Latest / The Scene Projects / Belle Modeen on Nashville, Veterans, and Navigating Music Industry Changes

Transcript

Belle Modeen on Nashville, Veterans, and Navigating Music Industry Changes · The Scene Projects

• 0:02
  Today, we're welcoming in Belmodine, a 19 year old musical prodigy from Superior, Wisconsin.
• 0:09
  She's best known for her silver ticket on American Idol, but now she's helping veterans
• 0:15
  and a student at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee.
• 0:19
  Let's get into the show.
• 0:27
  Podcast network.
• 0:29
  Scene Project features interviews with independent musicians, comedians, and artists
• 0:34
  from across the Midwest.
• 0:37
  Become part of our community and support local art wherever you are.
• 0:50
  Well, welcome in to another exciting episode of the scene.
• 0:53
  I'm your host, Bubba Starts, and with me today is Belle Modine.
• 0:57
  Welcome to the show, Belle.
• 0:58
  Hi.
• 0:58
  Thank you so much for having me, Bubba.
• 1:00
  Yeah.
• 1:01
  Well, it's been a long time coming.
• 1:02
  We got to meet last April, and I was just blown away by your bubbly nature and that big old
• 1:08
  smile.
• 1:09
  And since then, I I've been following you on social media and getting to listen to you play
• 1:14
  some music and hearing the music that you've written and kinda following this journey as
• 1:19
  you, you know, transition from the young music prodigy, you know, in high school and now
• 1:24
  attending Belmont University there in Nashville and watching that journey has been absolutely
• 1:29
  incredible.
• 1:30
  So congratulations to you, and thanks for taking a little time for me today.
• 1:34
  Thank you so much.
• 1:34
  Thank you so much for having me, Bubba, today.
• 1:37
  Well, I know that, your back story isn't long, but I wanna give you the floor and just kinda
• 1:42
  give us a little bit of kinda what has brought you up to now, and then we're gonna talk about
• 1:47
  all the stuff that you're up to these days.
• 1:49
  Awesome.
• 1:50
  Yeah.
• 1:50
  So I've been part of, like, the music industry since I was eight years old.
• 1:53
  I started with theater productions, singing national anthems, and that really got me
• 1:58
  started to do gigs by myself.
• 2:00
  I started to do gigs when I was in ninth grade, I believe.
• 2:04
  And I feel like just from now to then has just been a whole experience for me.
• 2:08
  I just been having collaborating with artists, writing my own songs.
• 2:13
  Because at first, like, during COVID, I was writing my own songs when I was 13, and then
• 2:17
  now just bringing those songs to life is really cool to me.
• 2:21
  I've been just, like, on news stations and, like, just my whole, like, artistry and my
• 2:27
  whole music industry that's been developing has been really cool because at first, I just
• 2:33
  thought it was, like, a little fun thing to do.
• 2:35
  But now that I'm at Belmont University and, like, actually doing music business and, like,
• 2:40
  emphasis on production and just, like, exploring the whole industry is just really
• 2:45
  cool to me because I've always had a passion for music, always been on the stage, wanting to
• 2:51
  be on the stage every single day, and that all started because of theater and because of
• 2:55
  singing national anthems and getting myself out there, which is really cool.
• 2:59
  Yeah.
• 3:01
  That is so awesome.
• 3:03
  I I started my music journey a little bit different.
• 3:06
  It wasn't necessarily in place, but I sang in choir in middle school and, you know, played in
• 3:11
  in band at that time.
• 3:13
  And I got a guitar around 13, and that's when I was like, oh, this is how I bring my voice and
• 3:19
  that together.
• 3:20
  I sort of played in my dad's rock and roll band immediately, and I was in smoky bar rooms way
• 3:26
  too early.
• 3:27
  And that probably led to a lot of my, you know, later troubles in my twenties because I wasn't
• 3:32
  focused on, like, the business of it.
• 3:34
  It was just, you know, this is a party.
• 3:37
  Right?
• 3:37
  Yeah.
• 3:37
  And I feel like you're so blessed to have, for one, a much different industry now.
• 3:43
  When I was you know, this was a long time ago when I was your age.
• 3:46
  So we didn't have necessarily the home recording capabilities or the independent
• 3:52
  artist wasn't what it is now.
• 3:54
  And you're getting a great opportunity to to learn this business and to launch your own
• 4:00
  career.
• 4:01
  Back in my day, everyone was we were hoping to get signed to a record label or to do and that
• 4:05
  was how you made it in music, and that's just not the case these days.
• 4:10
  Yeah.
• 4:11
  It's very different today.
• 4:12
  Like, just looking at the industry now to like, from then to now is just, like, so different
• 4:18
  because yeah.
• 4:20
  Just everything that you've said.
• 4:21
  Yeah.
• 4:23
  No.
• 4:23
  And I I just like, I don't wanna say that it stunted me, but I spent so much time you know,
• 4:29
  I I went to LA, and I didn't, you know, didn't make it to Nashville at any point because I
• 4:33
  never consider myself a country artist until much more recently in my life because rock
• 4:38
  music kinda left songwriters behind.
• 4:41
  You know, I grew up loving bands like Pearl Jam and and, you know, Soundgarden, Red Hot Chili
• 4:46
  Peppers, these these great songwriters that were in rock music.
• 4:50
  And now rock music is just so heavy, and that's not really my style.
• 4:55
  So I've kind of you know, the the industry shifted, and all of a sudden, was like, well,
• 5:01
  my only home is kind of country music.
• 5:04
  Have you always been a country gal?
• 5:06
  I have not always been a country gal.
• 5:08
  I've been a kind of a mix of folk, pop, and country in which has really inspired my kind of
• 5:13
  style of music and my kind of tone, which I'm still developing a little bit.
• 5:18
  But I feel like when people say Nashville is, like, so country, when you come here, you're
• 5:24
  like, oh, wait.
