Gig Soap

Chad Bourquin (00:01.219)
Welcome to the Gig So podcast. am Chad Borkwin and I am here with my buddy, Jaren Bell. Thanks for joining us, Jaren.

Jaron Bell (00:08.512)
Man, thanks for having me, man. I'm so excited to be here and I've been seeing some clips, man. So I reached out and I'm so glad that we got some time to do this, man. It's awesome.

Chad Bourquin (00:19.277)
Yeah. You know, what's what, what I'm excited about was you and I were talking a lot for awhile there. And then, and then you were working on some different projects. So we didn't talk for awhile. So at the same time we're catching up the rest of the world, least on my viewers, you're catching me up. So I haven't, I don't have any idea what we're going to talk about, which is awesome.

Jaron Bell (00:24.29)
Mm-hmm.

Jaron Bell (00:38.484)
I love it! I'd love it. Hey, just spur the moment as it happens. I like it.

Chad Bourquin (00:42.103)
Yeah. All right, dude, well, let's just get into what's going on with you right now.

Jaron Bell (00:48.802)
Man, know, I will say I had to give up my illustrious career as a fitness model. It just wasn't working out. we, a lot of weight limits. So I had to step away, but no, no, man, things are great right now, man. I am so blessed and God is so good, man. I, you know, recently, I think the biggest news, I guess you'd say is about three and a half weeks ago, I guess, yeah, it'd about three weeks ago. I went up to Nashville.

and I signed a distribution deal with CDX Nashville and Sony Orchard. That has been exciting and that was a decision that we talked about for a couple months. And honestly, since the last time you and I talked, one of the things that you and I've talked about in the past was really just finding, I do kind of a lot of different things in figuring out what that package looks like and what that really is.

Chad Bourquin (01:25.954)
Yeah it is.

Jaron Bell (01:46.51)
And I tell you what man, I like to think that I mean I found the sweet spot brother I found it and and so yeah We we released some music about 90 days ago and just for some you know I'm sure she have some artists that listen to this so so metrics matter I guess but you know we went from I think we had I had four thousand followers on my Facebook page and

Chad Bourquin (02:02.509)
Mm-hmm.

Jaron Bell (02:11.05)
In less than 90 days, we've done over 850,000 views on that Facebook page and a little over 10,000 followers on that page. And TikTok's up to, we're right at 30,000. So I think it's 29, not that I know, but it's like 29, seven something. So we're about to hit 30,000 followers on TikTok. And it's just been awesome, man. And it's been, you know, signed my first brand deal, which is funny because it's a

Chad Bourquin (02:16.747)
man.

Jaron Bell (02:39.598)
True story, it's a nutrition brand. It's a story. So shout out to Dive Bar Nutrition. We want to give a shout out to them. They have awesome breakfast bars that are incredible. so yeah, man, it's honestly been a bit of a roller coaster. It's kind of all happening fast. I told somebody the other day, they said, man, man, all this stuff has happened for you overnight. And I like to say, well, you know, I'm glad it took 11 years for me to find some success overnight.

Chad Bourquin (02:43.275)
Nice. Yeah.

Chad Bourquin (02:47.884)
Okay.

Chad Bourquin (03:09.239)
Right, right. That's, you could define a lot of careers that way where it seems overnight, but man, if you get in the get behind the scenes. So you said everything lined up. Let's talk about what that means. Cause you're like, I mean, last time we talked, was comedian musician, not necessarily in that order, but you were, you were marrying these two things together. Is that what you're still doing or what's happening?

Jaron Bell (03:29.25)
Yeah, yeah, I think that is absolutely how I would explain it. think if I was to, if you were to say, hey, what is it that you do? And I would tell you that it's it's country gospel and comedy all at once. it's country, yeah, it's country music. But the biggest thing that I've noticed is, you know, I'm still,

Chad Bourquin (03:46.571)
Okay, nice. Very niche, yeah.

Jaron Bell (03:55.71)
I've got some dates at some venues, at bars, you know, we're still out here honky tonking. You know, just instead of bringing, instead of bringing, instead of bringing whiskey, we're bringing Jesus with us. So that's the biggest thing. But then also, I've been playing churches, you know, which is kind of fun. So, and you know, all this circles back to, know, I'm very deep in my faith. Since the last time you and I talked, I had...

Chad Bourquin (03:59.897)
Yeah.

Chad Bourquin (04:11.021)
Mm-hmm.

Jaron Bell (04:24.438)
I had just gave my life to Christ and man, I became a pastor. So I have a little church here in Kansas. And so, and then it just kind of started. What I recognized was I, kind of felt people would come and see me play and they wouldn't say, man, man, you're the greatest singer I've ever heard. And don't get me wrong, I think I'm very blessed and can hit some big notes, but.

Chad Bourquin (04:30.905)
Mm-hmm.

Jaron Bell (04:53.578)
They would always say, man, that was the most fun I've had. That was so entertaining. so what I realized was, and I think sometimes as artists we do this, is I tried to get into the mold of, you know, I've had three songs in the top 50 on the Texas music charts, right? Cause that's where I'm from. But like we get in the rat race of, okay, I make a single, I get a radio promoter, I play honky-tonks, I do that, do that. And then what I realized was I,

Chad Bourquin (04:56.81)
Mm. Yeah.

Chad Bourquin (05:11.075)
Mm-hmm.

Jaron Bell (05:23.4)
love playing Neon Moon, but I don't want to just play that forever. Like that's not what I want to do. And people, people came and watched me because they liked to laugh and were impressed by my voice and, had a good time. So I was just like, I'm going to lean into that. That's what I'm going to lean into. I'm going to lean into the experience of coming and getting, yeah. And hanging out, just come hang out with me. Let's hang out. Let's have a good time.

Chad Bourquin (05:53.625)
Yeah, so in this, in part of this process, sounds like, correct me if I'm wrong, it sounds like you just started to really recognize who you were, not as just an artist, but as a person, is that right? Okay. Yeah.

Jaron Bell (06:05.132)
Yeah, I mean, that's a big part, I think that it's very... Actually, that's a really good point by you. What I've found was, I have a song called Missing You. It went to number 22 on the Texas music charts. It's got 10,000 streams or whatever, and it was a great song for me. But the reality is, you come and listen to me sing that song, but if you were to meet me before the show...

