Conversations with Jolynn Braswell

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jolynn Braswell.

Hi Jolynn, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
When I started Badass Bands in 2011 (Badass Bands Blog back then), I was a High School English teacher on summer vacation. I was going through a rough patch in my life and was introduced to an LA band that I ended up driving down to see (I lived in Fresno at the time). I was at the show early, and also fell hard for the opening bands. All I could think about after the show was how I was never exposed to bands like them growing up in the Central Valley, and I wanted to tell everyone I could about them.
So I started blogging. I would just write about the band itself and some of the songs I thought people should check out. Then a band’s manager eventually reached out to me and asked if I’d like to interview them. I couldn’t believe that any band would want to just chat with a fan. But, boy did they. So, from then on out, I interviewed every band I discovered for the blog. I moved to LA in 2012, and via one of these interviews I met an amazing group of humans (shoutout to Jordan, Charlie, Ainjel and Anthony) whom I ended up creating a live in studio performance series with, as well as a podcast.

Around this time I also met Mario at Silverlake Lounge, as I went there a ton for shows. One night he asked if I wanted to book my own. I’d never thought about that being a possibility either. So, I started doing monthly shows there and eventually shows all over LA.

We recorded 4-5 years of our live series and podcast, just because we all loved music and working together to support local musicians. Eventually those ran their course, but through those series, I also met the rad squad at Bedrock LA (RIP) and did a radio show out of Bedrock for a couple of years…until COVID put a stop to that…and to Bedrock.

I don’t book nearly as many shows as I used to, but I do still host a yearly mini-fest called Eastside Fux (in collaboration with my friend Adam ).

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It’s been a smooth road in the fact that I’ve been lucky enough to work with truly incredible humans, and that it was never a job. So there was much less pressure involved. The goal was always just to spread the word about great bands. The struggle now though, is finding those great bands. The scene is very different post-COVID, and it’s tough for musicians and venues alike.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
Not sure this one really applies to me.
I am lucky enough to have a regular ol’ job as a Technical Writer (at NASA for six years and currently in the Education space). Thankfully, my job allowed me to do Badass Bands for the passion of it.

In terms of your work and the industry, what are some of the changes you are expecting to see over the next five to ten years?
I honestly don’t know. Music, especially genre-wise goes in cycles. As far as the business of it…I think we all know how bad that’s looking these days between AI, Spotify not paying artists enough, venues closing, and artists not being able to make enough with their art to live and thrive.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @badassbandsla