing a sustainable and rewarding music career.

Whether you’re an aspiring artist or simply a music enthusiast, this episode is packed with actionable advice and inspiring stories. Don’t miss out on Salvadore’s unique perspective and practical tips for making it in the music world!

🔔 Subscribe to the Mosaic Minds Podcast for more engaging interviews and insights into music, lifestyle, and personal growth.

📲 Follow Salvadore Liberto:

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@UCtcbHk8f0cugQa4zNXlaGcg 
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/salvadore.liberto.1
Facebook Music Page: https://www.facebook.com/SALVADORELIBERTO

#MusicCareer #SalvadoreLiberto #MosaicMindsPodcast #MusicIndustryTips #CareerSuccess #PerformingArts #MusicJourney

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Transcript

0:01

Welcome to Mosaic Minds. My name is Nick and to my right here is Jason. And today we are joined by Salvador Liberto. Did I say that correctly? All right. Cool. Cool. Awesome. So, all I know, I gotta tell you, I gotta be honest. I tried to do a little bit of research, we skipped, had four people scheduled tonight. So I kind of, I was a little short on time, but all I know is what Jason's told me. And he tells me that you do, not only Elton John covers, but that you kind of take on the muse of Elton John. Is that a correct, kind of a correct statement? that's pretty generous. Yeah, I write my own music as well. And so my show is Elton and Me, it's called. And so I do Elton songs and I do my songs. One thing that's kind of interesting in the whole Elton impersonator milieu is if you listen to Elton impersonators, they rarely sound like Elton. And... I don't know that I sound like him. I do think my natural voice is fairly close to maybe his like middle -aged voice, right? So like, if you listen to him when he was really young, 26, 27, I don't think I'm quite that. Maybe I'm like early forties Elton. But I think my natural voice sounds a lot like Elton's. So it feels like an impersonation. So that's maybe that's where that vibe comes from. Okay. I enjoyed it. That's why I came across it. Cause we're looking for uniqueness. The, the mosaic kind of comes out in this interview. So I'm excited because what would be maybe a, maybe a couple songs that are influential for you. yeah, I mean certainly, I we talk about Elton, you know, like I'm just, I have my piano right here. So certainly that is huge for me. And then, you know, mean, he's got a song called Daniel with which everybody knows. Another influence of mine though, and I definitely, I think like if you were listening to my songs, you'd hear it, is George Winston. So George Winston actually just recently passed away sadly, but such a great piano player and can really play in so many different styles, but sort of invented what people call new age piano or he called folk piano, but. just really this very beautiful and melodic piano. He does a version of Pachelbel's Canon, which is really quite pretty. know, it's like... just a really great, great, great piano player. I'd say, yeah, I'd say his stuff for sure. Absolutely. And I like, I mean, I like that you, I'm going to like talk, ask you guys a question. I love, I love this mosaic concept and I love the concept of mosaics in general, where we take this disparate pieces and we put them together and then we have a broader vision from these smaller parts. So was going to ask you guys where you felt like that came from and what does it mean to have a mosaic mind? That was really interesting to me. That's so awesome that you asked that. So I'm going to defer to Nick, let him answer that. And then I'd like to be able to answer that because it's rare that we could ask questions, right Nick? Yeah. Yeah. No, love it. buddy. No, I want you to, this is your show, man. That's take it any way you want, but I'm going to have Nick answer that first. Yeah. So, mean, so the whole podcast thing was something that I'd wanted to do for a long time. And, I know that Jason had as well, cause you know, he's got a, he's got a. degree in broadcasting and that's kind of his background. And so, you know, we, kind of talked about it, just throwing it around here and there. And then we just decided that we were going to do it. And so I, I, I wanted it to be something that we could have different opinions, respectful opinions and different views, different, backgrounds, things like that, not only as guests, but also as the hosts. So We started with three of us. It was me and Jason, and then there was a female that was a part of it. unfortunately she ended up not being able to see it through, but all three of us, very different backgrounds, different looks, different interests, things like that. So that's kind of what we wanted to do. But then, you know, like once we started it, I started talking to Jason about, you know, we started to think a little bit more on the business side of things about. Well, you know, if we're going to make this big, you know, we really need to niche down and all this. And Jason kept telling me, he's like, I don't think so. You know, I don't think we do. I think that we should, we should keep it where it's just a variety of people. And, know, it turns out he, I mean, he was right. And I really do like the fact that we can have absolutely anybody on, you know, any kind of topic and just, you know, go from there. So, yeah, yeah, go ahead. So two things. One is I really like this concept of this kind of a diversity of thought. And I think that's the only thing that's going to help