• 5:25
  It's, like, so many other different things.
• 5:27
  And it's just so cool to cool to see that because you would think, like, Nashville, like,
• 5:31
  country boots and, like, country hats, and everyone's always, like, singing on a honky
• 5:36
  tonk or whatever.
• 5:36
  But I feel like it's so much more than that.
• 5:38
  There's, like, so many other things, so many cool things.
• 5:41
  There's, like, rock.
• 5:42
  There's folk.
• 5:43
  There's pop.
• 5:43
  There's just everything, and it's just so cool.
• 5:46
  Yeah.
• 5:47
  In so many ways, I think that it's really the heart of just live music.
• 5:53
  Right?
• 5:53
  It's the heart of all popular music now as people have left LA and New York both.
• 6:00
  And I think that having a, you know, a Midwestern I know Nashville's kind of the South
• 6:05
  Midwest.
• 6:05
  I don't know.
• 6:06
  I don't know what they qualify themselves as, but it it brings a different vibe.
• 6:11
  And having obviously Broadway and all of the live music that you're seeing, that it's not
• 6:16
  what it was in the seventies.
• 6:18
  Right?
• 6:19
  It's much different and how great it is.
• 6:22
  I've never been to Nashville, but I get to go and cover the Josie music awards here soon.
• 6:27
  And, I'm looking forward to coming down and getting to see you and maybe have you give me a
• 6:32
  little tour of the city.
• 6:34
  Yes.
• 6:34
  For sure.
• 6:34
  That would be a lot of fun.
• 6:35
  Yeah.
• 6:36
  I cannot wait for the Josie Awards.
• 6:37
  That's gonna be so much fun, and I'll give you a little tour.
• 6:40
  It's a lot of fun down here.
• 6:41
  Yeah.
• 6:42
  Well, you've been getting you've been getting around.
• 6:44
  You have not let the fact that you're not quite 21 yet keep you from seeing everything that's
• 6:50
  going on.
• 6:51
  It seems like you're at a different writers round or, you know, a a different venue every
• 6:56
  night of the week following you on TikTok or your Instagram.
• 7:00
  And for me, it's really shown me that, like, wow.
• 7:02
  This this young lady has been able to just go in and really attack and and to grab the top.
• 7:08
  No.
• 7:08
  Of course, you have to have talent, right, which you have in abundance.
• 7:12
  But how easy is it for someone to kinda land in Nashville and to just start signing up for
• 7:18
  these things and getting involved?
• 7:21
  Honestly, it takes a lot of work.
• 7:23
  I feel like I've been working so hard to get to this point in my life, and it's something where
• 7:29
  you kind of have to be able to connect with people.
• 7:32
  I feel like that's a huge part of the music industry nowadays.
• 7:35
  You have to be able to connect with people rather than being like, hey.
• 7:38
  Like, I wanna play this show.
• 7:40
  No.
• 7:40
  You gotta be like, hey.
• 7:41
  Like, how do I, like, connect with these kind of people?
• 7:44
  How do and I've been, like, going to events and, like, supporting others that I follow on
• 7:48
  Instagram.
• 7:49
  When I first came in Nashville, I became friends with Justin Love.
• 7:53
  And, I went to one of his shows, and I met him.
• 7:56
  And then all of a sudden, like, I would, like, go to other shows and meet all of these other
• 8:00
  people.
• 8:00
  And then it's like, oh, I find out about this place, and now I can play at this place.
• 8:04
  And, like, just figuring out what times I should be there to sign up for writers rounds
• 8:08
  because there's, like, they don't actually tell you, like, what time to sign up for writers
• 8:13
  rounds.
• 8:13
  You just kind of have to go for the first time, like, just kind of feel it out, and then you're
• 8:18
  like, oh, wait.
• 8:19
  That's the time.
• 8:20
  Like, sometimes it's, 5PM.
• 8:22
  Some places, it's, like, 9PM.
• 8:23
  So it's, like, you kind of just have to connect with people and just, like, build that
• 8:28
  relationship and be like, hey.
• 8:29
  Like, I trust you.
• 8:30
  You trust me.
• 8:31
  And rather than being like, hey.
• 8:32
  I'm coming to Nashville.
• 8:33
  Where are you gonna play?
• 8:34
  Like and, like, just kind of bashing that.
• 8:37
  It's, like, just a whole community and just being connecting with people is a huge part of
• 8:43
  that.
• 8:43
  And I feel like that can be an easy thing rather than being, like, I'm gonna sign up for
• 8:48
  this place.
• 8:49
  So
• 8:51
  So connecting with some other artists that are in Nashville working and can kinda show you the
• 8:56
  ropes is I it sounds like a really good piece of advice.
• 8:59
  It is a really good piece of advice.
• 9:01
  And when I first came here, I was honestly, in every single day, I'm humbled every single day.
• 9:08
  I'm like, oh, I didn't know this thing.
• 9:10
  And when I came to Nashville, I thought I was just like, you're gonna play here, and that's
• 9:14
  just how it's gonna go.
• 9:15
  But, no, it's like more than that, and nobody really tells you that at first.
• 9:19
  So it's just kind of a whole, like, you're working up for it rather than being given it.
• 9:24
  You know what I mean?
• 9:25
  Right.
• 9:25
  Well and there's just so much competition.
• 9:27
  I mean, everybody is there with a dream, and everybody has talent.
• 9:31
  And I think that's maybe what's always scared me is that growing up in a small South Dakota
• 9:36
  town and never really, not that I didn't believe that I had it, but how did I measure up
• 9:41
  to others?
• 9:42
  And and I never really cared.
• 9:44
  I always had my own lane that I was in.
• 9:46
  But now in my career where it's like, well, how do I stack up?
• 9:50
  How do my songs, you know, appeal to some of those people in these bigger areas?
• 9:54
  And, I just never had the that dream.
• 9:59
  Right?
