NEW YEAR'S--AND PUBLICITY...

2008 GOALS (New Year’s Resolutions): I suppose I should add one more. A veejay in Canada asked if I could turn “Born Again Barbie” into a music video. I should. I had it scripted out at one time (before I upgraded “Alice” the ‘puter and lost a lot of files), but didn’t have the technology to pull it off. (My daughter has crates of naked Barbies in the garage, though. I think I have a cast.)

I gave away the $12 Webcam, too—never did use it—but acquired a real-live video camera. Trick is to make it interface with the computer; there’s no owner’s manual, and no computer-interface cables. (There are reasons why things are cheap.)

SONGSTUFF: Hooked up with SongStuff again (www.songstuff.com); they, too, have blogs, so I posted mine there. 17 readings in two days. I guess that’s good. Thank you, whoever you are (or were). SongStuff is where I’d started my stream-of-consciousness post about starting my own publishing company, back last year, and starting my own publishing company is something else I need to get busy and do. Publishing companies are not exactly lining up and banging on the door. The alternative—the ONLY alternative, near as I can see—is to build my own door and bang on it myself. (On the one hand, I will know who’s banging on the door—but on the other hand, I know the door is going to get answered.)

Other casualties of the computer upgrade: The “Joe is Great!” brochure is gone; I’ll have to re-create it. (However, I have better photos now.) The promotional photo my daughter designed, with the “Wanted in 6 States for Playing Bad Country Music” tag, is also disappeared—but there may be a decent copy floating around somewhere on the Web (I circulated it a lot). It was on my music-business stationery (gone), my business cards (gone), and the “Yes!” signup sheets for people wanting to be notified of the next CD (also gone). I have a lot of re-creating to do.

(Those, by the way, are all important items in the independent musician’s toolbox, as far as I’m concerned. Like the stack of CDs for sale, you don’t want to leave home without them.)

What goes on the “Joe is Great!” brochure, anyway? According to Getting Heard, a 1970s bible on self-promotion for working bands, it should include a brief (and not too gushing) description of what the music is like, some of the venues I’ve performed at, good photos of me playing for audiences large and small, and the all-important contact information—mail, phone, cell phone, e-mail, and Websites. Some juicy extracts from press clippings (I do have a few) and from people who sound like press clippings (I have some of those, too) on the back.

And that promotional photo goes on EVERYTHING. It serves as my logo; it’s what (intentionally) people will remember, because it’s eye-catching, and it IS on everything. (I even made a T-shirt with it.) A band (Getting Heard, again) needs a good logo for marketing purposes; it’s the “cultural shorthand” people will remember you by. (Hey, it works for cars. And the only difference between me and a car is the number of cylinders. And the speed.)

UPDATES: Screamin’ Gulch practices again Wed. (1/2), first time in 2 weeks; we’ll get to hear how Wayne’s recording of the last practice came out. Heard about a new jam session, at the Eagles Lodge on Sunday afternoons; country music, too. (Would be fun to wear a Southern Oregon Songwriters T-shirt to one of those, and get a little cross-pollination going. This area needs more country music. Or the country music needs to be more visible.)

Joe

ABOUT THE BLOG...

For the past year, I have been running “The Writer’s Blog.” Started on Google’s Blogspot (http://nakedspacehamsters.blogspot.com), but I started posting copies of the blog on MySpace after my daughter convinced me I needed a MySpace “presence.”

Every week, pretty much without fail, I have posted a new blog entry in both places. One of the things I was told was that a Website needs to change at least every week or potential fans will stop checking it. (About once a week is all I can handle. I have a job, after all. And a life, too, maybe.) I have the links to both in most of my “signatures” on all the writers’ Websites I subscribe to—again, like I was encouraged to do.

I have had very lately received some indication that the postings—on MySpace only, not blogspot—are actually being read. There have been some comments (thank you), and some offers to help with the Benefit Dance (and I will take you up on them), and I have heard some people mention some things they could only have learned from the blog. So, MySpace good, blogspot pretty much useless. Good to know.

I still think there’s a need for a “real” Joe Website, that would act as a sort of clearinghouse—go there, and it’d just have links to the songs on Soundclick, to the MySpace page (for the blog and gig announcements—when there are any), to CDBaby (no, doesn’t exist yet—I want to set that one up to market the next CD), and a place where people could sign up for the “tell me where Joe’s playing next” and “tell me when the next CD’s coming out” e-mail lists. Maybe this coming year.

I may be able to get a little space from my current ISP (don’t need much for just a clearinghouse), as long as I can name it something like joewrabek.com. (A piece of Ayn Rand advice, there. If you’re proud of what you do, you should be proud to put your own name on it.) Ran into a kid who designs Web pages for hip-hop musicians (really good work), and he’s potentially interested in designing mine—said he’d never done anything for a country musician before, but he’s willing to try. And of course, I’d have a link to his Website for his graphic design business. Links, as one old online pharmacist once told me, are the key to successful marketing on the Internet. (The pharmacist fellow’s in Germany, which kind of underscores his point.)

UPDATES: Got the invitation to New Year’s Eve at Johnny B.’s. We’re on. The weekend, and the rest of the week, look kinda dead, and the following weekend I’ll be home for my daughter’s birthday. In the meantime, though, I have (I think) somebody sending me some lyrics I might be able to set to music—one of the things I like to do during “dead” times to keep feeling creative.

Joe

CHRISTMAS (SORT OF) THOUGHTS...

AS THE OLD YEAR ENDS…

I am not a Party Person. My idea of a good time on New Year’s Eve is to be playing on stage somewhere with a band. This New Year’s Eve, I’ll be ensconced in a new town (well, six months old), being a bachelor, and while I know some musicians, I don’t know them well, or they me. There’s probably only a handful that know I can do something besides write. (Then again, they might be right. I may NOT be able to do anything besides write.)

Figured it wouldn’t hurt to ask, though, so I did. And yes, Johnny B. is thinking about having a private party New Year’s Eve at his tavern, and most of the people he knows are musicians, and yes, I’m invited. So yet another piece falls into making this place feel like home.

THE BENEFIT: I think this’ll happen, too. It’ll tentatively be around the end of January—Laura’s daughter gets out of the hospital (also tentatively) Jan. 4. One of the girls in the office will handle the food, another the fundraising; I’ll do the music and advertising. Time to tap the musicians.

UPCOMING: I’ll be one of the acts at the Southern Oregon Songwriters’ “quartet” showcase at Johnny B.’s in Medford, 3rd Friday in January. Not sure who else is on the agenda, but it’d be fun to set it up with a band. Next practice with Screamin’ Gulch is the Wednesday after New Year’s, Jan. 2.

THE BAND: The National Steel player brought his recording equipment last Wednesday, and recorded Screamin’ Gulch’s practice at the tavern. It is good equipment (love those vintage-looking modern mikes); we’ll see how well he uses it (he said he hadn’t had much practice). That’s another option for recording the album—record a live performance in the live venue instead of the studio. Had an audience again—and yes, one of the girls from last week was back, and brought her dad. Building a fan base one person at a time…

Merry Christmas, everyone within earshot (or eyeshot). Be safe and happy.

Joe

"LET'S PUT ON A SHOW!"

Here’s another idea.

I have a co-worker with a very sick daughter, who’s going to have to have major surgery very soon (not here, but 300 miles away in Portland) for her not-very-rare-but-very-nasty-condition. City’s insurance will cover things about as good as insurance does these days, which is far from completely—and the operations the girl is facing are expensive. (Heck, it’s been expensive already.)

Some of us have talked about putting on a fund-raising dinner—next month, say, after the kid gets out of the hospital. My idea: why not have it be a fund-raising dinner AND DANCE?

I would like to help, and this is about the only talent I’ve got I can throw into the mix. Do I know enough people to put together an impromptu dance band? Maybe. There is, for starters, the Southern Oregon Songwriters Association, whose members include people proficient on bass, congas, keyboard, flute, harmonica, and guitars in a variety of styles. Some of them have even been playing together, something I’ve tried hard to encourage.

What’s in it for them? EXPOSURE. Some of them have regular gigs, some not, but those that do probably aren’t making much money at it. They can show off their skills (collectively, please), and also their material.

Only thing I’d want is for all of it (or just about all of it) to be DANCEABLE. Lots of good country, rock, and blues, with some slow dances and listening music thrown in (‘cause you can’t keep people dancing all the time). Maybe three hours’ worth. Is that doable?

Any of my tunes worth dancing to? A few; the ones I’d throw into a dance with a band are:

Eatin’ Cornflakes from a Hubcap Blues (medium slow swing)
One: I Love You (fast two-step)
Dirty Deeds We Done to Sheep (rockabilly)
Armadillo on the Interstate (another slow swing)
Rotten Candy (very fast two-step)
The Six-Legged Polka (which is—what else?--a polka)
Test Tube Baby (classic rock ‘n’ roll)
Hey, Little Chicken (medium fast blues)
Duct Tape (fast two-step)

But I wouldn’t want it to be just me. I doubt I’m even a good drawing card—not enough people know me in town yet. I’d want to be religious about even exposure for everybody—with us (or some of us) collectively being the band for each of us, maybe doing the Circle Thing with each person doing a song in rotation (which would prevent most everybody from leaving the stage).

SOSA has the sound system, too (though I could throw in a little amp, mike, and some cords). Venue? The Phoenix Grange, which has a big kitchen, dance floor, and STAGE.

Date for the event is going to be determined by (1) when we think we can draw the biggest and best crowd and (2) when the hall is available. And that will close some of the musicians out, because nearly everybody’s got day jobs of one sort or another, and/or other commitments. (Pulling off a big success, though, will net a bigger crew of musicians the next time.) I’d want to get into the hall a week early—daytime or night time doesn’t matter—to practice, just once.

Prior to that, we’d have the setlist—who’s going to perform what songs, and in what order—and everybody would have recordings of the songs and lyric sheets to work from. (I refuse to leave anything to chance.) Armed with that information, I could emcee—but so could some others, who are every bit as good front men as I am. Maybe we could trade off?

And of course, I could do the advertising. It’d be fun.

Shades of the old Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland “Let’s put on a show!” movies. Mickey and Judy aren’t bad role models for this stuff—charging into adversity with big smiles, lots of energy and misplaced confidence, and plenty of singing and dancing.

