Musicians - Get More (and Better) Google Plus Followers!

I recently wrote an article for Target Audience Magazine - Google Plus Is Not Dying, But Your Profile Might Be. This article explained how I quickly increased my Google Plus followers, not just with numbers, but with people who are relevant to my interests (music), and who are more likely to engage with my profile and my posts (both points are very important!)

Since then I have continued to learn better ways to use Circloscope to find active and relevant followers, and will continue to share what I learn here. If you haven't read the first article yet, start there, as this will just build on what I've already written.

Today I learned that sometimes Google doesn't like it when you do a deep search for engagers using Circloscope. I had run a search from Circloscope on "Engagers of my last 20 posts (not in my circles)" and Circloscope had returned nearly 1700 results. As I started trying to add some of these to my newly created circle, I kept getting a "check your internet connection" error. I knew it wasn't my internet connection, but had a suspicion, so I clicked over to my profile tab and tried to load something from my profile. Sure enough, I got a thing from Google saying they had detected unusual activity and wanted me to prove I was human. I entered the code, switched back to Circloscope, and everything started working fine.

Another tip for when you use the "find engagers.." feature in Circloscope and get a lot of results : the result are initially sorted by first name - change the sort to "recently updated". This lets you start adding the most active people first - and those are the ones we want!

More tips to come soon - and if you have learned any tips, please share them in the comments.

New Opportunities for Bands and Musicians in the Tyler Area

Patriot Commons is near the University of Texas campus, and is currently growing by leaps and bounds. With about 3500 new residents each year, Tyler is a fast growing city, and the opening of Patriot Commons earlier this year is now paying off with new bars and restaurants.

Republic Icehouse is one of the newest additions, and they are currently seeking bands. They also plan on having an Open Mic night.

UC Sports Bar, which also features live music, recently opened at Patriot Commons. Restaurants round out the attractions with a Steak n Shake, Scooter’s Coffee and Yogurt, and Boba-Loompia. Fedex and UPS are also setting up locations here, so with all of this going on, I expect a lot of traffic and firmly believe Patriot Commons will be a huge boon to Tyler, and to Tyler musicians and bands.

International Music Festival - Austin - Sept 6-7

Great idea. Bad promo.

I always get excited to find what appears to be a new festival with promise to add more flavor to Texas' festival scene, and the name of this one really caught my attention.

This is the fourth year for this festival. I've written about badly promoted festivals before, but this one really gets me because I would think the presenter, the Texas Music Museum, would do better. Visiting the Museum's website gives a bit of info, with a large graphic that says click DETAILS, so I do.

This click leads me to a one page PDF with the address, price (free but donations accepted), and a few small blurry pics of the bands (I think that's the bands - too blurry to tell).

I know web developers are expensive, and I'm not fond of events whose only online presence is a Facebook page, but come on. A Facebook page is at least better than a PDF, and anyone can do it.

Some of you may question why I'm so critical of festivals that do crappy online promotions. Well, here's why : the bands. These bands are usually playing for nothing, or nearly nothing, which really means they're paying to play. At the very least, they're paying with their time, and gas to get to and from the gig. Some may be travelling far enough to require hotel rooms. Some may be giving up better paying gigs hoping to get good exposure at the festival, or maybe they just booked the festival in advance then had to turn down paying gigs because they were booked. These bands deserve better advertising. Put up a website, or at least a web page or Facebook page, and tell us about the bands. Link to their websites.

Seeking Entertainers for New Year's Eve Party

This is a family-friendly event, not much posted online about it yet, but they are lining up the entertainment so this is your chance.

I almost hate to say this but there is no pay involved. But I know from experience there will be entertainers who would love this kind of exposure, which is the only reason I'm posting it.

If you'd like to perform, contact information and event details can be found here : Texas Musicians Forum.

Metal at the Monkey - Dallas - July 31

I know a few DFW area 80s and metal fans that are going to LOVE this... 80s Metal at the Gas Monkey in Dallas!

With an 80s costume contest, several raffle drawings, and a few good metal bands, this sounds like a blast! To top it off, the entire night will be broadcast live by KNON.