• 9:59
  Nashville was was country music twenty years ago and in my head, and I just never, you know,
• 10:05
  wanted to branch out into that.
• 10:07
  But now I'm being called there one way or another, and, I'm very grateful to have a a lot
• 10:13
  of friends, not just yourself, but guys like Brad Morgan who's been down there for a long
• 10:17
  time, a fellow Midwest country music organization member.
• 10:21
  And these resources that I can go to and say, hey.
• 10:24
  You know what?
• 10:24
  I'm gonna spend two or three days there after the Josie's.
• 10:27
  What what should I do?
• 10:28
  Who can I where can I go to meet a few people?
• 10:30
  And even if I don't get to play, where can I go and mingle a little bit and get to know some
• 10:35
  folks so that the next time I come down, maybe I have a little bit better chance?
• 10:39
  Mhmm.
• 10:42
  So what is, what's on the plate now?
• 10:45
  I mean, you've been playing all the writers rounds.
• 10:48
  Do you have some some regular gigs that you're playing down there, or is there anything, you
• 10:54
  know, on the plate coming up in the near future?
• 10:56
  Yes.
• 10:57
  So I actually have a gig tomorrow.
• 11:00
  I'm playing, an open not an open.
• 11:03
  I'm playing a writer's round tomorrow.
• 11:05
  It's at this Pookie Jane's place.
• 11:07
  It's right near Franklin, Tennessee.
• 11:10
  I've been playing a lot of those gigs, lot of in Franklin at Soulshine.
• 11:15
  There's another place in Franklin that I totally forgot about.
• 11:18
  And then there's I've been playing at Moxie.
• 11:22
  I played at Big Jimmy's on Broadway.
• 11:25
  I play at the Commodore really frequently, and I've been just playing around.
• 11:30
  Just kinda like signing up for things or being invited to things, which is really awesome.
• 11:35
  And lot of the times is during a school night, but okay.
• 11:39
  It doesn't really stop me.
• 11:40
  Like, tomorrow it's gonna be at 9PM and then I have school the next day.
• 11:44
  But it's okay because I love it and I love performing and I love going to new places
• 11:50
  because I've never been to this Pookie Jane's place, but I'm gonna go anyways, and it's gonna
• 11:54
  be so much fun, and I cannot wait.
• 11:57
  And I just love building like, going to different places, kinda feeling everything out
• 12:02
  because I feel like that's the whole purpose of it and just kind of just dropping myself in
• 12:07
  there.
• 12:08
  Because, honestly, I'm by myself majority of the time.
• 12:10
  My parents used to come to all these things, but now that it's just me, it's like, oh, wow.
• 12:14
  Like, I can connect with these different people by myself and, like, just be independent on my
• 12:19
  own.
• 12:21
  Well, and just growing as a as a young person, right, and being out on your own for the first
• 12:26
  time and not necessarily having, you know, classmates that can go with you that are
• 12:31
  willing to go and show that kind of dedication.
• 12:33
  Right?
• 12:34
  I mean, not everyone at your school is there for performance and production and being in
• 12:39
  that.
• 12:40
  Talk about Belmont a little bit.
• 12:42
  I know you're a very proud, is it what's are they Bruins?
• 12:46
  Is that the name of the
• 12:47
  It's Bruins.
• 12:48
  Yeah.
• 12:49
  We're like bears over here.
• 12:50
  Yeah.
• 12:51
  Love Belmont University.
• 12:53
  I literally say this every single day.
• 12:55
  Like, I work at Molly Green on Broadway.
• 12:57
  And, when I'm talking about Belmont, I'm like, you have to go to Belmont because I've been
• 13:04
  committed to Belmont since my sophomore year in high school.
• 13:07
  I came to Tennessee for the first time, and I literally was blessed.
• 13:11
  Like, I literally, I'm blessed every single day to be here, and I'm so thankful for the people
• 13:16
  in my life who have pushed me to this point.
• 13:19
  And, like, my parents, my friends, just everyone that I've met and collaborated with
• 13:23
  throughout my life.
• 13:25
  Belmont is just such a place where every single day you're collabing with somebody.
• 13:29
  I feel like every single day, I'm getting up and I'm gonna do something, like, awesome,
• 13:34
  something great.
• 13:35
  I have so many opportunities, and it's like it's not like high school.
• 13:38
  I feel like high school, I'm like, ugh, eight to 4PM.
• 13:43
  And then at Belmont, I'm like, okay.
• 13:45
  I can wake up at, like, nine or ten, and then I only have one class in a day.
• 13:50
  Belmont is just, like, so cool.
• 13:52
  I just meet so many fun people and, like, so many opportunities every single day.
• 13:58
  Like, there was a guy that came here and he worked with Bruno Mars, and he was the, like,
• 14:03
  beginning guy in twenty four karat magic.
• 14:05
  He did a little intro.
• 14:07
  And, like, there's just so many organizations that I have joined here and, like, Christian
• 14:11
  organizations, like theater.
• 14:13
  There's, like, choirs down here.
• 14:15
  There's just so many so many opportunities that it's, like, sometimes it's overwhelming because
• 14:21
  it's, like, I've never experienced anything like this.
• 14:24
  And it just brings me so much joy because I it's everything I could have ever imagined.
• 14:30
  Like, I literally my whole senior year of high school, I was, like, dreading.
• 14:35
  Like, I was dreading.
• 14:36
  I'm, I cannot wait for college because just the people here make me feel good, and everyone has
• 14:43
  the same kind of interest and same kind of everything as me, which makes it so much
• 14:48
  better.
• 14:49
  Like, I literally met my roommate last summer.
• 14:51
  I was invited to a vocal arts intensive through Belmont where I got to stay in a dorm like this
• 14:56
  and got to experience Belmont.
• 14:58
  And it just, like it made me so happy because I've never, like, had a place where I felt at
• 15:05
  home.
