Feed Your Fan

Feed Your Fan Music Minute

Posted on June 14, 2012 by Tom

You can find all the episodes of the Feed Your Fan Music Minute podcast here.

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Feed Your Fan Is Going Podcasting

Posted on March 24, 2012 by Tom

My good friends at The East Coast Multi Media Outlet Gamers have designs to create a podcasting empire and have created a modest Kickstarter campaign to raise funds for equipment to get started. Their passion for gaming matches my passion for music. They understand that there is more to life than gaming so they plan to create not only gaming podcasts but also podcasts that interest gamers. Their first attempt to branch out beyond gaming will be the Feed Your Fan Music Minute, a daily one minute song review podcast that I will be creating. My thoughts about my favorite independent musicians and the songs, one nibble at a time.

Please take a few minutes to check this out and throw them a few bucks if you’re feeling it or if you’re broke and feeling it, tweet it, facebook it, tell your friends. Thanks.

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Ground Hog’s Day Resolution

Posted on February 2, 2012 by Tom

You are a month into your New Year’s resolution. How’s that going for you. The problem with New Year’s resolutions is that the only thing keeping that resolution alive is your resolve. Here’s a list of everyone I know that is self motivated enough to keep a New Year’s resolution:

If you have survived January with your resolution intact, congratulations. You are in a tiny minority. Speed on. The rest of us get a second chance. Today you get to make your Ground Hog’s Day resolutions. The problem is how the make your Ground Hog’s Day resolution turn out better than your New Year’s resolution.

Review your New Year’s Resolution. Is it obtainable? Is it challenging? If it is unreasonably easy or difficult start over. Is it quantifiable? Does it have time constraints? You have to know when it’s been achieved. If it meets these four criteria you have a chance for sucess because your resolution has been transformed. It is now a goal. It can be tracked. You can tell if you are making progress. You can tell if you suceed.

Now write it down. Put it on the wall in front of your desk. Glue it to your guitar. Make it into the wallpaper for your phone. Somewhere that you will see it every day. Tell your friends. Tell the world, that’s what the internet is good for. This can be a resolution that you will keep for Ground Hog’s Day resolutions are resolutions with teeth.

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2011 in Review

Posted on January 9, 2012 by Tom

2011 was another incredible year in music. Here is the year encapsuled: my twenty five favorite albums , top ten songs, and my most seen live acts of 2011.

The most stalked live acts of 2011 were The Stereofidelics, David Wax Museum, Abigail Washburn, Hannah Miller, and Merry Ellen Kirk although Merry Ellen appeared so many times on my favorite local shows Eleven O’Clock Rock and The Blue Plate Special that it could be argued that she was stalking me. I have lost track but I know I saw each of these acts between five and ten times this year. Lucky me.

The Top Twenty Five List saving the best for last:

25) Tie – Merry Ellen Kirk – Firefly Garden and Morgan Bracy – The End of Cinderella

Two Nashville friends complete their parallel years side by side. Both put out official videos, duo side projects, and full length solo albums in 2011. Merry Ellen has her Blinding Me video and The Shakespeares EP (with Aaron Krause), along with Firefly Garden. Morgan has her Lovechild Zombie video Honey and EP (with Joel Jacks).

24) Toy Soldiers – Get Through The Time

One of two Philadelphia bands to make the list, catch Toy Soldiers live when you get the chance.

23) Laura Meyer - Golden Delicious

A late 2011 release from a wandering musician finally settling down. Golden Delicious continues Laura’s evolution from folk to rock.

22) Gwyneth and Monko – Self Titled

An eclectic mix of old time, rootsy, bluesy fun. Be sure to check out the Gwyneth clones on the album cover.

21) Bess Rogers – Out of the Ocean

Bess created an incredible Kickstarter campaign to fund this album. If she had only put the song she wrote for her Kickstarter video, Out of the Ocean might have cracked my top ten. Go watch and listen now.

20) Katie Powderly – Slips of the Tongue

Katie founded Red Winged Blackbird Records to release Slips of the Tongue which she plans to promote via a 50 State RV tour in 2012.

19) Lady – You and Me

The first full length album from a Philadelphia band lead by the amazing Kate Foust.

18) Amy LaVere – Stranger Me

You don’t often see anyone singing lead while playing stand up bass, especially when the bass is bigger than the singer. So don’t miss Amy when she comes around.

17) Ten Cent Poetry – Picking Through the Pawnshop

Be sure to listen to Galileo, a stunningly beautiful song that could have been my favorite song of 2011 if I hadn’t been hearing it live for several years.