Details and tickets here: gasmonkeybarngrill.com

Beaumont Radio Station Seeks Unsigned Talent

Unsigned bands and artists in the southeast Texas area who play country music or Texas music - get heard on this Beaumont radio station! The station is seeking music from unsigned artists and bands. Chosen music will be played on their Saturday night Texas Connection show, from 6-8 pm.

Details here : www.kykr.com

Rock the River Fest - New Braunfels, TX

What a cool way to beat the Texas heat - listening to good music, then tubing the Guadalupe River with the bands!!

Festivities start Friday night, August 8, with an acoustic show featuring 3 or 4 artists. Saturday you go tubing with the bands. Tubes are provided but you should bring your own booze (please read the rules - no glass, no styrofoam, and there's a size limit on coolers).

Saturday night wraps everything up with the main event featuring lots of bands on two stages. Bands and artists include :

Green River Ordinance
Drew Holcomb and the Neighbors
Uncle Lucius
Jamestown Revival
The Wind and the Wave
Andrew Ripp
Hudson Moore
Penny and Sparrow
Friendly Savages
Emily Hearn

It's events like this one that make me glad I live in Texas. For more information about this unique event and to buy tickets, visit the website : RockTheRiverFest.virb.com

Texas Showdown Tattoo and Music Festival - El Paso

This is for all you hardcore fans - tattoos, music, sideshows, and body suspension acts. Good music and over 300 of the world's top tattoo artists sounds like an interesting mix, but the body suspension stuff makes me queesy.

Friday, July 18, Deftones will headline, with The Casualties, Lower Class Brats, and Murder FM. I saw the Deftones a few years back, and unfortunately it was not a good show.

Saturday, July 19, Drowning Pool will headline, with 12 Stones, Crazy Town, Bridge to Grace, and more. I never got to see Drowning Pool with Dave Williams, but the newest lead singer Jasen Moreno is bringing high energy back to the band. After watching a few vids with him, especially how well he did on "Bodies", I plan to catch them the next time they're in Dallas.

Sunday, July 20 features Wu-Tang Clan, Snow Tha Product, Sheek Louch, and more.

Tickets for this 3 day event can be bought online at Ticketmaster, or save a few bucks by buying them directly from the El Paso County Colliseum box office.

Learn more about this freak show of an event at texastattooshowdownfestval.com or on their Facebook page.

The Amarillo Drum Circle

The Amarillo Drum Circle is a family-friendly group whose mission is to unite the community through rhythm and use music as therapy to reach those in need. The group is open to all and is free to join. They meet every Sunday at 6 PM in AC Memorial Park in Amarillo, and also at 7 PM the second Saturday of every month at Chalice Abbey. If you plan to attend, check the Facebook page first because on occasion the meeting is moved or rescheduled.

Despite its name, knowledge of drums or any musical instrument is not required, and other instruments are welcomed. Bring your drum, guitar, ukelele, flute, or just bring your love of music. Don't have a musical instrument or any musical talent? Don't let that hold you back - this is really about comraderie, friendship, and fun.

In addition to making music, there are often other activities, including a camping circle, poetry slam, art gallery openings, tie dye shirt night, and a bracelet-making circle.

The Amarillo Drum Circle was started a few years ago by Josh Floyd, Nick Andrew, Cyrice Gein and a few others who would get together occasionally. The group now has nearly 500 members. Most events have roughly 30 or so in attendance, but the word is spreading and they recently had about 75 at a gathering.

I can tell that this is a labor of love for the organizers, and that they truly enjoy the experience and want to share it with as many as possible. I'm frustrated by the hundreds of miles between us, because this is exactly the type of thing this "old hippie" would enjoy on a mild-weathered Sunday. I wish them the greatest success, and I hope to have an excuse to visit the panhandle soon just so I can join in the fun!

Heart of Texas Fair and Rodeo in Waco is Seeking a Few Good Bands

The Heart of Texas Fair & Rodeo is seeking a few good bands to perform this October.

To enter, you must like their HOT Local Bands Contest Facebook Page then complete the application and include a YouTube video of your band. Sounds easy enough.

I can't find where they specify the type of music they're looking for, but I would guess that metal and hiphop probably wouldn't go over well at a rodeo. My best guess? Country, folk, bluegrass and the like is probably what they're looking for.