our country right now, by the way. Having a few good ideas from well -intentioned people, nothing wrong with that, right? And I really like, so the other thing that you've done here, which is really cool, is you fought the trend against specialization. And I think... Man, we're whole people, you know, like, and a of our, a lot of our interests in life, we find they integrate. So why do we have to be like, okay, this is my little channel. I'm going to stay in it. I don't, I don't know that I can experience life that way. And it seems to me that's not the mosaic life. So there you go. All right. so as far as the actual name, I'm going to be perfectly honest. It came from me brainstorming with my buddy, chat GPT. So, so, you know, I was just like, okay, so I'm looking for a title that, you know, can incorporate all kinds of different opinions, this and that. so it give me stuff and I'm like, Nope, that's not good enough. You know, cause you can kind of, you can talk shit to chat GPT and they don't care. So, you know, like, So I'm like, nope, not good enough, not good enough. So finally came back with the mosaic thing and I'm like, I love that mosaic mines. That sounds really cool. that's. that's like the premium status on JetBlue. So like people love that too. So there's a nice kind of high end brand there as well. yeah. I think the way that I'm going to answer it, the way that I see it is I like, I liken it to a church or a cathedral when you walk in and they're stained glass. I think beautiful light comes through there. It really pops. the thing that I'm excited about, and I'm not afraid to say this to yourself and Nick is, is, know, if you want to know the truth about it, I'm jealous of the talent that I just saw you display. wow. I can't be further away from being able to pick up Nick's guitar because you don't, you don't want to hear my guitar playing nor am I really willing to learn quite frankly, because in the sports world, to be honest with you, all I got to do is put my feet in the same place, have the same release point. If I do it 5 ,000 times, I can do it with my eyes closed. know you're similar to that in music, but I just want you to know that it's so awesome to talk with an NBA ballplayer one week, talk with a musician one week. And the reason that I think you're on is. Is, is you're not like a lot of people that I see you're unique. You're yourself. You have fun with it. you came alive as you were playing those three songs. So that's an ultimate compliment to you. I just, it's very interesting to see. Yeah. Sal, would you say that, here in Jason's voice though, I guarantee he'll say that he can't sing, but wouldn't you, wouldn't you bet that he would make a good bass singer? He could do some good bass backup with that voice. yeah, that vocal was fairly musical, I thought. you know, I think we're Back in the day, I was known to sing some metal, some Metallica, some, know, some stuff like that. But, I, you know, I, I do appreciate it. So let me ask you this when you're, when you're spending your time and let's say you're composing your own or let's say you're working on a cover for the, for the umpteenth time, how does a song capture your captivity to where I'm going to put my energy into that specific song and not go to other specific songs? That's really interesting. Let me react to something you said a second ago, which about coming alive and authenticity. I heard on, maybe it was a real I caught on Facebook. I'm like, man, I think that's a hundred percent true, which was that authenticity is one of the most powerful forces in the universe. And that when someone is authentically themselves, and this is true of all of us, we have more power. And so, yeah, I mean, I think in terms of everything I do, in, in my, in my life, that's sort of, in, the professional side, there's nothing to me more authentic than expressing myself musically. but there, but you also have to practice. So sometimes it's like, you know, I'm, I'm gonna, I'm definitely going to work on things that are just going to sound better. And then you sit there you know, there's a technical aspect you have to work on to get the song down and have it sound right. So then maybe you'll record it and listen to it. And I think as long as I can lock into flow, and flow is really just that ability to concentrate and feel joy while you're doing that. I'm lucky. It's very easy for me to concentrate when I'm enjoying something. It's very easy for me to concentrate in general. I don't think a lot of people have that gift. And so I'm fortunate to have that. I think that's intuitively true. There's another element too, though, which is if I'm thinking about a show, I really want to think about what effect is that show going to have on the people in the audience? And I want to serve them. really want them to leave that experience feeling like not only did they spend their money well or their time was spent well, but that they got something out of that that will last for them. So yeah, go ahead. you see that's that in my opinion, that is what makes a person with good energy is somebody that wants to leave someone better off than they were having just for having met them or having listened to their music or whatever, you know, and I'll let you finish your thought. But after that, even though we kind of did it out of order, I want you to if you could, I want you to just go back and kind of tell us a little bit about your background and where you're from and that kind of thing. But go ahead and finish your finish your thought. yeah, I was