Meeting Your Fans Will Increase Attendance For Your Shows, And Gain You New Friends Too!

Ah, time for some more sagely advice form yours truly. This is simply reiteration of some of my previous themes but it is all too important: get to know your fans. Now to some of you, this may seem elementary, but others, I find, do not mingle with the fans at all! Instead, they hang out with girlfriends and close personal friends. Now maybe you’re just shy, or maybe your just a dick who thinks you’re better than everyone else. Either way you need to get over yourself and introduce yourself to a fan. You don’t have to run around talking to everybody, although some do, but one or two fans a night is a good place to start.

I say this because it helps your fans get acquainted with you personally and intimately and when a fan becomes a friend they are far more likely to find your shows. Not only that, but they are more apt to tell their friends about your band and possibly you will make some genuine new friends to boot!

A Few weeks ago I had a chance to put this to the test. My band ( The Paper Crowns ) performed at a venue called Hangar 24. It was awesome and part of what made it so good was that before and during the show, we talked to people. I made it a point to go up and introduce myself and have a small chat with a few of the patrons and they in turn had a better time watching us perform. After the gig, they all said goodbye personally and did not feel intimidated in doing so. During the set break, a few came up to tell us how much they enjoyed the show. Man, what a feeling that is, but better than that, we had a show not two nights after and guess what? A few of those same folks came to see us! How about that? One of them that I friended on FB after the gig told me that we were on her “Travel to see
“ list of bands.

Not only did they have a good time, we had a blast with our new friends. There is another thing that works on the same level, and that is introducing yourself on Facebook to some would be fans before a show. Especially an out of town show to which you may not have an innate draw. I went and sought out some of the patrons of Pappy & Harriet’s and personally invited them to the show. I was delighted to find that when we arrived, some of them had shown up there and had brought friends! We introduced ourselves and by the time we took the stage, it was like playing for a bunch of friends.

They loved us and with the reception we got we made some real fans that night. Some of them are now following us. How glad I was that I reached out. We are expanding both our fan base and our friends list and I expect to see this trend continue and all because we were both genuine and friendly with all of the patrons and music lovers.

So if you are one of the bands complaining about low turnout and sulking in a corner, the problem is not the fans, its you. Get out there, meet folks and have a good time already.  

Review: New Blues Revolution

New Blues Revolution is a hybrid blues outfit from Long Beach CA. They are doing their own thing with the blues adding elements of 80s metal ballads, funk, country and even a little grunge. I find it refreshing that a blues group is doing their own thing with the genre as it keeps it interesting (although the blues purists out there will surely bristle at it). 

The first number is Let Me Go. It is straight blues rock with an added touch of 80’s hard rock ballad sensibilities which suits it quite well oddly enough. The vocals are deep and growling and very at home for a rock band and lends gravity to this genre of blues music. What sells it is that is not overplayed or self-indulgent like the 80s music tended to be. Definitely a bit of pain and some sorrow in there. There is a slight element of The Cult in the sound, but it’s more subdued and tasteful but make no mistake, it is a blues song and yes, the purist will argue that point, but they clearly aren’t making music for the blues Nazis out there and thank the good lord for that.

Blue Revolution is the next track and it is a straight funk n blues number. It’s fairly standard but has a great feel to it that keeps my head bobbin on the highway. But out of nowhere comes a sweet Joe Satriani-esque solo…so tasteful and sweet and really ties the piece together. That combined with a tight bass line makes it quite the worthy track.

Next we come to the Big House which is the country blues number bordering on a string band. It reminds me of being on the run form the fuzz at a little road house in the desert. It’s laid back and has the sound of a man who has been through the ringer and needs some down time. Slow and low, that’s how this song lays it all out. Very delta blues.

Sway is the next number and immediately takes me to a sunset on the beach on a warm summer night having drinks with a beautiful woman…so sweet and uncomplicated yet it has soul. It is comprised of very simple chord changes and rhythms that settle nicely in the ears.

Take Me To The River is a great Talking Heads cover that is uniquely performed and has that chugging laid back soulful sound that is the hallmark of New Blues Revolution.