If you were to talk to me before the show and then I went up and I sang the love song about the brokenhearted guy, they don't line up, right? They don't line up. I'm not, that's not who I am. I, I, I'm here to have a good time. I, I, you know, I got this whole, this whole bit right now that we're doing. And I started talking about, I made a joke one time. Somebody said, man, I can't believe that you're, playing in churches. That's cool. And I said, I know.

Chad Bourquin (06:43.833)
Mm-hmm.

Jaron Bell (07:04.438)
Because you'd think I look like I was baptized in barbecue sauce, right? And I and I was joking but then like that person laughed and that just and I was like, okay people and I'll tell you social media has been the biggest understanding because When I would post, know me playing a Vince Gill song singing real cute, you know, they I'd get a 1200 views

Chad Bourquin (07:21.014)
Mm-hmm.

Jaron Bell (07:32.514)
But I made, I'll tell you, you want to know the real moment that I realized the aha moment that I had, that aha moment was I made a video. I saw a video of Dave Ramsey, right? We all knew Dave Ramsey is. So Dave Ramsey was in a video and this whole video he's talking about like, you know, I've met people that made this much money and I've met people that made this much money and, and, you know, they're happy or not happy. And so he's doing this whole video.

Chad Bourquin (07:39.097)
Mm-hmm.

Jaron Bell (08:01.358)
And so I just took, what I thought would be funny is I took the video and it said, you know, he goes, I met people that made $30,000 a year and I've met people that made $130,000 a year and the video cuts to me and I said, man, I met a guy one time that had a wooden foot. That's a true story. Like, and that was it. But that video did 2.6 million views on Instagram. And so in that moment I went.

Chad Bourquin (08:25.922)
Wow.

Jaron Bell (08:30.434)
That's why people like what I do. That's what connects with people. But as an artist, what I realized was I can make a baptized in barbecue joke and have you listen to my song, Letter to Jesus, at the same time. Like, so I'm just, yeah. Yeah.

Chad Bourquin (08:33.645)
Mm-hmm.

Chad Bourquin (08:48.024)
Mm-hmm.

Chad Bourquin (08:51.821)
Yeah. Well, and obviously, I mean, you signed a deal, right? I mean, somebody thought this was a good idea besides you. So, yeah. So how did that come about? mean,

Jaron Bell (08:56.984)
Yeah. Somebody did. Somebody did, you know.

Jaron Bell (09:06.536)
You know, so I reached out. It all started because I reached out because I had this, I had this song. I put out a song independently called Letter to Jesus. and I put that song out. I guess it was 60 days ago. I think it was, yeah, it had to be 60. I don't think it was 90 days ago. Probably 60, 70 days ago. And, and I put the song out and the reaction was just, and

I had had social media stuff happening, like the Dave Ramsey video happened. I made another video where there's this real pretty girl and she's like showing off her butt on purpose and she's like, this is a Thunder Nova 51 laser. And then it cuts to me and I'm doing the same pose and I'm like, these are my golf clubs. They ruined my mental health. And then that video did 2 million views. And so it just kept going. And then when I...

released the song, the momentum kept going, people started latching onto the song and stuff happened. And so then I had another song that I wanted to release. So I reached out to CDX to be like, Hey, I want to put some music out, you know, and they, know, amen. I had started talking when all the social media stuff, no matter what anybody tells you, you don't have to live in Nashville for them to come get you. Like they,

if you do the numbers, they're going to come find you. Like they're going to come find you. so yeah, so they, we started having conversations about that. And then I actually reached out to Joe Kelly, who's incredible. He's the CEO over there at CDX. I, I joke, I honestly, sent it over to Joe with no expectations of signing a deal. I sent the info. said, Hey man, I'm getting

I've talked to three or four of these small labels. Do you know some of these people in Nashville? Can you just give me some heads up? Because he seemed like a pretty nice guy. And he reached back out to me and he was like, and he did, he said, I wouldn't work with this person. This person does a pretty good job. I've worked with them before. They do a great job. And he said, but I'll be honest with you. I'm looking at your soldiers and look at what you're doing. I think we would be interested in that. That conversation just kept running and they, and then.

Jaron Bell (11:31.022)
I told him, I told him I was already going to sign with you then he invited me up to play at CMAFest this year for the first time and he was like, I can get you at CMAFest. I was like, I'm on my way.

Chad Bourquin (11:38.105)
Mm.

Chad Bourquin (11:43.639)
You know, that's, that's something a lot of musicians that, that I've been in the circle, I'm working and we talk about a lot is just. It's like when you really get authentic with who you are, then it just kind of becomes a supply and demand thing. Right. Which you just, you just verified that. I mean, the demand you created a demand or supply that people wanted. And now the demands here and the people that have the money to

catapult you forward, see that, and you didn't, it doesn't sound like you forced any of that.

Jaron Bell (12:19.054)
No, no, I was definitely, I didn't see any of it coming, which was really cool. I obviously I played in Texas and honky tonked and did the thing and ran up and down the road. I've done some stuff for you. I've been there, done that, man. So none of this is, I'm definitely not a TikTok sensation. I've been out here. it just, I think every...

Chad Bourquin (12:27.619)
Mm-hmm.

Chad Bourquin (12:36.621)
Mm-hmm.

Jaron Bell (12:47.692)
What you said is correct. mean, I just found out and I also, one of the big things that I like to tell artists that, that asked me with, I've had some people reach out obviously with everything going on that I post a lot about is I was willing, look, this is who I'm going to be. I'm going to be funny me and entertaining. And I still have a band, but also I'm, selling more tickets, having people sit at tables in front of me and we're having

an experience and I'm selling 150 tickets for people just to sit down, you know, and we're, we're laughing, you know, and, but also on the other side of that, I was willing to be like, there's also going to be shows that I'm not going to get to play anymore because this is who I want to be as an artist. And so, you know, it's a very fine line that artists have to work because being a comedian, you know, a comedian

Chad Bourquin (13:21.469)
Mm-hmm.