Two Upcoming Events From Austin Blues Society

Pinetop Perkins - Photo by Travis Tank

In their mission statement, the Austin Blues Society states that they support and promote local blues artists, old and new alike. I'm intrigued - the music business has become so strange and so difficult in the last decade or so that anything to help musicians succeed gets my support.

Although their website, AustinBluesSociety.org is a little bit anemic, I quickly find two upcoming events featuring local blues artists.

The Heart Of Texas Blues Challenge is a series of blues bands going head-to-head to win prizes. It looks like about 35 or so artists/bands are participating this year, with about a dozen featured artists/bands also performing. That's a lot of blues!! This all takes place at a local club (The Brass House in Austin) in a 4 week series - July 10th, 17th, 24th, and 31st. I'm sorry I cannot attend any of these, especially the finals on the 31st. It sounds like a great time!

The other event is the Pflugerville Pfirecracker Pfestival. This event is presented by the city of Pflugerville July 4th at Lake Pflugerville, with The Austin Blues Society sponsoring one of two stages, featuring seven local blues artists/bands. The other stage has some interesting acts as well (I'm especially intrigued by Matchmaker Band but I'd have a hard time tearing myself away from the stage with all the blues bands).

So if you're anywhere near Austin, and enjoy blues, do yourself a favor and check out these two unique events sponsored by The Austin Blues Society.

Small Town Music Festivals : You're Doing It Wrong

Target Audience Magazine just put my article Small Town Music Festivals : You're Doing It Wrong on the cover of the May issue!

While I do have a bit of experience with planning and promoting small festivals, this particular article was prompted by what I learned recently while searching for lesser-known Texas festivals to write about, most notably A Lesson For Small Town Music Festivals where the organizers did everything wrong.

Anyway, I hope you'll check out my article, and you might even find some other articles of interest. Target Audience Magazine is geared toward do-it-yourself artists, and I've noticed they have a lot of stories for DIY musicians.

Target Audience Magazine May 2014 Issue

Should You Be Playing Restaurants?

Let me be clear that this isn't about bar & grills, this is about restaurants, where the primary business is food. But recent trends are starting to blur this distinction, as you'll see.

If you are a solo act, or a band that plays country, Americana, folk, or any other "softer" and "family friendly" genres, then you should definitely consider playing restaurants!

During the recent (ongoing?) recession, restaurants suffered and started looking for ways to attract new customers. Live music proved to be the answer for many. It creates a unique experience for diners, and could result in repeat business for the restaurant, but what does it do for you?

Playing restaurants exposes your music to people who may not normally patronize the club scene. If you're selling cds or other merchandise, this is a whole new segment of the public to recruit as fans and who will buy your merch. Do this right and it could be a gold mine!

Something I noticed about restaurant gigs is that families often go to these shows expecting to spend some money and have a memorable family experience. They send the kids to put money in your tip jar, or buy your cd. They buy tshirts for themselves and the kids. These families typically spend more money than the average club patrons.

On the flip side, restaurants don't directly profit from live music - they cannot have a cover charge or they would lose, rather than gain, customers. They are hiring you to fill seats with hungry diners. The pay may be less than a club of the same size. This is why you should have your merchandising in order before playing restaurants - merch, and your tip jar, will be necessary to make up for the lower pay.

One last benefit : even though many of the restaurant patrons are not into the club scene, if they really like your music, chances are good that some will come see you when you're playing a nearby club. They'll probably bring a few friends, too. Multiply this a few times and you could see a noticeable increase in your following.

UrbanSpoon lists 400 restaurants in Dallas/Fort Worth that offer live entertainment, and 351 restaurants in Houston that offer live entertainment. Use this under-tapped resource and see if it doesn't help grow your fan base.

If you have played live music in restaurants, I would love to hear about your experiences!

Win Tickets to See Staind!

Pick from 15 cities on their tour - the only choice offered in Texas is the Lonestar Amphitheater in Lubbock on May 25. The contest ends at midnight on April 25, so hurry up and enter now at rafflecopter.com.

A bit more info about the contest, including a list of all 15 cities and dates to choose from, can be found at Loudwire.

Brazos Nights Free Concert Series in Waco, Texas - Doing It Right!