• 15:06
  Like, obviously, I'm at home when I'm in Superior, but, like, here, I'm like, oh, this
• 15:11
  is my home.
• 15:12
  And I just feel, like, so grateful every single day because it's just an also, Belmont's in the
• 15:18
  middle of everything.
• 15:19
  It's the middle of Nashville.
• 15:20
  Like, I can literally go outside and, like, walk, like, five, like, five minutes away, and
• 15:25
  then I'm on 12 South, and they have, like, shops and everything like that.
• 15:28
  Just it's in the middle of everything.
• 15:30
  And when you come to Belmont and you say that you're attending Belmont, everyone's like, oh,
• 15:35
  wow.
• 15:36
  Wow.
• 15:36
  Like, I love Belmont.
• 15:37
  Like, it's just so cool.
• 15:39
  It's so many connections, and I literally will say to anyone, attend Belmont.
• 15:44
  Like, it's just such a cool experience.
• 15:46
  You meet so many cool people, and you just feel so much joy.
• 15:51
  And I really, really enjoy.
• 15:52
  And I just am so grateful every single day for the people who just push me to my limits and my
• 15:59
  parents who have pushed me every single day.
• 16:01
  My mom was always like, Belle, I feel like you're more than a small town.
• 16:06
  I feel like you can be so much like, go somewhere else.
• 16:10
  You know what I mean?
• 16:11
  And without their support and without them pushing me, I don't think I would be here
• 16:15
  today.
• 16:16
  Like, without getting myself out there at a young age and just being on the stage, I don't
• 16:21
  think I would be here.
• 16:23
  And I'm just blessed and grateful every single day that I have the opportunity to be here
• 16:28
  because not everybody always has the opportunity.
• 16:30
  So
• 16:32
  No.
• 16:32
  My college experience was totally different going to South Dakota State.
• 16:35
  I was just excited to get away from home.
• 16:37
  Right?
• 16:38
  I mean, Deadwood Deadwood is probably not much, bigger or smaller than, Superior.
• 16:43
  Now we're not right on the banks of a great lake.
• 16:46
  We are out in the beautiful national forest.
• 16:48
  And, but still small town, and I knew that I was meant for something greater than that, you
• 16:54
  know, and went out.
• 16:55
  And I've always left a footprint no matter where I went, but I never necessarily felt at
• 16:59
  home at least until that is I met the Midwest Country Music Organization, and I went to the
• 17:04
  first award show in 2024.
• 17:07
  And, we I had just started this podcast, but I brought my microphones with me.
• 17:11
  I I commandeered a table at, at the gardens where we had our jam night that night, and, I
• 17:17
  did 25 interviews.
• 17:18
  So I met 25 fellow members.
• 17:21
  And then this year, we're on the red carpet where we got to meet you for the first time,
• 17:26
  and, we did 35 interviews.
• 17:28
  I just counted So I I I love meeting new people, and I love seeing where especially
• 17:33
  creative people are in their journeys.
• 17:36
  And and it just thrills me to see someone so young and full of that, life hasn't beaten you
• 17:42
  down yet.
• 17:43
  Right?
• 17:43
  Like Yeah.
• 17:44
  Yeah.
• 17:45
  For me, I I had a rough go through most of my twenties, and I I lost that fire.
• 17:52
  And now I'm regaining that as someone who's almost 40 and to see that in you and to see how
• 17:58
  you're excited.
• 17:58
  I mean, Belmont needs to hire you as a spokesperson right now.
• 18:01
  I mean, just pay the girl's tuition and put her on, and let's go.
• 18:07
  I am a Bruin influencer already at the school, which is
• 18:11
  really fun.
• 18:12
  Yeah.
• 18:12
  You're gonna be a recruiter, and you're gonna be someone that ignites that passion in other
• 18:17
  young people that are coming, that are in the performing arts and are ready to really make a
• 18:23
  career out of it, you're gonna be able to guide all those young people.
• 18:27
  And I see that as something amazing that you're going to do, not just for yourself, but for
• 18:31
  others.
• 18:32
  And serving others is something that I know you take very seriously.
• 18:36
  I kinda mentioned it off the open that you do some work raising money for veterans.
• 18:40
  Can you tell us some more about that?
• 18:42
  Yeah.
• 18:43
  So my whole senior project idea was raising money to purchase guitars for veterans where I
• 18:49
  held a concert, and I had people come to the concert.
• 18:52
  I actually, like, made flyers.
• 18:54
  I went outside of, like, Superior, Wisconsin.
• 18:57
  I went like, every single day, I would go to different organizations and businesses and be
• 19:02
  like, hey.
• 19:02
  Like, I'm having a senior project, and this is my concert day.
• 19:06
  Can I put my poster in your store?
• 19:08
  And they'd be like, yes, or they'd be like, no.
• 19:10
  But majority of the time, and they're like, yeah.
• 19:12
  Of course.
• 19:13
  And so I had those designed, and I had a senior project concert on August 25, I believe, of
• 19:21
  2024.
• 19:22
  And I held it at Warrior Brewing Company, which I love Warrior Brewing Company.
• 19:26
  They are my favorites ever because they've given me so many so many experiences and
• 19:32
  opportunities.
• 19:34
  And I collaborated with Morgan Music in Superior, Wisconsin.
• 19:37
  They were a new, music store that developed developed in 2023.
• 19:43
  And I worked with them a little bit and got some guitars, for the veterans.
• 19:48
  So I held this concert, and it was, like, two and a half hours.
• 19:51
  And I had people come, and they donated some money.
• 19:55
  And then I had another concert, just like a second one.
• 19:58
  It was on Black Friday, and I also collaborated with three other artists in the area.
• 20:04
  I did I had Indecent Proposal, and then I had two others.
• 20:08
  I think it was Ricky Carl Music and then See Silence.
• 20:12
  And we did that at the Caddyshack in Duluth, Minnesota, and it was a really successful
• 20:16
  event.
