Jason Morton on 800 Facebook Ads, Atomic Habits + Why Consistency Beats Talent - EP 39

"I wasn't the best. I was the most consistent out of any of my competition." Jason Morton has run roughly 800 Facebook ads in three years — one for every show, no matter how small — and he can now walk into a venue negotiation with the data to back up his rate. This is the most practical conversation we've had on this show. Jason Morton of Jason Morton & The Chesapeake Sons is back for his second appearance, 32 episodes after he sat in a plastic chair as one of our first guests ever. He's just off a plane from Nashville with four new songs, the masters back last week, and a rebrand in progress: the same country rock bones with poppier vocal melodies laid over the top. We start with how he got here — piano at four, guitar through middle school, a jock in high school who played alone in his room, then a biology degree at Salisbury he picked almost by accident and never used. He tells the story of driving home halfway through college to tell his dad he was quitting biology for music, and what his father said back. Then it turns into something closer to a masterclass. Jason walks through the promotion system he's built: a Facebook event page for every single show, a video embedded in it, a boosted ad geo-targeted to twenty-five miles, separate ads for engagement and for ticket sales, and the club owner added as a co-host so the venue has skin in the game too. He explains why you delete old event pages, why your Instagram grid matters more than any single post, and why one ad for one show is meaningless but a hundred and fifty of them is leverage. The other thread running through the whole episode is Atomic Habits, which Jason picked up because he kept reaching the end of a day and wondering where it had gone. Cue, craving, response, reward. Design the environment instead of relying on willpower. Say "I'm a musician," not "I play music." He's up at 5am now, gym first, ten to two for content — and he's honest that the reason he falls off is always that he let the environment slide, usually a cluttered garage. We also get into the hard conversation most local bands never have: live players versus studio players, and what it costs to tell the guitarist who's driven all those miles with you that his parts aren't going on the record. We also talk about why less polish outperforms more right now, the artist who cut 500 reels for a single song, taking the last record offline, changing your sound and losing fans, Wim Hof breathing, learning to regulate your nervous system, what a hospice nurse hears people regret at the end, and the mentor who beat Paul Reed Smith for Small Businessman of the Year. What shift have you experienced in your life? CHAPTERS 00:00 Sponsor — Wayfinders Testicular Health Fund 00:30 Cold open: first listen to "Fishin' in Tennessee" 01:15 Why Mike hates a fade-out 02:35 When a fade-out is actually the right call 03:00 Writing music you can see before you can hear it 04:18 Every YouTuber starts with the thumbnail 05:40 Jason Morton is back, 32 episodes later 06:30 The brown pants 07:30 Five Metallica shirts, Monday through Friday 08:45 Just back from Nashville with four new songs 09:30 The rebrand: poppy melodies on country rock bones 10:14 "Psychedelic myopic rock" and why venues pull old bios 12:00 The band that's been together ten years 13:30 How he ended up a biology major by accident 15:19 Piano at four, guitar in middle school, jock in high school 17:00 Telling his dad he was quitting biology for music 18:44 Does your degree actually matter? 20:25 The trades, HVAC, and the friends who did better 21:17 Construction, beers at 2pm, and getting stuck 23:00 Why rehab fails when you return to the same environment 23:50 Atomic Habits enters the conversation 25:00 A wife who's up at 6am with four horses 26:22 Why self-help books stop working after three months 27:14 Design the environment, not the willpower 28:05 The guitar on the stand instead of in the case 28:56 Cue, craving, response, reward 30:37 Cravings that arrive without a cue 31:27 "I'm a musician" beats "I play music" 32:17 The heaviest weight in the gym is the front door 33:08 The 400-pound guy who just had to walk in 34:49 Paralysis by analysis 35:40 Why less polish performs better now 37:24 From two videos a week to fifteen clips a day 38:15 Kels, and the 500 reels for one single 39:57 Instagram trial reels 40:49 The horse manure video his wife was right about 43:21 People want the personality, not the production 46:44 Posting every day changes you as a person 47:35 The stroller review that proved the point 49:17 When a person becomes a brand 50:11 The label that paid $10,000 for a brand guide 52:43 Make a Facebook event page for every single show 54:24 Embed the video, boost the ad, target 25 miles 56:06 The people who show up after seeing you for two years 56:57 150 shows, 150 ads, and the data to prove it 58:39 Using ad data to negotiate your rate 1:00:21 Make the club owner a co-host 1:02:02 "How many people are you bringing tonight?" 1:05:26 Separate ads for engagement and for tickets 1:07:59 What Joe has been doing differently 1:08:49 4:5 for the feed, 9:16 for stories 1:12:19 Delete your old event pages 1:14:04 What your Instagram grid says about you 1:15:46 Taking the last record offline 1:16:36 Will you lose fans by changing your sound? 