16) Treva Blomquist – These Fading Things

My favorite singer from Arkansas. Ok, I’ve never been to Arkansas and can’t name any other singers from there but that does not diminish my love for Treva’s songs.

15) The Stereofidelics – Live From Binghampton

A full rock band with only two members. Guitar, bass, drums, electric violin and male and female voice, all in the same song, all performed live, all from two people. Live From Binghampton is not as good as watching them on video, and watching them on video is nothing like seeing them live but their live album is still one of the best of 2011. Your New Year’s Resolution needs to be: See The Stereofidelics live. It’s not that hard as they tour nationwide extensively.

14) Adelle Cotton – Live From Eddie’s Attic

Darby Wilcox and Sarah Schaffer started the year changing their name from O Mello Cello Tree to Adelle Cotton and ended the year splitting up to work on solo projects. They left us with Live From Eddies Attic to treasure until the solo work starts showing up. Can’t wait.

13) Hannah Miller – O Black River (EP)

The middle disc in a three EP set, O Black River produced one of my favorite songs of the year in the title track. I saw Hannah at least five times in 2011 and every time a different song stuck out as my favorite. Find a list of those favorites on O Black River.

12) Tyler Lyle – The Golden Age and The Silver Girl

This year’s annual output from this prolific LA via Atlanta writer is a break up album for the ages. Tyler’s interests lie beyond music. Be sure to read his account of his arrest during the OccupyLA protests. Tyler proved his popularity with his fans at a recent show in Knoxville. In response to a request, Tyler said he would try but he didn’t often play that particular song live anymore. He attempted the song but couldn’t get started, the words wouldn’t come to him. Undeterred, two young ladies proceeded to prompt him with the lyrics to his own song, singing along with Tyler until he managed to make his way through the song. One of the coolest things I have seen live in some time.

11) Matt Otis – Life Love Death. Check out Matt’s You Tube channel. He is making videos for every song on the album. The first four songs are done.

10) Charlie Faye – Travels with Charlie

To get the story of the tour that birthed this album read this Feed Your Fan interview. Be sure to go to her website to check out the coolest jukebox on the website.

9) The Black Lillies – 100 Mile of Wreckage

My favorite album title of the year and home to one of my five favorite songs. Keep reading.

8 ) Eilen Jewell – Queen of the Minor Key

Another cool jukebox currently playing Bang, Bang, Bang. Take a listen.

7) Greg Holden - I Don’t Believe You

Check out the video to my favorite song of the year. Special thanks to Bess Rogers who appears in the video and pointed me toward Greg and Bar On A.

6) Over The Rhine – The Long Surrender

Get yourself the deluxe box set with the CD and vinyl versions of the album plus a 32 page booklet before they are all gone.

5) Jill Andrews – The Mirror

The ex-Everybodyfields singer’s first full length solo album is too gorgeous to believe.

4) Tom Waits – Bad As Me

It’s a major upset when Tom Waits puts out a new album and it isn’t my favorite of the year. Bad As Me was a minor disappointment as I expect each new work from him to be groundbreaking beautiful and bizarre. Still strong enough to reach number four and still strong enough to keep him my personal all time favorite.

3) Amy Speace - Land Like a Bird

Vertigo didn’t make my top five list of favorite songs of 2011. I am not even sure it is one of my five favorite songs on Land Like a Bird. It is the song that most often played unbidden in my head. All year long it would come to me, a melody at the edge of my consciousness, perhaps the most powerful song of 2011. A song of lust and anticipation. Play it and anticipate the rest of Land Like a Bird.

David Wax Museum – Everything Is Saved

For a month this fall I stalked David Wax Museum, following them from The Bristol Rhythm and Roots Reunion to the Americana Music Awards in Nashville to the Lake Eden Arts Festival in Black Mountain North Carolina but my favorite show was unscheduled and thrown together in less then twenty four hours. Read the story of the power of fans and Social Media here.

1) Abigail Washburn – City of Refuge

On January 11, 2011 City of Refuge was released and over the remaining 254 days of the year no one was able to release a better album. I spent 2010 listening to this album live over the course of nine shows. I heard the songs develop and grow and knew by its release that it was my favorite album of 2011. If you don’t believe me go back and read this review from December 2010. I deliver on my promises.

I will conclude this wrap up of 2011 with my ten favorite songs of 2011, each an irresistible earworm.