Lot of fun in a good cause—and potentially some good side effects, too. Want to get some of these good musicians playing together? This does that. Want to get them and their material exposed to people who wouldn’t ordinarily hear them? This does that, too. And it has the sideline benefit of bringing the community together for SOMETHING—and that’s something that hasn’t happened yet, and needs to. Maybe it’s an idea whose time has come.

Joe

PRACTICE WITH THE BAND...

The band is getting tight; Wednesday night we were able to do a couple of songs we’d never played together before (but that one person knew the words to), and have them come out note-perfect the first time (lead included), right down to ending on the same note. Audience included a couple of girls who were on their way to another club, and never made it there; they stayed all the way through our practice instead. I’m sure they’ll tell their friends.

I think of Screaming Gulch as “crossover” music. It’s not really country, though a lot of the repertoire is old bluegrass and blues numbers; it’s more like punk rock with a hillbilly patina. Very high-energy stuff. It’s good the band has two lead players—I couldn’t keep up on my own.

Which does beg the question, “What happened to the country music in this area?” This is (or was) the country; it’s only within the last few years the Medford area became a Little L.A. with the influx of wealthy Angeleno retirees, the doctors and hospitals (&c.) that cater to them, and the sky-high housing prices. But isn’t that a patina, too? Barely 25 miles from here, little Rogue River’s country dance (where I’ve been playing lead guitar) draws a consistent crowd, every Tuesday night, just like it has for 20 years.

I suggested to one fellow today the plethora of rock, folk, &c., music might be the result of the college kids (there’s both a junior college and a full-scale university here), and he allowed as I might be right. That’s the music the kids listen too, all right; at the Wild Goose’s open mike on Sunday nights, I’m usually the only one who plays any country music. (The kids listen just as raptly to that, however—but it might be because of the words. I am getting a bit of a reputation as a writer.)

But wait a minute—the kids aren’t the ones with any money. The adults have the money. So who’s playing music for the adults? I get the impression very few people are. Could be a big untapped market out there—and I sure would like to tap it. But how?

UPDATES: The recording of “Chipmunks Roasting on an Open Fire” with Dan Doshier on fiddle and harmonica is a hit. Next step—tomorrow: “Hey, Little
Chicken,” again with blues harp (and whatever else Dan wants to pull out of his music store). Did music for a Bill Robinson song, “Writing Country Songs”—he wanted a Jerry Reed imitation, and I gave him my best. Did it as a very fast talking blues, playing lead way up on the neck of the Strat (where the notes are closer together and I can hit ‘em faster). No indication yet whether he likes it. And I got to play lead on another of those Soundclick blues collaborations, and even got complimented, of all things, by people who play way better’n I do. They want me to write words to the next one, which I probably can do—words, not guitarmanship, is my strength. Wonder if it’s time for “Dead Squirrel Necklace”?

Joe

THREE WEEKS IN TOWN...

Here in Phoenix for the three weeks just before Christmas. So what do we do?

Well, there’s the country dance in Rogue River on Tuesday nights; musician crowd’s been a little sparse (which means my lead playing gets noticed more). Sunday nights at the Wild Goose. And practice on Wednesday nights with Screaming Gulch.

I think they’ve finally accepted me as a member of the band. It’s not just me, though, that makes them sound good: there’s a National Steel/dobro player hight Wayne who can really play that’s been sitting in with us, and he’s accepted as a band member, too. The two of us take care of the absence of a lead player. All the band needs to concentrate on is sounding tight—and they mostly do. There’s even an audience starting to show up on Wednesday nights to hear us. (Shades of the Dodson Drifters.)

It does help to play lead guitar at the dance on Tuesday night before practicing with Screaming Gulch on Wednesday night. Keeps me in practice. There aren’t many opportunities to play country lead around here.

“Chipmunks Roasting on an Open Fire” is recorded now, with Dan Doshier on fiddle and harmonica, rhythm guitar by me. Next week, we’ll try “Hey, Little
Chicken.” I did meet a cello player at Dan’s music store, so there may yet be a recording of the “Welcome to Hebo Waltz” with the cello part in it.

And I got invited to play lead on another Soundclick blues collaboration. I am nowhere near as good as the other guys, but it’s nice to be included.
Joe

GOALS FOR 2008...

A fellow songwriter suggested December isn’t a bad time to work up one’s New Year’s Resolutions—means you can start work promptly in January. He’s right. Here—maybe—is the start of the 2008 List of Music Resolutions.

First, what did I accomplish in 2007? Well, not nearly all (or enough) of the goals I set. I did manage to write an average song a month (more than that, in fact), and got 5 of the collaborations professionally recorded in Nashville at the Pineyfest Demo Derby. Entered four song contests (I’d planned on two), and took first place in one and got honorable mention in another. Beyond that, I’m no closer to having a new CD recorded, or a CD of the collaborations produced, and I haven’t got anything published. Good starters for the 2008 List, I guess.

Not in any order, as usual:

(1) Record the New CD. Still want a band, but maybe the way to do it is the same as last time—assemble an impromptu band of competent musicians, practice a couple of times, and walk into the studio and do it live. I have most of the resources—they just don’t all know each other.

(2) Publish. Bobbie Gallup is willing to use her Nashville publishing company for “Dead Things in the Shower,” which we wrote together, but hasn’t said about the other songs for the album. Start my own if she can’t (or won’t). Need at least a “shell” to make songs eligible for radio airplay; that’s how the game appears to be played.

(3) Work with a performing band. That’s “Screaming Gulch,” I think; their main limitation is they only want to do the fast ones, but I can live with that. I want to be able to deliver my material to the public both solo and with a band, and this’ll do it.

(4) Perform at the “Moograss” Bluegrass Festival. For that, we need a band that can travel—and that’s not “Screaming Gulch,” because they’re kinda tied to a local tavern. Maybe the folks from (1), above, or some of them.

(5) In the same vein, perform at the Wheeler County Bluegrass Festival and the Neskowin Harvest Festival. Follow-ups, in other words, on everywhere I’ve played before. Grassroots, too? Or should I try instead for a ”featured performer” gig at the NE Oregon Folklore Society—maybe with the Old Band?

(6) Attend Pineyfest 2008. More demos. Arrange (if possible) for a performance at the Bluebird Café.

(7) Enter at least two more song contests—concentrating, again, on ones I can win. Did good in 2007: won one, got honorable mention in another. Maybe in 2008, we should do the Jackson County Fair Talent Show and (if money permits) enter “Hank’s Song” in the Hank Williams Festival (I’d have to travel to that one on my own nickel).

(8) This ties into (1) above. A CD release party. At Johnny B’s, probably—and it’d be fun to do enough publicity to pack the joint.

UPDATES: I finally did connect with the Old Time Fiddlers Assn. (show in Medford), after six months of phone tag, and did join; they do run their shows like the Blue Mtn. Old Time Fiddlers, but BMOTFA did a better job. Still, did get to play with ‘em, and maybe next time I’ll try to sing something.

And I have one young guy (only one, thus far) who’s been coming to my performances and requesting “no One Writes Good Songs About the War.” One is good, I guess. A fan base has to start somewhere.

Joe

DIRTY DEEDS WE DONE TO SHEEP...

It’s done—great lead, bass and drum work by the Gemster. Good model for how it can be made to sound with a band. I have performed it in public a couple of times, but the rhythm guitar part is really sparse (despite being difficult for me to play)—it really does sound better with a band.

Second sit-down with Screaming Gulch Wednesday night. I think they’re ready to accept me as a lead guitarist. They’ll play some of my songs, but they’re really interested in the fast ones: “Bluebird on My Windshield,” “Naked Space Hamsters in Love,” and of course “Dirty Deeds We Done to Sheep.” They’ve a very high-energy band. Haven’t tried “Test Tube Baby” out on ‘em yet. Of course, I think they do a really good job on the slow songs, too, and a good third of the songs for the New CD are slowies.

Worked out the music (finally) for “Chipmunks Roasting on an Open Fire.” I finally just gave up on trying to do Mel Torme-style jazz guitar, and decided I might as well face the fact it was going to turn out country. At that point, the music got a lot simpler—and the song became performable. Did it for the crowd at the Wild Goose, and they liked it. I’d like to record it—but it really needs a clarinet or similar woodwind doing the lead. (I do know a flute player. I’ll ask her.)

I’ve got a job for another of the Southern Oregon Songwriters, too. Now that the cold is over, and I’ve got my voice back, I’d like to re-record “Hey, Little Chicken” with a blues harp doing the lead (and again, I know a blues harp player). With the new pickup in the guitar (which has better volume), I can probably keep the rhythm guitar to one track and have a track available for a lead guitar, too. If I can produce a good product with these folks’ help, it might stimulate ‘em to do more working together.

UPDATES: No trip to Nashville in January; they won’t do another Demo Derby session until next summer’s Pineyfest. A chance, maybe, to save my pennies.

Joe

PROTEST SONG...

The question was posed on line recently, “How come there’s no good songs about the war?” The quick answer is “Because no one’s been writing any.” There are rules for writing protest songs, and they’ve been mostly ignored. I decided instead of lecturing, I should just go write one, to show how it’s done. And while driving to see my fambly this weekend, I did that.

The rules, by the way, are simple. You don’t rant. You don’t even express an opinion if you can avoid it. You grab a good, poignant image and you beat people over the head with it and let ‘em come to their own conclusions. (People like jumping to conclusions anyway. It’s one of their favorite exercises.) And if you’re non-specific enough, you can avoid being rendered irrelevant by the evening news.

So here’s the song. It proves, by the way, that you do not have to have convictions in order to be able to express them. Remember, politicians do it all the time.

Oh, and I did answer the question, “How come there’s no good songs about the war?”

[4/4, mod. two-step]

NO ONE WRITES GOOD SONGS ABOUT THE WAR
--J. Wrabek

1.
When Johnny joined the Army, all the hometown folks wasd proud;
They hung his picture at the grocery store;
Now the picture’s edged in black, ‘cause he isn’t coming backAnd no one writes good songs about the war.

CHORUS:
About the war…. About the war….
Does anyone recall what it was for?
Send the kids off overseas, and they come home to rest in peace
And no one writes good songs about the war.

2.
Everyone remembers Katy as the girl who fixed their car;
She was gonna run the station when Dad got old;
Dad works the place alone since they sent Katy’s body home
And no one writes good songs about thw war.

CHORUS

3.
In the park, they’ve built a stone for all the kids that can’t come home;
It says we’re proud of them forever more;
They wrote the names real small, so they’d have room to list them all
And no one writes good songs about the war.

