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  • john

    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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3rd, 4th, 5th Rehearsals

This is a lengthy freak out! Can't help it, music is the only thing that is really mine, as in "mine alone". It's honeymoon time for me. Things are heating up yet settling in. Communication and rehearsals to me are like having a blast back on the playground (in my case going to the river, cruising on the rope swing). Everybody I think plays better than ever. Better than when we were in our twenties, or thirties. The best though isn't chops...it's like a whole-person-rounded kind of
Donna

Donna

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Performance

Performance - Failure & Success. Sometimes the band plays well but I am unhappy about my personal contribution to the music at a gig. This is what I am talking about here. To my own standards, my success rate is quite low. I feel good about perhaps 40% of my performances. I’ve never felt like giving up, but I do feel pretty bad after some gigs. I could improve my success rate by being less demanding of myself. The trouble with that is, I would probably eventually get bored a
Rudi

Rudi

0

The Pigfish Album List...

John (the bass player) wanted a CD of Southern Pigfish songs for practice. I think the way to approach it is to act as if the Southern Pigfish album were going to be produced right now, today, and all there was to pick from was my songs. What would go on the album would be: For Their Own Ends Bedpans for Brains Vampire Roumanian Babies Dirty Deeds We Done to Sheep Test Tube Baby Born Again Barbie Naked Space Hamsters in Love When I Jump Off the Cliff, I’ll Think of You The
roxhythe

roxhythe

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Dylan Update July 20-27, 2007 (not 2008)

Bizarre! How'd this entry get here? It used to be, and does belong, on page 2 or 3... __________________________________________________________________________ I am exhausted. But did play drums for an hour, and guitar for an hour, this week. ..................................................................................... Dear All, Thanks for following Dylan's illness. It means a lot to him. He's received mail from Fargo [North Dakota in the US] to England!
Donna

Donna

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Not Going To Be In A Movie...

I got offered an audition for a movie, but I’ve pretty much decided to shine it on. Instead, I’ll be judging speech tournaments for my daughter’s college, several weekends this winter, because that pays ($50 a day, plus hotel room and maybe meals), and the movie part doesn’t. The glory—if there was any—might have been nice, but sometimes y’gotta go where the money is. It’d have been just a bit part—an aging rock star reduced to performing in karaoke bars. I did have a problem with the pa
roxhythe

roxhythe

0

Thanks, Everybody...

The last issue of “The Writer’s Blog” prompted an outpouring of messages of hope and encouragement for which I am extremely grateful. I had no idea that many people were reading this thing. Thanks, everybody. A lot of folks urged me to take my 15 years’ experience as a city manager and use it to do something else for a living. I think I will. As noted in the first issue of the blog, nearly two years ago, the blog is describing a journey, hopefully to success as a songwriter. Like all j
roxhythe

roxhythe

0

Feeder 02/11/2008

Feeder 02/11/2008 Well, Apologies for the intermission in gigs, and lack of any review for 7 Seconds Of Love (I screwed up and missed that ) and Beautiful Days (A festival review was a bit much all in one go... Go check out 12 Stone Toddler though as they were AWESOME!). There will be a few more gigs over the next month or two as there is a glut of unmissable gigs coming up... Well, let's begin with a quick word on the venue, as it's a new one to me, the gig was in The Newport Centre
thelevellers

thelevellers

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Re-inventing Myself...

Ever have one of those weeks (or months) when absolutely nothing turns out right? It gets discouraging. Didn’t get the city manager job in Wheeler—didn’t even get interviewed. Realistically, I may no longer be employable: I’ve been out of “the business” eight months now, don’t have the degree everybody’s requiring (and won’t have for at least a couple of years), and I don’t have a great track record, either. It may be time to just write off the last 15 years as a pretty good ride, and go
roxhythe

roxhythe

1

2nd Rehearsal [+ 7 Months]

Though toned down in mood [er, me that is], I felt deeper satisfaction playing the 2nd time w/ Loonan and Mischke. Somehow this doesn't seem possible; however, taking any and all gifts, thank 'ee. (Edit to add...DOH! A big part due to Mike playing bass this rehearsal. And I could barely hear him! Thankfully, Tommy is percussive to no end. We'll have to switch those monitors next time. Don't say switch the cords - this is a situation like when we were 16...the cords cannot be switched, we'd
Donna

Donna

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Band Crisis

30th Aug 2008 Gig at Romsey Comrades Club. Blown Out have played here several times. All 7 band members have known about the venue since spring of this year. On the night however, we were dealt a cruel blow. Our bassist Stan didn’t turn up. Both I and Pete (vocals) phoned his mobile but he had switched it off. Maybe he had an accident on the way to Romsey, maybe he was sick, maybe anything. However this had happened once before some 4 years ago. It was the first gig I ever took Jan to. Stan
Rudi

Rudi

1

Wave Arts Power Suite 5

Steve Mueske brings you an in-depth review of Power Suite 5, a suite of mixing and mastering plug-ins by Wave Arts. Steve's attention to detail and unbiased approach has become a trademark of his refreshing and informative reviews. Don't miss it!
john

john

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Songstuff

nice to see how songstuff is coming along. new features being added etc. as a music site it's really pretty cool, and it's good to see site crew active on the forum. i thought it about time i acknowledged this in my blog!
typo

typo

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1st Rehearsal With Loonan And Mischke

