OK, so it’s been a while since I’ve been productively making music & actively writing songs. Apparently the bug never goes away. I have been thinking about doing punk rock-ish kids songs for a while. (The Sablowskis beat me to it!)
It may help to follow or like the Music Go Round Monroeville, PA Facebook page too. It has to be on that post on their page, no “likes” here or on my link(s) to it on my Facebook profile count. Voting is only open this week, they pick a winner on the 27th!
As far as the song goes, I threw it together in under an hour with a downloaded app for the tablet, using crappy headphones, the built-in mic on the tablet, and my acoustic guitar down in the basement. I think it shows. But, I still think it’s a hooky tune with some potential. I may have to recruit a few of the usual suspects or even some unusual ones to help me complete the process.
Molly is absolutely terrified of the Chick-fil-A cow. My guess is that other kids are too. Seems like we can find a whole lot more to relate to with some feet-tapping tunes!
The email/text/something came from Dave in a lull. I don’t know what it was, but I know it wasn’t a phone call. We don’t use phones to talk. What is this, the 1880s? Dave said he knew a cat that played bass who wanted to start something weird. Dave wanted to learn drums, and they needed a guitar player. I think the original concept was to cover songs from the Willie Wonka movie. That never panned out, but Erin told us that he had always been in bands to play bass, but had never really sung. He wanted to be the singer. That was cool with me. I was just happy to be making music & playing shows once again.
Erin took on the role of frontman pretty easily. That gravely growl was perfect. The bass playing was very fluid. All I needed to do was slap out some power chords, and some backing vocals. Everything was always a work in progress, ever-evolving. I eventually played slightly more than power chords. Erin was the writer, mastermind & driving force. Dave & I just reigned him in a little where we could and only if we thought he may be losing focus. Focus? Ha. We didn’t have much of that. That was OK.
Practice nights sometimes were about playing songs, and sometimes just about bullshitting. Sometimes we made some really cool sounds, and by next week we had all but forgotten them. Who cares? We were having fun. Dave & I were old friends by this point, but Erin was right in there. Somewhere along the way & pretty damn quickly we had that “dudes in a band” bond. He was the Ernie, and we were the Berts. It fit.
Erin was always excited at the prospect of a new show, new idea, recording, playing with a new band… new logo, new T-shirt, whatever. Sometimes it seemed like all of our effort was fruitless… but looking back, it wasn’t. It only furthered the “us against them” mentality. I think we played an open stage after 1 or 2 practices?
Erin was always concerned about what was going on in my life, be it good or bad. He listened. He actually listened & cared. That can be rare. He did the same thing to random people in the bars before we’d play, or after we played. He liked to talk & he liked to listen.
I don’t know if we were a punk band, a rock band, a fiasco, or a gang… but we were friends. I wish we had more time, and more shows. But that’s always how it goes, isn’t it?
Oh yeah. Erin had brain cancer too. He didn’t let that get in the way. Oh sure, he’d tell you about it just to make you squirm a little in your seat, but then he’d laugh it off and put you at ease. Yeah, he’d put you at ease. That’s the kind of cat that he was.
At first I found this amusing, but the more I read, the more the author seemed like an arrogant prick. Sadly, I agree with a bunch of the points on bad band behavior and have had similar rants as the person trying to organize a show or simply having to put up with the antics of another band.
#21. It shouldn’t hurt to ask.
#22. I think you meant “you’re.”
#23. You’re too cool to have a conversation with someone who may just be bored that they’re there with their kid’s band and they’ve heard all the songs 8004 times?
#35. If you use the R-word, you’re an A-hole. If you use the R-word twice, you’re a double A-hole, and you must shit in stereo.
#36. “Load-In Time.” If it’s a local band and they have a 6:30 load-in time, chances are they’re not going to get there on time. Unfortunately a lot of local musicians have day jobs that have a quitting time of 5:00 or later. Getting to the gig by then may be impossible.
To reply to an overall arc of the list… In general I understand clubs need to have people come to shows or they don’t make money or can’t pay the bands. I understand that a band needs to promote its ass off via word of mouth, flyers, classified and event pages in local rags, social media, and any other way it can… but clubs can do some of that too. I can’t get my head around being a draw. I’ve been in a handful of bands over the years that are generally and sometimes wildly well-received when put in front of a crowd… but have found it difficult to predict a draw or to become a steady one. Sometimes I have brought a crowd, sometimes I couldn’t draw if I had a bucket full of crayons and a stack of paper. How does one gain a steady and loyal following, oh great bringers of so much musical knowledge?