CHORUS

REPEAT FIRST LINE OF FIRST VERSE TO END

©2007 J. Wrabek dba Outside Services Ltd. All the usual rights reserved just in case.

I did perform the song at the Wild Goose Sunday night, and wasn’t sure anyone liked it. Did hear Tuesday night, when I went to a new open mike in Ashland, from one young fellow who said he did. And did hear there a would-be Dylan (complete with the harmonica and Afro), doing protest songs that weren’t any good—because they were rants. Might be some point to the song after all.

ABOUT PROMOTION...

I was going to talk about writing (I’m working on a “here’s how it’s done” protest song), but let’s talk promotion instead. I don’t know much about promotion—just learning as I go along.

I’ve done two solo gigs in this area thus far; both went well, and the venue owner wants me back (good), but I’d like to increase the size of the crowd. That’s kind of my responsibility. The venue owner, bless him, doesn’t know marketing. An ad in the paper (and it probably wasn’t a big one) probably doesn’t cut it.

And he’s not alone. There are a bunch of venues in this area that are attempting to improve their bottom lines by scheduling live music. It’s a good idea, and obviously the independent musicians (like but not limited to me) are interested. But the crowd’s gotta show up or it’s going to be perceived as not working.

So how does one reach them?

Well, start with the fans. I do have some fans; never added ‘em up to see how many there are, and I’ve never stuck their names all in one place so I could tell ‘em about upcoming gigs (for instance). Maybe the first step is to do that. Next gig, send ‘em all an e-mail saying “C’mon down and bring your friends.”

Posters. I can design posters (did one for the last gig), but one’s gotta do something with them. It’s not enough for the venue to have one in the window. In some towns, you’ll see concert posters up on every downtown light pole and wall (and my poster should join them), but in other towns, you don’t see any—maybe city ordinance, maybe just local culture. In those latter towns, maybe the route to go is hit up the music stores, give them a poster (and maybe also a CD to play).

It may not be enough, though. I appeal to a niche market (can you say “original” and “country music” in the same sentence?). I don’t see them, but I’m sure they’re there—Medford may have 100,000 or so people, but there are still square dance clubs, and an old-time fiddlers association, and the biggest concert act to come to town this year was a country-music band. Most of the musicians I know are frustrated folkies or would-be rockers, but I may just be hanging with the wrong crowd.

So that’s the next challenge. How to identify the people who ought to want your music, so you can tell them that it (and you) exist.

UPDATES: The practice with “Screaming Gulch” actually went well, and I think they want me back. New venue—a coffeehouse in Central Point, 10 miles north of here; Southern Oregon Songwriters did a “showcase” there, and it drew a big crowd. Owner said he didn’t like country music, but ended up complimenting me on one of my songs. Had a band to play with (lead guitar and mandolin). This week, there will be music Sunday night, Monday night, and maybe practice Wednesday night. It’s really time to go into the studio, but I don’t think I have a band ready yet.

Joe

"ALICE" RETURNS FROM WONDERLAND...

Well, the gig went pretty well. It was shorter than I planned (I’d figured an hour, but they told me when I got there it’d be half that), and even with all the publicity about the show starting at 8:00, people still really didn’t begin to show up until 9:00—old habits die hard, I guess. Only two people came specifically to see me (though there were others who knew who I was). Didn’t sell any CDs (though on the basis of a half-hour performance, I wouldn’t buy any, either).

And there was good news, too. (There is always good news. Maybe that’s this week’s lesson. Whether you see the cloud or the silver lining depends on your viewpoint.) “Screaming Gulch,” one of Johnny’s bands, played after I did, and they really needed a lead player; Johnny’s a good rhythm player (guitar and banjo), and they had a competent rhythm guitarist, but no lead. Even when Don Maddox (that’s The Legendary Don Maddox, last surviving member of The Maddox Brothers and Rose) played fiddle, they could’ve used somebody to fill in the spaces.

I found out afterwards they do have a lead guitarist, but he has “commitment issues”—i.e., he can’t show up all the time. So I suggested me. They practice Wednesday nights at 8:00, and I can mostly do that. Playing lead guitar for the country dance in Rogue River may have been good practice for this (and I’ll plan on going to the dance next Tuesday night so I’m good and prepared). And “Screaming Gulch” does play mostly country music.

Reportedly, there’s a new open mike, in Central Point (10 miles from here) Saturday afternoons at 3 p.m.; I’m in town this weekend, so I’ll go. Southern Oregon Songwriters “showcase” that night, too (at Johnny B.’s), the Wild Goose Sunday night, the country dance Tuesday night, Screaming Gulch Wednesday night. Great time to catch a cold (I have one of those, too). Time for new strings also, but I won’t do it with all that playing going on. Following week, maybe.

Last Tuesday, instead of playing at the dance, I went to Delonde Bell’s CD release party in Ashland; good crowd—and nice show (I bought one of his CDs, something I almost never do for anybody). I’d like to do something similar when my next CD is done.

Joe

A NEW GIG...

Again, at Johnny B.’s in Medford—Thursday, 1 November. Show starts at 8 p.m., and I’m one of four acts, two of which are bluegrass bands. EIGHT dollar cover this time. I better get more CDs. He did advertise me before asking—but he knew I don’t refuse gigs. I volunteered to bring him some posters of me, and also to design one with all the bands on it..

Johnny is excited about being on the album, and immediately called a studio dude he knows; I’ll have to go see what the fellow’s setup looks like. For fiddle, Johnny suggested the legendary Don Maddox, the lone surviving member of The Maddox Brothers and Rose, who lives in the area and will be playing with one of the bands Nov. 1, the same night I’m on the agenda.

I’d still like to get some more instrumentation if I could. Johnny’s band, The Cheatin’ Hearts, has a lead guitarist (who is good) but no other lead players. Fiddle would be good. It’d be fun to throw in a couple of the Songwriters’ Assn. members (flute, congas, harmonica, and mandolin, say)—not on every song, but on some of ‘em. I emphasized to Johnny the need to make every song sound different, even when they’re being played with the same band. I managed to achieve that on the “Santa’s Fallen” CD, and would like to do it again.

“Alice” the ‘puter is home for the weekend, but goes back to the shop Monday afternoon to get [drum roll] Windows XP. Shop gave me a good price. I will have to re-install all my software, but I should be able to find WinXP versions of all the weird stuff a lot easier than I could find Windows 98 versions. And I’ll be able to have a working printer. The inability of Windows 98 to find the drivers even for a Windows 98 printer is, according to the shop, one of the casualties of Alice’s stay in the computer hospital last June—the hospital, they said, screwed her up. One worry in all this: it’s possible the computer hospital damaged Alice’s motherboard, and that could be hard to replace. Reportedly “Socket A” motherboards have gotten hard to find the last couple of years.

And Alice will get more RAM, too—FIVE TIMES as much as she had (which is more than needed to run Windows XP). And I can go as high as ELEVEN times as much if I feel like it.

PUBLISHER AND 'PUTER...

Found a music publisher. It’s Bobbie Gallup, co-writer of “Dead Things in the Shower”; she and her late husband had Gallup ‘n’ Dawg Music in Nashville. We’ll do the “Dirty Deeds” album street legal here (for a change), and see if we can’t use the new-found legitimacy to get some radio play.

I should say a word or two about the computer. “Alice” is a big, fast machine built for me three years ago, that’s set up primarily for graphic design work. Because the graphic-design software I use is old (it was expensive), Alice has Windows 98. When her printer quit this weekend (after 3 years), I found it about impossible to find a replacement. Nobody makes anything that works with Windows 98 any more.

Local computer geek showed me a trick for making the Windows 98 software work on Windows XP, so that’s probably how I’ll go. I can quadruple Alice’s RAM (and she’s already fast), so I’ll do that first. Looks like that’s where this paycheck’s gonna go.

Current to-do’s: Talk to Johnny B. about recording the “Dirty Deeds Done to Sheep” album with his band—and find out if I can rope other musicians (from the Songwriters’ Association, say) in for some of the tracks—I really want dual “whiny” and “non-whiny” leads where I can get ‘em. Talk to Dan Doshier about playing opportunities this and next weekend, when I’ll be in town. Now that I have dependable Internet again, re-establish contact with other writers’ sites that got lost in the cracks with Alice’s stay in the ‘puter hospital and the Dang Wireless that didn’t work half the time. And record “Dirty Deeds We Done to Sheep.” It’s time.

Joe

MORE THOUGHTS...

Barbie House now has a little Barbie-sized TV with built-in VCR (I don’t have any tapes, though), and a couple spare pieces of furniture. I got offered a big entertainment center type thing, which I’ll take if they can get it here—I can look at it and be entertained, I guess. No Internet yet—the computer store sold me a router that won’t work with Windows 98 (maybe nothing does any more). So much for trusting your local geek.

Past couple of weeks, all the music I’ve done is play lead guitar at the Tuesday night country dance in Rogue River; the other musicians there are starting to expect me, though, and that’s nice. Next Sunday, maybe, I will be able to be back at the Wild Goose. No new songs, though.

An offer from one of my favorite sound-engineers-I’ve-never-met (he’s in New York City) to master existing *.mp3 files to record quality. To do the whole “Cat with the Strat” album would cost a little over $100, and that’s a good deal, I think. Another $45 each to do the copyright forms for the songs (over half of which are collaborations), and we’re looking at more than the cost of the last album already.

The “Dirty Deeds Done to Sheep” album—all original material, done with the band, whoever they may be—will likely cost $750 to record and mix. That’s about 50% more than the “Santa’s Fallen” CD did, but prices are a lot higher here, all driven by the high cost of land. We’re into October now—time to line up the band so we can get practiced. Thursday night may be my best shot at stopping by Johnny B.’s tavern and talking to him.

Johnny on bass, Dan on mandolin, Russ on congas; I know a blues harp player, and a couple good lead guitarists (one of them REALLY good)—and a flute player. Has anyone ever used a flute on country music? It’d be fun to try. I could hear a flute lead on “Milepost 43,” “Roadkill Christmas,” and “Dead Things in the Shower."

COLLABS...