Blueline closes it out and is definitely a straight up blues number with some great changes and has an almost a Dr. John feel crossed with Great White. It’s unmistakably unique and rocking at the same time. These boys have crafted a great tune.

What I like most about New Blues Revolution is their unrelenting authenticity and remarkable musicianship they bring to their music. These guys clearly mean to make music their own way and really don’t seem to care what those blues purists have to say about it which is a good thing; no one ever made anything new trying to replicate the past.

The rhythm section is solid, the guitar is tasteful when it needs to be and dynamic when it calls for it. The end result is an album of well-crafted songs played with heart, soul and an integrity that is impossible to deny. The actual album could use a bit more mastering but these guys clearly love what they do and have an innate sensibility that is evident in every track and is had to ignore. I can easily say that what little is lacking in production value is easily made up for in the quality and pure emotion on the songs themselves, which are quite infectious for a lover of blues rock, like myself.

3.75 out of five biscuits, with a heaping pile of sausage gravy smothered all over for the sheer enjoyability of the music itself. 

Favorites, by The Charles Burton Blues Band

Today I am reviewing The Charles Burton Blues Band and their album, Favorites. It is a collection of covers of some of the early roots songs that have inspired generations of blues and rock n roll acts and I must say, they do the tunes justice.  The album is rockabilly styled blues with a swinging backbeat and a solid groove throughout that keeps the whole thing shuffling onward in the most pleasant fashion. The band is in shape and it shows with a sparseness that fits the genre without bogging it down with so much flash that the beautiful simplicity is lost. It speaks volumes of the bands experience and musical knowledge that they do not need to show off their skills at every turn, but instead they serve the songs while adding their voice at the same time. 

Tell Me Why is a blues song written by Duke Robillard and is played with a Jerry Lee Lewis flair Solid groove and excellent licks in between the verses. It’s a very classic sound yet is has a certain freshness that comes from a genuine love of the material.

Turn On Your Love Light is a song originally recorded by Bobby Blue Bland and now rerecorded with a slightly slower tempo which gives it a certain groove that is somewhat unique to this song and lends it a particular signature that is wholly Charles Burton.

Key To The Highway has some great southern fried blues licks to keep it interesting and the whole song has their signature rockabilly blues sound which is rich in its authenticity and delivery.

Out of nowhere comes Sly And The Family Stone’s If You Want Me To Stay. It’s definitely a change but it somehow fits in the album and is a great rendition of this classic and it really shows off the rhythm section with a slick and tasteful bass solo, followed by some drum kit riffing, followed by an extremely bluesy guitar lead which closes the number out. IT really maintains the groove of the original but with an added flair of their own.

The album closes on Gangster Of Love, written By Johnny ‘Guitar’ Watson and really takes on the sound of Muddy Waters, and is as blues as it gets on the album…it really slams home and is a nice bookend to the album.

Overall, I would have to say this recording is made by folks who really and truly love these songs and you can easily tell these numbers are where the band pulls their inspiration from simply by the way they handle these songs. Faithful yet unique in their own right. Nothing comes off as cliché or overdone. As a whole, I say they knocked this album out of the park, as far as cover albums go. Any fan of rockabilly, blues, and old time rock and roll with surely find a few gems tucked away on this one.

I rate this  4 out of five stars, with some boogie on the back end.

The Psychology Of Music : How Our Instincts Affect Our Musical Taste

So you’re another hard rock band? Get in line to be ignored, at least for a while. Maybe not by your close friends, or even a small dedicated group of listeners, but by the mainstream music buying audience and therefore the industry at large. I can back this up with science…bear with me.

 One reason may have to do with an interesting fact about music that most people may not know: our ability to appreciate music is directly related to our flight or fight response. You may be asking yourself what that has to do with anything. Let me explain.