I have played many shows with no pay. I have been paid more than what came in the door at shows. I have bought T-shirts and CD’s from bands who were on tour knowing that was probably the only way they’d eat before they get to the next stop.
Things you missed:
Setup/Breakdown – Set your drums up before you get on stage. Take them off, then break them down. Don’t take longer to set up your amp and pedal board than it takes to play your terrible set.
Tune silently.
Watch the other bands, asshat. Also, don’t play first then take your crowd with you. Hang out, buy drinks, catch another act. Don’t hang out in the parking lot while the other bands are playing then swoop in like a rock star when it’s time for you to play.
Don’t complain about the monitor mix after every song, or blame equipment for your epic lack of awesome.
Also:
I should have blogged this, but didn’t think I’d rant that long. Ha ha.
So, a while ago… after we decided to name the baby Molly Mae, Bethany’s uncle had remarked to her mom that their family had an old record called “Mollie Darling” for the Victrola… which is now in our living room. Of course we had to check it out. We have the version by Evan Williams.
It looks like it’s been recorded several times by a bunch of different artists. The first one seems to be by the Haydn Quartet, but I can’t seem to find that version anywhere online. I can’t find the version we have by Evan Williams online either. The earliest one that I can find seems to be by Vernon Dalhart:
But, it’s out there several times, by several artists:
Not that it’s never been brought up before… but, the debate rages on. I find it interesting that it’s a CNET poll, and that there are people quite passionate on both sides of the issue. Check out this poll:
English: The crossed out copyright symbol with a musical note on the right hand side is the free music symbol, signifying a lack of copyright restrictions on music. It may be used in the abstract, or applied to a sound recording or musical composition. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
I’m not exactly sure where I fall. Obviously, as a musician… I see value in the songs & the entertainment. It’s great when I have a product to sell. It’s awesome that people would want to pay to purchase noise that I make. To me it’s more of a lifestyle/hobby though. I don’t mind playing just to make gas money, or selling music barely above cost… or even posting it for free. I dig that people enjoy it. But, and this is a big but… If it was my sole means of income, I sure would not be happy giving much away for free. Although, radio and now online streaming are the way to get heard, and… that’s free. You almost need that to advertise yourself, unless you gig non-stop like Metallica in their early days.
Are people like me who don’t mind giving away music devaluing music for everyone? I certainly like free stuff. I also buy CD’s & merchandise from local & smaller touring acts like a madman. I realize I’m not normal in that practice. I see the value in others’ art. It’s important to me to reward their efforts.
The again, I’m a huge fan of freeware, shareware, and open source stuff when it comes to software. What’s the difference?
What’s the new model? Albums are free, shows and T-shirts make you money? Every band releases a documentary & a bunch of live DVD’s? Government sticks its’ nose into streaming and it becomes an ad-heavy payola nightmare?
I’d like to hear everyone’s thoughts in the comments.
I certainly don’t need another guitar. I’m always looking at them though. There are just so many different kinds out there, and I can appreciate almost all of them. Some I actually sort of drool over, & eventually I end up with one. I don’t think 13 Guitars in 2013 will ever become a reality. I can always add cool guitars to my Pinterest board, right?
These are some that I’m always thinking about…
Epiphone USA Map Guitar
Like this…
The Epiphone USA Map Guitar – It has to be ridiculously cumbersome to play, but no more than my Galveston B.B. Stone. The brown finish is neat, but I’d love it to look like an old-school pastel textbook map of the USA. They pop up on ebay every once in a while, but none are ever priced low enough that I feel it’s a “must buy” because I’ll never see the same deal again. There are other companies that make them too. I’m not picky, I just like the shape & the idea. It would certainly be a fun one on stage.
