Meet Orange peel moses

Today we’d like to introduce you to Orange peel moses.

Orange peel moses, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I remember envisioning delivering singing telegrams when I was 17 or 18, just a few years after I began writing rudimentary original songs. Even though I’d seen Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, I failed to connect what I was picturing to the balloon bouquet-wielding nurse that hilariously performs for Ferris’s unamused sister. I wrote my first parody song – a key offering in the singing telegram business – for my high school graduation. After studying music and writing in college, I lived with a belly dancer who occasionally delivered “belly grams” for a singing telegram agency. Bachelor parties and Middle Eastern families were her primary demographics. The agency’s owner offered me my first paid singing telegram gig on 4/20 – my birthday. Friends soon began enlisting me to perform telegrams for house parties. Hilarity ensued. I continued collecting costumes and set up a bare bones website. At the time, I had a part-time job as a managing editor for a Denver nightlife magazine. Because all telegram customers have different needs and inquiries are often last minute in nature, that editing gig’s flexible hours were instrumental to gradually growing my singing business.

Once I started putting out Valentine’s Day press releases, I got opportunities to play Cupid on local news segments. I’ve since been featured on 9 News, KWGN, The Denver Channel, KYGO, The Everyday Show, Fox21 in Colorado Springs, KHOW and Living Local. As the website was upgraded and glowing online reviews accumulated, business grew. I began employing other local singers when I was traveling, or for gigs I couldn’t personally do. In the 15 years we’ve been in business, we’ve performed at Broncos Stadium, Celestial Seasonings, Chipotle HQ, The Convention Center, Crocs HQ, Denver Post, The Governor’s Mansion, Colorado Public Television, The Capitol, Comedy Works, The Airport, The Museum of Nature & Science, The Pepsi Center, Snooze, Westword, Whole Foods, Zoom Communications and 1st Bank Center, among other venues. We’ve delivered around 3500 singing telegrams to date.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Being a successful artist or creative of any kind requires being a successful entrepreneur. Although my mother could plunk out “Chopsticks” on the piano at one point, neither of my parents had much experience in music or business. So, I had to learn both through trial and error. Fortunately, my mother saw to it that I studied music from a young age, which gave me a bona fide head start in one of the two realms.

Stage fright was one of the first hurdles to overcome. Finding the sweet spot between confidence and arrogance was essential. Figuring out how to start a business with minimal capital was another major challenge. Then again, the so-called starving artist period is a rite of passage for many. I almost got evicted. My car was booted several times for unpaid parking tickets.

Then there was the tumor. A benign mass developed on the nerve that controls my larynx. I had an expensive dispute with a landlord once, one that could’ve cost me my entire costume collection.

I could certainly go on. But I’m grateful for all of the aforementioned experiences, as they shaped me into the tenacious and resilient entertainer and boutique talent agency owner that I am today.

Please tell us about your business.
I own a boutique entertainment agency that specializes primarily in singing telegrams and stilt performance, but I’ve booked all kinds of entertainment including non-stilt circus acts and more. With singing telegrams, birthday grams are our bread and butter and Valentine’s Day is our “big dance,” but we’ve performed for myriad occasions including Admin Professionals Day, anniversaries, April Fool’s, apologies, baby showers, bachelorette parties, Boss Day, Christmas, gender reveals, graduations, sendoffs, Mother’s Day, pranks, promotions, proposals, a resignation, retirements, recoveries from illness or injury, job applications, Vet Tech Appreciation Week, St. Patrick’s, Talk like a Pirate Day, “workiversaries” and even to celebrate a successful vasectomy. Because I’ve played Cupid for at least six of our ten Valentine-related local TV news segments, a lot of people remember me that way.

Delivering singing telegrams is a niche business for sure, but we strive to be the finest in the region. While many singing telegram artists perform a capella, we accompany nearly all performances with acoustic guitar, ukulele or hand claps. Our costuming standards are high, and we maintain a large and ever-expanding collection. We offer a large and ever-expanding repertoire of songs to please our incredibly diverse client base, everything from Johnny Cash to Grandmaster Flash and even Daft Punk. And I’ve been writing parody song lyrics since high school, so I’ve got tons of experience customizing and personalizing lyrics for milestone birthdays, graduations, retirements and other once-in-a-lifetime occasions. Our customer satisfaction rate is stellar and our online reviews attest to that.

So, what’s next? Any big plans?
Unsurprisingly, we’re performing more virtual singing telegrams than before. That’s exciting, because it increases our reach significantly. I’ve recently performed for recipients in Canada, New York, Puerto Rico and California, among other places. I’m dreaming up a premium service where customers could commission studio-quality recordings of personalized songs and even professional music videos to accompany them. Insomniac Events, an EDM promoter I perform for, began co-promoting festivals in South Korea last year. I’m definitely hoping to be booked for one of those at some point. On the subject of festivals, there’s a Global Eclipse gathering happening in conjunction with December’s total solar eclipse in Patagonia; I’m planning to record an original eclipse song before then (check out my most recent Orange Peel Moses release “Butterflies” on Spotify). And I finally began studying TV and screenplay writing last year, though I still have a lot to learn.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.orangepeelmoses.com
• Phone: 3039318466
• Email: [email protected]
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/orangepeelmoses
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/customsingingtelegrams , https://www.facebook.com/citricacidentertainment

Image Credit:
Kimberly Benfield, Jeff Scott/Daybreaker, David Gaston/Studio Grey, Michael Hystead, Gerardo Federico, Paresh Rana

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