There are always 200 more reasons NOT to do something than reasons TO do something. Its been a long day, I have a handle on that, I'll do it tomorrow, Im too tired, something else is going on, other people are standing in my way, I could go on. How many of these have I used to not practice? ALL of them. What's my point? This weekend I forgot my music book for a 4 hour gig. If you know us at ALL, you know that Melody HAS to have her music for everything. Even on the radio, page in front. On Park City TV (LIVE P.S.) sometimes you can catch a glimpse of the corner of my page laying on the stage in front of me. I knew it was my security blanket of sorts, but suddenly I felt VERY lost. I was uncomfortable, I couldn't feel the songs, and a lot Ty had to play solo because I don't know the chords. This made me REALLY disappointed in myself. What the hell have I been doing? I wrote these songs and I don't KNOW them????!!!! If you really think about that statement you will realize how little I practice. Here we are talking about our commitment to music and our careers and I don't know my songs. Any band I joined and said, 'SHIT I forgot my music book! I don't know the songs' would kick me out!
I can only make excuses or so long. Soon, Ty and I are committing to become full time musicians. And I don't know my songs lol. Right. So my blog installment is a commitment to learn my songs by heart. The only time a music book should be acceptable for someone who has been playing and performing as long as I have, is if we are playing a long gig. Sometimes, its good to have there but I shouldn't use it every show and I can't lean on it all the time. 3 song shows, 30 minute sets....etc.
Starting now, I will be learning these bitches by heart inside and out, so when I show up and its cold and rainy and Im distracted by everything else around me, I don't have to worry about knowing my shit. The end.
8/08/2010
Acoustic All-Stars 2010
Pics: John Zay, Ashley & Taryn, Brian.
Wow. Seriously, this past weekend was the hardest, most frustrating, most exciting, most exausting, and most rewarding weekend I remember ever having. With the pictures, the videos, the laughs, the exorbanant (spelling) amount of drinks consumed, and the amazing people we just spent it with, I find myself wondering, 'What more could a person want'
There was a time in my life when I said, I want to play music. I didn't know another musician ESPECIALLY one who played out. My first open mic was so scary I dont think anyone could hear me cause I was so scared of my voice. As I played more I saw musicians just like me who were scared and very new. But then I would see the focused, practiced, experienced musicians and just sit in awe. When we started this, I never realized I would sit in awe like I was new again. Every year, new talent comes along and we say, "How have I never heard you!?" Its so exciting to get to meet these super talented people doing what I have looked up to AND get to perform with them.
(Pic: Jen Stensrud)
My only regret this year was that we didn't get to talk to the outside stage performers much and felt we didn't try hard enough to include them. We apologize. Luckily we were able to run down there enough to get pics and say hi to most of them.
Now for the juicy stuff....
Friday.
We got off work at 1 and already had the car packed so we could pick up some banners and drive to PC and get ready, check into the room etc. Unfortunately, we realized we forgot a banner in a Mr. Brett Turner's vehicle who lives in Ogden.
(Pic: Brett Turner) We decide to meet halfway, originally Centerville but later moved up to Layton. Why? Well, we hit traffic and were driving very slow. I called Brett and said, you're going to have to meet us up here cause we're stuck. Suddently a cop car passes in the emergency lane. Yep. A wreck. We slowly drive for a bit and suddenly, traffic clears. We see a LONG line of cars on the other side stuck behind a motorist who has rammed into the middle barriers. I called Brett again 'Nevewrmind we'll meet you.' We finally got the banner and headed back to town. Luckily we were able to use Legacy Highway. We pick up the last of the banners and head to Park City. For some reason, someone decided that THIS weekend, the weekend of The Kimball Arts Festival, was the weekend to do construction on the road. We ended up on one of these roads trying to find where to check into our hotel. Ty apperently pissed off the hotel clerk and she was taking her sweet ass time to get to him lol. I know he didn't on purpose and he WAS able to still sweet talk her out of a few extra parking passes. We were a little close on schedule so we hurried up to the room, claimed our room, took some pics, and then I took Ty to the bar to hang banners. I then went back to the room to park, get ready and walk UP the hill. All in all I took this trek and one even to it in trips to the Miners Park Stage a few times. Im thinking 2 down, 4 up......
The first night was awesome! I got to sing back up for Josh Johnson, and have Greg Downs play guitar and Ty play D'jembe...it was awesome. Then there was the DJ. We stayed until about 12 and headed back to the room. DOWN. Taryn and I were joined by Miguel and Friends. (Super cool guys) We hung out, drank, etc. Good times. Tawny made Chicken Tacos (MMMMMmmmmm) and we started to settle down. Everyone left at somewhere around 3 or 4 I believe and I went and woke Ty up out of the hot tub so he didn't drown. lol
Sleep
Saturday:
Taryn made the best breakfast burritos. (In our full Kitchen)
Since we were able to shove a bunch of people into the room, it was SUPER cheap.
