For a while now, I’ve been procrastinating about how to best put this blog to GOOD use. I’ve decided to make it about the life of an indie musician. They say to “write about what you know about.” Well, I should know a hell of a lot about the life of an indie musician. I have lived it for all of my adult life, …and then some. So that is what we’re going to do. I plan to schedule the posts to publish just after midnight (C.S.T.) each Sunday. I say “plan to” because we all know what they say about the “best laid plans.”
I will be sharing anecdotes, and observations from daily life. Sometimes I may rant a little, but I’ll do my damnedest to keep the politics and religion and the media etc. etc. etc. down to a dull roar …at least on THIS blog. However, there will be tangents about philosophy, cosmology, books I’ve read or am reading, movies that have inspired me, overheard conversational snippets and such; as those things directly feed into my own creative process. Perhaps we’ll even put some old ghosts to rest, as well.
I want to discuss creative techniques and methodologies as they pertain to writing music, lyrics and life in general. I am eager for other writers and creators to share their ideas, insights, inspirations and techniques with the other readers and myself.
I will be sharing links to resources that benefit both the indie musician & indie music lover. You will also know who is exploiting and preying upon indie musicians; so that you can avoid them like the scourge they are. THEY will not be shown mercy. I encourage an open forum via the comments section so that we can share information and all get to know one another. Music and art are about connectivity, aren’t they? Regardless, this forum will be a place for people and their ideas to connect and collect.
That said, whoever tries to spam this with Viagra ads or SEO ads or anything that I find inappropriate will fail, …miserably. Take that shit somewhere else. The reader should be able to count on an optimal reading experience that is devoid of spam and the lowest common denominators of most forums. (Suggestions and Constructive Criticism are always Welcome. Ad hominem and incessant bitching are not.)
“Here enter not vile bigots, hypocrites, Externally devoted apes, base snites, Puffed-up, wry-necked beasts, worse than the Huns, Or Ostrogoths, forerunners of baboons: Cursed snakes, dissembled varlets, seeming sancts, Slipshod caffards, beggars pretending wants, Fat chuffcats, smell-feast knockers, doltish gulls, Out-strouting cluster-fists, contentious bulls, Fomenters of divisions and debates, Elsewhere, not here, make sale of your deceits.”
From “Gargantua and Pantagruel” by Francois Rabelais
I’m very interested in exploring Social online media, in general. I will share what I find is working, as well as what has failed or not delivered up to expectation. I hope that others will do the same.
Obviously, this is an ideal forum for Alamantra to network with other indie artists as well as promoters and fans of independent art. I’m interested in artists, poets, dancers, designers, entrepreneurs …the creative crowd …the beautiful people. Let’s network. WE ARE THE SCENE WE HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR.
Here enter you, and welcome from our hearts, All noble sparks, endowed with gallant parts. This is the glorious place, which bravely shall Afford wherewith to entertain you all.
Ibid
Finally, I am going to tell you about bands, movie makers, story tellers and all the other charmers met along the way. Life is nothing, if not an adventure. I get to meet a lot of really cool people. Maybe you should meet them, too. I look forward to meeting you.
As John Lennon said, “Life is what happens when you’re busy making other plans.” It seems true enough. Apologies for the lateness of the column, but after one week of dealing with sick kids and another week of dealing with spam attacks on the website, I’ve finally gotten a chance to finish this column.
In this issue, I’m going to discuss online music distribution. We’ll also have a look at, what I call, a classic and truly “indie” project called ‘Bevis Frond;’ as well as review the latest from Birmingham Alabama’s, “Good Morning Lucy.”
When it comes to social networking, the first essential component an indie project needs is a good distributor for their cds and digital downloads. (As important as social networking is for promotion, the first thing one needs is something to promote!) I have tried a few different services, beginning in 2000, with mp3.com. In its day, it was the first substantial platform for delivering indie music to the masses. They also pioneered the “produce on demand” model that allowed bands to upload their music to the site, and then mp3.com would manufacture and distribute cds as they were ordered; sharing the revenue with the artist.
