Phillip (phil g.) Grigg
#4000

MAB, the Eagles were one of my favorite groups from those days also. I think their one song, "Take It To The Limit", really embodies their history. And it also reminded me of you, and your constant drive to do just one more great show after just one more great show. I think I'm going to learn (at least that one) song of theirs and put it in my open mic set. Maybe it will keep me motivated to keep going.


phil g,

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Marc-Alan Barnette
#4001
Hey Phil,

Yes, the Eagles were amazing. And I love that documentary. Many things I knew but some I saw in a different light. The "Take it To the Limit" is one of my favorite songs too. It is interesting that one of the reasons Randy Meisner, the original bassist, quit over that song. It is very high, and Glenn and Don Henley always insisted on their live shows being exactly like their recordings. They demanded that Randy hit all those high notes at the end of the song and he just physically felt he couldn't do it. Doing 200 shows a year will tear a voice to shreds and those guys had amazing vocals. Randy just couldn't handle it so he left. He was replaced by the guy who replaced him in his first successful band, Poco. Timothy B. Schmidt, came in when he left Poco to be in the Eagles. And when he left the Eagles, Tim, replaced him in that. 
Funny how things happen.

Well after a big weekend playing in Townsend Tn. then being involved in an ALL NIGHT  picking party back here in Nashville, it is getting back to "normal MAB time." Have a tour today with a 62 year old guy who is in town from Michigan to "Peddle his songs." Going to be an interesting day. This guy's musical influences are Tom T. Hall, and he is going to want to know where he can "pitch those songs" today. The answer is....NO WHERE. Those songs are now gone in the mainstream music scene, and those kinds of songs, lend themselves more to folk music WHERE THE ARTISTS WRITE THEIR OWN SONGS. So once again, it is someone running into the "Who can do my songs?" wall. Sometimes there is just nobody.

I hate to have to be the bearer of bad news, but that is what people pay me for. I actually had a sit down with a guy yesterday (ALSO FROM MICHIGAN) who is new in town who is virtually the same person. Except he is 44 years old. He is trying to find the same thing. "Where do I pitch my songs? Where do I get a deal? Where do I go sign up to get my mailbox money?" 

The reality is that it is NOWHERE. That doesn't exist the way they all think. I wonder where these myths come from? Oh yes, THE INTERNET!!!! I forget there are all of these Internet millionares out there and the money is easy and just pours in the minute you put up a web site. Don't know why I didn't think of that.

Interestingly enough, I WENT to the mailbox yesterday and actually had  CHECK FOR ONE OF MY SONGS!!! LOL! 
It is actually something I wrote with a tour client years ago. I don't even remember the song or the tour. I just got a check. Laughing my butt off. I can now go pay for Phil to get those voice lessons so he can sing the high part on "TAKE IT TO THE LIMIT!"

MAB
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Kevin Emmrich
#4002
some simple music and songwriting tips from Monty Powell (writes with Keith Urban): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GhE4UQlZH6I (grabbed this from the BIAB forum).
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Justin Parker
#4003
MAB would you mind giving me a "young kid" LOL a brief history on "artist fan clubs" back in the day? how did they work, what were they for overall, what was the benefit to the artist, and why did they go away? you mentioned them a few posts back in passing, and it made me curious...
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Marc-Alan Barnette
#4004
Justin,

Artists "fan clubs" have never gone away. They are still here, just called something else. "FAN BASE." It is the people who support you, buy your CD's or downloads, go to shows, buy merchandise. They are FANS, which is short for FANATICS. You are a "FAN" of TEXAS MUSIC. You have t-shirts, support acts, follow the charts. You have certain artists you support when you can, shows you go to. That is a FAN BASE. 
The benefit is to MAKE MONEY!!!! And keep your fans aprised of what you were doing, who you were, and shows, so they could come see you and SPEND MORE MONEY!!! Still happens today.