just going to say, think there's an element of service in the way that I write and conceive. And like, I really want to deliver that gift to people and inspire them. So like I wrote this song, I'll play just a lick for you. I'll play from the chorus to the, take, you know, 50 seconds or so, but this song, when this song, I'd say it more or less came to me and then I sort of fleshed it out. But the concept of it was really just to try to heal and help. so. like this. It doesn't matter if your life's been tough Or if you have given up As long as there's tomorrow You can find a better way Here we go, now's the time Don't be scared to lay it on the line So, you know, like, it doesn't matter. It doesn't really matter what's happened to you or where you are. You can improve your life. You can do something that's going to bring you joy, that's going to bring somebody else joy. You can take a trip. You can call a friend. You can paint a painting. You can do a podcast. And you know, you can, and when I wrote that song, I was like, man, this is, this feels great because I can perform this and then people can respond to it and sort of visualize for themselves, what does this song mean to them? And how can they, how can they use it? Your heart doesn't beat in vain, which is an obvious statement, but we need to be, sometimes we need to be reminded we've got something to contribute. So I think you're speaking the mosaic language. And the reason I say that is because to be honest with you, I'm not afraid to tell you this because you can't study a person too much online, but I thought we were talking to a person that was very musically inclined, very musically talented, had a specific artist that he liked. You're very inspirational and you're very positive. So I would, I would listen to you and a group of 50 aspiring musicians. at a 101 or 201 level music institution, believe it or not. So I think, I think, I think when life, when life is all about positivity and wake it up in the morning and just throwing your shoulders back and saying, Hey, today's the day I'm going to make someone else's life. That transcends past music and it, and it, and it helps and inspires others to see that, Hey, it is going to be a good day. It is going to be positive. The sun's rising today. You know, we're going to have a great day regardless of whether attitude or anything else. You know, what's funny is it seems like even though we do, even though we said that with the mosaic, it's, you know, different kinds of opinions and all that, it seems like we have kind of a, general theme. If you've noticed between, all of, all of our previous, most of our previous guests of the whole, like you were saying, authenticity and service, you know what I mean? And giving back, like that seems to be a kind of a, like a theme that goes along with no matter what that topic is. Have you noticed that? Yeah. Yeah. I think we're all three winners and I think it's easy to be a person that's listening to this and saying, Hey, that, that music kind of juiced me up a little bit. Hey, that was unique. That rendition was this. when you look at future projects, where's your heart and mind in that for future projects or maybe given back to your local community at large. Yeah, good question. I think, let me jump on the truth comment or the comment about like services. I think at that higher level of thinking, you are gonna be inclined to serve others. Here's how I'll frame this. The universal mind doesn't really distinguish among people. So I think when you help others, you tend to help yourself. And I don't think you do it to help yourself, but isn't that the answerly benefit? Like if you do something nice for, I just gave someone a tip who helped me with some sound and shot some videos for me. I'm able to post it on my Facebook page. He did such a good job. I paid him a few dollars in the moment. And I'm like, you know what? I'm going to give this guy some more money because he did such a good job for me. And you know, I felt so great with that generosity. So I think that kind of spirit and that kind of energy is really important to have. know, I'm not, I'm not super young anymore. So these are. I wasn't like 22 and had this realization. It probably came a little later in life, but it's like, that's what life's about, that kind of connection and having a service orientation. And so that's going to continue in all the music I do. I do a lot of shows for free. I play some libraries where don't, no one pays me anything. And I'm fortunate in a position in my life where I can do that. So I'll answer the question about my background, all that. So I grew up in New Orleans. So when you grew up in New Orleans, you got to be like, you know, got to, you got to get the piano down. Like I'm a piano player first. I'm a singer second and maybe an Elton John aficionado third and maybe a songwriter third. Well, no, a songwriter second, a singer third, Elton John aficionado fourth. So when you grow up in New Orleans, I mean, the music has to be tight. So that's where that comes from. And then I went to college in Boston, which had its own set of influences. And then in terms of a career, I do work in higher education in addition to my work in music. So I've worked as a college administrator and admissions enrollment. Did you know that Jason? Your admissions enrollment? So, so am I. That's my position. Yeah. And I'm financial aid. Yeah. And in aviation school, he's, he's financial aid. So in other words, I enroll him and then I separate that. And then he takes the baton from there