In 2oo4, Alamantra signed up for distribution with “The Orchard,” which turned out to be, in our experience, a grove of rotten fruit. We don’t recommend them and frankly I think that they can go to hell. They failed to distribute in a timely manner, in spite of having been given the material months in advance of its release. They have never paid us penny in royalties; although their payout charts shows that they sent a check …somewhere… to someone named Andrew Andrew (under MY social security number). I know I never received anything. Finally they keep sending me IRS forms regardless of the fact that I stopped using their service YEARS ago …which makes me suspect that they are committing some type of tax fraud. My letters of complaint have gone unanswered. My advice is to stay far away from them.
We then tried using ReverbNation’s digital distribution service for “Alamantra: By Turns.” I generally like ReverbNation and use many of the services they offer, especially their widgets. However, we have noticed the slow inevitable trend away from indie artists, as they work to realize more profits from the online “main stream.” We see more and more main stream artists gravitating toward ReverbNation, much like what happened with the original mp3.com. This skews the charts out of the favor of indie bands and more towards label artists who will, no doubt, drive a more mainstream traffic to ReverbNation’s website. Though this will be of value for ReverbNation’s overall traffic, it won’t necessarily be of much help for the indie bands using their services.
We have decided that, for distribution, our preferred choice is CD Baby, who may be the original success story when it comes to indie bands distributing cds and digital downloads.
Whereas ReverbNation charges a yearly fee per CD for distribution and takes no percentage of the sales from distribution, CD Baby charges a one time processing fee of $49.00 per cd and then takes a small cut per sale. The one time fee covers the following (From the CD Baby FAQ):
“For EVERY CD that comes in, we…
scan the album cover – cropping, balancing, and tweaking the colors to make it look as good as we can
resize the album cover into 4 different sizes for different uses on the website
convert the audio on the CD into .WAV files – just for the songs and lengths you chose
convert the .WAV files into MP3 files, then to lo-res MP3 files
upload all the audio files to the server, create linking files to them, and update the database to say which tracks have been successfully uploaded
listen to the audio clips, and fix them if they’re bad
create a web page just for your album PLUS an artist page where you can put your bio and photo. Don’t worry, we’ll send you an email when your music is live
put your music up on our new arrivals gallery and under each of the genre pages you chose
file it in our warehouse, ready for shipping
It’s about 40 minutes of work per CD.
PLUS: we do all kinds of free “members-only” things (notify our artists of musical opportunities, provide informational resources, newsletters, and podcasts, etc)- FOREVER. Even if you never sent us another CD or another dime, we would do these things for you for decades.
PLUS: we are always available to take your calls and emails. Many artists spend hours on the phone with us, asking all kinds of questions.
We NEVER accept any money after that $49. NO annual fees. NO advertising. NO “paid-placement.” Everyone is given equal treatment.
We NEVER sell your information to other companies, no matter how much they offer to pay us.
THAT’S what the $49 is for. We work hard to make it worth it to you.”
ReverbNation has NO STAKE in whether a given product succeeds or fails. They are satisfied that they provide the artist with the tools and resources to promote their own work. Another thing that I find to be a turn-off, is that if the artist wants to remove a release for any reason, they have to pay a take-down fee. In one place their FAQ states that this is between $15.00 and $30.00. In another, it states, that the fee is $29.95 – $49.95. The FAQ also claims that this money goes to their digital distribution partners and they don’t make anything from it. Given that CD Baby doesn’t need a take-down or removal fee, I find ReverbNation’s claim to dubious, at best.
Another aspect of ReverbNation’s distribution service that I find to be disturbing is their “abandonment” clause. Their FAQ states:
“ What happens if I fail to make a yearly payment or my credit card is declined? You will be given 30 days to remedy the situation. If you do not provide an active credit card within the remedy period or pay the necessary takedown fees, ReverbNation will then consider the release ‘abandoned’. The email account on record will be notified that the release has been abandoned.