The selections (not in any order) are 5 of the 6 songs recorded in Nashville in the Pineyfest Demo Derby::

ABOUT LOVE (Marge McKinnis)
DISTRACTION (Diane Ewing)
ALABAMA BLUES (Diane Ewing)
SO FAR (Marge McKinnis)
DEAD THINGS IN THE SHOWER (with Bobbie Gallup)

Plus a set of “definitive recordings” consisting of 2 collabs:

BORN AGAIN BARBIE (with Scott Rose)
GLOBAL WARMING SANDWICH (with Gem Watson)

And a passel of songs of mine that were performed and recorded with other people:

CAT WITH THE STRAT (by The Collaborators)
SHE AIN’T STARVIN’ HERSELF (by The Collaborators)
THE SIX-LEGGED POLKA (by Gem Watson)
OIL IN THE CORNFIELD (by Vic Bonner and Vikki Flawith)

For the collabs, it will be necessary to (1) file copyrights jointly with the co-author, (2) create a publishing company, (3) assign publishing rights to my company. On the recording end, somebody like Substudio will need to tweak them so the levels all match, and convert the *.mp3 files to *.wav or something similar that’s suitable for CD. By the time we’re done, there will probably be more money invested in this effort than in the album of original material.
Title? How about “The Cat with the Strat and Other Collaborations”?

ALL MOVED IN...

And the new place is nice. Still needs furniture, which I’ll retrieve from home; mostly tables—one for the studio equipment (currently nestled in one corner), one by the bed, one in the kitchen, one for the printer. A filing cabinet wouldn’t hurt. Lamps, and chairs in case somebody else ever comes to visit. Thrift store TV, and maybe another desk—one can never have too many desks. Still waiting on the Internet.

Friday’s, Saturday’s and Sunday’s gigs were all good. Johnny B.’s in Medford had a cover charge with me on the agenda, and still drew a crowd. And I showed I could hold their attention for almost an hour and have not one person get bored. The Lions Club variety show in Grants Pass was a whole different audience in a whole different place—Lions Club members from all across two counties.

And Sunday night’s audience at the Wild Goose got treated to the first-ever live performance of “Dirty Deeds Done to Sheep.” And yes, it was a hit. They also got “Hank’s Song,” which many of ‘em had heard before in other places—I’ve been playing it a lot this month, since Sept. 17 was Hank Williams’ birthday—and a bunch of folks sang along. Didn’t expect that (and I haven’t noticed it happening with other performers). I’m not sure why people here like that song, but they do.

Another lesson: Play everywhere you can. Everything is potential gig material. Johnny now knows I can draw a crowd, for instance, and he’ll tell others. I may even get to perform with his band, if they get the idea that I’m a good draw--but it would be okay if they decided that MY MATERIAL was a good draw, no matter who’s playing it. Remember the Goal—it’s to get attention as a WRITER. Performing is secondary. It’s just how one has to get exposure for the material. The more people performing it, the wider—and better—the exposure.

Tuesday—my birthday—I plan to go to Rogue River and play lead guitar for their
weekly country dance. Couldn’t think of a better birthday present. I can maybe round up another half-dozen CDs to take to the League of Oregon Cities conference later in the week for just-in-case sales or promos; one of these years, I or a band I’m in will be the entertainment.

MOVING...

Having my job extended to next June 30 meant I could go get a house of my own, so I did that; I move in this weekend. Get to buy furniture and all that fun household infrastructure I haven’t needed while I’ve been living out of a motel room. It’ll take a few days before Internet is hooked up at the new place, so this is a last-minute post to keep the commitment I made in January to post a new blog weekly.

Last night was my first real performance in this area—about an hour’s worth, at Johnny B.’s in Medford. Part of a three-band set, and there was actually a cover charge, and they actually advertised my name in the paper, and there was actually a crowd. And I think the crowd actually liked it. Only had one CD left (I’ll have to make more), I could have sold a lot more. Lesson: ALWAYS have lots of CDs. If you don’t have them, you can’t sell them.

The bass player for the band that followed me (Johnny B. himself) was awesome—played a percussive-type standup bass, where the bass is substituting for a drum set as well as providing the “bottom” to the music. “Slap bass” is what they used to call it, years ago, but nobody does it any more. Johnny does. He said he learned it from George Maddox (now deceased) of The Maddox Brothers and Rose, who were a big-name country band maybe 50-60 years ago (you can still get their records on CD). I want him—maybe the whole band—on the next album, and told him so.

The rest of the band? The lead guitarist is good; the rhythm guitarist didn’t do much (of course, he didn’t have to), but has a really good singing voice. What we’d be missing for the album is the “whiny lead” (fiddle, harmonica, flute, sax, or such). The lead guitarist could take care of the “non-whiny lead” with no problem. I know a couple of local blues harp players who could probably be roped in. Wonder if Don Maddox would be interested in playing fiddle? He’s the last surviving member of The Maddox Brothers and Rose, lives in the area, and still performs—sometimes with this band.

And the band—“The Cheatin’ Hearts”—are potentially interested in playing with me, and DEFINITELY interested in covering some of my songs. (And of course that’s okay. These guys opened for Big & Rich at a concert in Medford this week.) They’re interested in “Eatin’ Cornflakes from a Hubcap Blues,” and (at my suggestion) “Bluebird on My Windshield,” and I was encouraging ‘em to tackle “Dirty Deeds Done to Sheep.” I’ll have to record that for ‘em so they can hear what it sounds like. And one of the audience folks who didn’t get to buy the CD was interested in “Rotten Candy.” I NEVER thought anybody would be.

Today (Saturday) is the Lions Club variety show in Grants Pass, maybe an hour or less drive from here, and I’m on the agenda for maybe a 15-minute set. And tomorrow night is the open mike at the Wild Goose—and the first night I get to spend in the new house. Tuesday night’s country dance is on my birthday; I think being able to play music on my birthday is a great present. Should be fun.

Joe

RESOURCES...

So now I know two standup bass players (and have played with both), two lead guitarists (played with one), two harmonica players (haven’t played with either), a flute player (have played with her), the guy with the congas (no), and somebody who can play just about anything but prefers mandolin (yes). Makings of a band? Probably. Next step, I think, is to get ‘em familiar with all the material that’s going to go on the album.

Potential inclusions for the album:

Armadillo on the Interstate
Milepost 43
Dirty Deeds Done to Sheep (could be the title cut)
Naked Space Hamsters in Love
Twenty-four Seven
The Frog Next Door
The Termite Song
Even Roadkill Gets the Blues (needs a Christmassy title, though)
Rotten Candy
Dead Things in the Shower
When I Jump Off the Cliff, I’ll Think of You
Oil in the Cornfield

That’s 12. Not a bad mix—one waltz, one serious song, one blues, one rock ‘n’ roll, one straight-up country. Possible to play around with the instrumentation, depending on what’s available; we know from experience that bluegrass songs can be played on electric instruments, and that rock ‘n’ roll can be performed just fine with a bluegrass band.

And the collabs? There’s almost an album’s worth of those, too:

Dead Things in the Shower (with Bobbie Gallup—recorded at Pineyfest)
Alabama Blues (Diane Ewing—recorded at Pineyfest)
So Far (Marge McKinnis—recorded at Pineyfest)
Distraction (Diane Ewing—recorded at Pineyfest)
About Love (Marge McKinnis—recorded at Pineyfest)
Born Again Barbie (with Scott Rose—and recorded by Scott, too)
Global Warming Sandwich (Gem Watson—recorded with & by Gem)
The Six-Legged Polka (recorded with & by Gem Watson)
She Ain’t Starvin’ Herself (recorded with & by The Collaborators)
Oil in the Cornfield (recorded with & by Vikki Flawith & Mississippi Spud)
Cat with the Strat (recorded with & by The Collaborators)

“Dirty Deeds Done to Sheep” is pretty much down. Didn’t play it at the Wild Goose, though—it needs more practice (I still stumble over some of the lines). I did get handed a nice title for a song—“Naked Plants.”

And this week, I get to play music Tuesday night (for the dance), Friday (as opening act for another band), Saturday night (for the Lions Club variety show) and Sunday night (at the Goose again).

DIRTY DEEDS WE DONE TO SHEEP...

I should have known it’d take something like a job interview to generate a new song. I was asked how I was coping with the stress, and the answer I gave ‘em was I’d get another dead-animal song out of it. Of course, things don’t always turn out as expected: the animals (sheep) aren’t dead—only raped (though I never said so). I finished the song tonight (I think)—had to get it done before the stress went away--and I’ll get it vetted by the usual suspects, and see if I can get practiced enough at it to perform it for the drunks at the Wild Goose tomorrow night.

To give credit where due, the title was suggested by Bob Cushing up (over?) in Cincinnatti (I would not think up something like “Dirty Deeds Done to Sheep” on my own), and it’s rock ‘n’ roll of a sort. Think Kris Kristofferson meets Buck Owens meets Glen Campbell, and one of them has a saxophone. (Yes, those are all country writers. What makes it rock ‘n’ roll is the saxophone, and the Keith Richards-style riff I hear repeated throughout the song. Those guys didn’t do THAT.)

It was an interesting challenge because of the rules I imposed. I didn’t use any Bad Words in the song, and not even any risque images; the rape and mutilation (did I mention there was mutilation, too?) of the sheep is never overt, only suggested. And it’s quite sad—something else I hadn’t planned on. It’d actually be a good candidate for Goodnight Kiss Music’s “growing up songs” contest, but I don’t know if I could get it decently recorded in time for their deadline (if it’s not already past).

Upcoming week is going to be full of music, I think. Besides the open mike at the Wild Goose Sunday night and playing for the dance band Tuesday night, I have a gig next Saturday (a Lions Club variety show) and was asked tonight (Saturday) to open for a bigger-name act next Friday night at Johnny B.’s Tavern in Medford. At tonight’s Southern Oregon Songwriters’ “showcase,” I got a flute player to do lead on “The Frog Next Door,” and got to play “She Ain’t Starvin’ Herself” and “Eatin’ Cornflakes” with a band. And announced I needed a sax player for “Dirty Deeds Done to Sheep.”

Joe

AN IDEA...

Fellow who owns the recording studio (and is still looking for a place in Phoenix to relocate to) visited me at City Hall to bring it up, about the same time I was thinking of it. (This is probably coincidence, rather than serendipity.) The idea? Put on a concert as a benefit for the City, which as everyone knows is strapped for cash. An application of the old Judy Garland-Mickey Rooney movie theme—“we’re out of money, they’re foreclosing on the farm, so let’s put on a show!”