The Psychology of Sound

We humans have evolved a highly developed sense of hearing that is primarily used for survival. Noises are either assessed for danger or deemed a non-threat. This means that when you hear a loud crashing noise or a quiet rustling, your instincts immediately evaluate the danger associated with it. Obviously a loud crashing noise to a caveman might mean a huge woolly mammoth is stampeding your way. A quite noise may mean that a stealthy predator is eyeballing the menu, namely you.

However, when a noise persists for a decent length of time, it loses its threat value and our ears put the noise in the background of our mind, training itself on something new. In other words, as soon as our ears determine the sound to be harmless, it forgets about it and moves on to another sound.

A threat is not signified by the type of sound necessarily, just the unexpected addition of it into our immediate experience, although it may seem as if a beating drum is more dangerous that the sound of the breeze, it depends also on the context. A drum may be a pleasant rhythm, or an invading army. The wind may be a harmless breeze or the coming of a dangerous storm. It it the job of our senses to examine whether or not that sound may eventually be coming from something that wants to eat us or at least give us a good thrashing!

What Once Was Dangerous Is Now Safe and Boring

How does this relate to your rock band? Well, how long have rock bands been on the airwaves?  Answer: A very long time now. Hard rock has long been assessed not to be a threat and that is why you don’t see many evangelicals yammering on about it anymore. That is why Republicans are no longer crusading against it as an evil of society. That is why there are now Christian metal bands whereas 30 years ago, it was strictly Satan’s handiwork. (Honestly, it was better when Satan was responsible for it, wasn’t it?).

Yes, Rock has lost the danger, the excitement, the rawness it once help simply because we are all so very used to it now. It’s completely safe, in and of itself, because our ears are no longer assessing its threat level. Our society had embraced it and it is just one more commodity. People want something new.

Assessing the Old as Something New Again

After a while, once we have forgotten a sound, it becomes fresh again and our senses must re assess the danger factor. This may be why we are seeing a prominence of Acoustic, folk rock and roots bands Like Mumford & Sons, Avett Brothers and Monsters of Folk or Avant Garde bands like Florence and the Machine. It is again fresh because we haven’t been bombarded with it since the 70’s, with the brief exception of MTV unplugged in the 90’s.

This is also why after a while, a musical era dies and makes way for a new one so eventually hard rock will once again reign supreme but in order for that to happen, society must put it on the back burner for a while.

Why Some Bands Have Staying Power and Others are Forgotten

Now, you may be wondering why certain bands never seem to go out of style and the reason is similar. The bands that have staying power simply change how they sound and how they play or their sound is fairly diverse to begin with. Changing the intensity, the tempo and the timbre of your music plays with this fight or flight response. For instance, the reason why a sudden stop catches your attention is the same reason why you get concerned when you can’t hear the kids making their normal ruckus. It’s a dangerous quiet…the quiet that tells you something important has just happened and you don’t yet know the extent of the damage but one thing is certain is that the sudden silence is suddenly different form the droning noise that was just happening and it grabs your attention.

It’s also why good rock bands don’t just hammer away at power chords all the time, they change tempo, play arpeggios, let certain notes ring out and play with harmony. They constantly demand your instinct to assess the situation and once there is no perceived threat, your ear automatically reduces the input and the sound guess to the background. As a band, you generally don’t want to remain in the background so you change your dynamic.

Drawbacks With The Standard Rock Band Format

This brings me back to the rock band format we all know and love: drums, an electric guitar or two, bass and vocals. This format was radical in the 50’s and changed music when Dylan adapted it. It’s quite common today so you don’t feel all that impressed by the suggestion of a lineup like this. The sound produced by this format is simply nothing new to anyone’s ears, no matter how many affects you run through it.

When you play with the standard rock format, people will listen for what is familiar to them and if you’re going to give them the same old power chords and progressions as everyone else, nobody will really care, except for said friends and family. Yes, the crowd may initially respond well, or at least not badly, but they may not immediately download all of your songs because you won’t be giving them anything they don’t have already.

I assume that you don’t usually listen to one song over and over again or one band all the time, and neither will your audience. As a performer, the trick is to find new ways to trigger that fight or flight response in the audience. This is why it is important that you include various scales, chord progressions and tempos.

