Project Rock and Roll

Purging For Fun And Profit – Or – Be A Rock Minimalist

Posted on November 1, 2011 by daniel

Hello! Today we explore one of the most powerful tools for focusing your music career goals and giving yourself what you need to be in the best position for success. Wow, that was a mouthful. Now the succinct version: Get Rid Off Shit That Does You No Good! Now I freely admit that this is hard. Getting rid of stuff you’ve accumulated hurts, especially if you don’t make a whole lot of money. But, it really does work if you can bring yourself to do it. It clears your head, clears your space thereby removing physical and mental barriers to … Continue reading →

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Ariel + Sivers + Microphone = Free Knowledge

Posted on September 20, 2011 by daniel

Don’t bother getting out your reading glasses, I’ll make this quick. Somehow my youtube wanderings of the day dropped me into the profile of Ariel Publicity. I blinked a couple of times and realized I was looking at a pile of videos from Ariel Hyatt’s ‘Sound Advice’ series where she is interviewing Derek Sivers. These are from a couple of years ago and full of great stuff. I can’t believe I hadn’t seen them before! For those of you who have been living under a rock, Derek Sivers is the guy who started CDBaby, built it into a huge successful company, … Continue reading →

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Music Promotion Websites Need A F*&#kn Clue

Posted on August 10, 2011 by daniel

You Know The Drill Amazing new service for promoting your band! Leverages social networking! You’ll get more new fans than you can shake a stick at! You’re mailing list will virtually explode thanks to our unique, targeted, laser like, service! Just think of all the downloads you’ll sell when you connect with thousands of potential fans! Thanks to our proprietary algorithm designed by a former musician, we are able to deliver the promise of the internet right to the doorstep of your practice pad. You’ll literally wet your pants when you see how our super powerful platform of bullshit introduces your money … Continue reading →

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The Music Industry Is Diseased – This Is Good!

Posted on July 20, 2011 by daniel

Howdy there music makers and lovers! This is a shorty. What happens when you don’t take care of yourself? When you refuse to see how your ways are toxic to your system? Well, you get sick. Diseased. Heartbroken, or in this case just broke. Well, I can’t have that. While the titans of the industry of music reap their just rewards for choosing to deposit their heads way deep in the sand (thought I was going to say something else didn’t you!), while they gape at the festering wounds and slowly come to the realization that the snake handler’s … Continue reading →

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The End Men – Build It Up

Posted on July 18, 2011 by daniel

Brooklyn’s The End Men have built themselves a kick ass debut with their EP ‘Build It Up’. Matthew Hendershot’s voice will inevitably be likened to Tom Waits, and that’s probably a welcome comparison. There is also a ‘Waitsian’ easy cleverness to the lyrics and their delivery. One could be forgiven for thinking they were hearing a batch of newly unearthed rarities from the Waits vaults. But, It would be a mistake to define The End Men by the Waits comparison. These songs are awesome and have a character of their own. At a time when popular rock and roll seems … Continue reading →

Posted in Record Reviews | 3 Comments

The Hickoids Are Kicking It!

Posted on April 15, 2011 by daniel

Jeff Smith of The Hickoids sent me their new CD ‘Kicking It With The Twits’ the other day and this thing kicks so much ass I just had to tell you. First a little history lesson. You can get the whole sordid tale on their website but I’ll give you the brass tacks. The Hickoids came out of Austin, TX in the late ’80s and took the raw, blasted sound of punk and kicked it hard with cowboy boot. Or, come to think of it maybe it was the other way around. Regardless, they have long been considered one … Continue reading →

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DIY Recording – Get Your Music To Your Fans On The Cheap!

Posted on March 29, 2011 by daniel

Cripes! It’s been what? Over a month since my last post? Wow. I swear I’m not that lazy. I’ve been spending a lot of time down at The Frock working on an exercise in extreme DIY recording with my band The Lovely Savages. New Band, No Money, Sound Familliar? In my opinion THE biggest challenge for any band is making that first decent sounding recording as cheaply as possible. It’s the old catch 22: you don’t have money to record and you don’t have anything for getting gigs or to sell so that you can get money to record. Without … Continue reading →

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Making Money – 2 Articles On Creating Your Own Success

Posted on February 26, 2011 by daniel

You can do better than that. I bumped into a couple of great articles on working your money making music mojo and now I’m putting you in the know because that’s how I roll. Both of these posts will fill your brain belly with thought food and hopefully have you staggering away from the buffet with some new ideas for making some cake. (I have no explanation for the sudden burst of edible metaphors, but I’m going with it.) Ok. Have at it. VanMusic – Vancouver Music Scene Blog I just started following the VanMusic on twitter because I’m interested … Continue reading →

Posted in DIY Music Marketing, Survival Guide | Tagged getting gigs, marketing | 4 Comments

Rock And Roll 101: The Pirates

Posted on February 17, 2011 by daniel

You can consider this kind of a prequel to my previous post on Dr. Feelgood. Legend tells us that Dr. Feelgood got their name from Johnny Kid and the Pirates recording of an old blues song by Piano Red. It’s also immediately clear that Wilco Johnson’s guitar style was influenced by Mick Green. I mention this connection because I love history and following the threads of style and influence. I can easily hear a song at breakfast and then blow several hours on wikipedia reading about the band and everybody they were ever associated with. Johnny Kidd Moving right along… … Continue reading →

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Rhythm Guitar Rules!

Posted on February 7, 2011 by daniel

Hands of the rhythm master Redefine Rhythm Guitar Have you ever been talking to a guitar player and they say something like “aw I just play rhythm” in a slightly embarrassed tone? Or even worse is when somebody refers to you as “just the rhythm guitar player” as if you’re second rate. It’s a commonly encountered view that rhythm guitar is somehow inferior to lead. Like anybody who is content with rhythm guitar just isn’t capable of playing lead guitar. As if only beginners play rhythm. Well, I call bullshit on that. Rhythm guitar is a totally separate skill that … Continue reading →