We were able to relax a bit and get ready for the night. Then it was time to go back UP.
Hanging banners, fliers etc. Marc Cooper had Shelly, Kole, and us on the stage to sing some Bob Marley and Beatles. I played the shaker and was being perverted. Of course.
Steve Swift. That guy is a bad ass. I have never seen him play like he played this year. He has a stomp box that he kicks while he's playing and this year he was ROCKING OUT. It was awesome.
(I apologize because I can't talk about everyone's sets. I was impressed with everyone and want you to know that I'm picking by story, and pictures.)
Saturday night was just awesome. I mean, Jen Stensrud, Dustin Bangerter, Peter Harvey, Marc Cooper, Steven Swift, Kimo Watanabe, and Whiskey King Coalition....HELL YA!
After, we all went back and hit the hot tub. First I went with Smash to get suits and Totinos. We got back and made them and smash called the slightly scorched ones 'Cajun Style cause they're blackened' lol
If you have never hung out with Mac and Flip(The Local Landing) they are two funny bastards. Seriously. That's all I got on the subject.
When the water started swaying me OR I started swaying me, not sure which, I went to bed. It was close to 5 am.
Sunday:
8:30 am. My alarm goes off. I feel like SHIT.
Whose fault is that? MINE! Was it worth it? YA!
I got up and tried to help a bit by cleaning. and then slowly made coffee and drank water. I got dressed and had to leave to get to the Miners Park Stage and get passes to a few artists. UP.
I sat at the park for a bit listening to Shelly Riff with Marc Cooper then joined by Kole Hansen, and thought I was going to pass out it was so hot. Stupid weather lying to me.
I couldn't handle it. I needed to change. DOWN lol
I changed and then took a 15 nap and was ready to go again. UP.
I was really dissapointed to miss Amir Jackson's set by only a minute or 2. (Sad Face)
Back and forth I went a few more times to the stage. I got to meet Jenn Hajj, and Utah Slim, and heard US Thieves. Mike got sweet pics of Chris Orrock. Jenn has such a Celtic voice. Beautiful!
Sunday was better than we imagined and we pulled almost as many tickets in on Sunday as on Saturday night. AWESOME! The Sunday Lineup was Miquel and Friends, Brian Bingham, John Zay, Ashlee Dickson, Silver Glen, Kole, Timmy Pearce, Alan Sanders, and W. James Woods. Fantastic!!!
Pic: Kole with Marc Cooper
Now for my favorite part. After....Throughout the year in the past I have loved to see the stage being shared between other AAS artists. I can't tell you all the joy I feel and satisfaction we get from seeing the dream of this festival come alive. Its such an honor to have friends who are willing to come play and promote with us for something that we believe in so strongly. We know and have met some amazing people and will continue to do so. This is networking at its finest and a great way to almost try out for other's interest in opening spots whether its you opening or them.
All I have to say is,(Except you Aleeca cause you were in Alaska) If you didn't come to the 2010 Acoustic All-Stars Festival, you missed out.
7/28/2010
Our Thoughts on Over Saturation
To play or not to play, that REALLY is the question. Ty and I started out performing everywhere we could get our asses booked with a few things in mind:
1: Experience. The more you play out, the better your live show will be. Practice is great. Practice is necessary. But there is nothing that will train your live show like playing live for a bunch of people you don't know. Scratch that. People you DO know tend to be a little harder to 'entertain'. Now, this isn't ALWAYS true. Sometimes, they're easier because you can get a dialogue going with people while on stage and that can prove to be a great tool, but sometimes, people you know, though more likely to clap and applaud, are probably people who have heard all your songs, seen your act, and talked to you before the show so what else do you have to say to them? Sometimes, they are great because you can mess with them, and you're more comfortable, but this can also be bad. If you are talking to people you know, you're leaving potential new fans out and that helps no one. Is this REALLY something we think about before during and after a show? YES! More on this later.
Reason 2: No offense, but people are fickle. 'Out of sight out of mind'. Even the most famous of the famous are forgotten when out of the spotlight. Let me give you a few examples and we will see f you think ‘Oh yeah! Them!’ Aleecia Silverstone. Kirk Cameron. Matthew Lillard. Or on the opposite end of the spectrum, Lindsay Lohan, Paris Hilton, Kim Kardashian, people who are ALWAYS in the news etc. They’re famous for being famous. In comes the saying 'there’s no such thing as bad press' or how ever you say it. Other people’s attention is what gets you noticed by new crowds. So if we play every weekend and sometimes during the week, there is more chance of people seeing our names SOMEWHERE over and over and over again. But do we want OR need that kind of attention? Do we want to be famous for being famous? Or do we want to be talented musicians who get credit where credit is due?
