WELCOME...

This blog is the outgrowth of a songwriting workshop I conducted at the 2006 "Moograss" Bluegrass Festival in Tillamook, Oregon. It presumes that after 30-odd years of writing and playing music, I might have something to contribute that others might take advantage of. If not, it may be at least a record of an entertaining journey, and a list of mistakes others may be able to avoid repeating. This blog is intended to be updated weekly. In addition to discussions about WRITING, it will discuss PROMOTION--perhaps the biggest challenge for a writer today--as well as provide UPDATES on continuing PROJECTS, dates and venues for CONCERTS as they happen, how and where to get THE LATEST CD, the LINKS to sites where LATEST SONGS are posted, and a way to E-MAIL ME if you've a mind to. Not all these features will show up right away. Like songwriting itself, this is a work in progress. What isn't here now will be here eventually. Thank you for your interest and your support.

Saturday, February 24, 2007

A COUPLE OF OPPORTUNITIES...

A couple of opportunities this week.
A NEW PROJECT–FOR A RECORD? Heard from a music publisher I’m on the mailing list of, who’s putting out another "theme" album (her usual business is placing songs in movies and TV shows, but she has done a few "theme" albums)–this one of traditional (i.e., public domain) Gospel songs. Not having enough stuff currently in the "catalog," she announced an impromptu "contest" to the mailing list. "Winners" get to be on the record. I e-mailed her four suggestions–all fairly obscure Gospel songs–and had her pick one.
I told her I didn’t want to record this alone–Gospel songs are supposed to be "congregational." The "congregation" will have to be the Friday Night Group, or rather part of them–can’t record the whole group live, because the Group’s sound system doesn’t have a "line out" interface to plug into my Tascam.
I did run into a fellow in a nearby town with a home recording studio; got his name from the owner of the local music store. He says it’s a hobby–but I may end up with business for him anyway. I’ll check out his space and equipment next week. In the meantime, I’ve tapped the bass player, one of the lead guitarists, and one of the fiddlers from the Group, two singers from the audience and two from the Group (one is the flddler); they’re all agreeable–and also agree we need to practice.
PRAIRIE HOME COMPANION? No, it wasn’t my idea–though on someone’s suggestion, I did e-mail PHC about a month ago, telling them I’d follow up with a letter (which I just did), asking if I could send them one of my CDs. Ken Finton over on the Soundclick Seniors Board is mounting a "fan" campaign to pressure PHC into having me on the show. Don’t know if it’ll do any good, but it sure is worth a shot, and I’m not going to discourage it.
I’ve accordingly posted my song "Duct Tape" on Soundclick (the Duct Tape Council is one of the "sponsors" of the Prairie Home Companion show), and would be remiss if I didn’t include here PHC’s address and edress, which are:
Garrison Keillor
PRAIRIE HOME PRODUCTIONS
611 Frontenac Place
St. Paul, MN 55104
And now, I guess, we’ll get to see how many (if any) people watch this space. Hey, do contact ‘em, everybody–it may help, and it can’t hurt.

Sunday, February 18, 2007

PROMOTION...

Daughter’s speech tournament (with dad helping judge) was at Mt. Hood Community College, which has its own radio station, operated by students. It’s a dying breed: KMHD is one of (I think) only 2 in the Portland market where individual disc jockeys have complete control over the setlists on their own shows. Independent stations like this are the only place left where one can play the promotion game like it was played 40 years ago, and get a song on the air by getting it into the hands of an interested disc jockey–so I took my own advice and dropped by with a CD.
I did have the good fortune to run into the disc jockey doing the next show–waiting in the lobby–so he and I got to talk a little, about the station, about my music, and about the sad stqate of the music industry and the difficulties independent artists have in getting exposure. Country music isn’t his bag, but he will pass it on, and maybe–just maybe–it’ll get played. (I may never know. The college is 125 miles away, and I can’t get their radio station from the house.)
The lesson–there’s always a lesson, remember–is: Always have a couple press kits in the car. Never know when you might need them. (All I had was CDs–and I found myself apologizing for not having a press kit available.) The press kit, by the way, includes (following the instructions in the "Getting Heard" book) an 8x10 glossy promotional photo, brochure with photos, "about Joe" text, and some testimonials about how great I am (always best to have that come from other people), and a copy of the CD.
I also picked up a copy of Willamette Week, the ultra-left "alternative" Portland newspaper that’s read by a lot of college students. Why? A statistic I ran into in an article in a "straight" magazine about Portland’s music scene–reportedly, 194 bands were advertised in one recent issue of Willamette Week. That means live music was being advertised in some 194 places–and wouldn’t I like to know what those places are? Now, it’s unlikely most of those places would be interested in my music–country music is not big in the Portland area–but the ads may tell me which places might. (I’ll pass it on to our local heavy-metal band, too–they may get more mileage out of this than I.)
That same article in the "straight" magazine was claiming Portland was becoming a hotbed of independent music (part of the evidence cited was that CDBaby is located in Portland). That may make it worthwhile to join (finally) the Portland Songwriters Assn., even though Portland is kind of a pain to get to or around in. Between the PSA and the local Folklore Society, there seems to be an open mike almost every night–and there didn’t use to be a few years ago.
RISK-TAKERS CONCERT went okay; some songs came off really well, others didn’t. One of the difficulties was all the band members never were in the same place at the same time to practice–and two of them (very good musicians both) never went to any of the practices at all. Next time–I assume everyone wants to do this again–we could revive a trick I used with The Band, passing around *.mp3 files and lyric sheets ahead of time. Anyone who wants the group to play something (1) provide a recording of what the song is supposed to sound like, (2) provide lead sheets, tab sheets, or lyric sheets with the words and chords, and (3) be prepared to lead the song and have everybody else follow you. Could take that one step further and do the "circle thing"–everybody on stage does one song each, in constant rotation. That means if there are ten people on stage, each one is going to be leading 10% of the songs. Some of our guys and gals are shy, though–might be hard to convince ‘em.