What happens when my release is “Abandoned”? ReverbNation will earn all royalties from sales of your music. At any time, ReverbNation may decide to take down the release either with or without notification to the user. While abandoned, and at any time prior to a takedown order, the user can reinstate their subscription by re-subscribing to the Digital Distribution service. If you wish to remove the abandoned album from retailers, you must pay for a Takedown Request, which is $29.95 for the Essentials Package or $44.95 for the Pro Package. “
To quote William Shatner and Henry Rollins: “I can’t get behind that!” ReverbNation appears to seek to position themselves to maximize their profits and stick the artist …the content provider.. with the bulk of the liabilities. Though there is nothing unusual or unethical in this rather common corporate model, I still don’t particularly care for it.
CD Baby, on the other hand, has to have constant sales to generate revenue. They charge the reasonable one time fee and then count on a small portion of the sales to make a profit. It would seem to me that such a deal gives them more incentive to see the bands, that distribute through them, do well. It creates more of a spirit of camaraderie and a sense of shared fate.
Some may prefer ReverbNation’s model since it theoretically maximizes the percentage that the artist will earn on their works. I’d remind the reader: 100% of nothing is still nothing. I prefer to distribute with CD Baby.
Another service that CD Baby offers that I think is fantastic, and really hope to see more bands, bloggers, reviewers etc use, is their affiliate program. This service allows anyone who loves music to sign up, free of charge, to distribute the bands on CDBaby via their own websites, blogs, emails etc. The affiliate gets $1.00 of every cd sold through their links, as well as 5% on digital download revenues. All of this comes out of CDBaby’s revenue share; not the artists’. Obviously if a person is a fan of an artist, they will be inclined to tell their friends or provide links to that artist. CD Baby provides an extra incentive by paying that person for every cd or download that they successfully promote and sell …something that a fan would most likely do for free, anyway. That’s a win-win, as far as I’m concerned. Also sites that regularly feature or review bands can simply create an online record store and generate revenue from all the artists that they support. I find this program is forward-looking since indie bands and fans are starting to seek more opportunities for engagement and cooperation with one another, rather than velvet ropes and the competitive “me first” attitude that has dominated the music scene for so long.
This type of affiliate marketing is also a rather novel solution for what has been a long-standing problem: The goal of having a website is to generate traffic. In order to do this sites must have a constant stream of updated content that is going to appeal to people and keep them coming back. Early on, many of the of music sites adopted the concept of getting bands to pay, in some way or other, to put their content on these sites. This is a model that I have heard one friend refer to as “mining the miners and farming the farmers.” The “sell” to the bands is that its going to expose them to that site’s traffic, which is there to find music. That whole idea has always rubbed me the wrong way. There wouldn’t be any music to drive site visits if the bands weren’t more than willing to provide it. It seems inappropriate to ask musicians, artists, writers etc. to PAY to provide a site with the content that is going to generate the revenue from that comes with having substantial traffic. It is also understood that these sites are going to find ways to generate revenue from the visitors. As a content provider I don’t feel I should have to pay to provide website X with the material they’re going to ultimately market, exploit and derive the most benefit from.
An affiliate program like the one offered by CDBaby provides a bridge to rectify this problem. A given site can feature music by a given artist, sell their cd, make some money for themselves and not have to charge or …in some cases.. temporarily ‘bootleg’ the artist’s material to provide content for their site.
I see the greatest potential for affiliate marketing in the realm of music blogs and review sites. So many of them feature downloads that they’ve found of an artist; and all carry some variation of a statement that says things to effect of “we’re only providing a free download for a limited time to promote the artist. If any artist wishes to have their music removed please contact us” etc. The fact that they have to provide such a caveat in the first place, is telling. This puts the indie artist in the awkward and time-consuming position of having to go around and make sure they’re not being unduly taken advantage of. This is also unnecessary.