This is why bands with unusual lineups catch attention. Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, for instance, have about 20 people in their band, singer’s piano, acoustic instruments, electric ones, hand drums, a trumpet, an accordion and a bunch of starving musicians! (Seriously, how do you get paid in that band?) Doesn't that sound like something you would want to see?

If you want to make a strong impression, find chord combinations that favor one another yet move the music forward and alters the dynamics of the song. Add new instrumentation that is not so common. Perhaps your song can swell with intensity as the music builds, or it can break down in the middle and come back, but you absolutely positively need to change what you’re doing from time to time and keep things interesting or be forgotten and reduced to background noise

Refrences:

How Music Works by John Powell

Musical Cognition by Dowling and D.L. Harwood 

Why It Is Important To Know When To Open For Someone Bigger Than You

The Paper Crowns

Good Monday Morning Everyone. I realize I may come across as if I know what the heck I’m talking about all the time. This is not necessarily the case. I am full of mistakes, which is OK because there are lessons to be found in mistakes.

Learn From Your Past

This past weekend, we made a mistake. Not a big ol pie-in-the-face- kind of mistake, but more of a missed opportunity kind of mistake. My band, The Paper Crowns ( Note: the video clip is before I joined the group), had a show at The Vault Martini Bar in Redlands, CA this past Saturday and a group called Mad Marionettes opened. We were both very good.

Talent Does Not Automatically Grant You Fans

Although we both killed it on stage,having been together for at least six years the Marionettes have more fans.The Paper Crowns have been playing for over a year so were still growing ours and by the time we took the stage, about ¼ to 1/3 of the crowd left. The rest of the crowd was comprised of our current fan base and a few stragglers from the Mad Marionetts.

Recognize The Benefits of Being an Opening Act

First let me say, it was a blast. We were on our game, as were the Marionettes who stayed for our set and danced their collective arses off. Everyone did.

However, what we should have done was open for them. We could have gained new fans by playing to their crowd, many of whom had never heard of us before. And thus, today's lesson: Don’t be stuck on a particular slot because you think your god enough instead be wise  enough to recognize that if there is a band with a bigger following than you, you have more to gain by playing to those people who will leave after the band they have come to see is done.

Perhaps when performing with bands who share equal admiration with each other, it can be flipped. The new fans you gain, may stay next time to hear you instead of bolting off, and then everyone wins.

So when booking your band, be sure you consider the potential to broaden your fanbase by opening for someone else. It’s a good way to grow your following and until Austin City Limits is knocking on your door, you are going to have to sacrifice top billing now and again. 

The benefits are all there and we learned that next time, we will open for Mad Marionettes simply because we can increase our own base and then share that base with another equally deserving band and they can do likewise. It’s a win-win for all involved if you can sacrifice your ego and realize the potential in such a move.

Happy Birthday John Paul Jones

Today we celebrate the birth of one of the greatest composers in music history, as well as one of the greatest bass players of all time, Led Zeppelin’s John Paul Jones. He is largely responsible for laying the foundation of some of the greatest Zep songs alongside John Bonham but what many people don’t know is that all the mandolins, recorders and subtle layers on the Zeppelin albums are actually Jones as well. The man is one of the busiest men in all of music!

 He is a producer, a session man and has been featured on a variety of other artist’s albums from Foo Fighters to Heart and has played live with the likes of Govt Mule, Phil Collins and Ben Harper. Among his other talents, he plays the mandolin, piano, guitar and mando cello and god knows what else.

His intensity, sincerity and all around musical-ness is evident as soon as you pop in a Led Zeppelin album and hear Black dog, Heart breaker, How Many More Times, etc. He drives the songs home with infectious and swinging bass lines the like of which was never heard before.

Both he and drummer John Bonham had a love of Motown’s music, soul, and funk and it definitely shows up in many zeppelin albums, just listen to Ramble On, the bass line is unmistakably groovy and distinctly influenced by the Stax sound. It also happens to be my favorite bass line of all time.