In the past, with people like FRANK SINATRA, they would buy BOBBY SOX, which were a brand of Socks with Frank's picture on it. Elvis fans wore sweaters and pants with Elvis's name and face on it. Guys all did their hair in the duck tails. Usually in each album (which were big plastic things that played music on boxes called RECORD PLAYERS, there would be a little ballot for you to join the "official fan club" where you mail in Five bucks and get back an autographed  8x10 picture, (which was signed by the printer, just a copy) a postcard" from the singer, special little things like buttons, or whatever and a certificate, (Suitable for framing) to hang on your wall proclaiming you were "An Official Member in Good Standing in that artist's fan club. The Beatles would have lunch boxes with their faces on them, all that kind of stuff. 

There would be "fan magazines" that came out each month, with stories and pictures on what the stars were doing. You would pay an additional subscription fee for this as well as the wall poster that featured the Star.
There would be "Win a dream date with Frankie Avalon" giveaways, and always promotions. You might get $1.00 discount on new records coming out, or even better, "Giveaways on the other artists on the record label." you would get a few bucks off the Elvis record, and then a coupon to go to your local record store, (something else that no longer exists) and get 50 cents off on the latest 45' on some of their other singers trying  be Elvis. Since Elvis had about a couple hundred imitators (not like the Elvis impersonators, these were singers like Frankie Avalon, Tab Hunter, Fabian, etc. who all looked and sounded sort of like him.) Pat Boone was actually considered a "lighter, less dangerous version of Elvis."

Today is the same thing. We add Viral media. An artist will give out downloads to their private fans, have their own web channel, Facebook and Twitter feeds, they might have a private show here and there, little web casts that go on. A lot of these people are involved in GO FUND ME or CROWFUNDING, KICKSTARTER CAMPAIGNS. Every artist, band, etc are trying to do anything they can to get and keep fans. They giveaway so much stuff, because that is the norm now. We call it "SWAG" or "Stuff We All Get", they are now the things you get for free that the artist has to pay for. Another reason the cost of doing business is SO EXPENSIVE. Doing a tour now more times than not barely breaks even or loses money.

So "Fan Clubs" are still around and you probably participate in them, even if you don't "officially" join them. And that is really the biggest difference. In the old days you had to physically "Join" them. You had to mail in something, pay for something extra for the "Privlidge of being a member. Now you are automatically "Joined" if you "Like" them on Facebook, follow them on Twitter or put your name on a mailing list. 

If you want to look  at it a little more realistically, in the "old days", people paid to be IN the fan club. Today, the artists pay THE FANS to be IN the fan club.
Another fairly sobering account of what the music business "really is" is here: 



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Marc-Alan Barnette
#4005
Justin,

I was thinking about you  the other day and your questions about what will happen to Texas music. I think in some ways it will stay the same, but there are going to be a lot of changes in the format itself. Music is always about adapting, not changing and as the people who listen to Texas music change, go to venues, etc. that will have to change to respond to the marketplace. There are a lot of challenges Texas artists are going through now that are just beginning to bubble up. Most of you are not seeing it yet but it will. You will have venues close, the chart system change, and more types of music you really never heard before phasing into the music you love. There will be things that change that you HATE, and you will not be able to stop them. And you can yourself adapt or be left behind.

If you want to understand it with a "real time" example, you can take my own career. I grew up playing in bands in the early 70's, learning the craft, learning to perform, etc. About ten years would go by before I got some tangible results. Selling out shows, having a presence in the local and regional scene. When we won that contest in 1984, we expanded what was going on. The music we did was "POWER POP" or what you might know as "ARENA ROCK." If you remember JOURNEY, LOVERBOY, STYXX, REO SPEEDWAGON, BOSTON, FOREGINER,BAD COMPANY, and groups like that. Usually big electric guitars, huge drums, experimental keyboards flavoring everything and a BIG LEAD SINGER. The songs were very poppy, singable, guitar driven with a lot of hooks. That was us.

Then, starting about 1986, things started changing. In our band, we declined after the contest win. The publicity died out, we slowly slunk out of popularity. Even though we kept performing, but to less and less people, our band flamed out. The leader, a tall black guitar player named Jesse Lewis, quit to go into politics. Had he not died in a car crash, we probably would be witnessing the second term of "PRESIDENT JESSE LEWIS" because he was pretty much identical to Barack Obama. Finally, everyone gave up, and I was on my own. I tried for a while to get interest in the band;s music in my solo career and even had management in Los Angeles and thought about moving there.