Reason 3: Playing shows = networking opportunities. Not only to build a fan base, but also to meet other musicians and build a community (which if you live in Utah, you KNOW is sorely needed.) Again, let me list a few musicians we met JUST from shows. Us Thieves. Wil Prater. Ashlee Dickson. Peter Harvey. There are WAY more but my point is this, we respect and enjoy their music and have continued to work with them all as a result.
Reason 4: We love it. Seriously, it is HARD work, and very exhausting to perform out every weekend almost always 2 nights a weekend. Packing, unpacking, no time off, work during the week, work during the weekend. (Though we have never seen this as ‘work’)
Ok. Culmination. Are we playing too much?? Do people see we are playing somewhere and say, ‘eh, I’ll catch em next week.’ Are we actually doing ourselves harm? Will we burn out?
OPPINNION section. We REALLY would love to hear thoughts on this. Our thought is this. Performers take breaks, go on hiatus, etc. but I have always felt (again no offense) that your relationships with the clubs you frequently play are just as important as all the other relationships you’re juggling. Not only are many clubs changing ownership, managers, and staff, but also booking agents. If we stop playing out for more than a week or 2, suddenly we are playing catch up. Sometimes, if you don’t book a place for a while, you call to book, and guess what. ‘We decided not to have live music anymore.’ Could you have prevented that? Maybe. Maybe they needed more musicians to perform and didn’t have a list built yet. Finding people to come perform was way more work then they wanted to put into it. This isn’t our job, no, but as a dedicated networking musician, I think we should take it upon ourselves to share our contacts with clubs and our clubs with contacts. Why? Because the more clubs die, the fewer places to perform, the more our music scene dies everyday. That….. would suck! So, our idea, is to perform more like 2-3 times a month instead of 6-8 in clubs, coffee shops etc. This way we can properly promote shows without the daily Facebook that everyone starts ignoring after the 5th one that week. I mean, think about it. When a band comes through town that you like, aren’t you more likely to go see them than do anything else because it’s for a limited time? Um…ya! We DO however feel that we need to keep performing so we are thinking of having weekend concerts in our basement 1-2 times a month. This is for the invited, the trusted, and the music loving people. We want to have other musicians come play with us. This would be like house concerts, but we would play at all of them. If no one comes, its practice lol. So, our friends our invited to our practice. No promoting, no Facebook posts, just a one time text saying ‘hey, house concerts on the 1 and 3rd Friday of the month’ (example) What do you think??
Finally retouching on reason #1. If we do this concert idea, we want suggestions, ideas, and general help. No performing artist can perform the same set, the same way, with the same banter every time. Its stale, and no one wants to see these more than 2 times at the most. These concerts would be to improve our entertainment skills. A boring musician who is talented is still boring.
So, is this the way to find a happy medium to the Lindsay Lohan or the Aleecia Silverstone way of life? Ready? Go!
1: Experience. The more you play out, the better your live show will be. Practice is great. Practice is necessary. But there is nothing that will train your live show like playing live for a bunch of people you don't know. Scratch that. People you DO know tend to be a little harder to 'entertain'. Now, this isn't ALWAYS true. Sometimes, they're easier because you can get a dialogue going with people while on stage and that can prove to be a great tool, but sometimes, people you know, though more likely to clap and applaud, are probably people who have heard all your songs, seen your act, and talked to you before the show so what else do you have to say to them? Sometimes, they are great because you can mess with them, and you're more comfortable, but this can also be bad. If you are talking to people you know, you're leaving potential new fans out and that helps no one. Is this REALLY something we think about before during and after a show? YES! More on this later.
Reason 2: No offense, but people are fickle. 'Out of sight out of mind'. Even the most famous of the famous are forgotten when out of the spotlight. Let me give you a few examples and we will see f you think ‘Oh yeah! Them!’ Aleecia Silverstone. Kirk Cameron. Matthew Lillard. Or on the opposite end of the spectrum, Lindsay Lohan, Paris Hilton, Kim Kardashian, people who are ALWAYS in the news etc. They’re famous for being famous. In comes the saying 'there’s no such thing as bad press' or how ever you say it. Other people’s attention is what gets you noticed by new crowds. So if we play every weekend and sometimes during the week, there is more chance of people seeing our names SOMEWHERE over and over and over again. But do we want OR need that kind of attention? Do we want to be famous for being famous? Or do we want to be talented musicians who get credit where credit is due?