I've been a big fan of Cajun music and Zydeco music since accidentally wandering into a Cajun bar in the small town of Bandera, TX about ten years ago. So when I saw Buckwheat Zydeco is playing in Waco on April 11, I had to check it out. I've been wanting to see him for a very long time.

The event is a series of free concerts (yes FREE) held each year beginning in April and ending in July presented by The City of Waco Parks and Recreation Department. What an awesome thing for a city to do!

But Waco isn't far from DFW, and they've been doing this since 1987. Why haven't I heard about it before? From what I can tell, most of their advertising is local to Waco. And as far as internet advertising, the event does not have its own website, instead it has a dedicated area of the city's website (Brazos Nights Official Home Page).

Despite not having its own site, they do offer plenty of good info - click on Bands and you'll see the headliners for each of the 4 shows this year, complete with links back to the bands' websites. Besides Buckwheat Zydeco, they have great names for the rest of the lineup, including the Toadies on June 13.

I'm seriously impressed with this festival, as they appear to be doing a lot of things the right way. Hats off to the organizers - I'm a bit of a critic when it comes to small town festivals and I can find little to criticize here. You've done so many things right, including a page featuring Photos and Videos from Previous Waco Nights, and moving the April date to accomodate artist schedules.

My biggest nitpick of this event? That they don't give me any tools to help advertise it. If they had some downloadable banners or tile ads, I would likely put them on some of my music-themed websites. I'm sure some of the participating artists would do the same. I even checked the Brazos Nights Facebook Page. I found images for each of the 4 dates, but they didn't include enough info (like WHERE).

But that's ok - I'm going to promote this event anyway, because it's an awesome lineup of artists and bands, and because it's FREE. Way to go, Waco!

Lubbock Rocks! KFMX Birthday Bash features big names, including Saliva, Puddle of Mudd and Buckcherry

I've spent a little time in Lubbock and I know from experience - there's usually not much to do. April 19th will certainly be an exception though, with performances from Buckcherry, Scott Weiland, Puddle of Mudd, Powerman 5000, Saliva, The Virgin Mary's and The Hunger.

Ticket prices are very reasonable - $38.75 for general admission (get tickets here)- so I expect it will get a good turnout IF they will just promote this thing properly! With names like this, they could easily attract attendance from far outside Lubbock, but only if people know about it.

Once again, I am underwhelmed by the promotion of a Texas music event. KFMX should be blasting this all over the internet. I went to their home page and there's NOTHING there! There is a small link that says "birthday bash" which takes you to this page : kfmx.com/buckcherry-to-headline-the-33rd-fmx-birthday-bash-video/, and the page isn't too bad, it's just not promoted well. This should be HUGE news for Lubbock, and should be featured front and center on the radio station's home page.

Granted, it's not near as bad as the Mazda event.. um, excuse me, the Tall City Blues Fest I mentioned in another post, but with these big names I can't believe they're not promoting it better.

Regardless, it's a great show, the timing is good for a rock show (the eve of 420), and I wish them great success. If anyone in the Lubbock area knows more about this event and if it is being promoted better locally, please let me know in the comments!

A Lesson For Small Town Music Festivals

Who knew Midland had their own music festival? I stumbled onto the Tall City Blues Fest website quite by accident and was immediately intrigued.

Unfortunately, the website is woefully lacking in information. Lots of info about their sponsors, almost no info about the music. While I wish them great success - I love seeing smaller towns develop a successful music festival - I don't see it unless they change their ways.

Let their website be a lesson to other towns wanting to develop a successful music festival. Yeah, sponsors are important, but the website for a music festival should feature music. Is this really such a hard concept to grasp?

The Tall City Blues Fest website, www.tallcitybluesfest.com, starts on the home page with links to news, info, and sponsorships. I found last year's lineup from the News link (Chris Duarte headlined) and a few pathetic press releases that focused more on workshops offered at a nearby college than on the music. This was getting depressing.

Finally I found a videos link (see for yourself here www.tallcitybluesfest.com/videos/ and guess what I found? Three videos of Lisa Grissom (I guess she's the festival organizer?) either sitting on a Mazda and talking about the festival, or being interviewed by a Mazda dealership manager about the festival. (Guess who is the main sponsor of the event?) Oh, and almost as an afterthought, a single lonely video of the music from the pre-VIP party in 2012. One video of music!!