and gets them in school. And then we both want to see him succeed. you know, what's weird is I looked, I tried to look you up this afternoon and I, and I found you on LinkedIn, but I didn't think it was you. I was, kept looking for maybe like a little blurb about music or something. And, I didn't find anything. so my parents made a mistake when they named me, which is to add an E at the end of my first name, which is more of a Spanish spelling of my name, not a Sicilian or Italian spelling. Well, anyway, so no one has my name. So. So, Sal, I got two stories for you. Number one, everybody misspells my name and we'll go into that later, but I've seen, and just to let you know, I'm not, I'm not a Nick. I'm not related to Dwight Yocum because it's spelled differently. Just putting that rumor out there. And then the funny story that I want to give you, Sal, a way for music and life is one of my wife's friends is a teacher in an area and they named a child, Astatio and at the first teacher's conference, great name. And the, and the parent basically said, the reason I named my daughter, this is because I like the nuts that you buy in the grocery store. wow. So I had to make you laugh. said there would be humor, but that's a true story. So all I'm trying to tell you is, is although you like the name Astatio, we both know that it's actually a pistachio. That's like that tattoo that you see in memes where people get the tattoo that says no regurts. Yep. Hey, so I'm going to throw you, I'm going to throw you a curve ball cause I like to do this, but you're going to be able to handle it. I think I can do this. One of Elton's earlier albums. I can't tell you that I'm like a fanatic, but I can tell you, I appreciate his music. It's a white album. He's got bright sunglasses on and it's almost like he's looking back at it. And there's a lot of green and gold on that album. Does that explain the album well enough to where you know what I'm talking about? Is that goodbye Yelbrick Road? I believe that it is. Yeah, I think so. Yeah, he's kind of looking back. a random song kind of from that era, maybe just a little snippet for us. The pressure's on a little bit. from that random era, you could probably do that in your sleep. When are you going to land? Should have stayed on the phone Should have listened to my old man Didn't sign up with you Not a present for your friends too old These boys too young to be singing, Woo! There you go! Yeah, you know that one! And then on that same record as this song... Yeah, you go. My dad's a favorite. was a big fan of her. time that I saw you on Facebook as I'm doing the research and you have, you have the diamond or the studded, I don't know what to call them, but cool looking glasses. I'll just leave it at that. So good stuff. Good stuff. Hey, so let me ask you this, being an admissions person, you passed with flying colors because I put you on the spot a little bit. I'm not surprised you passed with flying colors, but you were very passionate about what I call an ad lib. you weren't maybe expecting that question and you had to react. Are you an ad lib or are you a real prepared person? Maybe when you do that, in other words, if somebody in the crowd throws out a random song, are you happy about that? Or would you rather be very prepared with the script and know exactly what songs you're going to play throughout the presentation? So it depends on the setting, I suppose. So if I were playing in a more relaxed setting, that wouldn't bother me at all. I did a show last summer, no? Well, early summer, I guess. And I sat down and Taylor Swift was the hottest thing since sliced bread, she still is. And I'm like, it was a pretty good -sized crowd. So I'm like, just so you guys know, this isn't a Taylor Swift concert. And I don't know that that was a... perfect joke or not, it broke up the ice a little bit. And someone shouts out, do you take requests? And then this was a, right. this was a, you pay for this and like it's supposed to be this sort of a little more serene kind of setting and do you take requests? And then the person goes, oops, I did it again. Thinking that they were making a Taylor Swift joke when they were making. Britney Spears joke. I didn't, honestly, I didn't know how to react to that because that surprised me. So I think, so like, I talk a lot about the Myers -Briggs as a personality implement, right? As a good, as a good kind of measurement as to how, so on the Myers -Briggs, there's the J and the P, right? So the J is the person who's judging, a lot of structure. The P is the person who's spontaneous and will change their plans quickly, et cetera. I fall right in the middle of those two, a little closer to the J because I'm always at the airport four hours early. Of course. man, I'm a all the way. P to the max. In financial aid, now that's an unusual combination, yeah. and that's, that's what I attribute to the success that I've had in financial aid is and why I'm able to get along with admissions. No offense to your financial aid people, but I know that a lot of schools, that is not the case. Nick and I, Nick and I did this originally as in my opinion, he may say differently. I did this as an additional set of camaraderie with him because I look at it like he's my right hand, you know, My students are not going to get the service that they deserve in my opinion, if I don't have camaraderie with Nick. So, so being on that team, it's a warm handoff. The funny Freebird story that I have, Sal, that I want you to hear real quick is I went to a French festival with