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  • Songstuff Writer and Artist Development Challenges

    By john

    Independent writers and artists face several large disadvantages when they are compared to signed, mainstream writers and artists.  Disadvantages that add up to making it a competition that indies can’t win. Hell they can’t even compete.   Lack of budget and poor contacts are fairly obvious disadvantages. Lack of experience and a lack of knowledge restricts songwriters and artists alike. Lack of an overall strategy, and a limited set of incomplete tactics, makes for a critical problem
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The Writer's Blog

"rocktoberfest" Setlist (&c.)...

I’d say I got everything done I was supposed to do this weekend, but it wouldn’t be true: I still have the application for that city-manager job in Alaska to finish. (I still need to mow the lawn and bake cookies, too.) Being employed doesn’t leave a lot of time to do things like that—but the statistical reality I have to face is virtually the only people who are being offered jobs these days are the ones who already have them. (My getting a job was really a fluke.) While I’m temporarily emp

roxhythe

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Drum Maris

Smiling Upon Entrance!

Hey All, I've graciously been given a vehicle -- this! -- more precise for those vain musical reflections I like to write, specifically "drumming conclusions" (as the Giver, John Moxey, has called them). Songstuff has been a huge help to me. It's not everywhere where one is welcomed, accepted, helped, encouraged to become and develop. From that, I was enabled to develop an introspection. Blogging or writing ongoing posts have been a map & guide: to confer with myself s

Donna

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The Writer's Blog

The Bay City Open Mike (&c.)...

The Bay City Arts Center open mike Saturday night was good: we had 12 performers, including a poet, a standup comic, and a short-story author (all very good), plus the musicians—Opal (electric autoharp), Bud (guitar), Elsie (accordion), Chippewa Bob (saw), Jim (piano), and Noah, one of Mike Simpson’s “Rockshop” kids, did an original song with little Max on drums. Had an “acapulco” singer, too, and first Opal and then Elsie were able to give him musical accompaniment. Thanks, guys. Some

roxhythe

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The Writer's Blog

Open Mike & "steamboat Bill"...

I’m back. Weekend “off,” but while I’m “off” I have two graphic-design projects to finish, cookies to bake, and a job application to do for that place in Alaska that wants a city manager, and tomorrow there’s music to play (a little) and the open mike to host. Tonight, I am deliberately doing nothing productive. The garden, after a week’s absence, has a potato shrub (once it hits 4 ft. tall, State Forestry will officially classify it as a “tree”—I don’t know if there have ever been any po

roxhythe

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The Writer's Blog

Contra Dance Post-Mortem...

Ah, checklists… Having a job—particularly a 24/7 job as a city manager—forces me to be ruthlessly organized. There is a limited window into which to fit a personal life. Laundry done? Check. Column filed for the paper? Check. Business cards for the new job? Check. Software to load onto the city’s computer? Check. Packed? Mostly. Before I leave, I need to design and Acrobat a poster for the “Rockshop” bands’ concert, IF that’s going to happen—if it does, it’ll be next Saturday.

roxhythe

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Songstuff Stuff

Guitar - Tirando And Apoyando

Master of classical and Spanish guitar Marcel Tiemensma introduces and demonstrates how to play Tirando and Apoyando with practical exercises in developing your skills in this great video article. Tirando and Apoyando

Songstuff

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The Writer's Blog

A New Adventure...

Like the song says (one of mine), “The future can change in the blink of an eye.” Got offered a job Monday night, as interim city administrator in Lafayette, Oregon, and I accepted. I start Wednesday (they needed someone right away, and I can do right away). It’ll restrict my movements a bit, and I expect to enjoy every moment of it. I’ve received tons of well-wishes, from all sorts of folks, for which I am grateful. Thanks, everybody. Like another song says (not one of mine—it’s by Jo

roxhythe

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Songstuff Stuff

Marcel Tiemensma - New Author, Classical And Spanish Guitar, On Songstuff

Please welcome Marcel Tiemensma as an author with the Guitar Area on Songstuff. Marcel will be focusing on Classical and Spanish guitar styles. Marcel is a Master of Guitar from Rotterdam Conservatory and the University of Utrecht with a lifelong fascination for the Spanish guitar. For over 20 years Marcel has been performing throughout Europe as wellas within the United States. He remains in demand as a studio musician as wellas by popular artists as a stage musician. Watch out for Ma

john

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The Writer's Blog

Garibaldi Days Post-Mortem...

The Garibaldi Days performance went well. I found out late that morning that there would be no talent show participants (I had wondered if that might happen), so the two-hour show was back to consisting of just the “Rockshop” bands and Roland and Deathgrass. The “Rockshop” bands stuck to the two-song limit they’d originally been handed, and so did Roland, which left us as the flex point—but we’d originally planned on playing a half-hour set anyway. We actually did 25 minutes (the “Rockshop” k

roxhythe

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Dahlnotes

Strangers Liked The Songs (Live)

Thorny Swale played our first gig in 2 months, tonight. I began the last set by telling the crowd we were going to do 2 original songs, dedicating one to Dylan who was in attendance, and whose cool dream I based the lyric upon. The crowd was listening to what I said, and immediately began dancing once we started. The songs went by pretty fast, but I noticed in addition to the dancers, bar patrons paying attention. I have never had that experience before with originals - and maybe not w

Donna

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The Writer's Blog

Two Weddings And A Garibaldi Days...

It’s busy—but as a former boss of mine used to say, “Never confuse motion with progress.” There’s lots of motion. I have no idea whether any of it will turn into progress. Job interview last Thursday night, and one coming up Tuesday night; I’m not assuming either place will want me, but it is nice they thought I was worth interviewing. (In both cases, I was one of three people they were talking to.) I still have a couple more jobs to apply for—one in Alaska. Though Congress has passed

roxhythe

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The Writer's Blog

More Updates...

