Meet Diane Van Deurzen & Lisa Otey | Musicians

We had the good fortune of connecting with Diane Van Deurzen & Lisa Otey and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Diane Van Deurzen & Lisa Otey, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
We got together as a couple and musical partners in December, 2004. For the 20 years prior to that, we each had our own musical careers. When we started working together, we merged our creative styles and business knowledge, elevating every aspect of our musical offerings.

We began performing and touring internationally as a duo in 2005, performing at jazz and blues clubs and festivals in Europe, Australia, Canada, and Mexico, as well as regionally in the SW and West Coast in the US. For the next 10 years, we toured frequently and coordinated many collaborations with musicians from Europe, Australia and the US. Our record label, Owl’s Nest Productions, captured many of these musical exchanges on CDs. Many of the relationships we helped form continue today with European and American musicians traveling back and forth, creating ongoing musical opportunities for each other.

As music producers and concert promoters, we also created many opportunities to showcase local artists in Tucson, Arizona, where we lived for over 30 years. Our Desert Divas, formed in 2000, put the spotlight on women performers with a diversity of styles and powerful voices and instruments. Our Jazz Meets Blues series connected jazz and blues performers who would normally not play together. Their varied approaches to improvisation elevated each others’ performances, unrehearsed, and always brought the audience to their feet. We organized an annual Boogie Woogie Piano Festival, bringing local, regional, national, and international pianists together for a week of concerts in Arizona. We also created educational programs and workshops on the topics of improvisation, songwriting, women in the blues, and many more. In all of our endeavors, we sought to build bridges, strengthen relationships, shine the light on talents all around us, and connect with audiences.

In 2016, we started coming to Michigan to be with some friends who had moved here from Tucson. We began singing at breweries, vineyards, restaurants and outdoor concert series. When the pandemic hit in 2020, all of our work dried up everywhere for over a year-and-a-half. We decided to move full-time to Michigan and start a new adventure. We feel so lucky to be embraced by music lovers all over Michigan and Indiana. Musicians and venues everywhere are still feeling the effects of the pandemic, five years later. We feel fortunate to have as many opportunities as we do, as well as bi-annual trips back to Tucson where we can perform 11 concerts in 12 days and keep our connections with the community there.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
The life of a musician is always about taking risks. We never know from one year to the next what our schedule will be. We send out 100 requests to play for every booking we secure. We create videos of our live performances from different venues. We upload these videos to our websites and press kits to send to future clients. Taking action to make those connections is an important part of our work. It keeps the energy moving. Sometimes, we have taken too many risks when it comes to producing concerts. When the national economy has taken a downturn, we had to learn to step back from producing as many concerts. Now, we focus more on concerts that have a guarantee.

Conventional advice for musicians is usually accurate; that time, dedication, practice, and discipline prepares you for a professional career in music. We would add to that the importance of networking, trusting that the universe will meet you halfway, and always saving for a rainy day (or year). It’s important that we visualize what we want to happen in our career and take action to keep those doors open.

We consistently remain positive, focused, disciplined, and energetic in our approach to booking, producing, marketing, rehearsing, and performing. We value the relationships we form with audiences, venues, musicians, and media, and don’t take them for granted.

Our brand has always been to nurture the connection between artists and the audience. We are so grateful that people take the time to come out and support live music. We want the audience to hear something familiar that makes them want to sing and dance along. Whether we are singing an original song, something from the Great American Songbook, or a popular song from the ‘50s-‘80s, we want the audience to feel connected to the music, the lyrics, and the emotion of the song

It is important that our music at a venue also helps the venue succeed. We need to have a professional and positive interaction with the venue and promote the gig on social media, etc. We choose venues that would be a good fit for our fans who follow us. We don’t take breaks, so the audience has an opportunity to enjoy more food and drinks.

Another very important thing we have learned is to consistently network. When we create a press kit to send to venues, we include videos so the venues can see a sample of our work. We help create special events around holidays like Valentine’s Day and New Year’s Eve.

Together, we have enjoyed over 20 years as partners in life and music. We are grateful for every day we are together and every opportunity we have to share our music. The joy we feel is evident in our performances. We feel so lucky that we get to live and work together, always growing in our music and our business, as well as taking time to enjoy the beauty around us.

We are musicians and we need to work as musicians. It’s who we are. So, coming up with our duo was almost a necessity. We love creating music and sharing that love with everyone. Whether it be a 1,000 seat concert hall or a small restaurant with 20 people, it’s more of a sharing and connection than a business.

When we started out, we understood music is usually not a career that is financially secure or provides the best long term portfolio. But, it is part of us. It is our gift and we want to share it with as many people possible.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
We are inspired by so many things; other artists, listening to music in general, people we meet and experiences we have had. But mostly, it’s the individuals we play for. They inspire us and they drive us. Seeing people connect with the music, even if it is a small smile or a tear. Seeing couples hold each other closer or grab each other’s hands when we sing a love song. Watching someone dance with joy or tap their feet. That inspires us!

Website: https://www.dianeandlisa.com

Facebook: https://www.Facebook.com/dianeandlisa

Image Credits
Greg DeBenedetti