Cade Mower
Moved By Music: Routines, Conversation, & A Special Gift
Can you imagine how you would feel if your favorite story, book or song was never written? We all know inspired music moves people. I know from experience that when audiences are moved, they move others. They share that message with everyone that means something to them.
I want to share an experience that moved me and introduce you to an up and coming artist. You are welcome for the introduction! I know you will thank me after you hear him play.
I first met Cade Mower through The Final Percent Network at an event called Infinity Summit in 2024. His passion for music and progress, immediately proved to me we were kindred spirits. Passion has a way of transferring enthusiasm from one person to another. That connection worked on me the first time we met and here we are almost six months later doing this podcast because of one night that changed his life and mine.
Moved by Music
Let’s start in the middle, Cade believes that the music industry is similar to the speaking industry in that it can be relentlessly unforgiving. I believe he is right on that. As creatives, we have to embrace vulnerability and being genuine in the pursuit of your passions no matter the initial outcomes. All things worthwhile take years or even decades to develop, not months, and music is no different. The key is to focus on the right work, build specialized skills, and improve over time. As you grow into the person who takes the right actions, you’ll achieve the results you want. As Dr. Greg Kimble says, "Be + Do = Have."
It's easy to get discouraged when things aren’t going as well financially or as quickly as you'd hoped. This episode is about keeping your dreams alive, avoiding bitterness so you can keep improving, and embracing gifts as they come so you can give in return.
Keep your dreams alive
Cade Mower originally from Bluffdale Utah had a dream of being a professional musician. He moved along with his passion to Texas and then ended up in Nashville to eventually change his luck through hard work and consistent daily actions of his routine songwriting.
Sure music had literally moved him but it isn’t enough to be moved to act, one needs to take the ideas and capture them. A crucial skill he has developed over years is his devotion to journaling and the ability to capture the moments when his Muse speaks to him. It could be a lyric here or a chord progression there, but as he faithfully makes time to capture and document these songs and do something with it he has been able to take his dream of producing an album and turn it into a reality. He took small and simple steps daily and it turned out to be exactly what built his momentum to succeed as a singer songwriter.
How did you choose which songs to include on your album?
Cade shared that the songs he chose had to ‘mean something’ to him that were most closely related to him personally, meaning the most vulnerable ones. That doesn’t mean they are all ballots, that just means the songs run deeper than the surface performance.
Cade has a unique style that is all his own, impressed by influences in Texas and Nashville his relatable soulful country is deeply rooted in family values and has a playfulness in the performativity. He even gave a couple preview songs on the podcast so you could experience it live when you watch the episode.
Download Cade's newest alblum here
Inspiration or Perspiration?
“I write only when inspiration strikes. Fortunately it strikes every morning at nine o’clock sharp.”-W. Somerset Maugham
Cade suggested that music moves him to be inspired to write more music but it is in the creative process of making it that inspiration strikes. The encouragement is to write everyday. Make it a routine, Write it down, period. A creative person needs to make a habit out of it. I agree with Cade that his Journal of experiences, stories, prompts for songs and the like all carefully written down can turn into beautiful music but if you don’t write them down consistently then you will never know what could have been. In Mandarin one of my favorite expressions is
‘The faintest of Ink is better than the brightest Memory’好記性不如爛筆頭 （hǎo jì xìng bù rú làn bǐ tóu）
I’m learning more and more that the consistent daily actions we take day in and day out often determine our success much more than sour aptitude. In one way when you see a masterpiece we can think of it as a work of art but it didn’t come easily to anyone. Nobody is born with a guitar in their hand or a paintbrush in their hand. It is a work of hard as much as it is a work of art that determines success. That hard work is to identify the work to be done and do the work consistently, relentlessly and with purpose.
Moved by a conversation & jam session
Have you ever had a conversation or had a kind gesture change the trajectory of your life? We all do even when we don’t realize it. One such instance happened the first time Cade came to an Event with The Final Percent Network. Little did we know that his decision to go to some random guy’s basement to an event could change everything.
It was at a pretty low point in Cade’s Career, financially and mentally he was drained. Almost grasping at straws to know how to make things work. He was in Nashville, but wasn’t as well received as he was in Texas. He felt like he was in an environment to perform but he didn’t feel like anything was happening. He felt stuck.