I hope that bloggers and reviewers will eventually take note of the approach that “An Indie Musician’s Life” is using to promote other artists. I do not pirate anyone’s downloads, even to promote them. Instead, I create a ReverbNation widget, a soundcloud widget or a Youtube embed for that artist. I use the distribution points that the artist has made available. (The sole exception to this rule is when I am contacted by a band who expressly asks me to put up a download of a release that they may not have generally made available yet. After all I’m here for them and want to do what I can to accommodate their needs. It’s also the way I wish to be treated as an artist.) When the site visitor chooses to listen to the ReverbNation widget, it helps the artist on their ReverbNation charts. (The site visitor can also ‘grab’ the widget and distribute it …something that I encourage.) The same is true with a SoundCloud or any other type of widget. I also provide a “buy” link as a CD Baby affiliate. If someone likes the artist and likes what I’m doing here, they will hopefully click it to buy that artist’s work. This way everybody wins and no-one gets taken advantage of.
There are many other sites providing distribution of both cds and digital content. Some of them are: TuneCore ($4.99 per month per album), 101Distribution (Basic Pkg: $49.95 per album; Pro Pkg: $495.95 per album+19.95 per album per year), Independent Records (1st Album: $295.00, each additional album $150.00 + $100.00 per year renewal). As I have not used their services I cannot attest to their usefulness. I’ve heard good things about TuneCore, but it is hearsay, and I won’t make a definitive opinion. I can say that 101Distribution and Independent Records seem a bit pricey for the artist, especially when we consider how much music has been devalued by streaming services such as Spotify. If you do use any of these other distribution services, please feel free to leave us a comment and share your results.
Meet The Bevis Frond:
When Jorge Burrows over at IAMNOTJERRY.Com reviewed Alamantra’s most recent work, Workingman’s Bread, he wrote me to say that, after several listens, “Brian Jones” sounded to him like classic Bevis Frond and he was going to make the comparison in his review (which he did). I have to say I was more than intrigued. I had never heard of Bevis Frond and this set me on a new musical quest to find out about this band. I was NOT disappointed and think it’s a fair …even flattering… comparison. We really do speak the same musical language and Nick Saloman, the brain behind the name, is an artist that I can truly relate to. Even our guitar styles are similar in that we each prefer to play without a pick. Bevis Frond was an “indie” band before such a label existed. Though the music goes back as far as the late 1960s when Mr. Saloman was still in his teens, The Bevis Frond emerged, as such, sometime around 1987. Nick Saloman writes songs that captures the musical sense of the psychedelic era and much of his material can be traced back to groups like The Byrds, Iron Butterfly and The Jimi Hendrix Experience, but with a definitive British makeover. His accent is a dead giveaway. His music doesn’t just merely imitate the sounds of a bygone era, though. Having put out at least 26 Bevis Frond albums, not counting other projects, his music is prolific in quantity and diverse in quality. He ranges from quiet, thoughtful acoustic guitar pieces to total sonic bombast to the charming and humorously absurd. There is a sense of boundless adventure, of spirit and magic throughout all of it. For rock music fans, it would be very difficult to not find something in the Bevis Frond catalog that speaks to them. Listen to Bevis Frond’s newest work, “The Leaving of London” on the streaming player above, then go buy their material. The world has some catching up to do. This is authentic stuff. Don’t miss it.
Regardless of musical genre, the things that appeal to me in music are a love of the songcraft, and the thought and love that goes into making music. Birmingham’s own Good Morning Lucy seems to embrace this as well, as the five songs on their latest ep, ”Between You and I” attests. Good Morning Lucy’s music has a very palatable flavor to it that emphasizes strong, melodic vocals and tasteful musicianship. The most identifiable characteristic is Benjamin Jones strong vocal abilities. He has great voice for this style of music. For those who are looking for a pop flavored rock sound, they just may have what you’re looking for.