Of course, his idea is a little different from mine; he’d like to bring in one of the big-name bands he knows personally, and has recorded in the past (who would charge money, but not much, and he’s thinking corporate sponsors would cover the cost), and I was thinking of just local folks like me, in an application a lot like the “Moograss” Bluegrass Festival, where everybody does everything for free because it’s a benefit for the school. Same venue, though—the City’s Blue Heron Park, 27 acres kinda of out of the way along the Bear Creek Greenway. The place could take some improvement, though—right now, it doesn’t even have grass. And a semi-permanent stage, like they have in the park in Central Point, would be a good idea.

And of course, we’re both thinking of something that could be an annual event. Phoenix doesn’t have any local festivals of any kind, and I maintain a small town needs one (or some), to provide a sense of community for residents who might otherwise not ever know each other. An extended block party, as it were. The date—and the excuse—are really unimportant. It’s more a question of whether we could have the park ready to handle the event by late next spring (say).

Why a concert? My “interface,” I guess, with the town I’d like to call home. I’m a musician; it’s what I do. If I’m going to use my talent to benefit the community, that’s the talent I’m going to use, because I think it’s my best shot at attracting people. I just may know enough people to be able to put on a decent show. And if no one comes? (No, SOME people will always come. There may just not be many.) Well, we’ll all have had fun. With luck, enough fun to want to do it again.

MOOGRASS...

Labor Day—the Monday that feels like Sunday. Work tomorrow. Today, a chance to rest up from three days of playing music, two at the “Moograss” Bluegrass Festival and one with the Friday Night Group.

Moograss was a little bit of a re-affirmation that I’m still worth something as a performer. Did find out the reason I wasn’t on the agenda as a performer this year wasn’t because I wasn’t good, or wasn’t famous, but rather because I was solo. All of the acts this year were bands; all the guys who were solo last year who performed this year were in bands, either accidentally or intentionally. I did point that out to one of the organizers, and ask, “If I want to perform next year, I better have a band, yes?” The answer was “Yes.”

I have, I think, two options for putting together a band. I can do it down here in southern Oregon, or I can do it up on the Coast, with members of the Friday Night Group. In both cases, I’m probably looking at some adjustments. Like, we probably can’t play all my stuff; everybody is going to need to get equal time. If the band is all from down here, I may be able to insist that we do all original material. Up there (and maybe down here, too), it’d have to be a mix of my original stuff and traditional (or traditional Gospel) songs. Otherwise, since Moograss is charging a gate fee, they run afoul of the copyright authorities, and nobody wants them to go there.

Songwriting workshop had a class of one (I’d warned the organizers that might happen if they didn’t have me on the agenda as a performer, too), but the one was a lady who had had some commercial successes and then hadn’t written anything in years (she blamed it on criticism from her family). We talked for a couple of hours, and I hope I left her with a little inspiration. I think she at the class because she was looking for a reason to write, and maybe I gave her one or two. Gave her and one guy who showed up late for the class copies of the CD, too (and I notice he’s already left comments on Soundclick).

Good week for the clipping file, too. Besides the big article in the Medford paper last Monday (probably the first and last time “Naked Space Hamsters in Love” has ever been in a newspaper headline), the daily paper in Ashland (which is smaller) ran it, too, and the League of Oregon Cities Website picked that one up. And the Phoenix Chamber of Commerce ran a photo of me in their newsletter, with thanks for performing at their open house, and the Tillamook paper, which (under new ownership) ran a big article on Moograss, mentioned “Garibaldi’s own Joe Wrabek” was teaching the songwriting class. Need to save copies of all these things. Handled properly, they’re “chits” that can be parlayed into gigs.

Joe

MAYBE...

First performance in a while (hey, it was just a week, but I’ve gotten spoiled) was last night at the Wild Goose Tavern—my chance to practice on the drunks. They got “Milepost 43,” “Armadillo on the Interstate,” “Cuddle in the Darkness,” and (because the moderator asked for an encore) “I’m Giving Mom a Dead Dog for Christmas.” I’m not sure how well they liked the “Cuddle” song; as I told one fellow outside, it was supposed to make the chicks line up. If it didn’t, then it wasn’t doing its job. The crowd did like the other three, and I sold one CD and got a promise to buy another.

Based on their reaction, “Milepost 43” is probably a candidate for the next CD. I’ll try it out next on a less inebriated crowd and see if I get the same response. There actually is a milepost 43 on the freeway near here, and I took a photo of it. With underwear.

Elsewhere in Promotion Land:

(1) The area big-city newspaper, the Medford Mail-Tribune, wants to do a story on my music. (I’d given the reporter who covers this town a CD.)

(2) Another song—“Can I Have Your Car When the Rapture Comes?”—got covered, this time by The Fintons, a husb&wife duo that play live. Playing live is where the exposure’s at, I think.

(3) Mike Dunbar, who led the Pineyfest Demo Derby sessions, offered to re-do my vocals next time I come to Nashville (which might be in January or so, if there’s another Demo Derby scheduled). That was after a couple folks said I sounded better playing it live on stage. Frankly, I think the recording is great—but there’s no denying I do a better job on stage. I’d really like to find a girl singer willing to do it; the song (my opinion) is made for a female voice. What I don’t know is whether there’s anyone willing to risk their reputation on performing it.

(4) The songwriters’ association folks keep telling me about upcoming showcases, wanting to make sure I’m there. That’s a good thing, I think. It may mean I’m developing a reputation as a writer. I noticed I got the attention of two poets at the Wild Goose Sunday night (and one of them is a really good poet—I’d told him before that some of his works would sound good set to music).

And then there’s the studio. I checked out the guy’s Website, which is still in its infancy; he doesn’t have a lot of clients (but one of them is a formerly famous band). If he knows what he’s doing—which I’ll find out—this could be good: somebody who’s “on the make” is likely to give you more promotion than somebody that already has a lot of work.

One pushing-the-envelope thing I want to do, though, is record the next CD Patsy Cline style (live with the band), just like the last one. Studio Dude knows how it works (we talked about it), but I’m not sure he’s ever done it. (The same was true of the fellow at Listen Studios in La Grande 2 years ago. But he managed to do it just fine.)

Still working on the band…

Joe

THE LATEST...

Met a fellow today who owns one of the area recording studios (it does help to work at City Hall—you run into everybody sooner or later). He hasn’t recorded any local country musicians, but said he’d done stuff for a Name Act that was country. I think we can do a deal. We traded URLs of our Websites, and I said I’d get him a copy of the CD. (I don’t keep those at work.)

Still looking for a band. I’ve got one fellow who can play a good blues lead guitar, another who can do rock ‘n’ roll leads like Jerry Garcia, and a fellow who can play just about anything (I’d want to use him for fiddle, mandolin, and/or standup bass—he’s got all of those), and another who can play blues harp. That’s actually probably enough to do an album with—but they mostly don’t know each other. I’ll have to introduce them. (And congas. I know a guy who plays congas. I ought to be able to fit that in somehow.)

This is a neat area to live in—I really could play music just about every night, but I have to pick and choose where I go because of all the evening meetings in the course of my job. This week, I got to do Monday night with the Southern Oregon Songwriters, but avoided Sunday, Tuesday and Wednesday nights; next week, I think I can do Sunday and Tuesday, but will miss Wednesday.

Sunday night I kind of look forward to—it’s playing for the drunks, and they’re an interesting experiment in attention-getting. I did well last time (3 weeks ago, that was); I gave ‘em “Eatin’ Cornflakes fcrom a Hubcap Blues,” “The Termite Song” (dutifully announced as my global warming song), and “Naked Space Hamsters in Love.” And it definitely got their attention. Next time, I think, I want to try “St. Paddy,” “Dead Things in the Shower,” and “Armadillo on the Interstate.” I want to build them up to being able to play “Cuddle in the Darkness” as the closing song of a set and see if the chicks really do line up.

Joe

BACK FROM NASHVILLE...

Fun trip, except for the plane rides. The plane rides were enough to sour one permanently on the idea of commercial air travel; being marooned overnight in San Francisco (because United Air Lines abruptly cancelled the last leg of my flight) and having to pay for my own hotel room (because United decided my “discomfort level” wasn’t high enough to warrant them doing it) is not an experience I’d care to repeat.

Six demos—one song all mine, the other 5 co-writes—done by Mike Dunbar and a team of consummate professionals, for the most part in one take in one afternoon. I did notice all the guys are getting up in years; I don’t think people aspire to be session men any more. When I was a kid, one of the highest careers one could aspire to in music was to be a session player, and these guys are proof why. They’re very, very good. The product is “radio ready,” and I (and several others) have approached Mike about seeing whether our tracks could be put on CDs that are offered for sale. It would entail paying the session guys more money under Musicians’ Union rules—we just don’t know how much more.

And I got to perform at Lyrix, the downtown club where the Pineyfest sessions were held: twice during Pineyfest, and once for Just Plain Folks, who had one of their “roadtrips” there the last night I was in Nashville. The Pineyfest crowd got “Dead Things in the Shower” (the song I co-wrote with Bobbie Gallup) and “The Termite Song” the first night, and “Armadillo on the Interstate” and “Naked Space Hamsters in Love” the second; the JPF folks got “I’m Giving Mom a Dead Dog for Christmas” and “The Abomination Two-Step.”

Reactions were predictably good. I was told by one performing songwriter that Nashville crowds don’t usually act like that (I had ‘em singing along with the dead dog song), and that I did really well; of course, most of the folks in MY “Nashville crowd” were other songwriters from out of town. I think I did impress Barbara Cloyd, the Nashville writer who was running the sound system at Lyrix, and I don’t think Barbara impresses easily (or much). Barbara is a gatekeeper, one of those people who decides what gets heard (and therefore published and recorded) in Nashville, and a lot of her work is telling aspiring writers like me we’re not good enough. I didn’t bother to ask. I probably did get across that what I write plays as well in Nashville as it does anywhere else. The follow-up question is what I can do with that. I don’t know.

Stay tuned.

Joe

GOIN' TO NASHVILLE...

Here we go…

Tomorrow morning, the plane leaves from Medford “Unintentional” Airport for a Layover Tour of airports across the Western states. Destination (ultimately) Nashville, for the Pineyfest songwriters’ conference, a Just Plain folks “Roadtrip,” a performance at the famous Bluebird Café (probably of just one song—I’ve seen the agenda, and it’s long), and recording demos of six songs with a gaggle of Nashville studio musicians.

And play music for six days and nights, of course. My idea of a vacation (except for the Layover Tour part). 40 or so CDs are going with me, and I’ll see if I can sell a few while I’m there.