• 20:17
  A lot of people also, like, donated to My Guitars for Veterans was which was super kind
• 20:22
  and very special and meaningful for for me.
• 20:25
  And, with this, project, I wanted to give back to people.
• 20:32
  I believe that music, can be healing, and I feel like veterans, like, they've done so much
• 20:39
  for us so that just like this little thing, I feel like is so much to them.
• 20:44
  Music is such a healing thing, and giving someone a guitar, like, as a little present
• 20:49
  before Christmas is just it brings me so much joy.
• 20:52
  And it was just really special to me.
• 20:54
  It means so much to me.
• 20:55
  I had my dad's uncle, I believe, was a veteran.
• 20:59
  And it just means a lot to me and others to serve people who have served us.
• 21:05
  And on on December 3, I believe, if I can remember right, I did a little drawing.
• 21:11
  I went live, and I was at Morgan Music in Superior where I had some names that people
• 21:17
  like, they at my concert, they would, like they take, like, a veteran that they knew in their
• 21:23
  life, they put it crinkle it up and put it a little jar that I made.
• 21:26
  And then on December 3, I did a little live, and then I was, like, a little drum roll, and I
• 21:31
  pulled out four names.
• 21:33
  And also somebody donated three different guitars, and I got also a marching guitar with
• 21:39
  the money that was raised, which was super awesome that I could have that much money for
• 21:44
  people, for veterans.
• 21:47
  And then I opened up the little things, I gave them to the guitars to them, and I had them at
• 21:52
  Morgan Music.
• 21:53
  And one of the guitars actually went to a veteran at Superior High School, James Hogan,
• 21:59
  and he was my civics ninth grade teacher.
• 22:02
  And he, to this day, still it means so much to him.
• 22:06
  And I just it brings a smile to my face because I did something that means so much to people,
• 22:12
  and I left a kind of a mark.
• 22:15
  And, also, this inspired a lot of other senior project projects at my high school because two
• 22:22
  other people did a veteran thing right after me, and a veteran thing had never been, like, a
• 22:26
  senior project idea.
• 22:28
  I wanted to do something that was more outgoing, more, like, out of the ordinary, I
• 22:34
  guess.
• 22:35
  Because a lot of people, when they think of senior projects, they're like, okay.
• 22:38
  I'm gonna do this little interview and then be done with it.
• 22:41
  I'm done with senior year.
• 22:42
  But I had been planning this throughout my ninth grade year because we would have, like, a
• 22:47
  little planner.
• 22:48
  And it'd be like, where are you in your senior project, and what are you doing to build up to
• 22:52
  your senior project?
• 22:53
  And what I had been doing throughout, like, building up, volunteering, I'd been singing at
• 22:58
  events, singing for veterans, and singing at nursing homes.
• 23:02
  And just I was like, my senior project has to do something with singing.
• 23:06
  I believe so.
• 23:08
  And, just building up to that was very special to me because it just means a lot that I was
• 23:16
  giving back to people.
• 23:19
  But just for my senior project to inspire others also is a huge like, it brings me a lot
• 23:27
  of joy that I'm inspiring people to do something else out of the ordinary because not
• 23:32
  a lot of people go out of their comfort zone.
• 23:34
  Sometimes it's really scary because every single day, feel like I'm going out of my
• 23:38
  comfort zone.
• 23:39
  And sometimes I can't tell, and sometimes I can tell where I'm, like, in my head.
• 23:44
  I'm like, Bella, go out of your comfort zone.
• 23:46
  Do that.
• 23:47
  Do that.
• 23:48
  And just the veteran thing has really sparked just going out of my comfort zone and also just
• 23:55
  ties into college too because I'm doing things out of my comfort zone every single day, and
• 24:00
  I'm serving people.
• 24:01
  I'm inspiring people to leave their hometowns, to leave for their dreams, which means really a
• 24:07
  lot to me.
• 24:09
  So
• 24:09
  Any plans to, give some more guitars away around Christmas time this year?
• 24:15
  Honestly, that does not sound like a bad idea.
• 24:17
  Like, I feel like I could actually do that.
• 24:20
  I do come home, like, December 6, and then I come back, like, January 7.
• 24:27
  So I'll be playing a lot of actual, like, events and stuff like that.
• 24:31
  I'll be playing with Bryce Heggy.
• 24:34
  He's part of the Midwest CMO and collaborating with a lot of artists.
• 24:39
  So I feel like I'll be I probably will be giving some more guitars away.
• 24:44
  So stay tuned.
• 24:45
  I might be doing something fun.
• 24:48
  Tell you what, Belle.
• 24:49
  I am I am up in Minnesota playing in Minneapolis on December 13 at Day Block
• 24:54
  Brewing.
• 24:55
  I would love to have you on there if you're not already booked for that day, or maybe we can
• 24:59
  get together on the twelfth or something if you're not already a full schedule.
• 25:03
  And, obviously, you see the banner behind me with operation combating veteran suicide.
• 25:07
  Maybe we can get a little collaboration going on, and we can raise some money and buy some
• 25:11
  more guitars and to help you out, given some of those away.
• 25:15
  So we'll talk more about that off camera and see what we can put together, but it would be a
• 25:19
  joy.
• 25:20
  If you're home on break, it would be lovely to to get to connect with you and mama Modine as
• 25:26
  well.
• 25:26
  She we've become Yes.
• 25:28
  We've become pretty good friends online now.
• 25:30
  So
• 25:31
  I love my mom.
• 25:32
  She pushes me every single day.
• 25:34
  I wouldn't be here without her.
• 25:35
  She's my best friend, and we look identical is what people say.
• 25:40
  Kind of look alike.
• 25:41
  She might be my mom.
• 25:43
  Love her.
• 25:45
  So awesome.
• 25:46
  Well, I couldn't let you get out of here with telling us a little bit about your American
• 25:49
  Idol experience and how that's kind of informed these, you know, these several years of your
• 25:55
  life now.
