Meet Trailblazer Bonnie Sims

Today we’d like to introduce you to Bonnie Sims.

Bonnie, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I front a five-piece band that plays original music in addition to doing all of the booking and management for my group. I have been playing music since I was a kid, my dad is a career musician and I’ve always loved being on stage. I started out singing and picked up guitar and mandolin as a teenager and attained a Commercial Music Degree from South Plains College in TX before moving to Colorado. Bonnie & the Clydes play Rocky Mountain Country Soul, blending elements of multiple genres we love and can pull from while showcasing the songwriting and instrumental prowess of all the members. At this point for Bonnie & the Clydes, we have been focusing on playing festivals and events or performing arts centers, and really pride ourselves on our live show. We work to be a tight band, but we also have so much fun onstage and the feedback we get consistently from audiences is about our energy–you can’t sit still when we turn up!!!

Has it been a smooth road?
The longer I play music, the more I feel like this is, for lack of a better term, a last-man-standing kind of game. It’s partly about how “good” you are but it’s mostly about how willing you are to work for it. Are you willing to push through playing a lot of hard, long gigs that maybe aren’t that fun and don’t pay that well to make it through to the ones that are/do? When this band started, we played as much as possible, which means taking a fair amount of shit gigs, and now, because we put in that work and made real fans, we get to be more selective and focus on gigs that we really wanna take. Being the person in the group who makes the majority of those decisions (whether or not a gig is worth the time) is a hard job for anyone, but I have definitely come across my fair share of musicians who don’t want to take any kind of direction or instruction from me. For all I know, they don’t want to take anyone’s direction, so I try not to worry about it too much and instead focus on people who can recognize my skill set, one of which is being the boss. I think ownership of that position has been a huge part of my success because it draws in people who are attracted to that quality and pushes away folks who can’t handle a woman in charge who doesn’t really care if she makes you comfortable or not. Which works great for me when I’m genuinely trying to build a team. My advice to young women and femme folx is to find people who support you and don’t waste a lot of time trying to convince someone that you’re going to be a success. If they can’t see it, then they aren’t worth your time, just keep connecting to people who believe in your vision. Not to completely invalidate critique, because it’s immensely helpful, but it has a time and a place and should come from someone with real knowledge of what you’re doing. I do feel like people try to tell me “how” I should be “famous” pretty frequently, and I find that kind of input super empty because #1, they didn’t even ask me what I wanted and #2 they assume I don’t already have a plan I’m working on. There is an element of being a woman in this business that feels like trying to dance alone in public. Dudes keep coming up to me to put their hand on my lower back and guide me into the next step so I spin away and keep grooving solo. It’s dizzying, but I have gotten particularly good at this kind of maneuvering or I wouldn’t have gotten this far.

We’d love to hear more about Bonnie & the Clydes.
Bonnie & the Clydes play an array of venues from theaters to festivals, and we’ve released four studio albums with our fifth is coming out this fall. We try to keep our shows fresh and lively, and we are always trying something new. Most recently we were commissioned by the City of Westminster to write music for a new theater piece in collaboration with Boulder theater troupe The Catamounts. In addition to writing the songs, Taylor and myself also had roles in the show and Bonnie & the Clydes were the house band for the final scene. Even with playing shows and writing music, we also both have full teaching schedules and love to spend our time during the week working with other people on their musical goals. I think our work ethic is one thing that really sets us apart, we go non stop and we try to always represent ourselves well. I like the idea of accepting something professionally that I am mildly or maybe even wildly intimidated by and then rising to the challenge. I think that willingness let us take advantage of a lot of good opportunities and has helped me learn so much.

Finding a mentor and building a network are often cited in studies as a major factor impacting one’s success. Do you have any advice or lessons to share regarding finding a mentor or networking in general?
I think having good relationships and communication with people who are ahead of you in the game is essential. Being a positive presence on the scene is also really vital, and attitude is everything. If you are talented but hard to work with, you won’t get a lot of work. Also, having a support system with people who have similar struggles can be really nurturing, I get a lot out of my friendships with other musicians and particularly female/femme musicians. Be yourself is my best advice when you’re trying to make connections because in this industry so many people are trying to be anything other than themselves so authenticity is GOLD.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.bonnieandherclydes.com/
• Email: https://soundcloud.com/bonnie-elizabeth-sims
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bonnieandtheclydes/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bonnieandtheclydes/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/BonnieHerClydes
• Other: https://www.youtube.com/user/bonniesims443

Image Credit:
Scott McCormick, George L Blosser, Michael Pierce, Alan Damkoehler

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