So this is the last gasp for Internet before the ‘puter gets packed away and not used for a week.

Got to play twice last night, once solo for the Phoenix Chamber of Commerce (just 3 songs, but I sold a CD while I was at it), and with Dan Doshier’s “Loose Strings” band at the park in Central Point. That last was a paying gig—my first since I moved here.

And last Wednesday, at the Southern Oregon Songwriters Assn. open mike in Medford, the guys and gals were finally playing with each other (first time, one of ‘em told me). They sounded a lot better that way—I was sure they would—and I told ‘em so. (They noticed it, too.) I hope this starts a trend. I had mentioned at their board meeting a couple of weeks ago that I’d never record solo something I intended to sell, it’d have to be with a band. Maybe it stuck. Weird, though, to think that somebody regards me as an Elder Statesman.

Of course, I have ulterior motives here. I have an album of songs I want to record, and I’m new in the area and want to put together a band (or “band”—they don’t have to play together a lot) that are familiar enough with my material to be able to walk into a studio and record it live in one or two takes. I have a couple candidates now, and we’ll see how it works out.

“See” y’all in a week or so.

Joe

GOING TO NAZSHVILLE...

Well, I’ve had Internet at the motel three times in two days (must be an Omen). I had better take the opportunity to update the Blog. I’ve had two entries I couldn’t post because I didn’t have Internet for two weeks running.

I am going to Nashville—first, for the Pineyfest songwriters’ conference, which I got invited to again, and second for a Just Plain Folks “Road Rally” that’ll be held either just before or just after (I forget which). I’ll get to record six demos with a group of Nashville studio musicians (five of the songs were co-wrote with other people, who are splitting the cost), perform a couple songs at the famous Bluebird Café (supposedly a Big Whoop because the Big Names hang out there), and otherwise play music non-stop for six days and nights. My idea of a vacation, definitely.

I leave Sunday 7/29 from tiny Medford “International” Airport, and return the following Sunday, 8/5. (Medford “International” is so small you can park in front of the terminal. I didn’t see a single jet on the runway—only prop planes. One must fly to Canada once a year or so to get the “international” moniker.)

So during the week aforehand, I’m concentrating on playing as much music as I can, as many places as I can, to prepare my calluses for the “vacation.” Thankfully, there are a lot of places to play around here. Last Saturday night was the Southern Oregon Songwriters Assn. (SOSA) showcase at Johnny B.’s tavern in Medford; Sunday night was an open mike at the Wild Goose tavern in Ashland; Tuesday (tonight) a country jam session at the community center in Rogue River (complete with a stage, dance floor, and dancing couples); Wednesday is another SOSA showcase at Johnny B.’s; and Friday evening I’m supposed to perform for the Phoenix Chamber Commerce’s open house. Enough? Maybe. (Did I mention I also got to perform at the Jackson County Fair last week?)

The country jam was fun. I hadn’t got to play with a band (much less play lead with a band) for a long time, and I did impress some people, so I’ll be able to go back; they do play almost exclusively old country standards, which is fine—but there’s only a couple of those I can sing, so I’ll have to work at introducing some of my songs to the mix. Yes, I want to go back. It’s really the only jam session I’ve found around these parts in the past 2 months, and it’s almost every week.

The Wild Goose was fun, too. My second time there, but I finally figured out (I think) how to play for drunks—start with something really slow and raunchy, with really obvious lyrics, to get their attention, then you can follow it up with something faster. (I would still keep it really obvious, though. The audience is operating on reduced brain cell capacity.) So they got “Eatin’ Cornflakes,” “The Termite Song,” and “Naked Space Hamsters in Love.” It’s possible they may remember me next time around.

The SOSA crowd are as a species more attentive—they’re all writers and musicians, too, and they’re there to strut their stuff, too. They listen without being bludgeoned upside da haid. Still, I’d like to teach ‘em a couple of things. They still mostly don’t play together, but most of ‘em would sound a whole lot better if they weren’t solo. They also don’t record together, which shocked me (hopefully, some of my shock was communicated). Maybe I get to take an “elder statesman” attitude, after I come back from Nashville with some demos and maybe some music publishing information.

We’ll see. More later, if the Internet continues to work.

Joe

A COLLABORATION ALBUM?

After the Pineyfest Demo Derby, there just might be enough material for a collab album—provided it included not only songs written with others, but also songs written by me and played with others. The list looks like:

(1) DEAD THINGS IN THE SHOWER, co-wrote with Bobbie Gallup. Will get recorded by the Nashville Gang at Pineyfest.

(2) ABOUT LOVE—lyrics by Marge McKinnis, music by me. Will get recorded by the Nashville Gang at Pineyfest. I’ve described this one as Buddy Holly with a bluegrass band.

(3) DISTRACTION—lyrics by Diane Ewing, music by me. Will get recorded by the Nashville Gang at Pineyfest. Country music with a 1950s pop feel.

(4) SO FAR—lyrics by Marge McKinnis, music by me. Will get recorded by the Nashville Gang at Pineyfest. Slow, sexy blues. The original home recording of this had a lamb bleating at one point, that I’d like to replicate if I could.

(5) ALABAMA BLUES—lyrics by Diane Ewing, music by me. Will get recorded by the Nashville Gang at Pineyfest. Sad but bouncy country blues.

(6) TEST TUBE BABY, by me. Old Dodson Drifters hit, and my only rock ‘n’ roll song. Will get recorded by the Nashville Gang at Pineyfest.

(7) BORN AGAIN BARBIE, co-wrote and co-performed with Scott Rose, who also did the mixing. Came across as an Everly Brothers-style piece, a fusion of rock (Scott) and country (me).

(8) SHE AIN’T STARVIN’ HERSELF, also by me. Performed as a bluegrass blues by The Collaborators, in one of the best mixing and production jobs I’ve heard.

(9) OIL IN THE CORNFIELD, also by me. Performed with Vikki Flawith and Mississippi Spud (Spud also did the mixing). This is the recording I sent to the Woody Guthrie Song Contest (where it didn’t win).

(10) THE SIX-LEGGED POLKA, by me. Performed with (and mixed by) Gem Watson, whose “saxocordion” riffs (done on an electric guitar) give the song its international flavor.

(11) THE CAT WITH THE STRAT, by me. Performed as a talking blues by The Collaborators, with can’t-repeat-outside-the-studio sound effects and mixing by Vikki Flawith. Both guitars on the recording were Strats (of course)—and the rhythm instrument is (surprise!) a piano.

(12) GLOBAL WARMING SANDWICH—lyrics by Gem Watson, music by me. Performed with (and mixed by) Gem. Came out as 1940s-style Western music, with dual guitar leads by Gem and me.

So, is there a common theme that connects (or can connect) all these? We’ve got a wide range of styles here, from bluegrass through rock ‘n’ roll, and from Bob Wills to Jimmy Sturr (the polka), and from sad songs and serious love songs to things that aren’t serious at all. How do we make it not come across as a hodgepodge? Or is a hodgepodge okay?

Joe

BAD NEWS AND GOOD NEWS...

Bad news and good news… The bad news is I will not be performing at the “Moograss” Bluegrass Festival in Tillamook this year. Heard that after sending e-mails for over a month and getting no response; I finally reached one of the organizers by phone. The Official Reason is they’ve got too many people scheduled who are more famous’n me. Probably a valid reason. I did enjoy playing on the same bill as all them big names, though. They did ask if I’d do another songwriting workshop, and I said I would—while reminding ‘em it’d get more attention if I was also performing.

The good news is that I will be playing at the Jackson County Fair—that’ll be this Tuesday, 17 July; just a short set (3 songs), but I will have a backup band. I have, I think, two potential members of the band for the next CD—Dan Doshier, who owns a local music store (and can play about anything), and fellow city manager Phil Messina. Dan on mandolin, I think, and maybe fiddle, and Phil on lead guitar. Phil’s style is more blues and rock ‘n’ roll, which in my opinion would be perfect for a bluegrass album. Don’t y’think?

The lesson? (There are always lessons, remember.) Watch your back, I guess. Don’t count on anything. And never stop selling.

That means (1) keep up the blog, (2) make sure the rest of Concert Season is “on line,” and (3) don’t miss an opportunity to promote.

So I’ll ask the Southern Oregon Songwriters Assn. for advice what to talk about in the songwriting class, play “Meet Me at the Stairs” at the Fair so I’ll have an excuse to push CDs. (That’s #3.) And e-mail the organizers of the Grassroots Festival in Union and the Harvest Festival in Neskowin. (That’s #2.) I mentioned earlier I figured out a way to post the blog entries without having Internet at the motel, so I’ll use it. (#1.)

Task for this week, since I just got paid, is to book plane fare to Nashville for Pineyfest. There may not be a lot of money beyond that. If the opportunity happens, it’d be good to buy a bigger suitcase (Salvation Army model, of course); current one really won’t hold a week’s worth of clothes, plus the Tascam, camera, and piles of CDs. It’d be good to take some spare Tascam chips along (one chip really doesn’t hold more’n one song), but I don’t know if I’ll be able to afford it.

Oh, and if you’re reading this, Joe’s available for gigs. Enquire within, and all that. He does check e-mail.

Joe

I'M BA-ACK...

I’M BA-ACK….

And like the Grateful Dead said, what a long, strange trip it’s been. I’ve been at the new job (300-plus miles away) since the beginning of June, living out of a motel room for going on four weeks because there’s a housing shortage here, and contending with having wireless Internet, which has been hard on “Alice” the computer. She spent 12 days in the ‘puter hospital, in the course of which she got her hard drive wiped, and I lost a lot of software that was pretty old and hard to replace (in one case, the manufacturer had gone out of business, and in another, the company had been bought by Microsoft). “Alice” works again (mostly), but wireless Internet is still spotty, and we’ll sometimes go for days without being able to connect to the Internet. This is the first time since the end of May that I’ve been able to post a blog entry.

Southern Oregon is a culturally active area, with lots of music of all different styles happening, and I’m trying to plug myself into it as expeditiously as possible. There’s a local Songwriters’ Association, which I’ve joined, which puts on open mikes three times a month, and an Old Time Fiddlers group I haven’t connected with yet; there’s a college TV station that broadcasts (among other things) live music by local bands, and (by my count) at least five commercial recording studios in the area.