• 25:56
  Was that a big point for you that was like, oh, I could really, really do this music thing
• 26:03
  permanently?
• 26:04
  Oh my goodness.
• 26:05
  Yes.
• 26:06
  Yes.
• 26:06
  Yes.
• 26:07
  Yes.
• 26:09
  When I received the American Idol silver ticket, I was 15 years old.
• 26:13
  I was a sophomore in high school, and it's kinda that midpoint.
• 26:16
  It's like, well, I just finished freshman year.
• 26:18
  Like, they tell you, like, it's gonna go by really fast.
• 26:21
  You need to know what you have to do with your life.
• 26:24
  And all of a sudden, it's like
• 26:25
  Which can I stop you for a second?
• 26:27
  That's a crazy thing to tell a 14, 15 year old.
• 26:30
  Like, you guys gotta have your whole life planned out right now.
• 26:33
  I didn't have a clue.
• 26:35
  I think the same thing.
• 26:37
  I was, like, sitting in Keystone class, and it's, like, kind of like a health kind of intro
• 26:42
  to career.
• 26:43
  And I was like, woah.
• 26:44
  Like, I don't know what I'm gonna do with my life.
• 26:47
  Because at that point in my life, I was just about to turn 16, and I was like I've been
• 26:54
  saying since I was little that I wanted to be a lawyer.
• 26:57
  I wanted to hit that legally blonde moment because I was blonde, I love the color pink.
• 27:01
  And I love just, like, arguing with people a lot because I have three younger brothers, and
• 27:07
  I love to argue sometimes and get my way sometimes.
• 27:11
  So I was, like, a lawyer.
• 27:13
  Sounds great.
• 27:14
  But I've been part of theater.
• 27:15
  I've been doing national anthems.
• 27:18
  I've been playing gigs.
• 27:19
  I've been just doing the whole music thing.
• 27:22
  I was playing the guitar.
• 27:23
  I started the guitar when I was 10, but really got into it when I was 14.
• 27:27
  So I had the music going on.
• 27:29
  I just don't know what was happening with me not connecting music into career.
• 27:35
  But just receiving that silver ticket was so out of the ordinary.
• 27:38
  I was like, woah.
• 27:40
  Life switch.
• 27:42
  Because I've been watching American Idol since I was, like, very young.
• 27:45
  My parents and I and my whole family, we sit down we would sit down every single Sunday and
• 27:50
  watch the American Idol, like, every single Sunday, and it's my favorite favorite memory
• 27:54
  ever.
• 27:55
  But receiving that silver ticket that day was so, like, wow.
• 28:01
  We were having a concert for a renovation of our pack, which is Performing Arts Center.
• 28:07
  And it was, like, kind of a weird day because, like, leading up to that week, we were, like,
• 28:13
  rehearsing with the band, the orchestra.
• 28:16
  I was a part of choir.
• 28:17
  So I've been a part of choir, forgot to say that, since I was in sixth grade.
• 28:21
  And, my music teacher at the time, I had a solo for for this one song my freshman year.
• 28:30
  And to be honest, it wasn't my, like, favorite song because, obviously, my voice was
• 28:36
  developing.
• 28:36
  I'm more of, a mezzo alto now, and that was, like, soprano soprano high.
• 28:40
  And I was like, wow.
• 28:41
  That's really high.
• 28:42
  And that leading up to that day, I believe it was, like, September 25 or twenty seventh.
• 28:50
  And that day, we were all singing.
• 28:52
  We were practicing, and everyone was coming in, and we were about to perform.
• 28:57
  And then all of a sudden, after the performance and I sang my solo, like, they were, like we
• 29:03
  were having, like, people from the news there, and it was, like, in every single corner.
• 29:08
  And I I felt like I was being interrogated a little bit.
• 29:11
  I was, like, what is going on?
• 29:13
  And then that day, they, like, came on the stage.
• 29:16
  Guy was wearing a little Newsies bag and we were doing Newsies as a musical that year.
• 29:21
  So I was like, wow.
• 29:22
  This is like something's going on.
• 29:24
  And then they announced that I got the American Idol silver tick I was like, what do you mean?
• 29:30
  I was like, well, like, when something big happens to me, I'm I'm more of like, not like,
• 29:37
  oh my gosh.
• 29:37
  Oh my gosh.
• 29:38
  Like, I'm gonna cry.
• 29:39
  I was like, are we serious right now?
• 29:42
  Like, I always take it like nothing Where
• 29:44
  is that?
• 29:45
  Where is is that too old of a record
• 29:47
  for you?
• 29:47
  That is and when anybody tells me big news, I'm always like, what?
• 29:54
  Like, I'm in shock, and I'm more like, oh my gosh.
• 29:58
  Is this real?
• 29:58
  Like, okay.
• 30:00
  Like, I just I don't know what to say.
• 30:02
  Like, I'm like, oh my gosh.
• 30:03
  I feel so much joy, but, like, my face doesn't show it at all.
• 30:06
  I'm like, so, like, when you watch back the video, I'm like it's actually so funny.
• 30:16
  And, so that day, they were doing, like, interviews with my theater production, teacher
• 30:23
  and my choir teacher and my theater assistant teacher and myself.
• 30:29
  And they were talking to me, and they're like, where do you think your career is going?
• 30:33
  And, like, what what do you think you're gonna gain from American Idol silver ticket?
• 30:37
  And I was like, I said on the video, I was like, I think I'm gonna be a lawyer.
• 30:43
  Like I was like, oh my goodness.
• 30:47
  Belle, what are you doing?
• 30:50
  And then then it gets it gets better.
• 30:52
  It gets better.
• 30:54
  But I'm, like, looking back at that video.
• 30:56
  I'm like, oh my goodness, Belle.
• 30:57
  What are you doing?
• 30:59
  But and even my mom in the corner, I could see her being like, god.
