In August 2021, we conducted a virtual roundtable discussion with two musicians performing regularly in the traditions of Black American music to shed light on the realities of making and selling music in the twenty-first century in the context of nocoastjazz. Chaney Sims is a blues and jazz singer who lives in New Jersey. She cofounded the Heritage Blues Orchestra with her father, famous blues musician Bill Sims (1949–2019). Their debut album, And Still I Rise, received a Grammy nomination in 2012, thrusting the orchestra's four members into the spotlight of an international tour. The album is an homage to the blues traditions that each of the members hold dear, and—as Sims herself says—“honors African American roots music.” A self-described “songstress and storyteller,” Sims sings at the intersection of soul, blues, jazz, work songs, and rhythm and blues. In “C-Line Woman,” Sims makes the chanted phrases of this Black folk song an exercise in the nuance of her expressive capabilities, as she slightly alters her tone, pitch, and delivery in every iteration. As a queer woman of color, Sims works diligently to make her musical communities inclusive and Black art accessible. For example, she worked for the Willie Mae Rock Camp, whose mission is to empower “girls and gender-expansive youth.”Kris Johnson is an award-winning trumpeter and jazz educator who currently directs the Michigan State University Community Music School Detroit. He is best known as a trumpeter and arranger for the Count Basie Orchestra (2008–2019) and for his extended compositions such as the musical Jim Crow's Tears. The Kris Johnson Group bridges neo soul and jazz with his wife, New York-based singer Lulu Fall, at the helm. Most recently, Johnson launched a virtual education platform called Office Hours with Kris Johnson that predates the recent normalization of online learning. This platform uses his extensive experience as a full-time musician, educator, and tech wizard to make content accessible for aspiring musicians. In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, he created the virtual Kris Johnson Big Band, where players record their individual parts remotely and he mixes them together into a visual and sonic performance.From 2017 to 2019, Stephanie Doktor and Johnson worked together at the University of Utah where he was director of jazz studies. In 2021, Doktor met Sims while broadcasting a virtual Pride event for Virginia's National Park Service. These connections fostered a more relaxed rapport, evidenced in the casual tone of our interview. We asked very open-ended questions to get a wide range of answers related to gigging outside of the jazz metropole. What follows is a condensed and edited transcript of the virtual interview.