Jaron Bell (13:46.52)
clean comedian slash entertainer musician that puts out music, you know, there might be some honky-tonks that aren't going to want me to play, you know, that I might not be an awesome fit at. And I've found that there are a lot that are because I can still do country music and shows and it's just, changed kind of, and that's a lot of times since you've and I talked, since we've talked now is, you know, I work to kind of refine what my new show looks like. I can do

Chad Bourquin (14:06.147)
Mm-hmm.

Jaron Bell (14:16.61)
you I can do the Joker by Steve Miller band you know I just don't say I'm a bit not toker part but I let everybody else say it it's fun right. And yeah it's just finding a balance of who you are and being okay that there's going to be some people that don't like what you are now. And that's okay too.

Chad Bourquin (14:25.047)
Right. Right.

Chad Bourquin (14:36.685)
Yeah, yeah, for sure. How much of...

So I, you know, I remember the conversation where you actually cancel the show and you can't, you cancel it because of your decision to pursue your faith, which we, everybody in everybody in the circle I was in respected what you did there. So what, at what point did like when you made that decision, you know, well, let's just stop there. Why don't you just talk about that?

Jaron Bell (15:07.662)
Pfff, man.

Jaron Bell (15:12.982)
No, I, dude, you know, I'll be honest with you, Chad, it was, I'm not getting emotional today. It was, man, it was the hardest thing I've ever done. Do it for the clip! No, you know, it was the hardest thing I've ever done, man, because the truth is, I knew,

Chad Bourquin (15:24.739)
Do it. Do it.

Jaron Bell (15:39.424)
Not only that I had to have that conversation with you, I had to have that conversation with ten other people, you know? And I thought that I... I feel like I did it right. I feel like I handled it the best way I could. But the truth was... I gave my life to Christ. And I knew that I was going to make music for Jesus. But I'm also not like... I'm not a beat you over the head, Bible theological guy, right?

Because I don't know if you know this or not, but I'm like the picture of gluttony. I'm a big guy, you know? So I'm aware that that's not who I am. But what I realized was in that moment, in that moment of time, I could not be... I needed a space that I knew I was gonna be a new Jaren. I knew that that's what I was gonna do. And I knew that I was gonna get back to play venues and...

And I knew that. I knew that I felt it on my heart that I was going to get to play music still and be funny and tell jokes and do the things that I wanted to do. But I just knew that I had to give myself.

I couldn't be both Jaren's at the same time. And I didn't know how to... I just didn't know how. didn't... In that moment, the only thing I could say was, man, I gotta... Man, I gotta let the other guy die. I gotta move on. I gotta... I can't. I can't. Because the problem was, I could've done some of those shows, but the reality was, I knew myself, and if I was entertaining in front of people, I would've...

Chad Bourquin (16:56.046)
Mm-hmm.

Jaron Bell (17:24.782)
You know that when we've been doing this long enough, I know as an entertainer if I do this, I'm gonna get this reaction. Some of the this doesn't make me very proud of myself, but I know that I get the reaction. So I know that if I would have been in this, you know, this journey of my faith and I would have just went and tried to play those shows, I would have in a minute of panic.

I would have reverted to the thing that I know that works. was like, here, I can do this. We're fine. I can do that. And so I just wasn't willing. I just wasn't willing to, there wasn't a gig out there that I was willing to sacrifice the momentum in my relationship with Christ that I was making. and, and you, and you've been very nice about it. There's been other people who are nice about it. There there's been one guy who's wasn't nice about it. Didn't.

Chad Bourquin (18:21.773)
Yeah, there's always one. There's always one. Yeah.

Jaron Bell (18:22.316)
didn't want to talk, doesn't talk to me anymore. And I tried to explain and I tried to explain to people and a lot of people had great reactions. Nobody was stoked, but it was also like, I would say that if I made the number 10, I've played six of those places again. So it was...

Chad Bourquin (18:36.953)
Mm-hmm.

Jaron Bell (18:50.424)
But man, it was just the hardest time I've ever been through as an artist just because, you we talk about finding yourself as an artist. Well, as an artist, people always talk about that moment. They go, well, you have to find yourself as an artist. Okay, well, if I find myself as an artist, that means that I was pretending this other time. So everybody that's known me before then, I was pretending. And you gotta be willing to go, that's not.

Chad Bourquin (19:10.989)
Mm-hmm.

Chad Bourquin (19:15.651)
And you have to be willing to admit that. Yeah.

Jaron Bell (19:20.674)
who I want to be, this is what I want to be, and be willing to take the rejection. rejection sucks.

Chad Bourquin (19:22.051)
Mm-hmm.

Chad Bourquin (19:31.799)
Yeah, mean, you know, it's, I mean, you're familiar with the Oliver Anthony story, right? Yeah, I mean, you know, the, he went through a similar thing, you know, made the call and then, but it was obviously the right call for him to become, you know, to not keep running from his faith, to line up with who he was. And you know, a lot of people don't like it, but there's way more to do.

Jaron Bell (19:37.848)
For sure, yeah.

Jaron Bell (19:43.351)
Yeah.

Jaron Bell (19:49.123)
Mm-hmm.

Jaron Bell (20:00.866)
Well, and I think that there's a way that you can do it. I mean, I hate to say it, but mean, Jelly Roll is the perfect example. He's the example. You're talking about a guy that went to jail, the whole story, blah, blah, blah, and now he's singing with Brandon Lake and doing those things. And I will tell you, as far as niches go, I love my new little niche, but it's kind of hot right now.

Chad Bourquin (20:04.888)
Mm-hmm.

Chad Bourquin (20:10.658)
Mm-hmm.

Chad Bourquin (20:28.183)
Yeah, nice.

So.

What else, mean, so what's your day look like now? I mean, between events and shows, what are you doing with your time and how are you building this?

Jaron Bell (20:39.309)
Well...

Jaron Bell (20:45.954)
Yeah, think, you know, I still...

I still work full time, but that gets more stressful because I'm closer than I've ever been, if that makes sense. I'm closer than I've ever been to being able to live the dream. So yeah, right now it's just like today. Today I'm just off work and I have a side business where the thing that I realized was

Chad Bourquin (21:01.401)
Mm-hmm.

Jaron Bell (21:21.144)
Being a storyteller on social media and creating content and things like that is something that just makes sense to me. It's just something that I've understand and I love it and I love creating videos and editing and that's just something that I love. So I started a kind of a social media brand management business then I've got some clients and so that's kind of the hope that that's going to be the day job, you know, and and and still

Chad Bourquin (21:48.579)
Hmm.