But one thing I had not quite understood at the time, but do now, is that the music overall was changing. The power pop and arena bands started dissapearing from the radio. The charts became dominated by harder edge bands. People like Motely Crew, Def Leapard, Matallica, came in, with harder edged music, more screaming and shouting than singing, and frankly, more images in their music, videos, hair spray, etc. than I was really comfortable with. It was not as much music as musical pornography, and I never really fit into that. 
There are a few documentaries on this, the late 80's-90's run of Hollywood and all the hair bands coming out of LA.

But what I was doing was gone from the charts, gone from the magazines, gone from the big concerts. Those acts became "Nostalgia acts" 20 years later and KISS, The EAGLES, Foreigner, Bruce Springsteen, and others would be back to arenas and drawing the "Geriatric crowd" to pay $75-$200 a ticket. 

Heavy Metal went for a while but was in turn replaced by Seattle Grunge, with Nirvana, and angst, angry, bitter lyrics, atonal lyrics and garage bands all getting the attention. Another off shoot was Rap, which became Hip Hop. All of these dominated the popular culture as the audiences for those forms of music came in voque. Younger people pushed the older ones out with their own music, and the older artists were forced out of the marketplace, died off or simply quit.

At the same time, Country music started changing. The old "cry in your beer" whiny twangy stuff, gave way to Alabama, Exile, Lee Greenwood, and more pop influenced artists. Actually almost all the people that came in had more to do with pop and rock a decade earlier. Exile had a big hit in 1977 with "I'M GONNA KISS YOU ALL OVER", They resurfaced with great country stuff and influencing a new generation. It was me seeing them and Lee Greenwood in concert that made me want to move to Nashville. 

So I had to adapt. I took the same big hooks and melodies, guitar driven rock, and refocused it for the country industry, found out about how to write for this market, by hiring a mentor, Ron Muir (doing the same thing I do now for others) recorded in Nashville, made trips and finally moved. 

I had to reinvent myself because the music changed. I didn't leave rock, it left me. 

That is what I think is going to happen to you and your music. Texas has until now been pretty isolated. Artists were able to make a good living and the live scene flourished. But for many years it has been declining, although it is not as apparent as in other formats. Much more gradual. But it is happening. A lot of my tour people over the past fifteen years have been from Texas and coming from those road house and touring lives. They have been phasing out of Texas and coming here because those markets are getting less lucrative. Not everywhere, but in more places than you would think. 

One day it will be very different. I don't know when that day will be but I am willing to bet it will be there before you really realize it. 

That is what happens. and always does.

MAB
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Phillip (phil g.) Grigg
#4006

MAB, congratulations on your "pay check"! Thanks for the offer, but I don't think any amount of voice lessons will help me now. LOL AND, I am trying to learn, "Take It To The Limit". The Eagles played it in B, but I'm going down one step to A. Fairly easy song to learn, as far as chord changes go. LOT of words though to have to memorize. LOL. And, I've found an Eagles youtube to help me. I think it will become my signature song, because of the message in the lyrics. NOTE: Obviously cannot sing it at writers nights in Nashville though. And probably not even at Don's open mic at FBISF. Just my new open mic song.


phil g.

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Marc-Alan Barnette
#4007
Oh come on Phil, drop that sucker down to F and  sing a bass version of it. That would be cool!!!!

MAB
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Phillip (phil g.) Grigg
#4008

MAB, I don't do bass either. LOL I read that copyright article you pointed us to. Most interesting.


Hey, how was your tour? Did he get it at all?


phil g.