Reason 3: Playing shows = networking opportunities. Not only to build a fan base, but also to meet other musicians and build a community (which if you live in Utah, you KNOW is sorely needed.) Again, let me list a few musicians we met JUST from shows. Us Thieves. Wil Prater. Ashlee Dickson. Peter Harvey. There are WAY more but my point is this, we respect and enjoy their music and have continued to work with them all as a result.
Reason 4: We love it. Seriously, it is HARD work, and very exhausting to perform out every weekend almost always 2 nights a weekend. Packing, unpacking, no time off, work during the week, work during the weekend. (Though we have never seen this as ‘work’)
Ok. Culmination. Are we playing too much?? Do people see we are playing somewhere and say, ‘eh, I’ll catch em next week.’ Are we actually doing ourselves harm? Will we burn out?
OPPINNION section. We REALLY would love to hear thoughts on this. Our thought is this. Performers take breaks, go on hiatus, etc. but I have always felt (again no offense) that your relationships with the clubs you frequently play are just as important as all the other relationships you’re juggling. Not only are many clubs changing ownership, managers, and staff, but also booking agents. If we stop playing out for more than a week or 2, suddenly we are playing catch up. Sometimes, if you don’t book a place for a while, you call to book, and guess what. ‘We decided not to have live music anymore.’ Could you have prevented that? Maybe. Maybe they needed more musicians to perform and didn’t have a list built yet. Finding people to come perform was way more work then they wanted to put into it. This isn’t our job, no, but as a dedicated networking musician, I think we should take it upon ourselves to share our contacts with clubs and our clubs with contacts. Why? Because the more clubs die, the fewer places to perform, the more our music scene dies everyday. That….. would suck! So, our idea, is to perform more like 2-3 times a month instead of 6-8 in clubs, coffee shops etc. This way we can properly promote shows without the daily Facebook that everyone starts ignoring after the 5th one that week. I mean, think about it. When a band comes through town that you like, aren’t you more likely to go see them than do anything else because it’s for a limited time? Um…ya! We DO however feel that we need to keep performing so we are thinking of having weekend concerts in our basement 1-2 times a month. This is for the invited, the trusted, and the music loving people. We want to have other musicians come play with us. This would be like house concerts, but we would play at all of them. If no one comes, its practice lol. So, our friends our invited to our practice. No promoting, no Facebook posts, just a one time text saying ‘hey, house concerts on the 1 and 3rd Friday of the month’ (example) What do you think??
Finally retouching on reason #1. If we do this concert idea, we want suggestions, ideas, and general help. No performing artist can perform the same set, the same way, with the same banter every time. Its stale, and no one wants to see these more than 2 times at the most. These concerts would be to improve our entertainment skills. A boring musician who is talented is still boring.
So, is this the way to find a happy medium to the Lindsay Lohan or the Aleecia Silverstone way of life? Ready? Go!
7/14/2010
No blog this week....
Just wanted to see if you'd read it ha ha. Any ideas for future blog subjects?:D
7/07/2010
“Come to me my pretties”
It seems that no matter what you’re taking about, keeping with and ahead of trends can turn anything into gold. But have you ever heard the phrase ‘All that shimmers is not gold’? I sure have. So what means “Gold” to you I wonder? Now, I know Ty and I are musicians and talk more about the music biz than anything else, but I think a lot of us forget that music IS a business. Therefore, why can’t some of our blogs include everyone? Well, they can but I don’t know if they will because I have never owned a restaurant, or a law firm, or anything else for that matter. I owned a car once…. I don’t think that counts.
I digress.