10) Can’t Stay Long – Gwyneth and Monko

9) So Wrong For You – Treva Blomquist

8 ) Galileo – Ten Cent Poetry

7) Theme to a Kickstarter Campaign – Bess Rogers

6) Bang, Bang, Bang – Eilen Jewell

5) Two Hearts Down – The Black Lillies

4) Born With A Broken Heart – David Wax Museum

3) The Mirror – Jill Andrews

2) O Black River – Hannah Miller

1) Bar On A – Greg Holden

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Hiatus Broken

Posted on December 31, 2011 by Tom

It is time to end Feed Your Fan’s unofficial hiatus and once again write. A series of hardware, software, and wetware problems brought this blog to a unfortunate halt. The hardware and software problems have been solved, ignored, or worked around and the wetware problems, well, they are me for better or worse.

I began this afternoon planning on finishing the year end review that was to break the hiatus. I went to my unknown artist download file to listen and try to identify some of the music that I have ignored to long to remember who created it. The first listen was so good it drove me to Google to track down Jean Synodinos. Beg, borrow, or buy her album – Girls, Good and Otherwise. It’s full of lines like “Even bad girls need good luck” and “My resolution this year’s break the law in little ways”. It’s beautiful and jazzy and sexy and bold like the women she writes about. And it distracted me from my task and now I have to go to work and the original post is not ready. This post will have to do for now.

Look for my music review of 2011 in the early days of 2012. Look for regular posts in 2012. I resolve.

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Every Show Is The Most Important Show Of Your Career

Posted on September 22, 2011 by Tom

I love the internet. At 5:30 I saw a facebook post saying that David Wax Museum was playing at the Folk School of Chattanooga at 8:00. Just in time to google an address, mapquest directions, fill up the tank, and get to Chattanooga. It seems that the band had played Chattanooga last night to an audience of ten, sixteen if you count the opening act and bartender. It would be easy to get frustrated and just go through the motions for a turnout like that. Just Saturday night at the Bristol Rhythm and Roots Reunion they had played before such a packed house that there was so little separation between band and audience that there was the real possibility of someone getting a bow in the eye. The lesson here is that you need to give your all every night for every crowd, even if crowd is a misnomer. You never know who in the audience is important to your wallet or your career. In the crowd last night was Christie Burns who loved the show, asked about the tour, and discovered today was an open date. Christie is a director at the Folk School of Chattanooga and asked David Wax Museum if they wanted to play a show on their day off. Out of nowhere a show materialized. I got the message and made the drive and so did about 50 other people, most who had first heard of them either the night before or with a facebook or email invite today. The intimate setting of the Folk School of Chattanooga made a house concert like all acoustic performance that allowed the band to shine. David Wax Museum made sure that everyone left with a CD at name your price with free being an option. The email list and tip jar both filled as they circulated the room and the evening was a success for the band and their new fans as well as this old fan. All because they played a great show for ten people who came back for more and brought their friends.

Posted in Best Practices | Tagged Bristol Rhythm and Roots Reunion, Christie Burns, David Wax Museum, Feed Your Fan, Folk School of Chattanooga | 1 Comment

Find New Places For Your Music And Go There

Posted on September 6, 2011 by Tom

As it gets harder to sell music as the twenty first century progresses, alternate revenue streams become increasingly more important to the independent artist. While it may be harder to sell your CD to the public; television, movies, and video games are clamoring for music for their projects. Major label gatekeepers are losing the power to direct internet access to music for fans. However gatekeepers are still strong in other entertainment fields. It would be advantageous to find ways around them.

At the WeRIndie Music Conference, Brian Ashley Jones suggested one way around the gatekeepers of the film industry. He has begun attending film festivals in attempt to meet filmmakers directly in hope to get his music into movies. The film industry, like the music industry, has been opened to everyone via the internet and there are thousands of independent, low budget filmmakers who need music for their projects. Low budget often translates to low remuneration as you are likely to get asked to let your music be used for free for the exposure. Sometimes the exposure may be reward enough but perhaps an exchange of services may be mutually beneficial. You may be able to trade the use of your music for the filming of a professional video.

The idea is to find new places for your music to appear and hang out where those creators hang out. Maybe a gaming convention or film festival would be good fun and good for your career.

Posted in Sampled and Amplified | Tagged Brian Ashley Jones, Feed Your Fan, Revenue streams for musicians, WeRIndie | Leave a comment

Separate Yourself From The Musical Masses

Posted on August 31, 2011 by Tom

The internet explosion is a two sided coin, opportunity and obscurity. It is easier than ever to connect to music fans and harder than ever to grab and hold their attention. What are you doing to separate yourself from the millions of musicians out there? I came across a couple of examples recently of musicians creating memorable shows.

Jacob Johnson, a singer songwriter out of Greenville South Carolina came to The Preservation Pub bringing his admirable songwriting and guitar playing skills as well as something a little different. Check out this schizophrenic rendition of a children’s favorite.