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Ott Lukk
#4009
Marc or someone mentioned YouTube a few posts back. I actually have about 30 tunes on YouTube -- mostly lyric videos, At least the words change, and I don't have to worry about how many different angles I can figure out for the singer's headshots.
A couple of years ago, I decided(not for the first time) to check out Marc's website. On it were a bunch of short YouTube videos (including one on "gherming" -- outside of Nashville, I'd never heard that concept before -- but I digress). So, I watched every last one of them - 8 or 10, as I recall). Some were actually quite entertaining.
A few days later, I went and punched in my own name (obviously wanted to listen to the best music available). In the YouTube page format, to the right of the page, are "thumbnails" either of your songs, or songs you have listened to recently. Or videos you have watched lately. Underneath the thumbnail is a caption "recommended for you". They must use some fancy algorithm to pick these.
What did I see? A half dozen of Marc's YouTube videos "recommend for me"!!!! It took a few weeks for them to disappear.Some popped up for months afterwards.  Talk about  in your face marketing!
Here's a disaster I avoided, because I a;ready had experienced it. Did you know that if you "like" someone else's video, it will suddenly appear on the top of your own video page, supplanting your own song(s)? "Like" more than one, all of a sudden anyone looking at your YouTube page will see a whole bunch of other people's songs! I NEVER like anyone else's songs just for that reason. It's the on line version of letting someone butt in line in front of you.
Other than that,I find it a good marketing tool. Rather than an MP3,they get a lyric video where they can listen and read the lyrics while they do. So,if you're looking for excellent music, go to Ott Lukk YouTube . . . it's that easy!  
Like
Justin Parker
#4010
MAB

Thanks for the info brother!!! As far as the Texas Music scene I see what you mean unfolding... I see the bubble growing, but the key is, I see it! Thanks to your advice, I'm just rocking back on my heels on cruise control waiting to watch the tide. I'm not putting all my eggs in any one basket, I support every artist there is, now a band I worked with two years ago, were featured in rolling stones top 100 albums... It's fun watching them grow, and getting pulled up the food chain little by little... Just being a friend like you always advised has got me working with more artists now than ever. I'll carve my niche just waiting to see where to put the chisel LOL I don't plan on being caught flat footed by surprise, I just try and stay conscious about all markets. My buddy an Iraq/Afghanistan veteran just calls it "situational awareness" they have it beaten into there brains during urban combat. I like Warren Buffetts quote, something to the effect of, "When the tied is high, it appears everyone is doing well/succeeding, everyone looks the same, it's only when the tide goes out you see who's really swimming naked!" Many eggs, many baskets!!!

Personal sidenote:

Looking forward to Feb. just received tickets to the 10th Annual Texas Heritage Songwriters Hall Of Fame Award show, induction for Joe Ely, Roy Orbison tribute, some other cool stuff. Wife is excited cause she gets to dress up! LOL I'm excited to be in a room full of people farrrrrr better than I, and enjoy the company. Gotta cool hotel overlooking the skyline, and lady bird lake, it's on Willie Nelson blvd in that place they film Austin City Limits. Gonna be fun...

Ott,

You can change your settings, but liked videos don't appear as videos on your channel, just your own home screen which looks kind of the same. Google's algorithm is a trip since they bought YouTube, they'll pull your keywords and focus your seo to your recommended videos from Google searches, or just visits to this site where MABs name is prevalent and recommend them from there. You can disable the function that shows viewed liked, or commented on videos but those don't effect what others see on your channel. You can change that. Takes some poking around in your settings but you can change it...
Like
Justin Parker
#4011
MAB,

I've actually just had a brilliant idea!!! I've given alot of thought to it over the last fifteen minutes. I think I'm going to just begin my own music charts for Texas, I'm sure with minimal effort I'll be competing with billboard. You know I can use the down payment money I've been saving for my tour bus we discussed in Nashville, coupled with the money you saved me by stopping me from buying that soundboard, and holding annual music festivals at our ranch I think I can swing the start-up capital. I'll have Hillary handle all my email, social media, accounts to avoid any bad press, not to mention I just got an offer from this kind Nigerian man via email who's actually a prince or something, he's trapped beneath a vessel off the Somali coast and is willing to put the money directly in my account once I send him the info. So with all that being said, I'm just going to create a new music chart myself, I could do it with little to no effort I think...
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1 liked
 likes this.
Ott Lukk
#4012
Justin: I actually did find a "button" to the effect "delete this video from your feed?" I clicked, and yes the video went away.
Until the next day,when it came right back. Eventually it disappeared on  its own.VERY aggravating.That's what scares me about "experimenting" with buttons on YouTube or any other program. I am scared stiff that if I hit the wrong button, or wrong sequence of keystrokes, all my songs will disappear from YouTube, never to  be heard again.
Yeah, I've got all of them backed up, but can you imagine the hassle of reloading them all?
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Marc-Alan Barnette
#4013
Hey folks,