Jaron Bell (21:50.656)
and playing and just finding time. still booking my own stuff. You know, I'm still booking my own stuff. I'm I do have some help. The label's helping a lot. Never underestimate the power of what an email how much better an email is received when you've got the the label name on it. It helps. So that's it, man. Just I like to say that if anything, I'm working harder than I was, but

Chad Bourquin (22:07.405)
Right. Yep.

Jaron Bell (22:20.159)
I literally told this to somebody the other day. said, I'm working harder than I ever have at my music career. Now there's just more people watching me while I'm struggling. There's just more people watching while I'm fighting. That's all it is.

Chad Bourquin (22:31.513)
But I think that's good. mean, that's, you know, I mean, think what I'm witnessing just from your stories is a couple of things I think are really resonating with people. Number one, we all need to laugh more. And you're giving us the opportunity to do that. And the other thing is just the, we all are attracted to authenticity, whether we are good at doing it ourselves or not. We are all attracted to it.

And if we're not being authentic, we still watch people who are authentic and say, man, I wish I could be that free. You know, I mean, that's that authenticity breeds freedom. know, you know, the, we, we did an event with Sawyer Brown this last Saturday. If you're seeing them. my God. It's Mark's the singer, right? That dude knows exactly who he is. mean, that is some of the most awkward, energetic dancing.

Jaron Bell (23:06.83)
Mm.

Jaron Bell (23:11.17)
Yeah.

Jaron Bell (23:17.646)
Mm-hmm. Love them. No, I love them. Are you kidding me? They're so good. Yeah, I think so.

Jaron Bell (23:31.528)
yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Chad Bourquin (23:31.897)
I've seen in my life, you know, um, and he's just up there and I don't know what is he in his mid sixties, maybe something like that. Yeah. I mean, his, his tech said he's had six D surgeries on the same knee. I mean, he's up there up there putting baby powder on a mat that goes on the stage for him. So he doesn't throw his knee out again. Cause he just goes crazy. And, and I'm watching.

Jaron Bell (23:38.988)
Gotta be. Gotta be.

Chad Bourquin (23:56.889)
10,000 people in this crowd and I'm watching all ages just glued to what he's doing. Cause he is exactly who he, you know, he didn't try. And the other thing I know we noticed about him was he wrote songs to fit his voice, which is probably really good for longevity. Cause there's nothing really high there. There's not, he's not screaming. He's like in his range though, whole times like that guy will.

Jaron Bell (23:58.702)
Mm-hmm.

Jaron Bell (24:13.07)
Mmm, yeah, that's a big thing, huh?

Chad Bourquin (24:23.565)
probably die on the stage. He won't quit because his voice went out. Right?

Jaron Bell (24:27.15)
I opened for Sawyer Brown. I got to open for Sawyer Brown one time, years ago. And my favorite memory with him was we were talking backstage and I go, I love that song. I love Some Girls Do. I love that song. I love that song. And I said, he goes, yeah, I love singing that song. I said, why? goes, because some girls, he goes,

A lot of girls don't like what I do. I was like, all right, all right, man. A lot of girls. I was like, okay. Yeah, they're awesome. They're such a good band too. But I mean, that goes to the authentic self, right? Like he knows what it is. Like me, I have a chicken on my hat and I joked with you off camera about, me make sure I get my chickens or anything, the chickens with glasses, but it's not a ploy.

Chad Bourquin (25:03.041)
That's funny.

Jaron Bell (25:25.996)
I just love raising chickens. There's just something about it. I like it. I did it when I was a kid. It was my summer job. had like 200 birds when I was a kid and that was my job. I sold eggs instead of having to, my story that I always tell is, you know, I knew I was going to be an entertainer because my grandfather got me a job with a farmer down the street and he made me haul hay in West Texas in July for two weeks. And after that, I realized that

Chad Bourquin (25:35.181)
Well.

Chad Bourquin (25:52.217)
Mm-hmm.

Jaron Bell (25:54.624)
manual labor probably wasn't for me, right? Probably wasn't for me. And so I literally had little cards and I bought all these chickens and my grandfather helped me with my money and I sold eggs and I, you know, that's what I did. And so, but, but people might laugh at it, but also it's like, what's, what's wrong with chickens? I love chickens, you know, and I just, it's just part about being you and every, I told this the other day and I think this is important for any artist out there that is like,

They want to have more success on social media and they want us to do stuff. The answer might, and I'm not saying that the answer has to be humor, right? I just had a video, like three days ago, I had a video three or four days ago that I did and it went viral, baby viral. did, it did like 200, 280,000 views in like 72 hours. Like it just, pow pow, it just went off. And it's a video of a guy and the guy's like,

Chad Bourquin (26:32.867)
Mm-hmm.

Chad Bourquin (26:47.587)
Hmm. Yeah.

Jaron Bell (26:54.038)
I don't trust fat preachers and the video cuts to me and I have a half eaten corn dog and I go, I go, and I toss the corn dog over my shoulder. Right? Like I got caught. Right. And when I tell other artists and I just had this conversation and I think this is a really good point. You have, like, if you look at the comments of that video, it was like, I know he didn't waste that corn dog or, or the corn dog throw was epic or

the da da da da da da da, like all these different corndog comments. And again, my message was still a, you don't have to change yourself to come to Jesus, just come and he'll heal with you. Right? And so, but all these corndog comments, and when I tell other people, I told an artist the other day, I said, you have to figure out what those corndog moments are for you. Like for me, like, cause here's the way my brain works. The way my brain works is,

Chad Bourquin (27:41.881)
Hmm.

Jaron Bell (27:49.966)
The number one comment on that video is the corndog throw was epic and it had like 1400 likes on that comment so then I'm gonna go and I'm gonna make a reply to that comment in a video and I It sounds I know I'm getting in the weeds, but I promise there's a point But I saw that there's Sonic has dollar corndogs this week, right? I'm gonna go buy 12 of them

Chad Bourquin (28:10.712)
Mm-hmm.