my uncle. I went to a French festival with my uncle and there's about 500 people in this, this band was doing great. And my, my uncle had had a few adult beverages, right? He's peppered. So they're asking for people to suggest and everybody was shy. So I finally kept nudging them in the ribs and I said, free bird, Leonard, skinnered. So he stands up free bird, Leonard, skinnered. And I never will forget the reaction. I'm going to get a little vocal with you. It's going to be a sharp word, but the guy literally pauses about 15 seconds, grabs the mic and here's what he said. There's always got to be some dumb ass in the crowd that has, you know, the skinnered. anyway, to this day, my uncle makes fun of me that I. forced them into saying that and vice versa. that was a, that was a great memory. Hey, that was at a French festival in downtown Indianapolis. It was a street festival and there was like 500 people. were just eating French food and listening to random rock. So the request had nothing to do with the band. If that makes sense, by the way, it wasn't that era or anything. So. One of my influences, a guy named Keith Jarrett, who was wound, unfortunately had a stroke, so doesn't play anymore, but he was wound so tight that he would go out, and there's actually footage of this, people would be taking pictures of him and he would stop the concert because people were taking pictures of him at an outdoor venue. So, that's the other extreme, right? That's funny. guy, was he a big name or a bigger name? Keith Jarrett was very big name in the piano, jazz piano world and, you know, is famously known for just sitting down and presumably improvising entire concerts. And there's some stuff from the early seventies that people I guess get high to still. But anyway, was, could, yeah, if you look up Keith Jarrett and a lot of his stuff is on YouTube and Spotify. So kind of random, but you'll appreciate this. There's a famous stage. I'm not going to call it the Grand Ole Opry, but I believe there's a famous stage or two in Nashville. In fact, I know there is. What's interesting is, is I specked on a violin of all things and had it perfected by a Lutherie that would normally put his hands on guitars to perfect them. He perfected, he perfected this violin, got the grain looking phenomenal. It had a leaf on it and believe it or not, that violin is being played by extremely high end people in front of tens of thousands of people. And it's just so cool that I had my hands on that violin for two years and a famous musician's playing it to this day on that stage. That to me is something I want to share with you is my connection to music. So, so absolutely. you know, that's a really good win. I like it. Do the people at your school, do the students and the faculty and the staff, do they know that you're as musically inclined as you are? Some do, because I'm friends with a few on Facebook. And then, the nature of my work in enrollment these days is I do interim assignments largely. So actually, if you look me up, if you put in the registry and the Chronicle of Higher Education, you'll see that there's a recent article in which I'm featured about coming in and just being a dean or a vice president and helping places in times of transition. So all that to say, I don't typically stay at places very long. Although where I am now, been there a little more than a year and probably stay there another year or two. Yeah. pretty cool. like that. That would keep some of the monotony that can sometimes come along with education. I think so. I think so. Cause I like the novelty. I like the new projects and I do a lot of turnaround work. You like you call me when things are really from an enrollment standpoint where things just haven't been working and I try to come up with a good solution and usually do. What I like about the article is it, it really showcases how, how much care I provide when I'm working with people. really, I really try to just be super helpful. Like I try to take the ego out of what I'm doing. Yeah. really just try to operate from a service mindset. And sometimes that works and sometimes, you know, sometimes they're like, this guy can't possibly be this nice or this effect. He can't be effective. He's too nice. And it's like, well, you know, if that's, if that's how you see the world, then maybe this won't work. Well you might appreciate this. So are you for profit? Or like trade school? Or are you like traditional? it varies, but I've worked almost exclusively for nonprofits. I've worked for one for -profit, but most of my work is in a nonprofit vein. So we just had, and we don't normally have people necessarily in that sector, our previous guest right before you, no, no, no, no, No, we just ran over with our last guest. So she is actually a part of CQ, which is college, my gosh, I'm going to go blank now, college education. Career Education Colleges Universities, that's what it stands for. And they kind of lobby for and have the back of some of the trade and for -profit schools because they're so looked down upon by especially politicians. Yeah, yeah. So we had her on and then the week before we had the president of CQ. So anyway, I just thought that was interesting that we don't normally do that and we had them and then here you are, Sal, just poof, you know? go, it's all coming together. So I'll come together. got to go back to music, man. I'm going to, I'm going to toss one out at you, right? Being a, being an ad lib guy, I'm going to do as best I can. Okay. So, so believe it or not, I was given the opportunity