No pictures of past events, no other videos of past events, no interviews with past performers - what the heck?

Sorry Lisa Grissom, but you've only convinced me to come to this year's event if I'm interested in looking at a Mazda. Good luck with your festival, and my sympathies go out to any bands who play there. Unless you're singing songs about Mazda, don't expect any free press for your band.

Free Press Summer Festival - Houston, May 31 - June 1

Lots of Texas festivals to choose from, so what's so great about this one?

For starters, this year's headliners include Jack White, Vampire Weekend, and Deftones. For some reason, Cage the Elephant is listed in a smaller font with the rest of the bands on the festival's website - I would used the bigger font. Whatever.

Dozens of other bands round out the musical festivities, but this festival is also about art, just not the "usual" type. The FPSF celebrates "interactive" art - from benches and bridges, to a see-saw that looks like a giant mustache giving "free mustache rides".

Over 80,000 people are expected to attend this year, making it one of Texas' largest festivals.

More info can be found at the festival's official website fpsf.com and tickets can be purchased at fpsf.frontgatetickets.com.

South By So What Festival - March 14-16, Grand Prairie, TX

This annual festival started 7 years ago as a small way for DFW to get a taste of South By Southwest bands, but this year they're really blowing it out with big names and expecting a big draw.

The festival is scheduled for March 14-16, 2014 in Grand Prairie, Texas.

This year's lineup includes headliners Taking Back Sunday and The Used.

Full line-up can be found here www.southbysowhat.com/home/2014-line-up/.

Single day tickets are $45 for Friday or Sunday, $55 for Saturday.

Three day passes are available in several packages, ranging from General Admission for $120 to the Elite VIP Package for $320. They say the Elite VIP Packages are nearly sold out, so if you want yours get it now!

Tickets can be purchased here : www.southbysowhat.com/home/tickets/

Opportunities for East Texas Songwriters

I happened onto an article that mentioned the Nashville Songwriters Association International meeting monthly in Tyler, TX and decided it was time to pull together as much info as I could for songwriters in East Texas.

Depending on where exactly you draw the boundaries, East Texas has about 6 million people. I'm a pro at searching Google, so with this many people and Google at my fingertips, this should be easy, right? Wrong. I'm completely underwhelmed by what I find. How can this be? East Texas has produced a fair share of famous singer-songwriters, so why can't I find more love for songwriters in East Texas?

Ok, I'll quit whining and just share what I did manage to find. If you know of anything, ANYTHING, that needs to be added - songwriters workshops, venues that feature songwriters, anything that other East Texas Songwriters would be interested, please share in the comments.

The Nashville Songwriters Association International meets monthly at Brady's Coffee in Tyler, Texas. The NSAI East Texas Chapter's Facebook page can be found here https://www.facebook.com/pages/NSAI-East-Texas/537942732911704

The American Christian Songwriters Association apparently has a chapter in Longview, but I am unable to find details. From the Associations website http://christiansongwriter.org/chapter-meetings/, I tried the Longview link, but it said "protected content - log in to view". Wow. Really? Not sure how they expect to gain members that way.

The Forge in Ben Wheeler, TX (southeast of Canton) doesn't mention regular meetings or associations, but appears to be very fond of Texas singer/songwriters, so it might be worth checking them out.

The Blue Frog Grill in Marshall, TX, is another venue that appears to be supportive of singer/songwriters but doesn't mention this on their website.

Your Band Can Make More Money in 2014

I just finished writing a very detailed article about how your band can make more money in 2014 (and if your band didn't make anything in 2013, this is going to be really easy!)

Despite my serious articles so far on this site, I do have a good sense of humor and use it often. So when I get serious about a subject, it means I am passionate about it. And this is serious - making money. And I am very passionate about making money. :)

The article lists 9 specific ways to make more money this year with your band. Some of the 9 methods also include very specific details and links to other sites that you will need to complete the steps. I doubt many of you will try all 9, but try as many as you can if you really want to maximize your income. I strongly suggest you do the first 4, as these have the greatest immediate impact on your income. The rest are tips to help increase your revenue from these 4, or increase your pay for gigs.

