Eric Jensen

Photo by Andrew Keller Chi McClean is an inde­pen­dent singer-songwriter cur­rently tour­ing in sup­port of his 2009 release, Some­thing Out There. In Part 3 of our con­ver­sa­tion Chi dis­cusses music pub­lish­ing, endorse­ments, brand­ing, and his next release. Read Part 1 Read Part 2 How are you han­dling your music pub­lish­ing? CM: I set up McClean Music Pub­lish­ing. I received my first BMI check a few months ago and it (the impor­tance of pub­lish­ing) really hit home for me. The more I know, the less I know (about pub­lish­ing). It’s a labyrinth. I went to a Music Row Mag­a­zine awards fes­ti­val at BMI in Nashville. I also met with Stage Three Music Pub­lish­ing. (Song­writ­ing ) is huge busi­ness down there. At a cer­tain point whether it’s man­agers, book­ing agents, or pub­lish­ing, it’s about band­width and how much you can real­is­ti­cally tackle in a mean­ing­ful way. You’re not doing your­self any good if you’re spread too thin.  What’s the time­line on your new record? CM: I hope to have it out by the hol­i­days. I think it’s going to be more focused on the songs. We were talk­ing ear­lier about what peo­ple react to. I think it will be a sim­ple, hon­est record. I’ve found my voice a bit more. There are some good songs here.  You have endorse­ments with Tay­lor Gui­tars and Elixir Strings. How did you put that together and how have the endorse­ments worked for you? CM: Whether I had an endorse­ment or not, I love my Tay­lor. (I’ve been play­ing them) since 1999. I’ve been play­ing a lot…