Jaron Bell (28:19.766)
and I'm gonna sing a song into a corndog instead of a microphone, and I'm gonna have my friend behind the camera toss up 10 corndogs behind me, and I guarantee you the video does well. It's gonna go crazy. But it's finding little moments like that, and so I always, even with clients now, when I had the video, I literally, in a meeting, I said, we have to figure out what your corndog is. Like, you have to figure out what those little moments are.

in social media and be willing to to know that you standing there singing very seriously and you singing everything you got people might not react to it but you might make a joke with your dog and that might go viral you got to be okay with that's the thing that might be what works

Chad Bourquin (29:08.163)
Yeah. Yeah.

Wow dude, there's a lot here.

Jaron Bell (29:16.686)
show I get told that a lot by the way I'm told that a lot you know you got a lot there I'm like I know I can't help

Chad Bourquin (29:19.915)
Yeah. I mean, I'm always thinking like when, when, like when you're talking, I'm thinking about all of the lessons in everything you just said, you know, cause there's so much that, that we can learn from, from each other. But like, I mean, you're, you're out there making it happen.

probably that's not even the best word making it. You're out there allowing this to happen. Cause you kind of stumbled onto the corn dog, right? I mean, you didn't say I'm going to create, you know, I'm going to create a corn dog moment. You had a corn dog moment said, that's a corn dog moment.

Jaron Bell (29:51.214)
The true story, the story behind the video that did 200 plus thousand views was I was sitting at Sonic with my two children. I was in the Sonic. I was scrolling on my phone and I was scrolling on TikTok. And here's a quick pro tip, pro tip. you don't like anything unless you feel like you want to create with it because it'll save it for you. So my like button is like,

I could make something with that. like it. And so I know where it is. I can always go back and look at it. But I was scrolling and I literally strolled on a video and the guy said, you know, I could never trust a fat preacher. And I was like, and I, and so I liked it. And then I thought about it. And so I pushed the red button and I ordered a corn dog and I was like, wouldn't it be funny?

if I was taking a bite, it started out as a burger. was like, wouldn't that be funny if I was taking a bite of a burger and I stopped? But I was like, it's corn dog. And so yeah, it's just, Artists have to remember, this is no longer an industry. You can't just be an artist anymore. You're not an artist, you are a content, you're an entertainment company, you're a content company. So you...

Chad Bourquin (30:49.762)
you

Jaron Bell (31:15.372)
You can't put out, I see this all the time. I have conversations with other artists that are friends of mine and they're like, they're like, dude, it's incredible what you're doing on social media. And I go, why aren't you trying? Well, like, you know, it's not really my thing. If you're an artist, it has to be your thing. That's like being a car salesman and being like, you know, making phone calls really isn't for me. No, it doesn't work.

So.

Chad Bourquin (31:44.739)
So if an artist says it's not your thing, is there an entry point, advice, entry point, just something they can just get started on? What would your advice be there?

Jaron Bell (31:56.296)
If it's...

Jaron Bell (32:01.203)
Well, if, if it's not your thing and you don't want to like be a content tick tock Facebook, the real guy, right? If you don't want to do that, if you just want to sing, the reality is you have to be okay with getting 200 views on a video, right? So even if you don't want to be creative and this is probably pretty harsh, but if you don't want to make creative content, you're

You're probably not gonna be successful. don't, that's just the truth. Hate to be the messenger, but it's the truth. You're probably not gonna be successful. You can be a, and also knowing what you wanna be. If you wanna be a cover band that, that's perfect. You can be that. And then, and you can, you can make a a great promo reel and post live shots and.

Chad Bourquin (32:50.041)
Mm-hmm.

Jaron Bell (32:59.783)
send a thousand emails and work your butt off, right? But I can tell you it's a lot easier to book a show when you go, I do whatever it is. I've have 5 million views on social media this year. I don't care what you say. What, as an artist,

Chad Bourquin (33:02.861)
Mm-hmm.

Jaron Bell (33:21.803)
It's a lot more impactful to go. Eight million people watched my videos in 2024 over. Here's some covers, you know, it, it, I think it's impactful, but also knowing what you want to be. to, without rambling to answer your question, if I was brand new, first thing to do, you just, you just have to post. It can be just you singing because you're like, well, I don't want to film myself. I don't really like doing that. Then.

You should probably not be an artist. That's the truth. You should... If a guy told me one time, and I believe by this advice, when I was a young man, somebody asked me, go, oh, you like to sing? Sing me a song. And I said, oh, man, don't know. You kind of caught me on the spot right here. You know, I'm not really ready. I've had a flu for a week, you know. But this old timer in Fort Worth, Texas.

Chad Bourquin (33:54.585)
Mm-hmm.

Jaron Bell (34:18.375)
He's passed now, but he was just one of those old dogs that lived down there in the stockyards. And he said, he said, man, do you feel like you want to be a singer someday? I said, yes, I do. He said, well, then anytime anybody asks you to be yourself, you have to do it. So if you're out there and you're like, I want to be an artist.

Putting your cell phone up is the barrier to entry. Setting your cell phone on a desk, you're like, well, I don't have a tripod. You could set it against a milk carton. Setting your phone against a milk carton and going, my name's Jaren. Lord, forgive me. That's it. If you're not willing to do that, is this really what you wanna do? That's the truth.

Chad Bourquin (34:53.561)
Mm-hmm.

Chad Bourquin (35:04.621)
Well, and I know there's, there's, I mean, if you get past the ability to just start posting stuff, then I know there, there's, there's some cheats out there that I'm not sure that they really work in the long run where they're getting, you're getting a lot of fake views. Have you seen some of that stuff out there?

Jaron Bell (35:20.397)
Yeah, but Yeah, don't buy don't buy bots don't buy followers It is not it is not gonna do anything but help you I promise you it is more it is more impactful for you to have 400 people that like you then 70,000 people that are Encoded from India. I promise I promise it's more impact

Chad Bourquin (35:27.011)
Yeah.

Jaron Bell (35:49.964)
You know, and that's why, and just a little about growth. my number, well, we'll get into, we'll get into my number one strategy in a minute, but yeah, I don't, don't buy bots. Don't do that. I will tell you that advertising works. It works. And, and social media advertising is very crucial. and you could do it on a shoestring budget and, and still do well. So there's a lot of options out there, man, but yeah, nothing.

