<<<Back to Table of Contents
According to Japanese folklore, the dragonfly is a symbol of success, victory, happiness, strength and courage; attributes that anyone would want to possess. Through experience, we know that dragonflies can be elusive and that the only way to ever grasp a dragonfly is through patience and perseverance. Enter Maggie Walters and her journey through life as an artist.
“I always wanted to make really good music and put it out there,” says the 20-something singer/songwriter. Walters came to Austin from Chicago in 2004, shortly after being invited to appear on a local radio show. “One of the deejays on the Dudley & Bob Show, his name is Charlie Hodge, was at a show that I was playing in Chicago,” recalls Walters. “I was playing in some dive bar and he said ‘If you’re ever in Austin, you should come on my radio show.’” Coincidentally, the very next week, Walters was invited to come to Austin to play at the UT Campus Greens Convention. “I drove down here and called Charlie to let him know I was in town and I told him I’d play on his radio show,” says Walters. “I ended up staying just the night I played and the next day, and over that day I met a lot of people and just fell in love with Austin. I decided that I wanted to make my first record out here.”
Walters stayed true to her decision and in January 2005 she released her first self-titled album, here in Austin. “Most of the songs on the first album were written over the process of moving here. Many of them were about leaving Chicago; I ran away, I ran down here, and I‘m still here,” shares Walters. Immediately following the release of her album, the interest in Walters’ music grew exponentially. “The reviews came out, my songs got radio play and I was invited to play for SXSW that year,” says Walters. During her first engagement with SXSW, Walters met an array of professionals in the music industry who were interested in her songs and willing to help expand her budding career. With a successful SXSW experience under her belt, Walters spent the next year working in Houston on an EP.
When 2006 came around, Walters was invited, once again, to play for SXSW. “I always felt very grateful to get in,” says Walters. That year’s experience proved to be quite different from the previous one. “I played my showcase and there was this man from Nashville there to see me, with his attorney. That’s kind of what happens; you meet people and they say ’Let’s meet at the Four Seasons tomorrow,’” Walters explains. “So, they asked to meet me the next day and I did, but I really didn’t know that they were interested in signing me.” As it turned out, the small, independent record company was very interested in signing Walters. “In 2006, I had a few people approach me about signing with their labels, but this particular label gave me the best offer – at least, what I thought was the best offer, financially.” Laughs Walters, “You know, promises, promises.”
With full forward motion, Walters embarked on the task of making a new record. “What they wanted to do was take several of the best songs from my first independent release and re-mix them,” says Walters. “They wanted to put them out as a national release with publicity and distribution and all of it.” Walters adds, “Which meant that I had to take my first record down.” As part of her contract, all distribution of Walters’ self-titled album was stopped as she tackled the process of re-mixing many of her previous recordings as well as writing new songs for the forthcoming album. “Being naïve at the time, I was fine with it,” shares Walters. “I thought, okay, it’ll come back out, it’ll be even better.” What Walters could not foresee were the drastic changes that took place in the music industry between the day she signed the contract and the day in 2008 when her album, Midwestern Hurricane, was finally released.
“So much changed between 2006 and 2008 that the plan we started with was completely out the door and dated by the time the record was set to come out,” says Walters. “It didn’t make sense anymore.” Not deterred by change or challenge, Walters continued to plan for the release of her album, but once the mastering had been completed, all communication between Walters and the record company ceased. “They went lights out,” Walters says. “Once it was mastered, no one called me, no one told me what was going on. Up until that point I had a publicist in Los Angeles, I had a booking agent, there was a tour that was supposed to commence upon the release of the album. There were all these plans and then it just stopped going forward.” As Walters was to later discover, the record label had lost its financial backing. To make matters worse, Walter’s was still bound by contractual obligation. “During that time when I was making the record and waiting, I wasn’t playing; I wasn’t able to play. I had nothing to sell; I was caught in this trap. They owned me.” Walters was also restricted from recording any music other than the signed project. “You can’t even sing on someone else’s record without permission from your record label,” Walters says. These restrictions had a dire effect on Walter’s livelihood. “Since my first record was no longer in print, and my new album hadn’t come out, if I were to go play a show, I had nothing to sell. So not only would I have to pay my expenses to fly somewhere for a show, I would have no way to make any money without merchandise. It was awful.”
Finally, the record label came clean with Walters. “It wasn’t anyone’s fault. It wasn’t their fault, it wasn’t my fault, it was just as fate would have it; there was no money to put out my record.” Walters says. Beyond that, the record company had planned to simply shelve Walters’ album in the hopes of possibly reaping the rewards if she someday became famous. Fortunately, Walters had met an attorney at SXSW who worked with her to negotiate a way out of the contract. “The deal was that if I was willing to take that record, as is, artwork and everything, and not change it at all, then I could put it out,” Walters explains. “Instead of them paying me a small amount for whatever sold, I would pay them a little bit, based on what I sold. So we negotiated a fair deal where I could own the record myself.” Walters was able to reclaim her record and her career.
Now, Walters is working on a new album and enjoying the independence. “It would be nice to have, eventually, more of a machine behind me,” she says, “but I might just like, hire my own.” The experience has not left Walters jaded; only wiser.
“I was under a lot of pressure from a lot of people and I was listening to too many different opinions,” Walters shares. “Now, I listen to my own intuition instead of what everyone else is telling me I have to do.” Walters adds, “I feel like I’m free, like I can do what I want to do, and I think that’s always the best thing to do.”
Web Exclusive
Download the following Maggie Walters mp3:
Right click the link below, and choose "Save Target As.." or "Save Link As..."
Under the Table.mp3
More Info