1:17:27 Sturgill, Tyler Childers and the Black Crowes 1:19:10 Two producers, two completely different records 1:21:44 Live players versus studio players 1:22:35 Brian Wilson and the Wrecking Crew 1:23:26 Telling your guitarist his parts aren't on the record 1:25:08 Take your local band to Nashville 1:28:32 Recording outside cuts, and imposter syndrome 1:30:17 Back to Atomic Habits: what actually changed 1:31:10 The 5am alarm and the clothes on the nightstand 1:32:51 Ten to two is video content 1:34:32 Priming the garage 1:35:24 Self-awareness as the real skill 1:36:15 Learning to regulate your nervous system 1:39:41 Jefferson Fisher: no response is a response 1:40:31 Wim Hof breathing 1:41:22 Soft White Underbelly and the generational disconnect 1:43:23 Sponsor — Wayfinders THF & Putts Fore! Nuts 1:45:37 The chain reaction of one good habit 1:47:21 When "that's a trigger for me" becomes a cop-out 1:49:02 "Would a healthy person eat this?" 1:51:33 Why you fall off, and what to check first 1:55:00 Habit stacking 1:59:18 Zig Ziglar: action first, motivation follows 2:01:00 Wanting the result right now 2:02:42 Ten pages a day is a book a month 2:05:14 The book that admits you're going to fail 2:06:07 The morning after a conversation goes wrong 2:08:39 Larry Ray, Big Vanilla, and beating Paul Reed Smith 2:10:21 "I wasn't the best. I was the most consistent." 2:11:11 Why we don't get any of this at 24 2:13:44 Denzel Washington on the process 2:14:35 What hospice patients actually regret 2:16:20 The new music, and which song lands first CONNECT WITH JASON MORTON & THE CHESAPEAKE SONS Website: https://www.chesapeakesons.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iamjasonmorton/ Facebook (band): https://www.facebook.com/chesapeakesons/ Facebook (Jason): https://www.facebook.com/iamjasonmorton/ Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/6MFDWIQmH337VK1kDJLxkg SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/iamjasonmorton Tour dates: https://www.bandsintown.com/a/15198364-jason-morton-and-the-chesapeake-sons Booking: [email protected] Jason was previously on Episode 7 of The Shift with Mike & Joe. THIS EPISODE IS SPONSORED BY WAYFINDERS TESTICULAR HEALTH FUND Be Bold. Be Brave. Be Aware. Wayfinders THF is a Maryland-based 501(c)(3) dedicated to impacting the lives and health of young men by combating testicular cancer through awareness, education, fundraising, and community support — with a focus on men aged 14 to 35. A component fund of Chesapeake Charities. Website: https://www.wayfindersthf.org Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wayfindersthf Donate: https://ccharities.fcsuite.com/erp/donate/create/fund?funit_id=2419 PUTTS FORE! NUTS — 2nd Annual Charity Mini-Golf Tournament Saturday, October 17, 2026 · 11:30 AM – 6:00 PM Embers Island Mini-Golf, 2305 Philadelphia Ave Suite #4, Ocean City, MD 21842 Event info: https://www.wayfindersthf.org/putts-fore-nuts Register / donate: https://ccharities.fcsuite.com/erp/donate/list/event?event_date_id=2419 MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE Atomic Habits (James Clear) · Zig Ziglar · Jefferson Fisher · Wim Hof · Soft White Underbelly · Diary of a CEO Kels · Tyler Childers · Sturgill Simpson · The Black Crowes · Whiskey Myers · Zach Top · Denzel Washington Tommy Hardin (Alabama) · Will Edwards · Jason Heizer · Rob · The Cheaters · The Wrecking Crew · Brian Wilson Shea Springer / Sweetfoot Studios · Chris Hahnemann · Larry Ray / Big Vanilla Athletic Club · Paul Reed Smith Salisbury University · Rams Head · The Avalon SUPPORT THE SHIFT WITH MIKE & JOE Website: https://www.theshiftwithmikeandjoe.com Donate: https://www.theshiftwithmikeandjoe.com/giving-page-2-1 Email: [email protected] YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheShiftwithMikeandJoe-jf9ot Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theshiftwithmikeandjoe/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61574975860350 TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@theshiftwithmikea Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-shift-with-mike-joe/id1813198065 Podbean: https://joer7.podbean.com CONNECT WITH MIKE & JOE Michael Waskey Music Website: https://www.michaelwaskey.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/michaelwaskeymusic Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/michaelwaskeymusic Kent Island Academy of Music (Mike) Website: https://kentislandacademyofmusic.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KentIslandAcademyOfMusic/ Image & Sound Media (Joe) Website: https://www.imagesoundmedia.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100094021747690 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/imageandsoundmedia TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@imagesoundmedia YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@imagesoundmedia Joe Bryan Music Website: https://www.joebryanmusic.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61550810556745 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joebryanmusic TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@joebryanmusic The Shift with Mike & Joe is fully produced by Image & Sound Media. https://www.imagesoundmedia.com #TheShiftPodcast #EntrepreneurLife #BusinessTalk #mikeandjoeshow #KentIsland #EasternShore #Annapolis #MarylandPodcast #AtomicHabits #CountryRock #MusicMarketing