9 Ways Your Band Can Make More Money in 2014

Bills in House and Senate to Restore FCC's Open Internet Order

Bills have been introduced in the House and the Senate this week to restore the parts of the FCC's Open Internet Order that were recently struck down in a federal appeals court (thanks Verizon).

The text of the House version of the bill simply restores what we had until a few weeks ago, until such time that the FCC can draft new rules.

I see this as good and bad. Good for the short term - broadband is once again charged with delivering your internet and banned from playing favorites (deciding which sites or content providers get priority and which ones get shafted - this is why musicians should be very concerned and involved in this fight).

Bad because... well, now the FCC MUST write new rules that it thinks will be upheld in the courts. Who knows how they'll go about this? We can hope they write a nice bit about protecting us, but we've all seen what can happen when you hope a federal agency does the right thing.

Ok, I'll try to stay optimistic.

But while reading on this issue, I realized something I hadn't thought about before. Stupid ISPs, thinking only of the potential profits to be made by charging more for certain types of content or giving preferential treatment to certain content providers, apparently haven't thought about the nightmare of liability they would also be creating.

From techcrunch.com :

And there is a simple question of who decides. If ISPs can censor and slow at will, what can stop activist networks from pushing on those companies to halt what they do not approve of? If a religious group called Comcast complicit in hate speech for delivering content Internet users requested that they found blasphemous, what can Comcast do? We’re removing their shield of “we deliver all to all equally,” which could harm ISPs down the road.

Three years ago thousands of artists joined together to deliver a message to Congress - protect the Open Internet Act. Now, it looks like it's time to do the same thing again, but your voice is needed. You can start by sending a letter to the FCC urging them to reclassify broadband as a communications service.

Contact your Representive and Senator and urge them to support the bill restoring the FCC's Open Internet Order. If you don't know who or how to contact your rep, this site is great : http://www.congressmerge.com/onlinedb/.

Learn more. Educate others. Stay involved. If you're a musician, this is crucial to your future livelihood. Here's a great site to get more info and stay involved : http://www.savetheinternet.com/sti-home

Why Musicians Should Be Concerned About Net Neutrality

Most people just yawn when I bring up net neutrality. They didn't even notice when a federal appeals court struck down most of the protections of the FCC's Open Internet Order. Thousands of activists worked tirelessly for years to prevent giant companies from controlling what you can access on the internet. The FCC's Open Internet Order was a stopgap measure, but not the final solution. Now, the stopper has been pulled and we're all wondering if everything is going to go down the drain.

In the short term, this court decision just confirmed again that the internet does indeed fall into the catogory of communications regulated by the FCC. So in effect, the government is already regulating the internet. And that control won't be relinquished.

So what happens next can be tricky. Much of it boils whether or not broadband should be classified as a "common carrier" - meaning, they're just dumb wires regardless of what they're carrying, much like phone lines or cable tv. By classifying them as dumb wires, your ISP cannot legally block or charge more for certain types of content. This classification also would offer some protection from this scenario :

AT&T and other giant ISPs have long salivated at being able to divide the internet into tiers, charging content providers big money to have their websites in the top tier.  Websites in the top tier would be given preferential treatment, mostly meaning they would load quickly.  Websites in the bottom tier would load slowly or be blocked entirely.

Now imagine what this means to bands and small businesses who cannot afford to pay to have their website in the top tier (I assure you, the fees to be included in the top tier will be steep).  That means that fans and customers either won't find your site, or your site will load so slowly they'll abandon it.

The internet was never meant to be this way.  It was meant to be a level playing field for all. So let's pressure the FCC to classify broadband as a "common carrier" and fix this, right? Well...

This troubling essay at the Electronic Frontier Foundation Why The FCC Can't Save Net Neutrality illustrates how complex net neutrality really is. There will be no easy "fix" to keep it free. It will probably be a continual fight to keep it free.

I've read both sides. It makes my head hurt. But at the end of the day, I think reclassification is the best tool in the toolbelt at this time.

Please get involved. Learn more about net neutrality and why it's so important to bands and artists, then help educate others.  Place links or banners on your site to organizations that are working to help preserve the internet as it was meant to be, such as www.SaveTheInternet.com, www.FightForTheFuture.org,  the Electronic Frontier Foundation, and www.FutureOfMusic.Org.