Today, I hear more about the glories of Social Media than anything else. I agree that it has its power, for one who not only knows how to use it, but uses it religiously. Lives for it. Those people can do anything with it, and when I say anything, I believe ANYTHING. Ty and I do not lol. This is why I feel a sense of relief when I see articles posted by gregdowns.com like this: http://www.musicthinktank.com/blog/eight-recent-social-and-technical-phenomena-that-are-making.(copy and paste url) Bruce Warila essentially says you CAN succeed without being deeply committed to social media sites if you know how to play to your audience. If you can peak an interest in your fans ….wait…..Lets start from the beginning. I have no fans. I have no product that is worthwhile. If I have a way to make a product that people will like (= LOTS OF HARD WORK), if they see/hear it at a trade show, concert, etc., I only need a few things to happen. One or two people who like it can and probably will post something on THEIR social media site. If I have something people want to see, they will tell their friends, and their friends will show up. If I have people show up, guess what… we look cooler… and cool is and always will be ‘In’. Suddenly, someone posts a video of us performing…YouTube…check. Every time someone likes that video or post that a fan put up, we gain credibility (I heard all about this last night at a conference and will touch briefly on it later) as well as coolness. Remember? Always in. Now we have a brand, a product, and guess what, we didn’t have a website, a YouTube, a twitter, a Facebook, a MySpace, a reverbnation, a Flickr, or any other of the thousands of sites out there. Do I recommend this? No! Why not? Because making a product into ‘Gold’ is a slow process WITH those things. Imagine not having them. But… *Whew…sigh of relief* Can I just say it? I HATE social media! I have felt it’s a necessary evil! And yet, here I am, writing a blog… about social media… saying I hate it…and referencing websites, Facebook’s, twitters, etc. So, CAN it be done? Yes. But I don’t recommend it. Besides, if you think about it, WE may not have a webpage or those other sites in this story, but we are still using them through other people. I mean, before Newspapers, radio, and TV, (the ORIGINAL social medias) there were NO megabands, or were there? I mean, without some sort of circulation, how would there be? I would LOVE to hear some input about this if anyone knows anything about it. I googled it but couldn’t find any info.
It seems to me that we as earth (ha ha) are breeding a new sort of artist. An artist with an ego larger than life. To have access to people in other states, countries, MAYBE planets lol, seems quite the accomplishment. No wonder so many crash and burn and become total monsters! Suddenly we have access to EVERYTHING at the snap of a finger. This brings me to the next point. http://music-promotion-blog.blogspot.com/2010/06/do-you-use-marketing-match-or.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+MusicPromotionBlog+%28Bob+Baker%27s+Indie+Music+Promotion+Blog%29&utm_content=Google+Feedfetcher
We are in the flamethrower age. We are all throwing shit at the wall and seeing what sticks when in fact we should be nicely wrapping that shit in a box and tossing it to a few people here and there…wait lol. Read this article for realzies! I just don’t know how to better paraphrase it and it’s short.
The last thing I am going to talk about is credibility. Someone brought this up at a social media conference last night and I apologize for anything that may be misconstrued or taken as a bash. I am not going for that. See, what is ok for one person may not be ok for another. When building your credibility, you are deciding what you will put up with, what you will be known for, how reliable you are, if your fans, friends, and tweeps can trust you. (Why don’t Facebook fans have a cool name? Like, Friendbookers or Facebros/Facebitches? I like the latter.) Don’t fall prey to those companies that tweet for you, that message people for your, that take over your whole social media persona for you, and I’m sorry, but autoreplies are just as bad to me. Now, a great point was made. If you are honest and tell your fans etc. that you’re busy and keep them engaged and let them know what you’re doing that you can’t reply to everyone then you don’t have to worry about that. But ALSO, if you don’t follow someone on twitter, they can’t direct message you so DON’T follow EVERYONE on twitter. Simple.
To come full circle, we are in a mirage of a simpler time. With access to anything we need, we forget that bands played, toured, performed, and made a living BEFORE these sites. Don’t get me wrong. I know people who I believe will be very successful either at these sites or because of them, but successful none the less. But there is such a strong focus on these sites that we forget that we just need a great product. What does that say about Ty and me? We need to work harder to have a better product. We need to be more engaging, more exciting, and more fun. If you’re not a successful musician (remember? What is ‘Gold’ to you?) So do you. How? That’s only something YOU can decide. We are all in a creative right brain business. Don’t limit yourself to music. It can be done. Will it?
I digress.