Justin, that is  GREAT IDEA! You WILL BE TEXAS MUSIC!!!! That is the key!!! And you can demonstrate the old saying about the music business. In order to make a million dollars in the music business, START WITH FIVE MILLION!!!!! But that is chump change for your Nigerian buddy. Man, you are on your way. When one door closes..... Get hit with the doorknob!!!!!

Ott, GOOD LORD, I am so sorry you had to deal with looking at me for ANY LENGTH OF TIME!!! Must have been horrible! I hope you have been able to get therapy and get back on a normal sleep pattern. Thanks for being able to get through it and live to tell the tale.

THE "LIKES."
I have extreme problems with the entire "LIKE" phenomenon. First of all just for the reason that Ott has mentioned. "Liking" anything is only a way to target algorhythms, get you on mailing lists, spam email, Phishing schemes nd scams, targets your preferences, and hooks you into things. On things like Facebook, most of the people who do the "likes" are only "Liking" you, so that you will "Like" them back and they can build their "Like" numbers. At one time, people like Record labels looked at those kinds of numbers. Not any more, because they are so easily manipulated. If someone is going to "Like" you, they better be going to your web site, finding out where you are performing, or where your music is and BUYING something. It is about putting BUTTS IN THE SEATS! "Likes" don't do that.

And for me, there is something that bothers me even more. If I read things people say, agree with, or even that I might not agree with, I am going to take the time to SAY SOMETHING. I try to be polite, try to think about what I am saying and not go off half cocked. The majority of anything I say on social media, is usually intended as comedy, to break a mood that is tense, or to keep in real contact with friends and family I actually KNOW, not those that are just "friends" on Facebook.

So I have no interests in "Likes", because to me, most of that is saying "Yes, I sort of kind of like you I guess and want to do the absolutely laziest thing I can get away with because I really don't care enough about you to really put any effort into it." 

That is what the "Like" means to me. So if you guys want to "Like" me. Why don't you just TELL ME about it. If you don't, that is fine too. Just don't do anything. Honestly, I'm not that hard up for attention. So don't wear out one of your fingers, trying to find the "Like" button. Can do us both a favor and save time.

MAB
Like
John Westwood
#4014
The best "like"you can get is when someone actually takes the time to leave a comment  that  is relevant to the content  which  usually  (but not necessarily ) means  they have listened to your song not simply played your  song as background.
 The same applies here on song ramp. Most liked,  most played means  squat..

 Most  comments with meaningful content  is  a partially true test  but the algorithms are not capable of   understanding the content so charts. MEH!. = Crap


example.
I  use "play all"  for open  mic, crank up the volume so I can hear where ever  in the house I am  and if something grabs me I go back  and LISTEN ( not simply  hear)  and  make any comment I feel is appropriate.

If you get a comment, any comment,  from me that is a positive!
Pity  more folk dont  do the same.


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Phillip (phil g.) Grigg
#4015

Good morning. Thom Bresh is a really great guy and just awesome guitar player I know from the Frank Brown Songwriter Festival. He is a Face Book Friend of mine. Thom is the son of Merle Travis. For those of you who don't know who Merle Travis was, Thom posted a link on Face Book to a documentary about his dad. Here is that link.


https://www.ket.org/episode/KMUSE%20000702/


It is a great documentary not only about Merle Travis, but has some history of country music also.


phil g.

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Marc-Alan Barnette
#4016
That is a great guitar player and good friend of mine. Did you tell him you knew me Phil? You know he cut GRAND OPENING, Ron Muir and my song that was the first thing I did in Nashville. Really great guy and does a video blog when he is on the road. 
Here he is doing Grand Opening during the NAMM show,

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1 liked
 likes this.
Phillip (phil g.) Grigg
#4017

What a funny video! I've heard him do that song a few times, but I've never heard that version. I don't know if I've ever mentioned knowing you or not when I've talked to Thom. The few times I have talked to him was at FBISF.  By the way, when I watched that video, there were links to other Bresh videos. I watched a few of those also. Thanks for the link. I love Thom's guitar style, and am determined to learn some version of that kind of picking.


phil g.

