See Eric Beverly live tonight at Precinct in Somerville, MA
Hi everyone,
I am playing Precinct Bar in Somerville, MA, tonight (July 24, 2010)
I’ll be starting at 8 pm. Come out and say hello.
Eric Beverly plays New York City (7-20) and Somerville, Massachusetts (7-24)
I’ll be playing some East Coast dates this week and it would be great to see you.
If you are in the New York City area, come see me at Googie’s above the Living Room in NYC on Tues., July 20th at 9:30 pm.
If you are in the Boston area, come see me at Precinct in Somerville, MA on Sat., July 24th at 8 pm.
‘I Won’t Be Alone’ is featured on CD Baby Music Discovery Podcast 6/15/10
I want to send out a big “thank you” to Kevin Breuner and Peter Swenson (hosts of CD Baby’s Music Discovery Podcast) for including “I Won’t Be Alone” on their podcast.
Download the MP3 of the CD Baby Music Discovery Podcast for free by clicking here
In this episode, Kevin and Peter bring you some world class drummers, King Crimson’s guitarist, Enuff Z’Nuff’s guitarist, a great rocking songwriter, and some cool electronic pop.
Featured artists are: Dafnis Prieto Sextet, Eric Beverly and the Sunday Best, Lovespirals, Trey Gunn, and Monaco Johnny.
Furniture solution for music practice space (Repost from unclutterer.com)
This post features one possible solution (for a price) to setting up your songwriting space. The comments generated by the post are pretty interesting and worth reading.
How to submit your CD track/song information to Gracenote using iTunes
I’ve got a quick tip for independent musicians who are marketing/promoting their commercially produced CDs.
On Wednesday, May 26th, I was at an Austin Music Foundation event called “Tips for Success from Inside the Music Biz” at the legendary Stubb’s Bar-B-Que. The discussion was moderated by Paige Maguire, music editor of Austinist.com. She rocks.
The panelists were:
- Mike Locke – Director, Independent Label Liaison, Rhino Independent, Warner Music Group
- Maggie Martin – EMI Music Publishing
- John Nicholson – Regional Director of Promotions and Marketing for Hollywood Records
The panelists were very interesting and the group held a wide-ranging discussion. One tip I picked from the panel relates to the Gracenote Media Recognition Service, which according to Gracenote’s website, is:
“…an Internet-based service that we license to software and hardware developers for use in their CD players, CD burners, MP3 players and encoders, catalogers, jukeboxes, cell phones, car audio systems, and home media center applications (among others). The service allows these developers to display artist, title, tracklists, and other music-related information automatically and instantly in their applications.
For example, when you insert a music CD into your CD ROM on your computer, the software player application on your computer uses our service to first identify the CD, and then display the artist, title, tracklist, and other information. Most commercial music CDs do not contain any of this information on the CD itself.”
The sense among the panel was that if you send off your CD to a music reviewer, radio station, publishing company, etc., without entering the information into Gracenote, your CD is less likely to receive any attention. It might even get tossed in the trash. I’m pretty sure that industry folks receive tons of CDs and this is one easy fix that might help you get noticed.
I went home after the panel and entered my band’s CD “The Sunday Best” in Gracenote. Here’s how I did it.
NOTE: The following steps assume that your computer is connected to the Internet.
NOTE2: The following steps (which I have abbreviated) are taken directly from this InformIT posting. To see the original post, click here.
1. Insert your CD into your computer and fire up iTunes. If you don’t have iTunes, you can get it here.
On the left side, click on your CD under Devices. In the list view, you should see Track 01, Track 02, etc.
2. Edit your track information
Select all the songs on the disc, then either choose File, Get Info or right-click and choose Get Info from the context menu. Make as many changes as possible for all of the songs (Artist, Album, Composer, Genre, Year as applicable to your situation). Next, follow the same process for each individual track so that you can enter the Name of each song. Make sure everything is spelled correctly. Click OK when you’re done. Confirm that the fields are all updated to reflect your changes.
3. Submit CD track names/songs to Gracenote via iTunes
Choose Advanced, Submit CD Track Names. iTunes will connect to Gracenote, check the available categories, and submit your information. A few days later (typically) your information will be available to everyone in the world that is using Gracenote (including that important music industry contact that you just sent your CD).
Till next time.
Five Steps To Set Up Your Songwriting Space
This article will help you set up your songwriting space in five easy steps.
Set Up Your Songwriting Space In Five Easy Steps
Setting up your songwriting space is an important act. It’s a signal to yourself that you are ready to write–at any time. You will be prepared when inspiration strikes. Follow these steps and you will be able to focus on songwriting without distraction.
Step 1: Pick the Right Spot
As you ask yourself the following questions (touchy-feely disclaimer):
- Is there a place in my home/workspace where I feel energized, creative, happy? Go and stand in that area. Think about how you feel.
- Ask yourself, “Can I dedicate this place (or a portion of this space) to songwriting?” If your answer is yes, proceed to the next section (Pick the Right Tools). If not, think of another area in your home, rinse and repeat.
Step 2: Pick the Right Tools
Now think about the following questions, grab what ever comes to mind, and place it in your songwriting area:
- What instrument(s) do I use or want to use to write music?
- How can I easily capture songs as they come to me?
- Do I prefer to write using sheet music, a pen and paper, a handheld recorder, a 4-Track, ProTools, etc.?
- Where’s my tuner?
- Do I want to sit or stand?
Depending on your responses to the questions above, set up your space so that you have all of the tools you will likely need. Think about the basics that come to mind. Don’t worry if you can’t have everything you want right away.
Step 3: Choose Your Inspiration
Consider using a peg board for inspirational quotes, photos, goals, and random thoughts that you may have. Who inspires you? What’s your favorite band?
Step 4: Stay Organized
Set up a basic filing system with separate spaces for song bits or fragments, mostly completed songs, and completed songs. A basic notebook will do if you are just getting started. Keep your song ideas organized and you will spend less time searching for that great song idea you had last week.
Step 5: Pat Your Self on the Back
Congratulations. If you have followed these steps, you now have a dedicated songwriting space. Until next time, thanks for dropping in and happy songwriting to you.