{"id":67762,"date":"2026-07-01T23:00:30","date_gmt":"2026-07-01T23:00:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/01\/michaela-anne-on-the-merch-debacle-that-left-her-in-tears\/"},"modified":"2026-07-01T23:00:30","modified_gmt":"2026-07-01T23:00:30","slug":"michaela-anne-on-the-merch-debacle-that-left-her-in-tears","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/01\/michaela-anne-on-the-merch-debacle-that-left-her-in-tears\/","title":{"rendered":"Michaela Anne on the Merch Debacle That Left Her in Tears"},"content":{"rendered":"


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\n\tSinger-songwriter Michaela Anne<\/a> just may be the quintessential indie artist, one for whom the hustle never stops. She\u2019s a working mom, a podcast host<\/a> with her husband and bandmate, Aaron Shafer-Haiss, and the one in charge of keeping her music coming.<\/p>\n

\n\tMichaela Anne, the daughter of a military father who moved around for the bulk of her childhood, eventually settled in Brooklyn, then Nashville. Now she\u2019s on the move again: She\u2019ll perform this July 4th weekend at Rolling Stone<\/em>\u2019s Stateside Festival<\/a>, headlined by Noah Kahan<\/a>, in Kingston, New York.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe festival stop is just one of many live dates she\u2019ll play this summer in support of her new album, These Are the Days.<\/em> It\u2019s a completely independent release \u2014 Michaela Anne crowd-funded the LP too \u2014\u00a0that she will, like so many touring artists, be selling at the merch table after her shows. But getting the album, T-shirts, and other swag to the venues can often be a struggle. In a new interview with Rolling Stone<\/em>\u2019s Nashville Now<\/em> podcast, Michaela Anne recounts one merch \u201cdebacle\u201d that left her in tears.<\/p>\n

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\n\tWhile on a run with the band Fantastic Cat<\/a>, Michaela Anne wowed the audience in the very first city she played and they bought up every copy of These Are the Days<\/em> she had brought along \u2014 in a second suitcase that she paid to check with the airline, filled with 50 pounds of vinyl. She suddenly needed more to sell at the upcoming shows.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI had my husband overnight a box of merch, $325, to Columbus [Ohio], the next morning. There were storms here in Tennessee, so it didn\u2019t arrive. And if it\u2019s a storm, it\u2019s an \u2018Act of God,\u2019 so they won\u2019t refund you. Then I don\u2019t have any merch to sell,\u201d Michaela Anne says. \u201cI\u2019m adding up all the potential dollars that I could have made, and now I\u2019ve spent. It was so stressful.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tEventually, the new merch was set to arrive, but the package store\u2019s policy wouldn\u2019t accept \u201cHold for Pickup\u201d boxes. In other words, the songwriter had to be there as soon as the shipment arrived. She tried to plead her case to the manager.<\/p>\n

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\t\tEditor\u2019s picks<\/p>\n<\/h2>\n<\/section>\n

\n\t\u201cHe said, \u2018Nope. I\u2019m not going to do it. If I do it for you, I have to do it for everybody,\u2019\u201d she recalls. \u201cI said, \u2018Sir, can I please tell you my story? I\u2019m a touring musician. The only way I make a living is from my merch sales, I have two young children at home\u2019 \u2026and I started to cry.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe manager relented, not because of Michaela Anne\u2019s tears, she says, but because he simply listened. \u201cIt\u2019s a testament to the power of storytelling,\u201d she says, \u201cthat it builds empathy and connects us to each other. He became invested\u2026 Later, I was getting coffee and that man called me: \u2018Guess what I have waiting for you?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

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\t\tTrending Stories<\/p>\n<\/h2>\n<\/section>\n

\n\tAccording to Michaela Anne, her story is similar to that of countless other musicians who, for various reasons, are finding it increasingly difficult to tour. Watch her full interview on Nashville Now<\/em> below.<\/p>\n

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