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Marc-Alan Barnette
#4018
Phil,

His style is really cool. But pretty difficult. Put about 40 years of work into it and you'll be beginning to get it. LOL!

Glad you mentioned him. I didn't realize he was doing it until some people told me about hearing him do it in Europe. He plays it from time to time, even did it for me at the Bama a few years ago. I never knew he had heard it but actually heard me do it at a party we were both at. He used to date a friend of mine, Lisa Carver. 
Was really cool because I did a version of his Dad's song, 16 TONS on one of my CD's. Turn about is fair play. That's how it works.

MAB
Like
Justin Parker
#4019
Hey brother Phil I just wanted to share some cool news with you, you had mentioned running into a gentleman named Frank Martin Gilligan at I think Frank Brown festival this year who said that he knew me. We had briefly discussed writing between mutual friends about a year ago and that is how we knew about each other I had heard him play at a songwriters showcase in Houston before. Long story short he messaged me last night about getting together to write a song and I'm about to head over to his house in a few minutes. Just an example like you said it really is a small world and MAB always says especially in music everyone knows everyone I met him through a mutual friend Andi Renfree i'll be sure and remind him of you to meeting I'm sure he will remember it! As MAB always teases about Kerrville folks no pun intended LOL he won 2014 new songwriter of the year at the Kerrville folk festival, he has been doing this since long before I was born!!! Used to have a band called the Mason-Dixon I think they had a number 13 on Billboard back in the day was their biggest song called "when Karen comes around" he's got a bit different style than I normally right so I am really looking forward to working with him! If you didn't hear it from him here is a cool song he wrote my personal favorite of is all about a buffalo nickel LOL and he actually makes it interesting! Just wanted to let you know brother Phil thought it was a cool story about the circle of songwriting LOL https://www.reverbnation.com/frankgilligan/song/23401908-silver-dollar
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Phillip (phil g.) Grigg
#4020

That's cool Justin!! Yes, I remember him, but he may not remember me. Maybe if you logon to here and he sees my picture in a post, he may remember. I'm just glad he remembered to contact you! Maybe this Nov. he will play one of your songs! Maybe it will give you an excuse to come on over in November?


phil g.

Like
Kevin Emmrich
#4021
FAWM 2016 is underway.  I am a little behind, only got two so far.  I haven't written since July so those mind muscles haven't been exercised enough.  Hare to prepare for open mics and write -- doesn't seem to be enough time for both activities for me.

Maybe Phil and I will team up for a FAWM tune this February.
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Phillip (phil g.) Grigg
#4022

Hey Kevin! Sounds like a plan! I haven't written much since October or so myself. Need to get back into it. Right now, I'm busy taking guitar lessons, and I was hoping to mix in some writing with that. My deck is mostly finished. The only thing left that has to be done is hand rails, which I hope to do next week. Probably only 1 to 1 1/2 days at most. I do have you as a contact on Skype, so we can get together and bang a few out. ("Bang" being the operative word there because that's how I play guitar. LOL) I'm kinda going to let you take the lead here, so call me when you're ready.


phil g.

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Marc-Alan Barnette
#4023
Well it's Super Bowl Sunday and we are going to be at Susie's today. If any of you are looking for more information out there, here is the site that is now really cranking: https://www.musicstartshere.org/

It is the site that Doak Turner, myself and a few others started a few years back to sort of become a "Tourist information Bureau" for the Music industry, in relation to Nashville. But it has things for outside Nashville as well. Blogs and information on vocal lessons, guitar, music related tips, things on Song plugging, publishing, record labels, pretty much anything you can use, you can find up there. 

Been about six years of work to put together but it is now running well.  I have my own blog on there and you will find hundreds of pieces of information, videos, etc. Check it out.

MAB
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Phillip (phil g.) Grigg
#4024

Thanks for that link MAB! I checked it out and book marked it. Looks great!!


GO BRONCOS!!


phil g.

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