Today, I hear more about the glories of Social Media than anything else. I agree that it has its power, for one who not only knows how to use it, but uses it religiously. Lives for it. Those people can do anything with it, and when I say anything, I believe ANYTHING. Ty and I do not lol. This is why I feel a sense of relief when I see articles posted by gregdowns.com like this: http://www.musicthinktank.com/blog/eight-recent-social-and-technical-phenomena-that-are-making.(copy and paste url) Bruce Warila essentially says you CAN succeed without being deeply committed to social media sites if you know how to play to your audience. If you can peak an interest in your fans ….wait…..Lets start from the beginning. I have no fans. I have no product that is worthwhile. If I have a way to make a product that people will like (= LOTS OF HARD WORK), if they see/hear it at a trade show, concert, etc., I only need a few things to happen. One or two people who like it can and probably will post something on THEIR social media site. If I have something people want to see, they will tell their friends, and their friends will show up. If I have people show up, guess what… we look cooler… and cool is and always will be ‘In’. Suddenly, someone posts a video of us performing…YouTube…check. Every time someone likes that video or post that a fan put up, we gain credibility (I heard all about this last night at a conference and will touch briefly on it later) as well as coolness. Remember? Always in. Now we have a brand, a product, and guess what, we didn’t have a website, a YouTube, a twitter, a Facebook, a MySpace, a reverbnation, a Flickr, or any other of the thousands of sites out there. Do I recommend this? No! Why not? Because making a product into ‘Gold’ is a slow process WITH those things. Imagine not having them. But… *Whew…sigh of relief* Can I just say it? I HATE social media! I have felt it’s a necessary evil! And yet, here I am, writing a blog… about social media… saying I hate it…and referencing websites, Facebook’s, twitters, etc. So, CAN it be done? Yes. But I don’t recommend it. Besides, if you think about it, WE may not have a webpage or those other sites in this story, but we are still using them through other people. I mean, before Newspapers, radio, and TV, (the ORIGINAL social medias) there were NO megabands, or were there? I mean, without some sort of circulation, how would there be? I would LOVE to hear some input about this if anyone knows anything about it. I googled it but couldn’t find any info.
It seems to me that we as earth (ha ha) are breeding a new sort of artist. An artist with an ego larger than life. To have access to people in other states, countries, MAYBE planets lol, seems quite the accomplishment. No wonder so many crash and burn and become total monsters! Suddenly we have access to EVERYTHING at the snap of a finger. This brings me to the next point. http://music-promotion-blog.blogspot.com/2010/06/do-you-use-marketing-match-or.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+MusicPromotionBlog+%28Bob+Baker%27s+Indie+Music+Promotion+Blog%29&utm_content=Google+Feedfetcher
We are in the flamethrower age. We are all throwing shit at the wall and seeing what sticks when in fact we should be nicely wrapping that shit in a box and tossing it to a few people here and there…wait lol. Read this article for realzies! I just don’t know how to better paraphrase it and it’s short.
The last thing I am going to talk about is credibility. Someone brought this up at a social media conference last night and I apologize for anything that may be misconstrued or taken as a bash. I am not going for that. See, what is ok for one person may not be ok for another. When building your credibility, you are deciding what you will put up with, what you will be known for, how reliable you are, if your fans, friends, and tweeps can trust you. (Why don’t Facebook fans have a cool name? Like, Friendbookers or Facebros/Facebitches? I like the latter.) Don’t fall prey to those companies that tweet for you, that message people for your, that take over your whole social media persona for you, and I’m sorry, but autoreplies are just as bad to me. Now, a great point was made. If you are honest and tell your fans etc. that you’re busy and keep them engaged and let them know what you’re doing that you can’t reply to everyone then you don’t have to worry about that. But ALSO, if you don’t follow someone on twitter, they can’t direct message you so DON’T follow EVERYONE on twitter. Simple.
To come full circle, we are in a mirage of a simpler time. With access to anything we need, we forget that bands played, toured, performed, and made a living BEFORE these sites. Don’t get me wrong. I know people who I believe will be very successful either at these sites or because of them, but successful none the less. But there is such a strong focus on these sites that we forget that we just need a great product. What does that say about Ty and me? We need to work harder to have a better product. We need to be more engaging, more exciting, and more fun. If you’re not a successful musician (remember? What is ‘Gold’ to you?) So do you. How? That’s only something YOU can decide. We are all in a creative right brain business. Don’t limit yourself to music. It can be done. Will it?
6/13/2010
If you want to be successful, surround yourself with promising and already successful people.
When I sold vacuumes door-to-door (swear to God it's true) I learned a lot. There are a few statements and sayings that have forever stuck with me. To quote a few, practice doesn't make perfect, "Practice makes improvement". Some people may not like this half empty approach, but I think it has a realizm that is important in certain situations. "The fear of loss is greater than the hope of gain." This quote is particularly interesteing to me because if you think about it and open your eyes, you can see that mostly that's true. People are more afraid to lose something they feel is important than almost anything else. "Dream Big. It's free." Nuff said right? And finally, "If you want to be successful, surround yourself with promising and already successful people." This one is invaluable.
Long ago, we realized that you can have 1,000,000 acquaintences, but if only 2 of them know YOU, you may as well have 2 acquaintences. BUT. If you have 3 real friends, you have 3 real friends. Ty and I have made it super important in our quest for the life of music to surround ourselves with people we truly enjoy, like, and have a respect for with only one ulterior motive. To really truly be friends with those people. This brings me to my next quote. I heard it on the radio one day. "Be nice to people on your way up because you'll need them on your way back down." -Winston Churchill. We have decided to base our careers on this quote.