or encouraged to have the opportunity to do voiceover work and do some inspirational speaking. I just was scared because I didn't have, I didn't have the backing and or the resources to get started in that career. So I'm giving you the background to give you the question. If I say that the artists that we've mentioned several times throughout this, transcended music for 30 to 40 years plus and is still, I'm going to give you the example of the Rolling Stones. I'm going to give you the example of Tom Petty. I believe you could listen to either one of those artists, all three of the artists we just mentioned 20 years from now. And I think that it's almost like that music is still valuable. It's like a close, it's still a style. It's still in. Answer to me what makes a particular artist like the three that I mentioned, maybe make you give one more, if you will, and kind of answer it like, how does that person go decade after decade after decade and still connect with the crowd that's in front of them? That's great. I a good song is a good song. So I don't know. mean, I think there's songs that are 40 and 50 years old that sound great. There's songs that are 200 years old that sound great. Beethoven, people still playing a lot of Beethoven, I've noticed. Or Mozart. So I think the structure of it sounds so like, I mean like this. I wrote this. I mean, I think that's gonna sound fine to somebody in 25 years, you know? That was just an introduction to one of my songs. I wrote this like 35 years ago. dated element to that. if it like, I mean, I'll go to Motown, The Temptations, like some of the stuff that they do is timeless because it endures through decades and or something like songs by like Cool and the Gang, like there's New Orleans band, you know, there's a timeless element there. And if a song hits a chord, maybe we have a song called like Celebrate Good Times, right? Like That's a timeless sentiment as well. so, yeah, maybe there's a little bit of the error that you can hear in that song, but songs that endure tend to carry some message, some timeless element to them. yeah, I mean, you can't get no satisfaction. The waiting is the hardest part by Tom Petty. It's a gorgeous sentiment, you know, and because it rings true. And what I say about authenticity? think when you, I think when you said just real quick, think when you said 35 years ago, when you wrote that, I guess I, I had this conversation with a wrestler. It's like you go into that arena and you smell the popcorn. You, you, you smell the guys that are smoking outside, waiting to come into that event. I'm going to leave you with this answer to me, maybe 35 years ago, what was going on in the inspiration and how that continues to inspire you today when you play a similar song. Well, was, yeah, sure, sure. Well, I was about 18. So, I mean, I was just getting started writing music then. I think, you know, my life has had a lot of interesting twists and turns in it in terms of some things that have brought me some really severe tragedy. I've lost several siblings, for example, which I've then, you know, I've put that into my music. I've written a couple of songs about a couple of my siblings, which... which has been cathartic. would, of obviously wish the experiences had not occurred as they did, but, so I think what music has been for me in many ways is a form of therapy, you know, and an ability to sort of access a pain point. And here's the other thing, we were talking about this a long time ago in our conversation. If I can deliver something to some, because I've suffered, right? And I know what suffering feels like, and I'm sure you guys have been through your share of suffering as well. If I can put that into music and someone can hear that and they can relate to that and that can help them heal a little bit, then I've done my job. Like if I'm able to convey to them, hey, I have this line in that song I played for you, Now Is The Time, goes, So like again, we're gonna go through stuff. Hopefully we're gonna come up the other side. be able to probably be of more service to others having endured. Yeah. Well, I music has been known, you know, since beginning of time to be a state changer, you know, as far as your, your mood, your, all that. So if you can put emotion in there with it you can resonate with somebody that, like you said, has, has been through maybe something similar to what, what you have, then that's going to be a whole lot more powerful. And I think that's, there's still a lot of music, a lot of great music that's, that's new. But one thing I think that a lot of music lacks now are, lyrics when it comes to the emotion, you know, what you were talking about, the emotion and that kind of thing. I mean, you know, some of them are just random words. You know, may have a great beat, but it's just random words. But I mean, even even in the, you know, I'm a nineties kid, you know, I was born in 1980. So I grew up teenager in the nineties. So, you know, like I listened to a lot of, you know, alt rock and but I still love seventies and that kind of thing. But songs then even hip hop, they they could they could relate or they were. talking about the hardships in their life and things that happen and now I don't care what genre the music is the majority of it it seems like is so candy you know what mean it's 90s is a golden age for songwriting. The 90s is a, I mean, think about R .E I mean, Outkast, so many just tremendous, so much great talent in the 90s. I mean, even music you can't necessarily relate to, maybe like, you know, I've obviously can't relate to why I say, obviously, I guess you don't know me, but like, can't relate to, you know, growing up in the streets and, and, you know, seeing my friend shot down in the street and all that. But I can feel that emotion when I hear something, you know, that where they're talking about their, background and their past, you know, but you just don't, it's so, it seems so silly. lot of it now. I think so. Go ahead. Go ahead and expand. I think the thing I'd add to that sentiment, which is really well thought out, think, is I think also auto -tune has really screwed up music. And I don't believe in auto -tune. don't think people should do. First of all, how do know who can sing and not or not? then I think there's an imperfection in the human voice that I actually want to hear.