That is when one act of invitation changed the trajectory of his entire career. His friend Bryan Guadagno, of Skinny Pasta,after hearing how things were going musically said I need to introduce you to someone. He invited Cade to an Event, which happened to be the Infinity Club Summit usually reserved for Infinity Club members only, but he was able to get special permission to attend one day and met Dr. Greg Kimble.
I also met Cade there at the event and we hit it off. Cade could tell how welcoming we all were however what changed everything for Cade was going deep with a jam session with Greg and Bryan at Greg’s Home Studio into the wee hours of the morning after the event was over. Music brought him together and connected them intimately.
I remember connecting with Cade at that event and hearing about how he wanted to publish an album. It sounded like a bit of a pipedream for him at that point to become a professional musician, but the second time I connected with him he had a new determination and here is what happened that moved him from curious to committed to turn his dream into realiy.
A Gift that Moved his Music
It was the last event of the year for The Final Percent so Greg was pulling out all the stops. This was transformational. Absolutely amazing content but the thing that impressed me the most happened at the end of the event after the content was already delivered. A Gift that helped Cade move his music from dream to reality.
Imagine a room full of your supportive community members jazzed up from hearing amazing speakers over two days. Greg set it up so that Cade would play one of his songs on Greg’s new guitar.
Greg gave Cade the floor to perform and Cade rocked it. It was so fun to hear Cade perform a song live, then Greg did something entirely unexpected. At the end of the song he announced that he and Bryan wanted to prove that they believed in Cade’s music so much that they went halfsies on this beautiful guitar. That guitar is all yours. Greg almost teared up as it happened he was so happy to give it to Cade, but you should have seen Cade’s shock. This was the equivalent of giving him a car but this vehicle was one that he could drive in style to make his dreams come true.
We all cheered and experienced the surreal generosity of someone that really proves they love you more. As a community, we have done tipping dinners where everyone donates a hundred dollars each to tip the wait staff. It is amazing to see the impact a gesture like that can have on someone’s life. I’ve seen the elation and outpouring of appreciation before many times. It is truly magical to see their faces but this experience was different and more profound because it wasn’t about the amount of money the guitar cost even though it was an expensive guitar. It was the belief in Cade’s dream that made this guitar mean something more than money.
There was a sparkle in Cade’s eyes and it was like he finally saw that he had the keys to his dreams. His dreams were within reach and he could open the door. I could tell that his dreams went from ‘someday maybe’ to my ‘dreams are coming true today’.
Then Greg invited Cade to play another song with his new guitar. The song sounded just as polished as before but there was a richness and depth of feeling that filled the air and I noticed I just witnessed a breakthrough. That change was the belief that his dream was worthwhile enough that others would invest into it. I could see the gates open in his performance and it was now inevitable that his album would come out. That feeling of compassion, brotherhood and brotherly love is hard to describe. When you witness generosity like that, it is hard to not want to shout for joy and do good to others.
In a lot of respects, that is why Cade was on my podcast today. Not just because he was given a gift to perform but by accepting a gift he is able to give the gift of his music to move more people to change their stars and believe in themselves.
Because he was given a gift and he has done something with it I wanted to share it with you.
Because you are given gifts I wanted to share something with you. Please I implore you don’t keep them to yourself. Don’t withhold your talents. Please develop them and selflessly share them with others.
He now took his dream of producing an album and turned it into a reality this Friday, January 31st 2025. I wanted to support him because I believe in him like Greg and Bryan. We are all about ‘saying your dreams out loud’ and then doing everything in your power to turn them into a reality. Taking a holistic approach using the infinity Model to make it a reality is how we do it.
Cade said that when he felt that guitar in his hands it was a turning point because like he told greg before he knew this new guitar would be given to him, ”This might be the nicest guitar I've ever played. It felt like driving a BMW—tight, smooth, and just right. It sounded great, felt perfect in my hands, and, of course, I’ve always been a Martin guy and it was a Martin.”
“This isn’t Charity, this is Community.”--Dr. Greg Kimble.
Just like Greg and Bryan giving that guitar, I encourage you to give your story and experience to the world too. I believe in the power of generosity, I believe in abundance. I believe in caring about people and showing it by how we treat them. I believe in out caring the competition. I encourage you to support your community like Greg and Bryan did for Cade.
Experience a special preview of two songs on the full Episode.
God Bless.