Fernandes Ravelle
Deluxe
The Fernandes Ravelle – I’d like any of them really, but the green Dave Kushner model is awesome. I dig the green color, and the sweet pick guard with holes in it. I love how it takes the classic Les Paul shape, and makes it a little Alien. The curves are awesome. I dig the sound too, on the Velvet Revolver albums & live show. I’ve seen a few in action at shows around here, but I’ve only seen one for sale at Guitar Center in Robinson. I almost dropped more money than I could afford on it… it was only around $500 which seemed reasonable. Sadly, I made a sound financial decision that day.
Fretlight Guitar
Fretlight® Guitar – It seems like it would just be really fun to play with one. I might even learn a scale other than the pentatonic with one. I like the old school one with the knobs & switches. I don’t know if I’d even gig out with it, unless you could program it to make a cool light show or spell out the name of your band or something tasteless & offensive on the fretboard. Maybe even the word “POOP” because, well, that’s always funny.
Hallmark Guitars Wing-Bat
Hallmark Guitars Wing-Bat – Or the George Barris Batman guitar. I’ll probably never have enough money to own this thing, but it sure is cool. No Batmobile beats the 60’s Batmobile… and this thing looks like it was in the trunk all along. If anyone has one that needs a good home, let me know. I’ll play it & take care of it quite well. I’d gig out with it too. It’s a shame when these collector guitars hit a shelf somewhere never to be played again.
DIPinto Mach IV
DiPinto Mach IV – One of my favorite guitars playersplays one of these sweet-looking axes. It’s very eye-catching. It’s almost like a Mosrite, but not quite. Gel from The Eyeliners is one hell of a guitar player, & the reason I want one. I’m generally not a fan of red guitars, but with this… I’d like a red one.
Annihilator
Annihilator copy by Oktober Guitars – I’m not nearly as cool as Doyle, but I’d love to play one… being a Misfits Fiend for all these years. I’m not sure I’ll ever have $600 lying around for a guitar that I wouldn’t play all the time.
The other day I posted a Facebook status, and wanted to expand upon it here. This is what I said:
I get that digital & cloud media are the next step. I get that ALMOST everything is available for streaming as part of a service. Anyone else weirded out by it? Some stuff… obscure or whatever just isn’t available for streaming. What happens when the companies close or the cloud’s redundant services fail? What happens if someone buys the rights to streaming movies, just to keep them from the public? What if censorship goes out of control and some committee decided certain movies are no longer available? Will they all be lost forever because no one will have physical copies? Don’t say it can’t happen… it has in the past with books.
I like the idea of Digital movies & TV shows… I love having Netflix‘s library available in an instant. I love being able to watch a movie from Netflix or rent a digital movie from Amazon through the Blu-ray player.
I like the idea of Pandora or Google Play where there’s streaming music there in an instant. Pandora just disappoints because of the variety of music I listen to… a lot of smaller bands that I really dig just have a minimal or even no presence there. Google Play at least lets you upload your own mp3’s in addition to purchasing new ones. Amazon holds your stuff in the cloud too. I just wish all the music that I wanted was all in one place.
I have had an older external hard drive crash. It’s not good. I still need to get it fixed without breaking the bank. Anything physical can be destroyed… CD’s & Records can melt or scratch, and not too many people have 8-Trak or even cassette players any more.
My original question is as much about content control & ownership as much as anything else. Say you purchase a ton of music that’s in the cloud… and that company shuts down. How do you hold on to that music? Were you just renting it? What happens if the parent company gets into a disagreement with the management of your favorite band and their catalog is removed from your clous storage?
“…a time when people cared about who’s ass it was, and why it was farting!”
What if you bought the movie Idiocracy and it becomes so true to life that it’s banned? Don’t sit back comfortably and think it can’t happen. Books are banned all the time by different groups. No one comes & takes all of your books… yet. What if the banned book could be deleted from your Kindle or Nook? All In The Family would never fly on TV now, but what if it was no longer available because of its abrasive humor?
I just feel uneasy about it.
That being said, I absolutely hate cash money. I hardly ever have it on me. I like swiping my card for everything. If I could use it in parking meters and pop machines, I would. There’s a swing back towards cash though, as credit card company fees are crushing small businesses, especially if you’re making a purchase with a low dollar amount. Is it odd that I have no problem with my money being intangible, but when I use to to purchase an album or a movie… I need that to be tangible?
I’d like to get a good discussion going in the comments.