This is the “pool” I’ll be trying to tap to produce the Next CD. I want—and have not managed yet—to assemble another impromptu “band” to play backup on about 12 songs, and I want them tight enough and familiar enough with the material so we can do the Patsy Cline Thing (live and in one take) in the studio. And I want that by December. It will take some work.

The trip to Nashville for Pineyfest and the Demo Derby are proceeding apace; I’ve worked out arrangements for the 6 songs, and at the end of the month will be sending them CD, lyric sheets, and money. Looks like this year’s trip to Nashville will cost a cool $2,000, between plane fare, the hotel, rental car, food, and the demo. Hope it’s worth it.

THE DEMO DERBY...

Thursday, me and the guitar and the computer and a few other things make the trip down to Medford. And then, like the Good Book says, a little while you shall not see me, and in a little while you shall see me. Gots to get the ‘puter hooked up in the new place.

Reference tracks are done (my part, anyway) for the Pineyfest Demo Derby. They are:

DEAD THINGS IN THE SHOWER (me & Bobbie Gallup):
www.soundclick.com/bands/songinfo.cfm?bandID=681142&songID=5384374
SO FAR (Marge McKinnis):
www.soundclick.com/bands/songinfo.cfm?bandID=681142&songID=5384364
ABOUT LOVE (Marge McKinnis):
www.soundclick.com/bands/songinfo.cfm?bandID=703426&songID=5388777
DISTRACTION (Diane Ewing):
www.soundclick.com/bands/songinfo.cfm?bandID=183557&songID=4999695
ALABAMA BLUES (Diane Ewing):
www.soundclick.com/bands/songinfo.cfm?bandID=183557&songID=4889571
TEST TUBE BABY (me):
www.soundclick.com/bands/songinfo.cfm?bandID=681142&songID=5392893

On "Test Tube Baby," the Gemster was going to try to add some magic to make it sound more rock ‘n' roll. Then I'll send the links, and lyric sheets, and agenda to Mike Dunbar in Tennessee for the studio musicians to work with. We will, I understand, have available guitar, bass, drums, keyboard, and a pedal steel player who's able to play either harmonica or clarinet/saxophone. We'll do the recording Patsy Cline style, just like me and The Band did the "Santa's Fallen" CD; this will save time and money.

Joe

PREPARING TO MOVE...

Five days to pack and move... It's not a big move, because I'll be living out of a motel room (with kitchenette) for a while, so there won't be a lot of space. Clothes, minimal kitchen equipment, computer, and (of course) the music stuff is what will go with me. The studio stuff does not take up a lot of space, and can be set up anywhere–when I lived in Union, it was in a corner of the living room. Since the equipment deliberately avoids ambient noise, I could theoretically record in the middle of a busy intersection and get as good a sound as I could in the garage (as long as the traffic gave me a fairly wide berth).

The moving exercise is also an opportunity to review what I'm leaving undone. There are, at this point, a few things:

I still haven't recorded "TUGGA PAW," the Swedish country-music song. That's been one of my longest-running (and most frustrating) projects, tackled on and off for over a year. Part of the problem is I can't stand to listen to spoken Swedish for any length of time–it makes the brain shut down, I guess–and part is that other projects have consistently gotten in the way. I've recorded the guitar part twice now, and each time had to erase it to make space on the Tascam for something else that took priority. I can (just figured this out) dump the guitar part to a CD, so I don't have to keep re-doing it. (I guess that means the CD burner will have to make the trip, too.)

I won't have an alternative to "TURN YOUR RADIO ON" for the Gospel song album, either. I haven't heard back from the publisher doing the album, but from what little I've been able to google on the ‘Net, the song is still under copyright, and can't be used for an all-public domain album. I had suggested as an alternative "Farther Along" (1911), and the Ackermans are back in town and available to be the backup band–but where's the time? This'd have to be to the publisher by the end of May, which is only days away.

And I still don't know what to do about recording "TEST TUBE BABY," my first rock ‘n' roll song (I've only ever written two), which I wanted to get recorded by that good set of Nashville studio musicians they'll have at the Pineyfest Demo Derby. If I record it myself, the dang thing comes out country. I might be able to tap that budding band down in southern Oregon to help with it–there are some good blues musiciazns there, even though they're trying to play bluegrass--but that will mean waiting a good two weeks to send a reference track to Nashville.

For the rest, things are mostly done, and I'm just waiting to hear back from people. I recorded rhythm and lead guitar tracks for Willie Joe's "Country Club Waltz," but he says he's not going to pursue it unless he can find a fiddle player. The "Soupbone" blues is done, except for me adding introductions for the soloists–I've asked for their real names, but again, nobody's responded. I re-recorded Marge McKinnis' "About Love" to have a good reference track for the Pineyfest Demo Derby–and haven't heard what she thinks of it. I haven't heard from Bobbie Gallup or Diane Ewing, either, about the arrangements I spec'd out for their Demo Derby songs.

And I haven't heard from the lady whose dying-friend song got ripped apart and put back together by me. Maybe she doesn't know what to think. At least I have managed to forget the song, so it won't bother me if she doesn't like what I did with it.

More on the Demo Derby next blog.

Joe

UPDATES...

I promised updates. Here they are. One of the good self-management aspects of doing a regular blog is it forces one to reflect–in this case, weekly–on what one has actually accomplished. A musical instance of the late President Lyndon Johnson's famous retort: "Yes, but what have you done for me LATELY?"

NEW SONG: Well, maybe. It's a collaboration: one of those instances where I contacted somebody who had lyrics, and offered to try to put ‘em to music. In this instance, though, the music kinda took over, and the words got somewhat re-worked. I sent the track to the author, but she hasn't responded yet (she may be waiting to see what the 3-4 other people working on the song came up with). I liked the result I came up with–but it's her call. Her words (even if I did change ‘em a little). Song is basically a goodbye to a friend who's dying. So the music is fairly Gospel-sounding. But upbeat. (Songs about death should always be upbeat.)

BLUES PROJECT: Another multi-musician instrumental, this time with lyrics written and sung by me. My part's done, except for introducing the lead musicians. It's called "There's a Bone in My Soup," after "Soupbone," the fellow who started this train of blues collaborations (and then disappeared).

THE PLAY: Leading role–as a dog–in the Country Rose radio play "The Wedding." Again, something different. One sideline benefit is the Country Rose Show online is playing my song, "Jim the Psychic Dog" (off the first CD)–and it wasn't part of the show. Just carrying on the Dog Theme, I guess.

A MUSICAL TRACK: Again, maybe–just happened today, and I have no feedback yet. I volunteered to play guitar on an instrumental a fellow online had written (he only plays piano). Gave him a simple lead, too.

MUSIC IN THE NEW PLACE: On the visit to Phoenix, Oregon, to tie up a place to live for the New Job, I got to play with a passel of musicians (Southern Oregon is reportedly a hotbed of culture that includes music) that includes another city manager and the owner of a local books-and-music store. Supposedly, they're trying to put together a band. Got to play a few of my songs (and got to play lead on some of theirs). Two of the group have the "Santa's Fallen" CD. New job starts 4 June.

And finally, a couple of odd contacts. One wanting to know where I'm playing (because they apparently want to drive a hundred miles or so to see me). And one interested in covering my song "Rotten Candy"–right on the heels of (but not related to) the rejection of the song by the American Idol song contest.

All in all, not a bad week.

Joe

MARKETING...

A good half these blog posts are concerned with PROMOTION. These days, "making it" in music entails more than just good writing–it requires good marketing, too. Used t'be, that was somebody else's job, and there were plenty of somebody-elses to do it. As little as 30 years ago, a band or soloist with some original material could just go down to Mildred's little radio station in Tillamook and play it live on the air. A lot of professional musicians got their start that way. If the DJ thought your stuff was really good, the DJ could connect you with a recording studio (there used to be one of those in Tillamook), and you could cut a record that you and the DJ could shop around to other stations, and if people requested it a lot, and/or the DJs played it a lot, you got famous.

Those days are mostly gone. With very few exceptions (and Mildred's station is one), the stations don't have DJs; they play preset (sometimes pre-recorded) lists of "hits" dictated by somebody in the Corporation on Another Planet that owns the station. Requests? You don't get to request anything that isn't on the "hit" list (if you get to request anything at all). Outsiders mostly don't get into this system, because there aren't the openings any more that outsiders used to be able to get in through.

If the foregoing sounds like a complaint, my apologies. There is no point in complaining–one simply has to deal with Reality as one finds it. And the reality, I think, is that you end up marketing yourself because there isn't anybody else left to do it.

There appear to be two promotional tools the outsider has available. One is LIVE PERFORMANCE; the other, THE INTERNET. No matter how tightly the Powers That Be limit the pressing, distribution, and airplay of songs, they can't control what people play and listen to live. You got something to say, you get out there–everything from street corners to (hopefully) concert halls. Eventually (hopefully) you'll make money at it. It means that the writer has to become a performer, too, even if he didn't want to–and become semi-good at it, because there isn't any other vehicle any more for promoting your material except yourself.

The Internet is the promotion and distribution system the Powers That Be don't control. NOBODY controls it (it's been called the last refuge of anarchy). Anybody can use it; you just have to figure out how. There's no instruction manual, but there are some folks shaping up as good role models–people who are doing things that work.

I've collected probably a couple hundred names and edresses of people over the past couple of years. These are people who've bought CDs, signed sheets asking to know when the next CD is coming out, asked where I'm playing, or sometimes just asked to be "friends" on MySpace. From my end, I'm planning on having another CD out by Christmas, am working up the venue list for Concert Season this summer, and keep putting out new songs. Can the two be melded together?

I asked some folks I "know" online for advice, and got some.

FIRST, I need a "Joe Website." I apparently "own" a domain name already–nakedspacehamsters.com, bought for me by a friend–but haven't done anything with it, because I haven't had (or haven't learned) the tools. I need to upgrade "Alice" the computer with more RAM and Windows XP and a newer version of Adobe Photoshop to do that–but those are planned purchases with the first paycheck from my new job.

The Website will function like a virtual train station, primarily providing links to a bunch of other stuff that already exists: the songs (on Soundclick), the projects with other people (wherever they are), the Concert Season schedule (maybe on MySpace), the blog (currently on MySpace and Google's Blogspot). A "subscribe" button if people want to get e-mails (and an "unsubscribe" button for when they want to stop. A one-paragraph "Breaking News" block I can update constantly–daily, if I want. I have run across one writer who has mostly done this, and I can just imitate her.