We have been so privelaged to be associated with some of the greatest fans, musicians, and venues probably known to man that it's easy to live this way. Sometimes new friends come along and that is just fine. Sometimes we get an email from a 'Fran' (I just came up with that because our fans are our friends. I dub thee, Fran) telling us how much they love our music, or thanking us for free tickets to shows. These emails are beautiful. Never stop! It means so much to us to have people like what we love to do. I think a lot of people don't understand artistic endeavors. We work with some supportive people, but I think a lot of them think its rediculous. We get asked silly questions a lot in jest toward us.We hear this more than we hear "I love your music". I remember as a kid getting teased for singing. Even some family (not immediate) telling me I couldn't do it... Well... Guess what. We're doing it! lol Now some of those people have since found me on facebook and tell me they enjoy our music. And the ones I REALLY love are the people I was once friends with who WERE supportive of me finding us on facebook and online and saying they still love us :D *warm and fuzzy*. Then, we come play a show and we play a new song that we're not sure about, and you love it, or we are just really feeling it and it feels GREAT. And then a Fran (lol I'm a genius), new or old tells us they love it. All of a sudden all is right with the world.
As we get more involved with the community, new people turn up everyday and its really exciting to meet them. We think of most of you as famous in our eyes because we get to do some bad ass things! :D
A good example of this is The Utah Musicians Breakfast Club which was started after Eric Openshaw suggested a monthly meting with musicians at breakfast. GENIUS! Eric, Us, Taryn, and Candice started building a community of musicians on Facebook that brought us together at places we all choose. We meet once a month and talk about music, our plans, shows coming up, what we've been working on, and share ideas and sometimes join in on the events. This is exciting because we are all facebook friends but sometimes you miss those opportunities or you can hear more details in person. Some great shows and collaborations have come from these things.
It's exciting to be accepted in this group of truly great people, Kole, John, MIke, Taryn, Rick, The Local Landing guys, Eric, I can't even name them all,(sorry) and get to hear their ideas, the things they feel deeply for and get the chance to join in on these endeavors and help them get it out to all our friends to help build it. This community of music is something surreal. No idea is a bad idea. No one is turned away (unless you're someone ex-boyfriend stalking them or something like that. Then you have to leave. lol) Everyone is trying to be a part of a movement that I know deep down will be remembered even if only by us. We truly believe that the people we are meeting every day are so amazingly talented and smart that many of them are going to find a way to do what they love. To even just watch that is so cool :)
We just are excited to see where our lives go, what we accomplish and what we have to give up on, and whats more, the people we are still truly dear friends with 20 years from now. We love you all in a totally non perverted or innappropriate way. (except maybe Kole. Its totally innappropriate and perverted lol jk)
6/07/2010
I'm a festival? No YOUR a festival!
So what exactly does it take to try and host a music festival? Is it a venue, some artists, and some promotion? Sure, but it's also a commitment to spending a lot of damn time in front of a computer doing everything from listening to the artists that have submitted material, to designing logos & fliers. Here's a little insight into the Acoustic All-Stars from our eyes . . .
First off let's give you a little background about how the Acoustic All-Stars came to be. In 2008 Melody and I had just started getting really serious about performing out as often as possible, so we were very busy playing show after show. We were sitting in Liquid Joes on a local music Wednesday night just after playing our set, and we were listening to one of the acts that was performing after us. Melody leans over to me and says "there needs to be a venue or event that helps showcase all the great acoustic talent here in Utah". And thus, the seed was planted.
We spent the next month or so brainstorming different ideas on how we could get involved in such an event. Finally Melody comes up to me one night and says "what if we do a festival type show that promotes artists coming together, sharing fans, and building a stronger all around music scene?" Brilliant! Oh, and let me just stop here and say that when it comes to amazing ideas, Mel is FULL of them!
So we had the idea, now it was time to find the venue. We already knew that we wanted to have more than one show that stretched over more than one day. We were looking for a place that would allow us to book out a weekend, and on top of that, a place that would allow us to book a weekend of JUST acoustic music. With that in mind, we started out search. We contacted a few different places, but nothing was panning out quite as we had hoped. We were talking to owners, manager, friends, basically anyone we knew that might be able to help us out. Finally our answer came one night in Park City just after we had played a show at a new venue. We talked to the manager/booking agent and he really like the idea, so we were off and running!
One of the hardest parts about booking a "festival" type show, is finding all of the musicians to play, and trying to coordinate them. We started spreading the word that we were doing a 3 night show and we needed musicians. Still being fairly new to the SLC music scene, it was a bit difficult finding the acts. We were asking everyone we knew, from long time friends, to newly found musicians we had met just a few weeks back. Everything was panning out beautifully, until . . .