What makes him so special is not only his innate musical sensibilities, but also his versatility and ability to weave through pop culture unnoticed yet be incredibly influential at the same time. I could spend the rest of the article just listing the names he’s worked with in one facet or another. If I was to ask you what to Peter Gabriel and The Butthole Surfers have in common, the answer would be John Paul Jones.

Jesus, every time you turn around, the guy is into something new and he’s 67! Crimeny!

If you want to know to rock, study the man and see what it’s all about!* He has been an influence on Geddy Lee, Flea, Gene Simmons, Les Claypool, and just about any bass player you can shake a dead cat at. Why? Because he is just so damned good at what he does. Innovative and yet in the pocket. Stylish yet aggressive. He adds so many layers of sound yet he does not overburden the music with it. He knows precisely where to be and how to get there. This man is probably my biggest influence and in my opinion, one of the people most responsible for most of the music we listen to today. And so I say Happy 67^th birthday John Paul Jones!

*Here is one of his more current projects, Them Crooked Vultures featuring Dave Grohl ( Foo Fighters) and Josh Homme ( Queens of the Stone Age)

A Call To Action: Why We Should All Be Demanding Payment For Performing

Now that we have started yet another year, perhaps you can add one more resolution to your list: demanding payment for your performances. All of you. I know that a lot of you already do, so I suppose this article is not for you.

 No, I’m writing to the as of yet unpaid musicians, or even some of the one’s that may play free because they like a certain place. I see a lot of free gigs happening out there and it’s time for this to stop.

Are You Getting Ripped Off?

Think about it: These venues are using you and they’ve been getting away with it for far too long. What they are telling you is that they can’t afford it but what they are actually saying is that you’re not worth it. And guess what? By going along with it, you are agreeing with their sentiment.

Now, think about the places you normally play. How hard is it to get payment out of them? Now think about the kind of business they do. Are they doing well? Do you frequently see customers? IF, so, they can afford to pay you to entertain their customers. After all, we provide a service for them and bringing them business, they very least they could do, is pay us for that service.  If they are in business, they can afford to pay you. If you need help negotiating, you can read my article series on negotiating a better deal here.

I know a lot of you will say “I don’t do it for money, I do it for the love of performing” or “It’s not about getting paid, it’s about music”. I call Bullshit! Please spare me your hippie mentality. Tell me you would turn down a couple hundred bucks if you could get it; I think not! If it was just about the music, you can make that at home.

Think About the Larger Community

This leads me to my next point; you are making it harder for those of us who rely on music to make a living. Many of us value our services and we need to get paid to perform and bring home a paycheck, so to speak. Believe it or not, there was a time when musicians got paid and on a regular basis, and large sums of money.

 In my article with Dino Madellone, we talked about how getting a seven hundred dollar pay out at the end of the night was not uncommon in the 70’s. The 70’s! Of course, you had to be good, but most of you reading this are. Most of you are at least second tier groups who could potentially have earned five hundred a night. That’s right, many of you struggling to earn three or four hundred a night (like myself) would have done quite well in the ‘good old days’. Why is this not so now?

You Have Value

Well, for one thing, there are far too many of you who are willing to work for free. Maybe you don’t know that you are worth something, but you are. If you have an hour or more worth of material, keep the crowd entertained, you are worth at least three hundred bucks, if not more but you can’t get it because there is always some other group who will undercut you, and there is a group who will undercut them, and so on until the restaurant, coffee house, bar, or whatever, finds the cats who will play for free, just to play in front of people. We need stop undercutting each other and start demanding a payday. If they won’t pay, don’t play.

Create Your Own Scene

If you absolutely have to play in front of people, throw a house party! Remember those? Man, back in the 90’s, we used to have amazing house parties and those house parties had amazing bands. In the 1990’s in Riverside, we had the best house parties with bands like Alien Ant Farm, Applekore, Spiderworks, The Skeletones, Voodoo Glow Skulls, to name but a few. 