The record starts off with wistful “It Only Hurts On The Inside” that begins with the subtle, single guitar intro and begins to ascend to a powerful climax in the chorus. The next song, “Out of My Head,” comes in with a solid, lock-step drum beat, that lifts up the words, “I stepped inside your circle. It seemed so nice and clear; I washed away myself, away my fear” The song quickly accelerates into a catchy, foot-tapper that could easily fill up a dance floor at any alternative club.
My personal favorite from the record is the last song, “Coming Down.” It’s easily the most rocking track, and is radio friendly, especially in the college market. If I had any complaints or constructive criticism to offer, it would be to say that the mix sounds a little to hot, and comes close to clipping. Other than that, this is a very solid effort and I recommend it to those who are looking for some fresh alternative style indie/college pop-rock.
Good Morning Lucy is: Benjamin Jones – Vocals, Guitar; Andrew Cromer – Backing Vocals, Guitar; Kyle Godwin – Guitar; Kason Godwin – Bass; Ashton Raymer – Drums.
Recorded & Mixed at Clearwave Studio in Decatur, AL.
Mastered at L. Nix Mastering in Memphis, TN.
Published by Purple Ivory Productions L.L.C.
Cover photo by Dia Takácsová at Aeternus Photography
Cover layout and design by Don Carroll at Sauce Box Creative
Organ arrangement on “Black Dress” played by James Kelly
I had planned to discuss Twitter & Online radio for this issue. However, I was under the weather for a good part of the week with an upper respiratory illness, and my energy level just hasn’t been up to snuff. I haven’t even been able to Twitter much this week …and my apologies to those we work with through that medium.
Instead, I will begin ”covering the basics” for building a sustainable, enduring indie presence on the web. I will also review, “Shine” by John Scalici’s Juka Tribe.
I firmly believe that an indie artist should start and end with hir OWN website, with hir OWN domain name. Make sure it is maintained. Make sure it is easy to navigate, too. One’s own domain name that is well maintained, is something that the artist can brand into hir other merchandise, cd designs, flyers, social sites and other points of contact; both online and offline.
One of the problems that bands/artists have to deal with is to create something unique or that stands out enough to ultimately find and appeal to an audience. The most direct way to do this is to start with one’s own site; where creative and content control are most absolute. For doing so, I recommend combining “GoDaddy” and “WordPress.” For around $60.00 per year GoDaddy provides 10 Gig of server space, 10 SQL accounts, and unlimited bandwidth. Even with domain registration costs or some of the extra bells and whistles (i.e extra email accounts etc.), it comes to $100.00 a year or less.
“WordPress” is free, is a very flexible platform, with a lot of plugins and features for customization. There are many free themes easily adapted to present the band/artist. They have excellent navigation schemes that are easily configured. Also, GoDaddy has a simple installation interface for WordPress. Expect a learning curve that, for some, could take as little as two or three days or as much as two or three weeks, depending on aptitude and motivation. Perhaps, in a future issue, I’ll create a step by step guide.
Many bands use their Facebook, ReverbNation or Myspace pages as a main artist/band site. That is all fine and well, but the problem with doing so is that it confines the traffic and exposure largely to the people who use those particular sites. One could argue that this is “just about everybody.” I would counter that the same was true back in the golden days of mp3.com circa 2000. My point being, enthusiasm for these sites comes and goes. Myspace used to be the big dog on the block. Now many people ‘detest’ Myspace and don’t want to have to endure all the ads and scripts that goes with the visit. Though Facebook’s popularity is still practically unprecedented, there are already people grumbling over privacy issues, more ads, the “timeline” etc. Over time, its popularity will peak and then something “new” will come along. In fact, now we have IGoogle in the ring to compete with Facebook, Myspace and the others.
There is an inherent limitation in that the bulk of the people using social network sites are there for reasons other than trying to find out about a little known band or artist. Sure, some will stumble on it, some will like it and “share” it, but there has to be a lot of this before it can create enough momentum to “go viral.” Even on music sites like ReverbNation, where people are there to either hawk or hear music, there are so many bands and so much music that, without a serious ongoing promotional campaign, it is unlikely that you will reach your greatest potential audience. Never mind that there are so many music sites competing for listeners.