Anybody looks like these things are like we can promote your song to Spotify playlist and you'll get these opportunities at placements well Yeah, you might you know, but I don't know. don't I don't believe in some of that stuff, man That's just not the way I like to do things

Chad Bourquin (36:37.817)
Yeah. Well, I mean, I guess the way I think about it, correct me if I'm wrong, because you're more in this world than I am as far as that, but if you've got 400 authentic followers, what I'm personally looking for is just the idea that if somebody is looking for what I do, they think of me first. And so that's what those 400 to me are, as far as...

Jaron Bell (36:58.018)
Yeah.

Chad Bourquin (37:07.437)
top of mind type situation. Is that the right way to think about that or do you think about differently?

Jaron Bell (37:11.437)
I top of mind marketing is the only way to look at it. That's the only way to do it. you know, the thing that people, the number one rule in social media that people like to look at algorithms and all this thing, consistency is the number one rule. If you have 400 followers that like you and you post, there might only be 30 or 40 of them that like your post.

Chad Bourquin (37:18.029)
Mm-hmm.

Chad Bourquin (37:40.601)
Mm-hmm.

Jaron Bell (37:41.282)
But the reality is if you consistently post something and I'm not saying you got to post three times a day. I don't even do that. I, if I'm having a good week, I post once in the morning and once in the evening. One of them's a Facebook real every other day. And the other one is a picture of me. And I'm saying something about what's happening. That's, that's it. Yeah. Static picture, static picture.

Chad Bourquin (38:05.913)
It's a static picture. Yeah.

Jaron Bell (38:09.983)
And guess what? Hey, if you say, I'm not super creative, I don't know what to do. You, AI is the way of the future, brother. I'm gonna tell you right now. I'm okay with saying I implement chat GPT into everything I do as an artist. If you can literally take a picture of me and I can ask AI, I can go, Hey, it's Tuesday. I really don't know what I want to talk about, but I have a picture.

Chad Bourquin (38:18.851)
Mm-hmm.

Chad Bourquin (38:25.709)
All right.

Jaron Bell (38:39.947)
What do you think I should talk about? And it'll give you six options. And there will be like, you could just say that you're grateful for everybody. And you could say, make me a Facebook post for option two. And then it'll say, and yeah, is that authentic? Does that make you authentic? Yes, no, I don't know. There's an argument there, but the truth is it's your ideas trying to, you're trying to create it. So in my opinion, it's your IP. So.

Chad Bourquin (38:44.578)
Mm-hmm.

Jaron Bell (39:09.773)
That's my opinion, yeah, top of mind is everything. And if you're consistent, if you have 400 people and you're consistent, you won't stay at 400 people. The algorithm will not let you. It will benefit your consistency.

Chad Bourquin (39:27.321)
All right, so number one strategy, what is it?

Chad Bourquin (39:32.401)
Here we go.

Jaron Bell (39:33.917)
Follow Jaren Bell on social media. No, that's not it. I'm just kidding. That would be a good one though. It'd be a good one I would suggest that one but um Look watch watch me. No, I'm just kidding but uh The number the number one thing if you really if you said, okay, I'm an artist. I've got 2,000 followers I'm I'm playing some shows I want to grow but I don't know how to reach new audiences the number one way to go is

Chad Bourquin (39:39.779)
Yep, learn by example.

Jaron Bell (40:02.381)
people are like, okay, well, do you boost on Facebook? Do you boost posts on Facebook? Do you do stuff like that? I never boost anything. I never boost posts on Facebook, but this is what I do. And I think this is in my opinion, in my business, this is the number one thing that has took me from 4,000 views, 4,000 followers to 10,000 and 15,000 on TikTok to almost 30,000 on TikTok. The one thing that I do is

Organic content will tell you what works what I mean by that is if you post four videos right and This one does 400 views and this one does 600 views and this one does 300 views and then this one does 1400 views and like 15 or 16 people comment like that's my that's my that's where I'm watching. I'm not watching

Chad Bourquin (40:58.211)
you

Jaron Bell (40:59.883)
What happens like for example when so when I had the when I had the video that kind of went a little crazy with Dave Ramsey like when I saw it go and it went to like 15,000 views on Facebook on Instagram, excuse me. It went to 15,000 views in like six hours, right? Well, then I know the algorithm organically told me this works.

That's the only piece of content you run an ad on. As an artist, here's a shocker. I want every artist to lean in and listen to this right here. You have no idea what's gonna work. You don't know. How many artists have we heard the story of, I wrote this song and I knew it was gonna be my hit single, but the label wanted me to put out some other piece of poop and that's...

Chad Bourquin (41:33.059)
Hmm.

Jaron Bell (41:58.358)
became a number one. How many times have heard that story? He didn't want to put it out. That's a great example. And it became his hit, right? So the truth is, as an artist, you don't know what the market is going to tell you works. So don't make a video and you're like, I'm going to do this. I'm going to run an ad. We're going to try to sell t-shirts off of this ad. I'm going to do, don't do that.

Chad Bourquin (42:00.441)
know, devil went down to Georgia, perfect example. Yeah, yeah.

Jaron Bell (42:24.811)
the thing that you need to do is just consistently be in a mode of posting content and just be just have your head on a swivel so that one moment where a video of you making fun of a guy that said your one moment of the corn dog when you see the corn dog moment happen that's something that you can run an ad and put $40 behind because if you've already gotten

Chad Bourquin (42:24.825)
Hmm.

Jaron Bell (42:53.805)
60 comments on a video, that has proven that it works for the mass consumer. So now you're like, okay, that's a piece of content that I want people to see. And so that's the one that you go with. I just, see people all the time. They're running, I see ads on my Facebook all the time. It's like, you know, got a new single coming out and it's like, yeah, it's got a hundred likes on it, but you probably spent

two hundred dollars and the reality is I promise you if we looked at a metric of what that looks like spending that kind of money to get those kind of results versus me spending forty dollars on a video that already has traction by itself organically it's not even close it's not even close it's not even close

Chad Bourquin (43:24.569)
Mm-hmm.

Chad Bourquin (43:47.81)
So let's stop at the corndog ad. What parameters when you like, you have to go through parameters and decide who your audience is and all those things. How did you decide that for that one?

