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The launch of SXSW and it’s flashback years…

SXSW

South by South West moves forward this year beginning this week. Lots of fanfare and lots of music and music related elements for sure. I found a great way to keep-up with all the doings @ SXSW this year, without dealing with travel, accommodations and the crowds… aka, Surviving SXSW

Jam On!
-Ron

(by: entrepreneur.com)
Entrepreneur is on the ground in Austin for SXSW 2014. Feel as if you’re there with us as we share the latest innovations and give you a sneak peek at the launches and ideas that will change how you connect to your world…

Keep up with all the doings @ SXSW here:
https://www.entrepreneur.com/topic/sxsw

YouTube, the good and the bad for musicians…

YouTube has provided (and continues to do so) a great platform for listing views for your musical works, eg., bands, solos, (live and video mixes) et. al. However, hence its inception YT has lost some revenue generating power. Using Utube to display your works is still a powerful platform indeed, yet as a revenue producer… well, Jack Conte of the Pomplamoose YouTube fame has some great updates and tips to expand your musical income considerations…
Jam On!
– Ron

Multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and filmmaker Jack Conte may be best known as one-half of Pomplamoose, the indie-pop duo that racked up over 80 million views for their “VideoSongs” on YouTube

Recorded in September 2013 at XOXO, an arts and technology festival in Portland, Oregon celebrating independent artists using the Internet to make a living doing what they love. For more, visit https://xoxofest.com.

Lynyrd Skynyrd Continues on…

Oh my, the reflection of this band brings goosebumps. It’s great to see these cats [Lynryd Skynyrd] in continuance! Some may had departed in their plane crash but a powerful family continues… and, it’s wonderful to see that their lives and music ‘expands’! …
-Ron

(by: the Sydney Morning Herald/Martin Boulton)

For some musicians, retirement is not an option. They simply want to play … and play and play. In 1977, just days after the release of their fifth album, Lynyrd Skynyrd had no choice about disbanding following the deaths of singer and founding member Ronnie Van Zant, guitarist Steve Gaines and his older sister and back-up singer, Cassie Gaines, in a South Carolina plane crash…

Titanic Violin Sells for 1.5 mil, was it authentic?…

In late October of 2013, what was considered to be the authentic Violin that was used to play through-out the disembarkation of the Titanic, went to auction and sold for a reported… (apprx.) 1.5 million!
Jam On!
-Ron

(by: reuters.com & image Credit:/Cathal McNaughton)
A violin that was being played as the Titanic went down was sold for 900,000 pounds ($1.46 million) at auction on Saturday, a record price for memorabilia from the doomed ocean liner.

Band leader Wallace Hartley played the instrument, trying to calm passengers as the ship slipped into the frozen waters of the North Atlantic in April 1912…

Musician, before starting your digital (social) PR campaign, consider the following…

5 Things All Musicians Need Before Starting A Digital PR Campaign…

After reading this article on how to proceed with your musical marketing campaign, I was further intrigued with its simple, yet powerful suggestions and consideration to advance your musical career.
Jam On!
-Ron

(by: https://camilleainsworth.wordpress.com)

While all of these are important goals for musicians to have, and there is no doubt that a PR campaign can help artists to achieve them, many musicians decide to jump into this too early. Without the proper assets, the likelihood that you will actually achieve these goals from a PR campaign are greatly decreased.

In order for a PR campaign to truly be successful, you must have the 5 following assets…

In Memory of the Passing of Musicians in 2013

The passing of musicians in 2013…

NPR just released a nice montage and dedication of the passage of this planet’s wonderful musicians, departed this past year…
Jam On!
-Ron

NPR Music remembers the musicians, composers, producers and other visionaries whom we lost in 2013. Explore their musical legacies…

See the dedication here -> https://apps.npr.org/music-memoriam-2013/

Does Your Band Suck?…

Playing gigs in your band…

I’ve always subscribed to the notion that even if you are a cover band, you should definitely play tunes ‘your own way’! Make it sound different and make your tunes (covers and all) sound like ‘you’ not like them. If I owned a bar I’d even go further to require my house band to not only, do covers their way but require a high percentage of songs to be original.
Loving this blog release by Menga on this very subject…
Jam On!
-Ron

(by: rich menga, menga.net)
When you’re in a crappy cover band playing crappy cover songs in crappy local bars, you are pandering to drunken 40-year-olds.

When I said that “play what the people want to hear” is the worst thing a band can do, I wasn’t kidding… read more and watch video here ->
https://menga.net/34786

Saxophonists, Clarinetists and other Wind-Instrument players, Beware…

‘Saxophonist Lung’ can afflict wind-instrument players…

Wow, this is quite interesting (subj.)… Wind instrument players please keep your reeds and mouth-pieces very clean. You could be affected by this ailment. If you blow with a reed (or any wind band instrument) this short article may be very beneficial reading…
Jam On!
-Ron

(By Marc Lallanilla, Assistant Editor – via lifescience.com)
A man in Atlanta had been diagnosed with a severe case of saxophone lung. Though the name of the condition seems odd, it’s quite appropriate, since saxophonists, clarinetists and other wind-instrument players are among those who contract the illness most often…

More on this peculiar ailment here…
https://www.livescience.com/41057-what-is-saxophone-lung-hypersensitivity-pneumonitis.html

Possibly Glenn Campbell’s Final Recording…

Glenn Campbell is turning 75 and battling Alzheimer’s…

You may know this already but, Glenn played in a special group of studio and session musicians that jammed anonymously on many records in Los Angeles, California during the 1960s. Known as The Wrecking Crew – it backed dozens of popular singers, and were one of the most successful groups of studio musicians in music history…
Jam On!
-Ron

(by: Neil Cossar -via HuffingtonPost.co.uk)
Campbell has released more than 70 albums. He has sold 45 million records. He was in great demand as a session musician in the 1960s and worked as part of the studio musicians’ clique known as “the Wrecking Crew.” He played guitar on the Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds album, as well as on recordings by artists from Elvis to Sinatra. On top of all this, Campbell hosted his own weekly variety show, The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour…

Read the rest of this article here:
https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/neil-cossar/wichita-lineman-glen-campbell_b_4479036.html

The Shure SM58 Continues to be Musicians Fav…

Shure SM58 microphone vocal mainstay…

If I asked you to name one of the most-used stage equipment items, I just bet that the Shure-58 microphone would probably come to the top of your mind. The legendary Shure SM58® vocal microphone continues to be designed for professional vocal use in live performance, sound reinforcement, and studio recording. It was tailored for singing or speech response and is (of course) a world standard.
Jam On!
-Ron

(by: Wikipedia)
Like all directional microphones, the SM58 is subject to proximity effect, a low frequency boost when used close to the source. The cardioid response reduces pickup from the side and rear, helping to avoid feedback onstage. It uses the balanced XLR three-pin connection. There are wired (with and without on/off switch) and wireless versions. The SM58 uses an internal shock mount to reduce handling noise…

More wiki data here -> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shure_SM58