Building one’s own site creates a stable central platform that isn’t floating on the tide of another site’s popularity, functionality, mission or terms of service. At the same time, one’s own site creates a place where one can integrate those other networks as well as create a fairly easy maintenance routine for an overall web presence. It also gives rise to possibly creating extra revenue streams through google ads, and/or other affiliate networks.
If you’re wondering about the effectiveness of having one’s own site …well, if you are reading this, then you have made contact with Alamantra through our site. Even if you are reading this on Facebook or some other site, this post begins and ends with the Alamantra blog at http://alamantra.org.
Another thing having one’s own site does, that will help increase exposure, is it creates a destination for links and back links that will increase the artist/band ranking on search engines; still the most common way sites are found. If you do use the WordPress format, make sure you install the SEO plugin and use it to create meta-data for your pages and content.
Once you have your WordPress site up and running, it is very easy to hook it into all the social networking sites such as your Facebook, Twitter etc.. WordPress is widget friendly and makes every effort to integrate across the web. I also like to use ArtistData for pushing the blog posts to other sites, as well as using its feed for Alamantra’s show schedule on our website. RSS is truly a wonderful thing.
Review: Shine by John Scalici’s Juka Tribe
If I were to describe Juka Tribe’s newest effort, “Shine,” in one word, it would be “FUNKY!” Overall, it comes across like a world beat recording, in the tradition of Mickey Hart. Still, there is an impressive diversity of influences throughout. Unlike so many world beat recordings, this cd happily digs down into its southern experiences. Though global, the music grows like kudzu over the persistent red Alabama clay.
The title track, Shine, hangs on the memorable guitar riff from Pink Floyd’s, “Shine On You Crazy Diamond.” Spoken word artist, Sharriff Simmons, steps into the light with the words, “Culture is Memory,” used as a refrain throughout a thoughtful and colorful narrative. I really appreciate the solid pocket laid down by the bass and drums. I found my head bobbing and my foot tapping the whole time I listened. This track is tight with the Light.
I think my favorite tune is “Mudflap.” It starts with a wah over a chilled 70s kind of groove featuring organ and horns. Smooth!
The music and quality of the recording are all first-rate, and this is pleasurable, engaging listening treasure created by good people. John Scalici is a master drummer and percussionist, and is the founder of “Get Rhythm“. This is an interactive workshop that uses rhythm to empower individuals, build community, team work and self-esteem. He has presented programs for school children as well as the disabled and disadvantaged; bringing a positive light into his community. The CD is aptly named.
Shine CD Release Party: (Event Page) 7:00 PM Friday Feb. 17th at Children’s Dance Foundation: 1715 27th Court South: Homewood, Alabama. W/ Erynias Tribe, Devyani Dance, Sharriff Simmons and others. Tickets: $10:00 Advance/$12.00 at the Door.
I suppose it is time to write my first real post in this new endeavor. In this “issue” I will tell you about a couple of great sites that offer great deals on printing. We’ll also talk about QR codes, what they are and how to use them. Additionally, I’ll tell you about a couple of local Birmingham scene builders that deserve your attention, and we’ll close by taking a listen to “Southern Circus” by Royal and Toulouse. …Let the fun begin.
Print Media
For building a local presence, one still needs good print media. Fliers and postcards advertising a show still play an important role in letting your local music lovers know about you. Besides, flyer making is an art form in itself.
This was a full color 18x24 poster I designed and had printed at ShortRunPosters.Com
I like really BIG fliers. The best place I’ve found for getting them done is a website called Short Run Posters. They offer a full color 18″ x 24″ poster for as low as $2.97. The only “catch” is, for that price, they want to put their own company branding on the back. If you just can’t live with the thought of them doing that, you can get them to leave it off by adding an extra $2.00 to the price. However, I don’t think its worth it. The way I see it, the more people who use them, the more likely they are to stay in business with these insanely good deals. If 18″ x 24″ is just too small for your own taste, they also offer a 24″ x 36″ size for $15.97. In my opinion, it is very hard to find a place to hang posters that size, but if your situation calls for it …they have it.