• 31:03
  Like, don't say that.
• 31:06
  But just from that moment, it really sparked my music, like, career choice.
• 31:14
  And, that year, I did I did that summer, I went to Nashville, and I went to see Belmont.
• 31:21
  And that year, I was like there was a lot of eyes on me.
• 31:25
  There was a lot of, like, woah, Belle, you got an American Idol silver ticket.
• 31:28
  Like, what what's with that?
• 31:30
  Like, did you, like, did you sign up for that?
• 31:33
  There was a lot of, like, oh, yeah.
• 31:35
  You did that.
• 31:35
  Like, no one believes that you just got this on a random Wednesday.
• 31:40
  Like and it was a lot of it was a lot of hate, lot of, like, oh, she just did this.
• 31:45
  Like, that didn't really happen to her.
• 31:49
  And it really got me into, musician perspective.
• 31:53
  It really got me to push myself even more and be like, oh, this is a dream of mine.
• 31:58
  Because I had, like, a little dream when I was younger that I wanted to be a performer.
• 32:03
  I actually wanted to be a Broadway, like, performer.
• 32:06
  I wanted to be a Rockette, basically, or I wanted to be a Hannah Montana and a lawyer all
• 32:10
  in one, apparently.
• 32:13
  But it just really got me into that perspective of music, and I actually started that year, I
• 32:20
  started my Belmodine music page.
• 32:23
  And it at at first, it was Belmodine official, but that's really when I started doing my own
• 32:31
  music page.
• 32:32
  I switched, like, one of my TikToks to a music page, and I was like, wait.
• 32:35
  This is actually kinda fun.
• 32:37
  Like, I get to do this every single day, and I get to sing for people, and I get to, like,
• 32:43
  make money off of this, and I get to be, like, in a career path.
• 32:48
  And I was, like, developing, like, something to what I have now, like, where I am now.
• 32:53
  And just looking back into that experience, it was like baby Belle.
• 32:58
  Baby Belle before she knew that she was coming to Nashville.
• 33:01
  She didn't even I actually wanted to go to Tennessee so bad.
• 33:04
  I wanted to go to I just wanted to go to Tennessee because Hannah Montana was like they
• 33:09
  said that it was shot in Tennessee, and I was like, I love Hannah Montana, and I wanna have a
• 33:14
  double life apparently.
• 33:15
  And that that is when I have a double life.
• 33:17
  I go from school, and then I go to a gig.
• 33:21
  And then everyone's like, wow.
• 33:22
  Well, you're, like, out every single day.
• 33:23
  I'm like, yeah.
• 33:25
  Yeah.
• 33:26
  But it's really fun.
• 33:27
  And just
• 33:28
  But it's your work.
• 33:29
  And I think that's where some people get it confused because for most people when they're
• 33:34
  going out, they're going out to party.
• 33:36
  Right?
• 33:36
  They're going out and they're drinking all night, and they're, you know, doing this since,
• 33:39
  obviously, at 19, you're not doing things like that anyway.
• 33:42
  Yeah.
• 33:42
  But we, we forget it, and I kinda gave into that.
• 33:46
  Right?
• 33:47
  I I I was on stage at a very early age, and, you know, it turned into you know, once I was
• 33:53
  old enough that it was just a party for me.
• 33:55
  It was always about the party and not about a career.
• 33:58
  And that's why I'm kinda jealous of you that you have this business mind around your career
• 34:04
  now, and you've had some incredible opportunities, and you're not wasting them.
• 34:09
  Right?
• 34:09
  You're not taking for granted all of these opportunities and this wonderful chance to go
• 34:15
  to Belmont and to be downtown in Nashville and to work at Molly Greens and all these things.
• 34:21
  You're taking full advantage of them and not just accepting that, well, this is just how it
• 34:25
  is.
• 34:26
  It's like, I feel like in many ways, you still wake up just as surprised that you're here as
• 34:32
  you were the day you found out you got the silver ticket.
• 34:35
  Literally, every single day, I'm like people are like, Bella, like, you're so happy all the
• 34:40
  time.
• 34:40
  You're, like, smiling all the time.
• 34:42
  Like, yeah.
• 34:42
  I'm, like, literally here.
• 34:43
  I'm live I'm literally living my dream.
• 34:45
  I'm collaborating with all these different people.
• 34:48
  I'm meeting all these different people, and it's just, like, it's mind blowing just from
• 34:52
  that experience.
• 34:53
  Like, wow.
• 34:55
  And and I just think back to it every single day.
• 34:57
  People are like, Bella, you got American Idol Silver Tick?
• 34:59
  I'm like, yeah.
• 35:00
  Like and then people will be like, you're verified on Instagram.
• 35:03
  And I'll be like, yeah.
• 35:05
  Like and it's like, I'm just kinda, like, humble.
• 35:10
  I try to stay humble about it, like, I'm not a big talker about myself.
• 35:14
  And I just when people are like, Bill, like, oh, you did this.
• 35:17
  You're like, out of every single day, you're singing on Broadway, like, you've been on news,
• 35:21
  like, stuff and then doing this honestly too.
• 35:25
  And I'm like, yeah.
• 35:26
  Like, it's just my everyday life.
• 35:28
  Like, I just really love living and I love I feel like God has blessed me with this life,
• 35:33
  and I just am super grateful because not everyone gets to experience something like
• 35:38
  this.
• 35:38
  And I just want to inspire others and using my passion to inspire them to go out of their
• 35:45
  comfort zone and to follow their dreams.
• 35:47
  Because without, like, passion, you can't really follow your dreams.
• 35:52
  And I just try to, like, every single day working up to my passion.
• 35:57
  I feel like when I was a senior in high school, that's when I did my senior project.
• 36:03
  That's when I my first single came out, Wildfowl Wildflower.
• 36:07
  Oh my gosh.
• 36:08
  I'm, like, stumbling over my words.