As I continue to collect rejection letters from employers, Congress is preparing to vote to re-extend unemployment benefits to the multitude of people who had their benefits cut off in May. I’m not sure it will apply to me—a lot of people who reportedly won’t get helped any more because they’ve been “unemployed too long” are the middle-aged men in professional positions (like me) who were the first to lose their jobs when the economy first collapsed. The garden is way more satisfying than

roxhythe

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The Writer's Blog

Contra Dancing, The "rockshop" Bands, &c...

I practice with our impromptu contra dance band (fiddle, piano, and guitar) Sunday night. “Contra dance music”—I looked it up on the Internet—is 32 measures, with an “A part” of 16 and a “B part” of 16. Sounds like fiddle tunes—but if one thinks of the “A part” as a verse and “B part” as a chorus, the range of possibilities gets a whole lot wider. The “A” and “B” parts (verse and chorus) are supposed to be different, or at least start different, as a signal to the contra dance caller to do so

roxhythe

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The Writer's Blog

10 Minutes...

Potato plants are finally coming up in the garden. It would be a severe blow to my self-confidence if I killed potato plants; potatoes are supposed to be indestructible. (And I’m half-Irish. I should be genetically able to grow potatoes.) Elsewhere in the garden, the corn appears unhappy it got transplanted, the peas are slowly committing suicide, and the carrots and green beans have yet to show their faces (or whatever they call them) above ground. And that’s the good news. Got the ca

roxhythe

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The Writer's Blog

Setlists, &c...

Reviewed the videotape of the July open mike at the Arts Center. The parts with our impromptu band aren’t good enough quality to mess with, I’m afraid—percussion too loud, vocals too low, and lead guitarist Charlie was almost out of the picture most of the time (but he did sound good). I’d like to look at videos from open mikes where Charlie was behind the camera, and able to manipulate it more, rather than being a performer; I think those might be better for converting into YouTube-type video

roxhythe

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The Writer's Blog

No, Yes, And An Open Mike...

“No” from the Willamette Writers group—they’re hiring someone other than me to be the entertainment at their annual conference in Portland. (I hope whoever it is is more entertaining. Some writers I know in the organization have expressed doubts about that, and I hope they express them to the conference organizers.) Also on the minus side—not entirely bad, in other words—our band will get just half an hour at Garibaldi Days; I understand we have just two hours to work with, and we’ll be shari

roxhythe

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The Writer's Blog

Mid-Year Review Of The 2010 Goals...

It being just after the first of July, it’s time to do the “mid-year assessment” on the 2010 Goals. How are we doing? Well, I did WRITE IN SOME DIFFERENT GENRES—a medieval ballad, another polka, and country death metal. No doubt there will be more. I entered four SONG CONTESTS the first half of 2010, but didn’t win any (and the goal was to win them, not enter them). I do PLAY WITH MORE PEOPLE—everywhere and everywhen I can. BECOME A HOUSEHOLD WORD? I’m getting better known, but I have

roxhythe

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The Writer's Blog

Talking Inspiration To Writers...

So… let’s assume I’m playing for the Willamette Writers conference (I don’t know that for sure as this is written), and that I’m playing for an hour like I recommended, and solo. (A lot of assumptions, here.) I assume, too, that it’s not usual for them to have a writer as their entertainment. Near as I can tell from their program, their “writers” umbrella covers not just books, but a wide range of formats from film to poetry—but I didn’t see music or songs mentioned anywhere. I nonethe

roxhythe

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The Writer's Blog

Hosting An Open Mike...

It appears I’ll be hosting the Open Mike at the Bay City Arts Center Saturday, July 10—eight days from now. Up to me, I presume, to both round up entertainment and publicize the event. The BCAC traditionally has a “featured performer” that’ll play for half an hour (everybody else gets 15 minutes), usually in between the kids and the adults. I wonder if that’ll have to be me? The “featured performer” normally is, or has some connection to, the Artist of the Month; last month’s A.O.M. was

roxhythe

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The Writer's Blog

Garibaldi Days And The Thirsty Lion...

Well, the Lions Club changed their mind about not having music at Garibaldi Days. I suppose that’s testimony to the power of the Internet, or the speed of 21st-century communication, or something like that; I just mentioned it in the blog and on Facebook, but by the time I got back from the Thirsty Lion performance last night, I had a message waiting for me from the Lions’ entertainment person, and we talked this morning, and music is back on. I’ve volunteered to help organize it (which I want

roxhythe

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traite's Blog

If You Can't Beat Them, You Ain't Hittin' Them Hard Enough

Hello blog Star date dooby dooby doo. So, I sat at work and wrote a song during my lunch break today. Just thought of a nice little melody and crunched some words together and came up with a half finished song in about 15 minutes. Pretty cool eh?. It usually takes me at least a day or so to get a good peice down from brain to paper. How do I write? Words or music first? Well, whatever suits at the time. i play guitar and sing. I gig occasionally and like to throw some wild cards into ea

traite

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The Writer's Blog

No Music At Garibaldi Days...

Well, the Lions Club have decided there will be no entertainment at Garibaldi Days this year. Not just no “Deathgrass,” but no anybody—no Talent Show, no middle-school rock bands. Nada. They say it’s because they couldn’t get it together (of course, they didn’t involve me—but I’m not sure how much help I would have been). I’m sure Garibaldi Days will come off fine without entertainment—it is their 50th anniversary, and they should get big crowds anyway thanks to the economy forcing folks to

roxhythe

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