-huh. If I'm going to a live show, for example, I want to hear that someone just miss a note, you know, and because maybe there's an emotion that they're trying to convey from that. like, or, just it's nice to know that people are imperfect. So, yeah, I don't, I don't like it in recorded music either. So yeah, I don't like auto tune. don't think, I don't think that's helped music, not to sound like some old guy, but I think, I think at some point there's going to be a nice pushback on auto tune and we'll have more authentic sounding vocals again. Well, if you look back at some of the singers from especially like the 60s and the 70s, they did not have necessarily classically perfect voices. They maybe had a great range and they obviously had a great style, which is why they're awesome. But they didn't necessarily, they couldn't do runs all over the place like some of the modern music. I'm trying to picture someone like Neil Young. You know, because... You know what mean? But there are some great singers. Ariana Grande is a great singer. Sure. Yeah. And even, even Taylor Swift, you're talking about Taylor Swift. I'm not a fan necessarily, but you have to respect the girl. She writes her own music. She's been doing it since she was 15, you know? live shows have gotten better if you listen to like her tonality, you know, six, seven years ago, very different than now, which is fine. Like if you listen to Elton in 74, let's say, listen to any of his concerts in 74, he sounds terrible compared to how he sounded by the end of the 70s. So, hey, you know, it's good to grow as a professional. think that you're the, know, it's a, it's a common, it's a common that everybody's heard of, and I don't want to be cliche, but if I could go back to any year, it'd be the Woodstock era, not just to say the word Woodstock really. Like, like, I think I would agree with Nick. Like I think one could debate that. don't know that Janice Joplin had a great voice, but Janice Joplin had an unbelievable voice in my opinion, because in my opinion, they'll never be anybody to ever sound like that again. Cause she had her unique niche within it. I've spent a lot of time watching the videos and just the fascination, like watching the grateful dead behind the scenes that the crowd didn't see stuff like that is just fascinating to me. And my, my first concert was with dad with 45 ,000 screaming fans in the beach boys. like, you know, you're younger, you don't have a musical influence and they roll out there on the Astro turf after a red baseball game. It's a. This has been a blessing to me because not only do we have a lot of commonalities, not only do you have multiple layers of your game, because I thought we were talking all music. This right here was like, yeah, music was definitely a huge influence to it, but we saw multiple layers of who, makes you a good person. And quite frankly, like he was saying, your philanthropic heart, you're, doing better for others. You're doing charity work or whatnot at the, at the libraries and stuff to get people to feel good. Because if, if, if a few people come up to you and smile or I haven't laughed that hard or that was great to hear that music, man, you just can't put a dollar sign on that. It's more of an emotion that that person walks out to the car with. No, it's the greatest feeling, think. spot on, spot on. It's a great, great feeling. So when am I coming to Indianapolis? You guys are in Indianapolis? So what's like a nice 300 seat performing arts center I should be targeting for show? Well, I mean, so my favorite venue is at the it's right next to our zoo and it's at the White River State Park and it's I can't remember what they call it now because you know banks and oil companies and all that buy them up and stuff and change the names. So I don't know what it's called right now, but it's a little amphitheater at the White River State Park. I was just there for a concert about about three or four weeks ago. typing this into my document in the Google Drive here right now. Why white river, white river state park amphitheater. And then it should come up. when you say it, I'll know it, but I can't think of the, what they're calling it now. So I'm going to be bold with you. live in Plainfield, Indiana. We just literally meant it. I not we, I'm a, I'm a town resident, a 600 seat venue. That's brand new. I mean, if, if, if there wasn't a better, I mean, for a town of our size, modern, I can't say enough about it. If you do a little research, it'll pull it right up. Plainfield, Indiana has a new civic center is what I'm going to call it. Fine arts center, whatever. I've even got a little bit of connection there. So I'm not saying I can, I'm not saying I can get you booked, but I'm saying I'm confident with