Those parties were amazing. We charged five bucks at the door, and that gave access to the kegs and music. The bands got paid (usually) and everyone had a blast. That was before social media. Think of what we could do now, with the advent of Facebook and social media? We could take the business from the “We Don’t Pay” venues and perhaps they would think twice. Also, it would greatly build our audience as well.

Go Where You Are Appreciated

But really, my bigger point is that we have to let the venues know that if they are unwilling to pay performers, we performers can take our act elsewhere and make money. It’s been far too long that we musicians have had to settle, and I’m not buying the ‘In this economy… “argument. I see Starbucks filled everyday with schmucks willing to pay five to seven bucks for a cup of coffee so they damn well can afford to sit and but a few drinks and watch bands, or pay a five dollar cover to see us play.

What I am asking, may seem like pie in the sky, and it probably is, but I am going to ask you all anyways. Learn how to negotiate with these venues. If they don’t want to pay out, don’t play. Yes, it means turning down gigs you yourself have tried to book, but if you can’t get the club or venue to value your art, they don’t care about you. They may tell you something else, but it’s just an excuse to not pay you what they owe you. It requires a certain sacrifice but eventually, you will find a place that will pay you then share that venue with your fellow bands and tell those bands what you were paid so that they can receive the same amount. If we start promoting for those venues and getting those venues more quality acts, it will only help us.

Once we start performing for the select few clubs who will pay and only those clubs, we will start commanding a little more respect but first we have to respect ourselves enough to commit to the premise, as I have done. Once I decided that I would no longer play for nothing, I got hired in a working band and I started getting paying gigs. It can happen but we as a community of professionals or would be professional musicians need to band together and help each other out. It means sacrificing a gig or two, but in the big picture, it means getting paid and I’ll take one or two paying gig over five non-paying gigs in a heartbeat.

Why Pay To Play?

As far as Pay to play, well, that is a joke! The club that comes to mind on that first is the Whiskey A Go-Go in Hollywood. They are going to want you to buy tickets form them and sell them to your fans. This strategy is only worth it if you can land a night with a big name headliner otherwise, forget about it. You will eat that 600 bucks just to play a shitty little place that nobody really goes to anymore.

 Perhaps if you can sell enough tickets to make your money back and some on top, it may be worth it, but in order to make that happen, you need to build a solid following and if you have sixty or more people who will pay ten bucks to see you play, you are beyond the point of having to play places like that without being the headlining spot and getting paid for it as well. Bottom line is that it is a racket, they make a killing off of ignorant bands who just want to add the name to their resume`. Fuck that! Besides if no one played to play at the whiskey anymore, well, they’d either have to start paying flat out or they would have to close shop.

God forbid, they clean the place up and hire good bands that could command an audience and a decent ticket price. Never have I seen a lousy dump like this trade in on their past glory as much as the Whiskey. Instead, we should be focusing on building up our venues around our own hometowns and yes, it may hurt them initially, but after that, they may see an increase in business by hiring quality bands that draw paying customers and we may be able to respect ourselves once again. 

The east coast does it. I could move back out there and play the east coast circuit and get paid to do it because they really value good musicians out there and recognize the value in great performances and that in turn, bring customers in on a regular basis who know they will see a performer that won’t chase them out the door in under five minutes.

Demand Respect, Show Respect

So, don’t let these venues bully you around or get away with their cheap excuses, demand payment or play somewhere that cares about you and their own customers enough to pay you. In return, promote your shows, get active in your community and do your part to draw a crowd and let the venue know you are worth it as well. After all, it’s a two way street right?

Finally, lets share the venues with our fellow bands and help share the wealth, so to speak.

 If you score a good gig that pays, let your friends in the music community know about it and get them on board. This way we can build up the places we like, and ignore the places we don't. Perhaps this will send a clear message to promoters and clubs: pay good bands and you will book good bands. 

For one, you can try The Vault in Redlands, they pay. Call them up and ask for their booking agent. or email them at bookingthevault@gmail.com

Maybe I’m crazy, but I think if we all start standing for one another and the music scene in general, we can improve our collective careers.

I would love to hear your thought on this so please comment below and let’s further the discussion.