We got an email that read something like this, "we are sorry to have to do this, but we have to cancel your acoustic shows due to a change in ownership. they are changing owners and they want us to cancel all of our upcoming shows." We had been planning this for about a month so far, and with just about 2 months to go, we had no venue. Back to the drawing board.
Now I'm a believer that all things happen for a reason, and there was most certainly a reason for this, but we just didn't know it yet. During all of this planning and having the venue cancel on us, we were still playing shows and working on our own music. Alas, here steps in The Star Bar!
We were playing a show in Park City at The Star Bar and as we're sitting there, we started talking about the possibility of hosting it there. We played our set, and it was a bit of a slower night so we took the opportunity to sit down and talk with Danny, the manager. We explained to him the idea we had for the show and almost instantly he said "we'd love to be involved!".
We were back in business!
So to save some time we'll just skim over the weeks leading up to the 1st official Acoustic All-Stars Festival. We found all of our musicians, some by asking, and some that found out about the show and asked us if they could be a part of it. The show was a success, the first night was amazing, we had numerous friends come hang out and support the show, and all of the music was spectacular. This was exactly what we had envisioned!
Year 2 was more organized seeing as you get better the more you do something, and you learn from your rookie mistakes. We had musicians applying that we had never heard of (which is awesome because it means that the festival was spreading), we understood marketing a little better, and we felt more confident about ourselves as "event organizers". By way of a couple well timed emails & phone calls, we had landed a spot as the cover story on one of slc's weekly magazine IN.
Now it's the 3rd year of the show and this is what we've learned so far. #1 - there's always going to be at least 1 artist that is "a bit difficult". #2 - There's always going to be some sort of snag that will make us think that nothing will work out, but eventually it becomes not nearly as bad as it originally seemed. #3 - Coordinating musicians, the venue, sponsors, tv spots, marketing, advertising, and promoting . . . can be a BITCH! And last but not least #4 - Meeting all of these talented musicians has been worth it's weight in gold!
One of the main challenges for us has been advertising. In the first 2 years Mel and I came out of pocket on everything we did for the shows, but at this point it has grown enough that we can no longer do that, forcing us to seek sponsorships. Asking people for money is one of the hardest things to do, now I know that they guy that stands on the corner just off of the freeway ramp just had to find a marker, some cardboard, and stand there. But this is a little different.
We've had to search out companies that have vested interest in our festival, companies that want to invest in what we're doing, and companies that want to be involved. It's tough, but we've got some fantastic people on board so far... Park City TV has been with us from year 1, they allow us to promote by having artists on their Mountain Views Show and inviting us on for Acoustic All-Stars week at their station... The Local Landing just came on board and they are ALL ABOUT promoting local events and spreading the word to all of their followers... Park City Lodging has given us an amazing offer on hotel rooms. Stay 2 nights and your 2nd night is HALF OFF, stay 3 nights and the 3rd night is FREE! Now that's what I call awesome... and of course The Star Bar. This whole thing would have been possible without Danny giving us the chance to prove ourselves as promoters and music lovers. From the very first they have allowed us to basically do what we want in booking the shows. They provide us with an amazing venue that is complete with a killer atmosphere. Amazing sound system, sound engineer provided, extra friendly staff, and great great drink specials! Oh, and for those of you who don't know much about The Star Bar and it's history. The Star Bar hosted the ASCAP Music Cafe during Sundance each year from 1999-2008 and here is a small list of just some of the people who have performed on this stage (we'd list them all but there are FAR too many to list), deep breath and here we go . . . .
Silversun Pickups
Neil Young
Graham Nash
Ingrid Michaelson
Pat Monahan of Train
Brett Dennon
Emserson Hart
Martin Sexton
Glan Hansard and Marketa Irglova
Jonatha Brooke
Tim Easton
Jonny Lang
Damien Rice
Emmylou Harris
Jason Mraz
Josh Ritter
Kings of Leon
Joseph Arthur w/ Ben Harper
Joseph Arthur w/ Peter Gabriel
The Dresden Dolls
Imogen Heap
Joe Purdy
Bruce Hornsby
Shawn Colvin
Ben Kweller
The All-American Rejects
Michael McDonald
Linda Perry
Deana Carter
Guy Clark
Jon Mclaughlin
and that's just the start of it. So you can see why we LOVE The Star Bar and having our event at this wonder venue. The musical history of the place alone is worth bragging about.
The Acoustic All-Stars is our heart, our soul, and our passion of trying to bring attention to some of the many talented musicians that Utah has to offer, we hope you enjoy what we're doing!
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