The Website is also a "one-stop," like Oregon State Economic Development uses for passeling out grant and loan money. All you have to do is go to this one place and you can get anywhere and anything you want.

I think I just created myself a big pile of work to do–and all I wanted to do was write and play songs. Still, I'm anxious to get started.

This blog has already got a little lengthy–and I was trying to imitate Jonathan "Artist 2.0" Coulter and do shorter blogs. I have updates, but they'll have to wait for next time.

Joe

ARTIST 2.0...

The New York Times is calling him "Artist 2.0." A local boy (though there are over 8 million "local boys" in the Big City) who appears to be making a decent living as a songwriter and solo performer without having anything to do with the Big Boys who control every facet of the music industry. If the "A List" in music consists of the Toby Urbans and Britney Spearses (before she lost her hair), then this guy Jonathan Coulter is at or near the top of the "B List." He may even be defining the "B List." A fellow to watch–and imitate, to the extent possible.

So what's he doing? For starters, he's all over the Web; a quick googling brings up over three pages of Websites. He's got his own Website, he's on MySpace, EventFull, and a bunch of others I never heard of. Every one's got a blog (they may be the same blog)–entries are short, but they're added to almost daily. He responds to every e-mail personally. His "schtick"–apparently developed some time ago–is the "Thing a Week": a song, in his case, written, recorded, and ready for download or sale every week. (He has the equipment to do this.) He's got a number of "Thing a Week" albums for sale. He does gigs in various places around the country, apparently in response to demands from fans–and those, too, are posted (of course). He has a lot of fans–which is why he's able to make a living at this.

Replicable? Definitely–and worth a shot doing so. The fan list is keep-trackable with modern computer technology I just happen to have (and haven't used). Responding personally to individual e-mails is also something I can do (and have started doing). Posting the gig schedule for Concert Season is something I've talked about doing this year (and it's time I did). I do a new "Writer's Blog" every week; there's no reason why the entries can't be shorter, and posted every day or so.

Even the "Thing a Week"? Well, I wouldn't want to commit myself to having a new song every week, but a lot of that may stem from a lack of self-confidence. I did do one a week in April (though that could have been a fluke). However, if one defines "thing a week" more loosely, it's possible. I wrote (and sang) lyrics to one of these Soundclick blues collaborations last week, for instance, have music (I think) to the Swedish song "Tugga Paw" (though I still can't sing it yet), have been asked to do music to another song, and may need to record another traditional Gospel song before the end of the month. Presumably, all of that stuff could count. And that still doesn't count the songs in the pipeline that are still waiting on more verses. Yup, ‘sdoable. I may need a longer timeline than Coulterdude, but I can still make things pop out of the pipeline once a week. I think.

And that's why this blog is shorter (and there will be another one sooner than a week). And why if you contact me, you'll get an answer. The bottom line Coulterdude may have found is people want a personal connection with "their" artist. That's something nobody on the "A List" can deliver–they're too big, and too remote, and the prisoners of a system that treats people like statistical masses rather than individuals. The folks on the "B List," however, can deliver the personal connection. And it may be our best hope.

--Joe

MOVING...

Getting a new job (I'll be interim city manager in Phoenix, Oregon, starting in June) isn't exactly music-related news, but moving is. I'll be in southern Oregon for 3-4 months minimum, and alone–my family will still be 300 miles away up on the northern Oregon Coast. Not much to do except work and play music, in other words.

Southern Oregon is growing fast–it's becoming the medical center for northern California–and consequently there are a lot of resources to go with the growing population. In addition, it's a culturally active area, with a university (in Ashland, Ore.), a renowned Shakespeare Festival (also in Ashland), and an equally-renowned classical music festival (the Britt Festival, in Jacksonville) all within a short distance of where I'll be working. Less well known, probably, is the Spam Festival in Shady Cove, but there's a lot of events like that around, too. Not to mention five (I think) commercial recording studios, and a Songwriters Association–one of only 3 in the state. I've already found out about (and been invited to) a weekly jam session, at a local bookstore. This could be fun.

I have already arranged to take time off from the new job to go to Nashville for Pineyfest at the beginning of August. I didn't mention the Woody Guthrie Festival in mid-July, because I don't know if anything will come of it. Only the grand prize winner really needs to be able to perform on stage, and I'm not expecting that to be me–and the impression I get from their Website is lodging facilities are all full up, and have been for some time. Nobody's been notified yet, and nobody's answered the e-mail I sent them, either.

Depending on how quickly I can put something together, this could be the place to take care of The Next CD. I'd need to find the musicians, get ‘em familiar with the material, and do (again) the Patsy Cline Thing in the studio–record it all live and (hopefully) in one take.

We're probably looking at 12 songs for The Next CD; I don't know (yet) whether it should be an album of all dead-animal songs ("Christmas at the Roadkill Café") or all love songs ("The Heart by the Side of the Road"). Lot of overlap–a lot of my songs would be suitable for either–but I probably do not have enough material to do both. The Christmas album would be fun, because I could probably enlist the Roadkill Café (there are actually several sucn establishments, in various parts of the U.S.) In helping with the marketing–maybe bundle a menu with the CD, and have them sell the CD at the restaurant, for instance.

UPDATES:

No word on "TURN YOUR RADIO ON," but odds are it's not a candidate for inclusion on the gospel album. What research I've been able to do suggests the song is still under copyright. "ROTTEN CANDY" didn't make the American Idol Top Twenty; one outfit is preparing a here's what you missed" album of American Idol rejects, but I don't think my song will make that one, either. They'll want something professionally produced, and I don't have that on this song.

I think I'll consign "DEAD COWS AND THE INTERNET" to the dustbin now–it didn't get much attention, and I haven't been able to play it well. I've still got two more songs that need verses to go with their choruses, and it'd be more productive to work on those.

PUBLISHING COMPANY 101...

So. Wants to get played on the radio, does we? And the radio station manager says she can't play anything that isn't registered with one of the performing-rights organizations, so they can pay royalties. Fair enough. This writer wants airplay, but this writer also agrees that writers ought to get paid.

This writer has a CD out, professionally recorded and mastered, and has been selling copies at gigs. This writer can do that, because all of the songs are original (lyrics and music by said writer), and said writer performed them, too. The Radio Station Thing is a new wrinkle. Sounds like writer needs... a PUBLISHER.

Publishers, however, are not easily obtainable. One doesn't just go down to the local Publisher Store and pick one off a shelf. A publisher has to be interested in representing YOU; the publisher is going to be putting out a lot of effort and money marketing your music to record companies, movie and TV producers, and "artists" looking (theoretically) for new material, and won't make any money until and unless something sells. It's very much the same dilemma a real estate agent faces–and the real estate agent isn't interested in having something in the "catalog" that's not going to sell, either.

Rather than trying to get the attention of a publisher (which a lot of other people are trying to do, too), it's always possible to become ONE'S OWN publisher. Doing that does mean you become responsible for your own marketing; then again, if no one else seems to be interested, why not? It is (theoretically) always possible to "assign" (that's what it's called) the "publishing rights" (that's what they're called) to somebody else later. In the meantime, you've got a publisher (even if it is yourself), and you can now deal with the performing rights organization–and the radio station.

So how to go about it? There are plenty of resources on line (that even agree about a lot of things). There are also people on line who are happy to sell books on the subject, and colleges that will sell you courses on it. We'll stick–right now–to the free stuff.

FIRST STEP in becoming a publisher is to register as a publisher with one of the performing rights organizations (PROs). There are 3 in the U.S.–ASCAP, BMI, and SESAC. BMI is a corporation owned by radio stations (I think) and is free. ASCAP is a membership organization and dues are (or were) ten bucks. Don't know much about SESAC, except they're the only one that sent me a letter asking me to join (that's not necessarily a good reason to do so). I'll pick ASCAP, because they reportedly monitor live performances, which is where the majority of my stuff gets played. (BMI only monitors radio stations.)

It's also necessary to join the SAME PRO as a WRITER. If this sounds redundant, remember it wouldn't be if we had a real publisher. Publishers that represent a lot of writers will want to belong to both ASCAP and BMI; we only have to worry about the one our "writer self" belongs to. Rule is that a publisher has to belong to the same PRO as the writer he or she represents. We're both going to join ASCAP–writer and publisher.

When you register with the PRO, they want you to suggest three possible names for your publishing company. They'll pick one. The reason for this is there are a lot of publishers, and you can't have a name somebody else has already claimed. Shouldn't be hard for a creative person to deal with.

SECOND STEP is making sure your paperwork is in order with local, state and Federal regulatory authorities. You need an Employer Identification Number (EIN) from the IRS; you need to file incorporation, partnership, or "doing business as" papers with the state (here in Oregon, that's the Secretary of State's Corporations Division, and we'll do the "doing business as" because we'll be a sole proprietorship); if the town requires business licenses (mine does), you need one of those, too. Note you can't apply for any of those until you have the business name–which is assigned by the PRO.

THIRD STEP. If the songs in the "catalog" aren't copyrighted yet, copyright them in the name of the publisher. If they're already copyrighted by you-the-writer, it's necessary to do an assignment of copyright to the publisher. This is the document (I think) that ensures the publisher is going to get paid. At very least, do this for the songs that are on the existing CD; you'll need to do it later for anything that's going to be on a CD.

FOURTH STEP is for the publisher to register with the Harry Fox Agency. HFA is an outfit that collects "mechanical" royalties whenever somebody cuts a record with your song on it. (I think that includes you cutting your own record, too.) HFA isn't the only outfit that does this, but they are apparently the biggest. Money is paid by a record company to HFA based on how many CDs are MANUFACTURED, not how many are sold, and HFA pays the publisher.

There. Publishing Company 101.

UPDATES:

"There's a Bone in My Soup" (what I've been calling "Blues Number Four") is up on Soundclick for listening; the artists that'll be contributing leads will pick their spots starting next Monday (5/14). I wrote the lyrics (might as well get all these blues out of my system, so I can go back to writing country music), and sang the vocal; music by Richard Bethell.

"Dead Cows and the Internet" (roughly halfway between blues and country music) is going to have to be recorded live. I want Dick Ackerman's blues harp lead on this, but he's not comfortable with a studio environment; I left him a recording of the basics, and we'll do it live when he's ready, using that 6-channel mixer (bought on eBay a couple of years ago and never used) to mix 3 mikes to 2 channels of the Tascam. Then I'll add my lead guitar afterwards.