On the Saturday before Christmas, we were headed to a family gathering & gift exchange. On the way, we stopped at Guitar Center in Monroeville so I could pick up a book of Christmas Carols that I had seen at the Guitar Center in Robinson. I didn’t find the same book, but was pleased with two that I did find.
Guitalele GL1 (Photo credit: matsuyuki)
Usually, I’m the one who lollygags in guitar stores, but the wife has taken up the ukulele, and over the past few years she’s the one that lingers near the ever-growing uke section at music stores. In Monroeville’s Guitar Center, the ukes were right by the music books, so we both started looking. Bethany was the first to spot our newest acquisition… The Yamaha GL1 “Guitalele“. We both were fascinated by it, and I played with it a little as she asked “Do you want this as an early Birthday present?”
At first, I said no and went to hang it back up, but flipped over the price tag and saw that it was $99.99. She gave me the “just get it” look, so we both new I just landed an early birthday present. I do enjoy the wife’s ukulele, but the GCEA tuning did always mess with me. Now I can play the ukulele without having to play the ukulele. Although, if tuned “properly” the guitalele should be ADGCEA. Of course, I dropped it to E because I didn’t like pretending it was a guitar with a capo on the 5th fret. Although, I may have to get thicker strings or just suck it up & put it back in the A tuning. They’re sort of like rubber-bands at this point.
Well, that’s just the first part of the story. The second part stems from some interactions on Twitter. I’ll try to post it all here as it happened, thanks to @YaJagoff and Luke from Guitar Center.
Photo: Stopped at Guitar Center today to buy a book of chords for Christmas carols, and Bethany bought me an... http://t.co/pUgD3INm
A simple question. I gave the easy, flippant, and predictable answer. Rock musicians are supposed to rail against the establishment and big business, right? Well, Guitar Center proves to be awesome here…
@YaJagoff hmm... Local shops always beat Guitar Center. Ha ha. Pgh Guitars on South Side is awesome.
Musician’s Friendhad the Guitalele itself for $79.99 (It’s oddly now up to $99.99 on the website — aren’t Musician’s Friend & Guitar Center the same company? From Wikipedia: “Guitar Center’s sister companies/subsidiaries incorporate Music & Arts, Musician’s Friend, GuitarCenter.com, LMI, Giardinelli, Musician.com, Private Reserve Guitars, Woodwind and Brasswind and Harmony Central.” …Interesting.)
I only half-jokingly asked “Any chance I could get a gig bag or stand for free?” I mean, it never hurts to ask, right?
I was met with a response saying I was getting both of them for free! We discussed shipping details & the right size gig bag in a few more email exchanges… but they’re now on the way to me via UPS.
I’ve written to companies before, but I’ve never had any of them seek me out on a social media platform in a conversation that wasn’t even addressed to them. It’s pretty cool that Guitar Center believes in their price guarantee so much that they actively go after any perceived detraction. It’s also cool that they’ll not only go up against brick-and-mortar stores, but online retailers too.
That being said, the “little guys” could argue that they have no way to compete. They can’t buy in quantities & therefore probably not at such a low price… so there’s no way they can pass on such savings. Free enterprise, supply & demand, competition, it’s all very interesting & a continually evolving battle.
At any rate, I win out here… with a free gig bag & stand. So, thanks to Ya Jagoff!!! & Luke for helping to set the whole thing into motion! I’ll post some photos of the gig bag & stand as soon as I have them.
So, does the Guitalele count as a guitar in my “13 Guitars in 2013” goal?
The other day I plugged my crappy old Insignia Pilot into the truck stereo’s auxiliary input, & I started playing the songs on my trusty & hardly ever updated mp3 player in order by song title. I have no idea why I decided to take it off of “random”, but I did. (Sadly, my 500 GB hard drive has stopped working and unless it’s fixed I’ll lose a TON of music, so whatever this Best Buy generic brand mp3 player holds may be it for my collection for a while!)
I thought that “song titles that start with numbers” would be a pretty cool playlist. I’d thought I’d share some of my favorites.
I’ve posted advice for existing and aspiring bands before, and I thought this email from a pro would be useful. It was sparked when I saw his Facebook status the other day: “Great way to start the day: my favorite venue in the country complimented my email skills in contacting them to booking a date. It’s the highest praise I could hope for.”