One of the really great things about Short Run Posters is that they drop-ship. So, if your band has a gig in another town, you can order the posters and have them sent directly to the venue. Just make sure you work it out with the venue owner or promoter(s) you are working with. It would suck to fork out that kind of scratch to have your beautiful artwork delivered into oblivion; especially if money is as hard to come by for you as it is for me. So if you can find a better deal, let me know!
There is a band here in the ‘ham called Dub Massive. They play reggae, and they are very, very talented. Not only that, they are very good at marketing themselves. One of their customs is to create event postcards: 4″x6″ cards that includes show details and other information. I like these better than the more traditional flyer or handbill, as they look better, hold up better, and demonstrates to the fan or club-owner a sense of seriousness of purpose. Enter PSPrint.Com. This is a great place to get all kinds of different printing done, but I have especially begun using them for promo cards. They often have “sales” and offer “60%” off. What that means is that you can get 50 cards, printed full color on both sides of a 14 pt C2S gloss cover for $14.23. You can get 100 for $20.36. This means that if you have a gig AND a cd that you’re trying to promote, like me, you can put the gig info on one side and the cd download info on the other.
In addition to postcards, PSPrint.com also prints everything from business cards, to event tickets to vinyl banners. It is a pretty decent one stop shop. Like ShortRunPosters.com, they also do drop shipping.
When doing posters or promotion cards, these days it is important to remember to include a QR code somewhere in the design. This allows potential fans with smart phones, to reach a web page with more information, a google map to the venue, mp3s, videos, ‘buy’ links etc.. Band and artists who are not using a QR code are letting a great opportunity to connect with fans slip through their fingers.
This is what a QR code for Alamantra.org looks like
The easiest way I have found to get a QR code is to use bit.ly. Simply copy the link of the page you wish to direct people to and paste it into the Bit.ly link shortener. After shortening the link, you will see “Info Page+” link. Click it, and you will see the QR code in the upper right hand corner. Just “right-click,” and “save as” to your hard drive. It will save as a .png file. When making your print media, just include the QR code somewhere on it. You can even have it printed on your T-shirts! Just remember that if you have to resize it, keep the proportions the same, or it may not work so well.
There’s one more thing I should mention before moving on, and that is stickers. Stickers are nothing short of a tradition in the indie music genre, as well as the so-called main stream. Though PSPrint offers a pretty good deal on stickers, I have to recommend The Sticker Guy. He’s indie, too. Besides, he does fantastic work, uses first-rate materials, has a nice choice of colors and shapes and is reasonably priced …especially for what you get. Check him out. You won’t be sorry.
Local Scene Builders:
Though there are many, many fantastic people working to build a better indie music scene in Birmingham, and they all are worthy of mention, I want to begin by telling you about two, in particular.
Indie Music Connect Birmingham
First up: Indie Music Connect Birmingham This is a promising group of folks that get together in Birmingham; organized and facilitated by Martha Jean Schindler. They meet four times a month alternating between Tuesdays, one week, at The Bottletree, and Thursdays, the following week, at The Rare Martini. They meet from 6:00-8:00 PM and discuss networking, song-craft and even have jam sessions. Indie Music Connect Birmingham also does interviews and reviews on their website. MJ, as she is known, was even nice enough to do a write-up on this ugly old mug of mine. They are working hard to build a supportive foundation for a thriving Birmingham music scene and they deserve our recommendations and support. We luv ‘em!