Jaron Bell (43:55.278)
Sure. Sure. So like in that moment, Dave Ramsey is a better example because the corndog one I didn't spend, I didn't run an ad for the corndog one, it just happened. But that's what I would have done, but it caught viral fast by itself. I didn't need to. But like the Dave Ramsey video, it went to like a hundred thousand views in an afternoon.

Chad Bourquin (44:09.059)
Gotcha. Yep. All

Jaron Bell (44:25.645)
And I was like, oh man. So people, again, when you're running an ad, you don't need to overthink that you're smarter than the algorithm is, right? if, cause they want people to watch things. That's what the whole purpose of that app is, right? So I ran an ad when it went to 100,000. I think I spent, I spent,

What did I spend? In max, I probably spent $50, right? I probably spent 50 bucks and I selected, I did change my age demographic, because I don't really have a huge demographic like under 18. So like, I think I did my demographic of like 24 to, I did 24 to knowing myself, I probably did 24 to 55, right? And then I let the algorithm, I just went with their preset because

on Instagram if you do it, says people that follow you and people like the people that follow you, similar people. And so I just clicked that and I put 50 bucks into it because it showed me that it was working. And that $50, how many people can say I spent $50 and it turned my video from, and it probably only did 70,000 views from the ad, but it.

but it kept churning and people started sharing it because they were laughing at the joke. And so they started sending it to their friends and da da da da da da. And it just kept going. But that 50 bucks, all that was, was just gas on the fire that was already there. Yeah. Two, two. Don't let me, don't let me lie to you here. Don't let me lie to you here. no, two point.

Chad Bourquin (46:09.302)
and where'd you see that one's landed so far for you?

Chad Bourquin (46:15.801)
I won't hold you to it.

Jaron Bell (46:22.669)
2.3, 2.3. So, but I spent 50 bucks and I have a, if you go to my Instagram, I've got a video that's got two million views. Or my Instagram, and then right next to it's another video with 2.9 million views. And I probably only spent 40 bucks on that one. But it's not because I'm out here spending a hundred, you know, 40 bucks on every video. I only run an ad if I know it's working. What, yeah.

Chad Bourquin (46:48.345)
Yeah, yeah, I mean, that kind of reminds me of the good to great flywheel concept. Have you heard that? It's a book called, it's a corporate book, know, gross book, but called good to great, but talks about the flywheel that the hardest thing to do is get the flywheel going. then, yeah, yeah. And then once you get it, once you get it going, it's a lot easier if you just keep the momentum going there. And that sounds like that's what happened. I mean, you got, it was rolling.

Jaron Bell (46:55.117)
the good, great. No, I haven't.

Jaron Bell (47:05.699)
yeah yeah.

Jaron Bell (47:15.319)
Mm-hmm.

Chad Bourquin (47:15.757)
You threw 50 bucks at it and it just kept going and they even sped up. Yeah. So that man's such great advice. gosh, what, what else is going on? I've worked over a lot here, but anything else in your life?

Jaron Bell (47:25.271)
That's it.

Jaron Bell (47:29.023)
Man, you know, hey, listen.

Chad Bourquin (47:33.165)
Kids, how are you kids?

Jaron Bell (47:34.67)
My kids are look, if we're going to get into kids, goodness gracious. My, so, uh, I have a 10 year old son and tomorrow my son turns 12. I have a 12 year old and a 10 year old. And then Friday's my birthday actually. Hey, to everybody out there watching, make sure you say happy birthday in the comments. Um, but yeah, uh, you know, my children are basically UFC fighters at this point. I can't stand it. They, they,

Chad Bourquin (47:46.617)
Mm-hmm. Yeah.

happy birthday.

Jaron Bell (48:06.133)
Does anybody out there with two boys, when I was, when we were having kids, I was like, my gosh, my boys are going to be the same age and they're going to be able to grow up. It's the biggest mistake I've ever made in my life. It's the biggest mistake I've ever made. They are literally horrible human beings to each other. It's the worst thing I've ever seen. If I have them individually, my life, my children are a blessing from God.

Chad Bourquin (48:11.928)
Mm-hmm.

Chad Bourquin (48:34.424)
Yeah.

Jaron Bell (48:34.721)
But if I have them both at the same time, God test us all. mean, it's, it's brutal. And, my son and the thing that I didn't know about having kids is, and I don't know for those out there, how old your kids are, but my son had, that was now turned 12. And he thinks that because dad's a comedian, he is too. Listen, this kid told, I'll tell you a true story. The other day, this kid told me I was.

I was sitting at a deal at church at a little event and my oldest came with me just wanted to ride so and that's kind of cool because he can now experience what I'm doing because I'm not at Bars I could take him with me, you know, and the nice thing about church people they let you but you done about nine o'clock you're done by nine o'clock and We're sitting there after the show and a little girl came up to me with her with her parents and she's probably this girl's five years old This girl's five years old and she goes

Chad Bourquin (49:12.739)
Mm-hmm.

Chad Bourquin (49:18.295)
Right.

Jaron Bell (49:33.262)
Sir, she goes, why is your belly so big? And I go, oh, I got stung by a bee. That's what I told her, right? And my 12 year old son is on his phone. He literally puts his phone down. He looks at me and he goes, how many bees were there? You know, I, boy, I don't, I don't believe in domestic violence. I really don't. But sometimes I'm like, I get it, right?

Chad Bourquin (49:43.097)
Mm-hmm.

Chad Bourquin (50:02.361)
I don't know. That was pretty quick though. mean, there had to be a PCU that was like, okay, I've got to, I'm a little proud of that.

Jaron Bell (50:03.213)
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah for sure and and he's got he's got so many of those he goes I told him the other day I said I said What I say? I said, I don't like My wife loves horseradish and it's the bane of my existence I hate horseradish right and I said I said I'll tell y'all right now I was holding the can of it in the kitchen I go

Chad Bourquin (50:15.641)
You

Jaron Bell (50:32.851)
I tell you what, there's nothing more that I hate than horseradish. And my son from the other room goes, and stairs. You little bastard. I hate you. But it's cool, man. They're awesome. They're playing basketball and football and all the things. they're in private school and they're just having a great time.