• 36:09
  Wildflower came out in August right after my senior project.
• 36:13
  And then following that year, right before New Year's, my other song, Sweatshirt, came out.
• 36:19
  And that year, also, I committed to Belmont, like, where I post on my page that I was
• 36:24
  committed, and it was just, like, whole, like, spinning process.
• 36:28
  And then just coming to Midwest CMO, meeting bunches of people, Samantha Grimes, Bryce
• 36:34
  Hagee, Dylan Martinson, who just came to Nashville, and we were, like, talking about
• 36:39
  collaborating for songs and stuff like that.
• 36:41
  There's just, like, so many people that I met at the Midwest CMO award ceremony.
• 36:46
  And just like these experiences, people, like, finding out about my name, it's just, like, so
• 36:51
  cool because, like, every single day, like, people like, my friends here, they'll be like,
• 36:56
  Belmodine.
• 36:57
  That's such a stage name.
• 36:59
  And I'm like, yeah.
• 37:00
  I guess it's it's my name.
• 37:02
  They're like, how did you come up with that?
• 37:04
  I'm like, I'm not my name.
• 37:07
  Like, that's that's just what I say.
• 37:10
  And I'm like, just every single day, I'm so grateful for that mind blowing experience and,
• 37:18
  of just getting that ticket.
• 37:20
  And we just actually had American Idol auditions here that was specifically for
• 37:25
  Belmont students, and then there was one for the area, like, Tennessee and stuff like that.
• 37:32
  So that was really cool that they're they're actually shooting some American Idol scenes, at
• 37:37
  the Fisher Center, which is our, like, theater, like, pack, which is really cool because that's
• 37:44
  just so cool that American Elle is coming here.
• 37:47
  And I just the whole music industry is, like, developing through me.
• 37:53
  I'm doing music business with the emphasis on production so that I can be involved, like, on
• 37:59
  Music Girl, and that's really helping me.
• 38:02
  I'm in this, like, music survey business class where, like, we're working on, like, how we can
• 38:08
  produce, like, records.
• 38:10
  We can, like, making sure we're not scammed every single day.
• 38:13
  Like, we have this, like, specific book.
• 38:15
  It's actually right under my iPad right now.
• 38:17
  It's like, all you need to know about the music industry and stuff like that.
• 38:22
  And just Belmont in general and just the music industry, I'm learning so much.
• 38:28
  And I feel like without having a major like the music like, business is like I feel like
• 38:34
  everyone needs to take music business if they're a music going to be a music major or
• 38:39
  going into music in general.
• 38:42
  Like, literally, I'm learning so much, and I'm like, I don't think I would know that if I
• 38:47
  didn't read this book or I wasn't in this major.
• 38:50
  And I just cannot wait for my future in general, and I'm just really excited and so
• 38:55
  blessed every day.
• 38:56
  Yeah.
• 38:57
  Well and, honestly, when I was in school, we didn't have that.
• 39:01
  You know?
• 39:01
  If you were graduating in music, you were gonna be a music teacher.
• 39:05
  Right?
• 39:05
  And Yeah.
• 39:07
  Through guys like Ari Hurstan, who was one of our guest presenters at the Midwest CMO Awards
• 39:12
  this year and gave a thrilling, you know, I got a two, three hour long, you know, presentation
• 39:20
  on what the business is these days.
• 39:22
  I mean, he's had his book out for over fifteen years now, I think.
• 39:26
  But that's how I was kinda introduced to what the music business actually is in the, you
• 39:32
  know, early odds and moving in, you know, before my son Judah was born, who's actually
• 39:38
  backstage here in our studio hanging out today, that you have so many advantages just because
• 39:46
  of the way the industry has changed and the way the approach to the industry has changed.
• 39:50
  And you are going to change so many lives with your story and with the things that you are
• 39:56
  doing in your life.
• 39:58
  And I'm just I'm so proud to know you, Belle.
• 40:00
  You're you're such a light in my in my life now, and you're going to be a light in so many
• 40:05
  others as well.
• 40:06
  Tell everybody how they can find you before I let you go.
• 40:09
  You can find me anywhere as bellmodine music.
• 40:12
  On Facebook, it's just bellmodine.
• 40:14
  And, yeah, thank you so much for having me, Bubba.
• 40:16
  I had the best time ever.
• 40:18
  Thank you.
• 40:19
  Well, I can't wait to catch up with you down at the Josie's and Yes.
• 40:23
  To get to play a show with you hopefully in December back in Minnesota.
• 40:28
  Mhmm.
• 40:28
  Samantha Grimes is on that December 13 show as well, so maybe we can all get together that
• 40:33
  day.
• 40:33
  That'd be awesome.
• 40:34
  She's awesome.
• 40:36
  Yes.
• 40:36
  She's a big been a great friend, and now she's on our, Roku channel on True TV Plus.
• 40:42
  She was when I was given the choice of who's gonna be that first one, it was a no brainer.
• 40:47
  She's been such a big supporter of what I'm building with the Midwest original music
• 40:52
  organization, our Momos.
• 40:54
  And a lot of what we're doing is just trying to educate younger people like yourself to say,
• 40:58
  hey.
• 40:59
  The industry is different now.
• 41:00
  And if you wanna make it, here are some of the tools and some of the education that you're
• 41:04
  gonna need to get along because not everyone has the opportunity to go to a Belmont and to
• 41:09
  have those advantages.
• 41:10
  Right?
• 41:10
  So using what we can glean from, people like yourselves who have been there and done that,
• 41:16
  and, maybe one day, we'll get you in as a guest presenter and have you talk about your
• 41:19
  experience with our group.
• 41:21
  That'd be awesome.
• 41:22
  Thank you so much, Boba.
• 41:24
  I had an amazing time.
• 41:25
  Well, Belle, thank you so much for joining me, and thanks for being part of the scene.
• 41:30
  Thank you.