It doesn't get better than this... Back when we recorded Mischke's A Better Man, there was fire (I thought) in the room, us three; as I recall it was mainly Tommy (Mischke) and me siinging and Mike producing/engineering. This week when we rehearsed Tommy was playing keys, Mike guitar and me drums, all of us singing. I'd forgotten - yet not forgotten - the curious musical magic of Tommy. He's his own island; some people are like that, they're theatrical FOR REAL. And so, one i
Donna

Donna

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Cheat Codes For Life~contains Anger And Profanity

Cheat codes for life I overheard a conversation this morning. A guy was bitchin’ cause his boy was using cheat codes for his playstation games, “he’ll never learn anything about life that way”, he said. Now my gut reaction is to agree with him. I hate cheaters, I think fighting fair is honorable and to be respected. Holding yourself to a high standard is hard as hell when you look around and it seems like everyone around you has the cheat codes for life and you are the only dumbass trying t
Nightwolf

Nightwolf

2

More For The To-do List...

No new songs of mine, but plenty to keep me busy writing music to songs by others. I am not about to get bored any time soon. “Tampa Stan” Good’s “I Love My Truck, My Dog and I Love Jesus” has music now; second effort, a little faster with a more prominent Gospel beat befitting the subject matter. It’s a love song, actually, not a Gospel hymn—but the title makes it sound like something you would not want to have in a hymnal. Still one more Tampa Stan tune to put to music; his “Stay-
roxhythe

roxhythe

0

Band Thoughts...

Somebody in the audience at the Friday Night Group performance asked for “Valvoline,” an old (1980) Dodson Drifters hit (it was the first of my songs ever to get airplay). So of course we played it—a lot of folks had never heard it before, but it’s simple to follow, and we did have people up dancing. Nice to know somebody remembers it and liked it. “Valvoline” is usually the example I give people when they worry about “genre”—it was written by a country-music writer (me), recorded by a bluegr
roxhythe

roxhythe

0

Recording & Publishing...

RECORDING SONGS WITH A BAND: I have a couple of ways I can go, I think. I know a number of musicians within reasonable traveling distance—a couple of bass players, couple decent lead guitarists, couple of harmonica players, a female singer—and I could record their tracks one by one in person. I might even know a drummer—the pastor of one of our local churches, who showed up at one of the Friday Night Group sessions. Alternatively, I can use people on line—probably different people, becau
roxhythe

roxhythe

0

Whisper Of Echos~ A Call To Arms

New post in the jam room~HERE For "The Hivemind Theory" I need a song called "Whisper of echos" which is to bee a string of monotone sayings said by different voices. So here is my call to arms SongStuffers: Want to bee on my Album? I need flat, monotone recordings of all kinds of sayings from the mundane (a penny saved is a penny earned) to the preposterous (campaign slogans from politicians). Lazz, you know the one I want you to do Record one to three sayings spoken in a
Nightwolf

Nightwolf

0

The Harvest Festival...

The Harvest Festival gig went well, I think. It recalled Mick Jagger’s famous proverb: “You can’t always get what you want—but if you try, sometimes you just might find you get what you need.” I didn’t get what I wanted—hundreds of adoring fans hanging on every word, selling all my remaining CDs (all 8 of them), and getting a fat check from the school at the end of the show—and I probably shouldn’t have bothered wanting it. I’ve played the Harvest Festival before. The entertainment is
roxhythe

roxhythe

0

Three Days Without The Internet...

THREE DAYS WITH NO INTERNET… That’s what Embarq-nee-Sprint-the-phone-company said when I told them their DSL modem gave up the ghost. (Giving up the ghost is probably an appropriate Hallowe’en activity.) That’s how long it’ll take Embarq to get a new modem here from wherever it is they come from. The speed and equanimity with which they accepted the idea their equipment had broken down suggests it’s a rather frequent occurrence. (Obviously, this was written while the Internet was gone,
roxhythe

roxhythe

0

Postponing recording for a month

The drums are finally all recorded, and Micke has done an excellent job of it. The Testament album is pretty much finished as a concept now and only recording and some arrangement is left. But due to some extensive redecorating work at home - also involving my home studio - I will need to postpone the recordings a bit. A finished master is now scheduled for the new year. I'm exited about re-doing my home studio, though. This time it will be built with acoustics in mind and will have acoust
FinnArild

FinnArild

0

Harvest Festival Preparations...

Here’s the draft setlist for the Harvest Festival concert: Dead Things in the Shower Eatin’ Cornflakes from a Hubcap Blues Bluebird on My Windshield Armadillo on the Interstate Doing Battle with the Lawn Tillamook Railroad Blues Dead Fishes Welcome to Hebo Waltz When They Die, I Put Them in the Cookies Hey, Little Chicken Bungee Jumpin’ Jesus No Good Songs About the War I’m Giving Mom a Dead Dog for Christmas And if I get asked to do an encore, it’ll be (I think
roxhythe

roxhythe

0

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