The Birmingham Free Press
The Birmingham Free Press was founded many moons ago by Stephen Smith, Lee Waites and Brent Stauffer to offer a progressive voice for the Birmingham community. For the most part, they have kept this going as a labor of love. Though their online presence has continued to grow, they have also maintained Stephen’s goal to put out a broad sheet paper as often as financially possible. Last year they successfully recruited David Hornbuckle as the BFP’s managing editor. This has given Lee the time and freedom to develop Birmingham Free Press Music, which has been very effective at creating a growing network for local and regional artists via Facebook and the BFP-Music site. Lee summarizes the goals for BFP-Music:
“I attempt at every opportunity to provide the forum and information clearing house for focused, local music information and content. I have been doing it for a year now, and it seems to be catching on. The idea is that, in order to not get lost in the “everything else” of the Internet or local media, there is a place for just Birmingham music stuff, and a voice for Birmingham musicians. I feel a great kinship with local musicians. I want the scene to be its own, not a copy of any other city, or just judged on its ability to create money for the performers or the venues; but to reveal the substance, the interesting and deep character that I see in Birmingham’s music community.”
Alamantra wishes them the best in their efforts and will be there for them as needed.
Music Reviews:
Over the following weeks and months we will be checking out artists from the local & regional scene, as well as some national and international acts. If you are interested in having your band’s music reviewed, send me some info. I require that the bands reviewed here 1. be independent/unsigned & 2. have reverbnation and cdbaby accounts (so make sure you include your links.) Also, I only review music that appeals to me or that fits in with the overall theme of what I’m writing about. I’m mostly interested in indie, psychedelic, eclectic, hybrid rock, folk rock, blues, jazz and country. I most likely won’t review pop, metal, thrash, trance, electronica or D&B; and will not review Rap/Hip-hop unless it is something particularly unique and special. There are plenty of other sites for that. In this edition, we’ll take a gander at Royal & Toulouse.
Southern Circus by Royal and Toulouse
With fourteen tracks, this CD is nothing less than a good ol’ fashioned Southern feast of sound that spans from New Orleans blues, funk, jazz, psychedelic rock, a little hip hop and a dash of voodoo. These tracks feature the vocals of Milyn Satterfield, who has a voice eerily reminiscent of singers like Billie Holiday and Bessie Smith. She has said her vocal style is something she inherited from her Grandmother, who was a gifted professional singer from “the good ol’ days.” Though, by no means, lacking in modern influences, I like that there is a sense of nostalgia and preservation that runs throughout the recording. It has an organic type of authenticity that I find appealing.
Even though the CD is self-made and self-produced it certainly doesn’t come away as lacking in its recording quality, musicianship or sense of craft. It was recorded and mastered in Birmingham by Emanual Ellinas of Sonic Sitori. Emanual certainly understands sound and processing, having created a line of pedals used by folks like Thurston Moore and Lee Renaldo of Sonic Youth, as well as John Cummings of Mogwai. The musicianship is no less impressive and features some of Birmingham’s favorites: Raymond ‘Ol Tyma’ Hill (Headbaub Entertainment) spittin’ some chill raps, Carlos Pino (Smokin’ Newports, Ona Watson, Sharriff Simmons) on guitar; Matt Slocum (Susan Tedeschi, Jimmy Herring and Oteil Burbridge) tickling the ivories; the horn work of Chad Fisher (Gregg Allman, Jason Isbell), Gary Wheat (Meteorite, The Temptations) & Rob Allen; and vocals from Kenneth (K.d.) Robinson (George Clinton, Smokey Robinson, Jive Mob, Alamantra). The rhythm section is as solid as it gets with Ricky Little and Alex Troughton holding down the bass and drums, respectively. These two have developed their tight rhythmic chemistry since the days of “Jive Mob;” a band that quickly captured ears throughout the South East in the late 1990s.
Overall, this is a damned fine, down-home brew of music that belongs in the collection of anyone who treasures a fresh mix of innovation and preservation. …An excellent piece of work!
Well, I guess that about wraps this edition of An Indie Musician’s Life. Next week I’ll tell you what I’m learning with Twitter, discuss a bit about online radio and promotions, and review another band. Until then, have a great week and keep it between the ditches.