Monday, February 12, 2007

THIS WEEK...

THIS WEEK’S SERMON is taken from The Ramones–Joey, I think (he seemed to be the one that did most of the talking): "If we’d waited till we were good, we never would’ve gotten started." For those with a less punk bent, James Michener said much the same thing in The Drifters: "Southern Florida is full of people 65 years old who wanted to do something important with their lives but wanted to wait until it was safe. Now it’s safe–and they’re 65 years old." (Michener used more words because he wasn’t under pressure to produce an under-three-minute product.)
There’s a local heavy-metal band that’s getting ready to Go Somewhere–they’ve been practicing for a while, have some original material, and are about ready to go into a studio and on the road to gigs. (They found, as I did, that there are no commercial recording studios in this forgotten corner of Oregon.) They are planning on going the same route I am–playing live to bigger and bigger houses, and selling their CDs at the gigs. A record deal with a major label is probably no more in the cards for them than it is for me. I did encourage ‘em to play local before they go on the road; it’s easier to produce a sellout crowd in your own home town, and it looks good to the out-of-towners that might hire you. Heck, I’d go see these guys, even though I generally abhor heavy-metal music, because I know two of them personally. A lot of people do–and would go.
It’s good to be able to talk to these kids (these "kids," by the way, are pushing 30 years old, have Real Jobs, and two of them have families–age is a relative concept) because we can trade notes–about what works, and what doesn’t, and ways to get things done (we’re still working on the problem of the recording studio)–basically as equals. We are after the same thing, in different genres, but a lot of the tools, tactics, and approaches are the same.

UPDATES: The Garage Studio is getting a workout–three recordings out of there in the last week. "Twenty-Four Seven," recorded for the Country Rose Show on Soundclick, is getting a better buzz this time around than it did two years ago. The re-recording of "Armadillo on the Interstate" went to our square dance caller (who is from Texas, and may appreciate a love song about local wildlife). And I sent a re-make of "Distraction" to its author, Diane Ewing; if she likes it, I’ll post it in time for Valentine’s Day. I have photos of the Garage Studio but don’t know if I can post them.

Saturday, February 3, 2007

THE STUDIO IN THE GARAGE...

THE STUDIO is about finished. Christened it Thursday night by recording a song–a new cut of "Twenty-Four Seven," which the Country Rose Show wanted for a Valentine’s Day special. I’ll need to re-do it, but the facilities worked okay.
It’s just a roughly 5 ft. by roughly 7 ft. room partitioned off a corner of the garage, built entirely out of scrap lumber and plywood. Only costs were for nails and screws (Unemployed Person is happy about that). It has heat (though it needs insulation to hold the heat) and ventilation, and has the computer desk in there (but not the computer yet). Even though the walls are bare, it works for a recording space because the surfaces are all convoluted–there are no big reflective surfaces that could project sound. I additionally protect myself from echoes by having a singing mike that will only pick up sound in a narrow cone right next to the mike, and by playing the guitar through the pickup rather than trying to mike it.
It is a one-person space, but that’s all I need. The little Tascam is only 4 channels, and two of them have to be allocated to the rhythm guitar to get sufficient volume without distortion. That leaves one track for a vocal, and one for a lead. If and when I want to do more, I will seek professional help.
UPDATES: "Prehistoric Roadkill" got another verse (finally); I need to take more long trips in the car without the radio or CD player on. The Risk-Takers have about a 3-hour set for the CCIS conference that will maybe turn out okay; it’s been hard getting the whole band together at once to practice (and that includes me–I’ll have been to 4 of their 8 practices). They have worked out a nice set of background vocals to "Duct Tape"–a 4-part harmony (all male voices) that sounds frighteningly like something Bill Monroe’s Bluegrass Boys might do.