getting you in front of the people that are booking for that. You did say small, you? You say, and I gave you like a, the one I've mentioned isn't, isn't small, but there's one up on the north side, which is kind of like the more ritzy part of town. And it's, it's, Shoot, what's it called? Something performing arts. It's in, I believe it's in Fishers, Fishers, Indiana. It's like. Is it just Hamilton, Hamilton performing? I don't know. I don't know. We'll do a little research off record and we'll, we'll, we'll leave you with five venues within 30 miles of us. And we've already given you two or three. So you're, you're owed to want one or two more. So. what I do, believe it or not, is I rent a venue and then, you know, if hopefully I sell enough tickets to at least break even, if I don't do that, I don't care, you know, that I've given. changer there. I, I, I don't want to step out of bounds, but I would be surprised if we can't find, well, reached out would be a perfect connection for him. Rich Neil. So Neil would be perfect. got a guy that does a venue booking for comedy, but at the same time it wouldn't necessarily tie in, but music and comedy to me makes sense. We could pitch it to him and, worst he can do is say no. Right. But best case scenario, we get you some contact. I, Yeah, that'd be great. Treat you to dinner. I live just north of Boston, which to me, you should come to Fenway, of course. Let's go to Fenway. He said it I didn't even say it. If I could, if I, you know, my dream is to set on top of the green monster. know those are expensive, but just, just getting into Fenway, just getting into Fenway. I've been to Wrigley and Fenway is just as legendary. So. in common, gentlemen. Let's see if we can make something happen here. know, like first two big lessons from, you know, my tragedies that I've, life is really short, so just enjoy yourself. And then I live on the East Coast, I mean, it's easy to get to anywhere, right? From Boston, it's a hub, you know, so it's I'm going to be Velveeta for a minute, I'm going to be a little cheesy with you. Okay. So here's what I'm going to tell you, man. It's rare that I say this. I haven't said it on one episode and I believe it on all episodes. just haven't verbalized it, but I'm going to say, you know, don't take this lightly. I use the word friend with you after 45 minutes. I truly feel that you have a good heart. You have a good mind. Music's your thing. We work in admissions, so don't take that lightly. If you're ever in Indianapolis, if we're ever out on the East coast, hopefully with cross paths, keep doing great things in admissions. Cause that's an armor that we wear to change lives and to help people. and also the musical side, you can't put a dollar figure on that. You don't know if those, those people have gone through rough times. You don't know if those people have been to thousands of concerts, but what I will tell you is they leave their changed. Everybody's going to feel good about that. So I'm going to let Nick kind of take us out here just to give kind of the intro and give you the ability to put yourself out there in front of some new folks. Take us, take us out. So am I going to, you want me to So like a candle in the wind. So, you do definitely have that, that friend energy for sure. I'm sure that you have. anybody you get, or I'm sure you're graded in admissions because I'm sure that anybody you get around can pick up on that. But where, where can we find yourself? Like if, you want somebody to find your music, just, just hit you up to say, hi, like where, where do you want us to, what, what social media platforms do you are you on? two good platforms right now, I'm on YouTube and you just search Salvador, S -A -L -V -A-D -O -R -E, Liberto, L -I -B -E -R -T -O, and you'll find my channel and then same on Facebook, SalvadorLiberto -Musician. And you'll find me in gentlemen, it's a pleasure to talk to you and I feel the same way about you guys, feel like we're friends already and look forward to future conversations and bouncing more ideas off of each other. Sounds good to me. And if you ever do come to ND to perform, let us know so we can try to promote the shit out of it. Okay. I, yeah, I would, I would love to come to India and I've actually, actually it's been on my mind, on my radar. I always, I always really enjoy being in the Midwest. I've been in, I've spent a ton of time in Chicago and believe it or not, first time I stepped in the Midwest, I went to debate camp in Iowa. like, I just, I love the Midwest. So Sal, you're, you're, gotta watch my quotes here. You're debating to come to Indianapolis then, right? Well, I don't want to argue about it. I know you want to come here, right? We're debating. I'll tell you this. And I know it may seem like a, we're biased, but I can tell you as a kid, I could not wait to get out of Indiana and Indianapolis as an adult. It is a very underrated city. There's a lot of awesome things to do. mean, there really is, you know, good restaurants, good music, all of it. Hey man, it always stands Pacers game, Colts game, some good concert venues, some good Italian, Italian, know, we're how Richardson looks this year for you guys. Hopefully he'll do well for you. And yeah, absolutely. Alright man, well hey thanks again and yeah we'll be in touch okay? Look forward to talking to you again, guys. Thank you. Appreciate it. with us for about five to 10 seconds if you don't mind, just so we can kind of have a nice ending. And then it was nice meeting you and thanks a lot. Thank you guys, take care.