First Impressions.. You Only Get One Of Them

Being in the record label/publishing business and touring with Shawna Russell over 100 shows per year, puts me in contact with many young artists trying to find their way in the ever changing world of music. Most every place we play we seem to collect CD's and projects from folks wanting us to hear their music, record one of their tunes or to help them in some way. We eagerly accept these offerings. Usually with a warning that we can't "digest" their tunes since we don't want to accidentally re-write something they wrote a couple of years from now.. We do however listen to most projects at least once.
Sometimes we hear great talent, good songs and good production.. however the vast majority are poorly recorded and produced.. some to the point that we cannot bear to listen. Some folks hand us a CD with a litany of excuses as to why it sounds like crap. "We did this in our bathroom in a rain storm".. "I actually recorded this on a Karaoke machine with my little girl's "Dora" tape recorder".. you name it we've heard it. There's only one comment I can make about these situations... DON'T DO IT!

If you care enough about your songs or your band to do a recording.. please care enough to do a good one. I sometimes believe the convenience of the new technology that allows folks to record multi-track projects in their kitchen has actually been a set back for many aspiring artists. Just because you can buy a recorder from Musicians Friend for $99.00 does NOT mean it will make a quality product for you to pitch to labels and publishing companies. It WILL give you the means to record your music and listen to what you've created...It WILL give you the opportunity to make "work tapes" and share with your band.. but PLEASE stop using them to try and make a finished product. The same technology that has allowed you to make the recording has also allowed studios to make better and better recordings. No matter what level you are on.. you are still competing for the same entertainment dollar as established artists that spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on recording and mixing their projects.

So you ask.. "Do I have to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars?".. the answer of course is no... You DO need to spend some money however to get the type of quality needed to get the attention of A&R departments or publishing companies. If you don't have a lot of money that's cool. Try and save some. Ask your band to kick in for some publishing rights, ask your grandma, cut back on smoking or drinking, something ANYTHING to get a little nest egg to get your music going. I know of studios, good studios that are charging $60 to $75 per hour. That's cheap. If you can't afford to record 10 songs.. then record 5 or 6 and release a GREAT quality EP. Sell it cheap and sell a LOT of them.. make some $ for your next EP.. Keep folks interested with GREAT quality recordings that make a GREAT first impression.

If you are doing an artist project. Get good photography. Put your picture on the front and the back and PLEASE put your contact information on the CD AND on the packaging. By contact information I mean your e mail address, web site address, your phone number or that of your manager (if you have one) and NOT your "Facebook" or "Myspace" address only. You have to make it very easy for folks to find you, or they won't bother. The moral of the story is....

 Do it RIGHT the first time and you won't have to do it again.

Live from backstage at Billy Bob's Texas... Cloudwatcher... signing off....

Memory Lane '75 and Songs That Make You Warm

Hanging out here at the ranch.. 8 inches of snow.. 8 degrees and thinking of summer.. Specifically the "Summer of '75"...
The Summer of '75 was a great year for music. It was a great year for me. My Junior year in high school.. I had a cool '66 El Camino, a farmer's tan, a job hauling hay making cash $ and my 8 track tape player. What an invention THAT was! Listening to your favorite song fade out... then the big KER PLUNK of the track change.. then your favorite song fading back in.. WOW.. what a great way to listen to art!
ART is what it was too.. Lot's of ARTISTS that were making music that had "feel" and "rhythm"
Folky bands like "America", Eagles and artists like "Sammy Johns" painted a vivid picture of the California coast, the desert sands, and highways stretching across the vast American plain. Enough so.. that a buddy of mine and I decided that we were going to drive to California.. turn around.. and come back.. just to say we did.. Now that never did happen because my El Camino only got about 8 miles per gallon and we couldn't afford the fuel...... but the planning and day dreaming was surely better than the trip would have been anyway.

The "Boss" jumped on to the scene with Born to Run. FM radio was just starting to "gel" and you could hear an hour of commercial free "un-commercial" rock and roll that the AM stations wouldn't dream of playing. B sides, album cuts and lost treasures filled the night sky on crystal clear FM.. WOW NO STATIC AT ALL... DJ's that talked slow and deep.. rattling the small speaker in my clock radio.. oh man.. what a gig I thought.. staying up all night.. playing music and talking to folks in far away places.. oh the romance...
Mix in some Willie and Waylon, Tompall and the Glaser Brothers, Jessi Colter and Conway Twitty from the Country Genre.. and you've got you a cool soup of rockin' relics that will shape your life forever.

So 35 1/2 years after the Summer of '75...as I sip on a Buttered Rum Yum Yum.. I'll just leave you with a list of songs to take you there..I know some of these were released before '75.. but I like "re-currents" too... I won't leave the links.. because I'm sure  you know how to go to Youtube and look them up.. "Keep On Truckin'" Y'all..
Cloudwatcher... signing off...

Chevy Van-Sammy Johns
Ventura Highway- America
Sister Golden Hair- America
Desperado-Eagles
Peaceful Easy Feelin'-Eagles
Blue Eyes Cryin' In The Rain-Willie Nelson
I'm Not Lisa-Jessie Colter
Here Come Those Tears Again-Jackson Browne
Over My Head-Fleetwood Mac
Reelin' In The Years-Steely Dan
Black Water- Doobie Brothers

 I'm feeling warmer already.. and I can hear you singing from here!