The status went on to some comments & basically the author said he’d share the knowledge with those who cared to learn. I asked if I could post it in a blog, and here we have it. If you’re in a band on any level, pay heed to the advice below.
As far as background on Bengt, he’s in a band (& been in many), he records bands, he’s booked bands, and he’s generally been in every part of the scene. He knows what he’s talking about.
Action Camp
On to the advice & the guest part of this guest post:
♪♫♩♬♩♫♪
Alright, so here is what we usually send like 99% of the time. There always a bit of customization but this is the basic format:
1. Greeting, name the booker if you know it (usually listed on indieonthemove.com or their website)
2. Band name (with a link to the website), genre, location.
3. Date(s) requested in bold. They love that, it makes it easier read. If you can swing 3-5 dates that’s best, it gives them room. Do them a favor and check the website for those dates first, they appreciate that a ton. Also make sure to follow their booking procedure to the T. A lot of places have a specific way they like to work (Facebook message, Sonicbids, email format, etc). If you do it right it shows you listened so you’re already at the top of the pile.
Also, if another band that’s played there before suggested it, tell them so. It’s like introducing yourself to anyone else and starting with saying you have a mutual friend. It’s a job reference.
4. Links to music, video, press – let them decide if they want to book you. The more you talk about how awesome you are and why you should be booked, the more they think you probably suck and are trying to gloss over it. It’s like handing someone your demo and saying it’s not your best work.
5. If you played there or in the city before tell them. If you know what you drew and stuff be honest, they love that.
6. Offer to help build the bill, and specifically name bands you know or have contacted already.
7. Thanks in advance, Thanks for your time, etc.
8. ALL of your contact info including phone numbers. It shows you are easy to reach and you have your shit together.
One final thing: DON’T say someone famous produced your record, quote random blog reviews, list facebook or twitter numbers, anything like that. No one cares about that if they know what their doing in the working touring circuit. Steve Albini producing your record won’t make 100 people come out in Dayton on a Monday night, and facebook and twitter followers are ostensibly your imaginary friends that only you can see. Plus, even you have 4,000 people odds are only 10 of them are near the venue you are trying to book.
We are Action Camp, an art rock duo from Pittsburgh, PA.
We’re looking to see if you have Friday February 15th or Saturday the 16th available to book in the Revival Room – both look open on your calendar but I wasn’t sure if you would do a full house those nights. Our music is pretty different from what’s going on those nights so I’m not concerned about audience bleed over. This would be our 4th time to Southgate, 7th time in 3 years in the Cininnati/Newport scene. We know plenty of bands so we’d throw a bill together with 2 or 3 locals to help support.
If these are unavailable I’d love to work something out in the future. Southgate was/is by far our favorite venue on tour, I can only assume the new house is great. Sincerely, I (Bengt) booked a venue in Pittsburgh, and based many of my practices on the way SGH was run by Rick and his crew.
Previous dates:
Parlour 10/1/2010 (Gallery Opening, free show, 100+ attending)
Parlour 1/2/2010 (w/ Duppy a Jamba, 97 paid)
Parlour Summer 2009 (Flux Capacitors last show, well attended, don’t have stats)
Our most recent dates in the area were both in Cincinnati:
12/8/2012 The Comet Cincinnati, OH (100+, free show)
7/5/2012 Sitwells Coffeehouse Cincinnati, OH (smaller acoustic show, last minute add on tour)
Thanks in advance, can’t wait to see the new place,
So that’s it, pretty simple. Just be honest and to the point. I also should point out that this was 1 of 10 venues we emailed on Christmas, and he got back just a day later with this response:
“Thanks for writing. Those dates aren’t announced yet, but they are spoken for. How about Wed Feb 13, or Sun Feb 17?
“PS – very well done email, especially listing previous show turnouts. You’re way ahead of the curve on that one, and it did persuade me to jump on this, and get you in!”
I always email every venue that would work for us in a city, it’s better to have choices than no show at all.
So, there you have it. Got it? Good. Doing research in advance before you ask for dates seems like a no-brainer, but apparently it needs to be said. I guess some bands naturally put more thought into stuff.
I’m not sure how you’d approach this if you had no previous gigs in an area… perhaps we can get Bengt to comment further for new bands, first time tours, etc.?
World (and Lunar) Domination 