Chad Bourquin (50:46.873)
you

Chad Bourquin (50:55.075)
Yeah.

Chad Bourquin (51:02.105)
Yeah. I mean, our kids, our kids fought too growing up. mean, my brother and I fought, my brother and were two years apart and we fought all the time till the last one, which was in the shop where we both about, both just about died because of the drain in there. Dad never kept a clean shop, like this flat. So we're at the stage now with our kids, like they're starting to let on, you know, cause they're, know, they're out of the house. starting to let on all the stuff we didn't know. You you think you know everything?

Jaron Bell (51:02.367)
It's great, but...

Jaron Bell (51:09.097)
dude.

Jaron Bell (51:16.584)
Yeah, dude.

Jaron Bell (51:27.009)
Yeah.

Jaron Bell (51:30.92)
yeah, you don't.

Chad Bourquin (51:31.769)
And it's like, okay, they were more aligned with each other than we realized because they were.

Jaron Bell (51:35.806)
dude, that's the biggest frustration because if I'm like, you know what? Together, they're like, ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha. But the problem is, if I try and separate them, they're like, you can't keep me away from my brother. We love each other. Act like it. I don't know, man. But kids are a lot. You gotta love them.

Chad Bourquin (51:40.547)
Yeah.

Chad Bourquin (51:45.902)
Yeah.

Chad Bourquin (51:49.495)
Yeah.

Chad Bourquin (51:52.889)
Yeah.

Chad Bourquin (51:56.429)
Yeah. Yeah.

Sure. Well, dude, man, thank you. This has been incredible. And we're gonna post all the ways that everybody can find you in the show notes as well. I mean, what's probably just, what's the best way for people to follow you and follow along what you got going on here?

Jaron Bell (52:19.693)
You know, I will say to be completely transparent, Facebook is a lot more, I post everything that's happening on Facebook. TikTok's like a more of an entertainment channel. You know, it's my ESPN and Facebook is more my Fox News or CNN, whatever you like. It's okay. It's fine. yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Your preference, right?

Chad Bourquin (52:29.709)
Mm-hmm.

Chad Bourquin (52:44.269)
I parted.

Jaron Bell (52:47.821)
I will tell you a quick funny story. I did a show the other day and I played at this church and I don't do political stuff. Like I'm not a political guy so I don't do that. But I had this little bit that I was like I'm gonna try this out and I go, I go, listen, I go, I I go, a lot like Jesus, I don't care about what your political affiliation is. It doesn't matter to me.

doesn't matter to me which side of the aisle you sit on, whether you're on the right or you're wrong like that. And I was like, that's so funny. And, my God, the people laughed really. And then literally a lady got up to leave cause she was so bad. And I go, I go, I go, I go, ma'am, I forgot to tell you. She looked, I go, it's a comedy show. I'm kidding. sit down. but no, so I, yeah, she stayed. She stayed.

Chad Bourquin (53:40.175)
Did she? Is she okay?

Jaron Bell (53:43.404)
She stayed, she stayed, she stayed. But you know, life's about repentance, so I just said sorry. So I was fine. So yeah, just Jaren Bell and Jaren Bell Live everywhere. I like to think that you can get a little bit of everything. Selfishly, I want people to follow me on every platform, but the truth is, if you followed me on Snapchat, you get me looking at my garden and like,

all the fun stuff, right? the on the road stuff. If you look at Facebook, it's like a bulletin board and videos of everything that's happening with the label and the new songs and then if you watch TikTok, it's entertainment, the jokes, the clips, the, you know, so, and I think as an artist, you have to have that. have to have, gotta be on everything, man. You just do. So just my name, man. If you, if you search my name,

Chad Bourquin (54:15.214)
Mm-hmm.

Jaron Bell (54:39.679)
I am very blessed that Instagram, Facebook, all those things, they do have a blue check mark by it. So that's actually me if you see the blue check mark. yeah, that's it, man.

Chad Bourquin (54:49.465)
Right on dude, thank you, man I appreciate it. Last thing, if you got a new artist or maybe somebody that's kind of been in a spot for a while and stuck, either one of those scenarios or both, what is the primary thing that you would say to that artist? What is the most important thing you could say to them?

Jaron Bell (54:53.005)
Mm-hmm.

Jaron Bell (55:10.849)
that somebody that's just kind of stuck where they're at.

Chad Bourquin (55:13.611)
or they're brand new, either whatever you choose. They're just starting out, yeah.

Jaron Bell (55:20.909)
I would say, number one, if you're going to be who you say you are, if you're going to be what you say you are as an artist, don't be ashamed to be that. Like, do it. Like, you don't have no excuse not... Let me just be clear. This is what I would tell you. You want the truth? You want my honest answer? Here's my honest answer. I'm talking to that artist right now. I am a finance director at a car dealership.

Chad Bourquin (55:43.105)
I do, give it to me. Yeah.

Jaron Bell (55:50.766)
I have a 10 year old and 11 year old. I still play shows on the weekends. I've got a social media marketing business that I run outside of that. If I can find time to create corndog, tick tocks, you have no excuse. If I can find the time to do it, there's more time in your day. So the number one thing you have to do is be more efficient with the time you have. Like, and I'm not saying you got to work and not enjoy it, but that's it.

So that would be my thing is you have to do that. But here's the hopeful side. There has never been a time in human history that it is easier for an artist to explode. You are, the reality is, people have talked about the lottery forever. As an artist, the odds of a video going viral and changing your life is better than you winning the lottery.

So the reality is, no matter what anybody tells you, you are one TikTok away from your life changing. If you don't look at the example of what Bailey Zimmerman is, Bailey Zimmerman was working construction, made a video on a construction site, and the next day it had three million views, and in like six weeks,

He had a record label deal in Nashville and is now a national touring artist. You're one TikTok away. So they always say with the lottery, you'll never win if you don't play. You're never gonna get a shot if you don't post the TikTok. If you don't post the Facebook reel or the Instagram reel, you're not gonna be, you can't sit back and be like, I don't understand why my career is not happening if you won't show anybody who you are.

That's my biggest advice. You have to play the game. You have to be involved.

Chad Bourquin (57:55.213)
Jaren Bell, you've been listening to the Gig Soap. Thanks, brother.

Jaron Bell (58:03.64)
Nice.