This week's Artist of the Week is someone I found out about through Twitter - Chris Blake. Chris first caught my attention when someone posted a link to his video for "Someone Else" on Twitter. I watched the video and was immediately hooked. The whole thing was fantastic - the music, the lyrics, and especially the video concept. In case you haven't seen it, Chris googled "biggest regrets" on the internet, and posted the responses he found in this video. The responses are funny, serious, and some even sad. Whenever I'm having a bad day, it definitely picks up my spirits. To date, the video has received nearly 80,000 views on YouTube.
Shortly after, I started following Chris on Twitter. His posts can be random at times, but definitely thought provoking and interesting. After listening to some of his other music, I decided to download his most recent full length album Wave from iTunes. I listened to the whole album and loved it! I sent Chris a message on Twitter and told him I had downloaded the album and loved it, to which I got a reply of "Really?" :) I'm not sure if he was more shocked that I liked it or that I downloaded it, but either way, Chris seems like a very down to earth, nice guy. The music is catchy and has a great vibe. It's very easy to get lost in the tunes and start tapping your toes (or even breaking out some sweet dance moves). Chris' vocals can rival some of the biggest artists out there and the musicianship on the album is very tight throughout. The music is very heart-felt, and makes you realize how much Chris puts into his work.
Chris recently sent me his new EP Tetris. The music on the new EP is equally as good as the tunes on Wave. I encourage you all to go listen to the album on Chris' Myspace and purchase it when it is available.
Chris has really impressed me with his approach to being an idependent artist in today's music world. It is a strange time in music, and Chris appears to be a model to follow for any idependent artist out there. He is active in social networks, cranks out a lot of music, and really cares about building relationships with people that take an interest in his work. Not only does he put out great music, but he also utilizes a lot of other unique marketing tools, such as his videos. Chris puts out a good amount of videos, and all are very well done. From coming up with creative concepts for videos such as "Someone Else" to more traditional videos such as "Phantom Love", he utilizes tools that all artists have at their disposal. I won't give away all of Chris' secrets, but there are very cost effective ways to make unique videos that grab peoples attention.
Take a look at Chris' Myspace to listen to some of his tunes and check out his videos. Then buy some of his music, and support a great independent artist!
This morning, I was reading an article about Music and recent Biological studies with music that was posted on the Economist website. It was an interesting article for a number of reasons, so give it a read when you have some time. I'm only going to touch on a couple of points in this blog post, as well as some of my additional thoughts.
One of the things that the article brought up was the "ability of music to manipulate the emotions." You hear something that reminds you of a fond memory, and it makes you happy. Or, it can have the opposite effect. Another thing it mentioned is that music "triggers visual images in the cerebral cortex." That really struck a chord with me, and made me think of music videos.
Music often gets my mind racing with images, and that is the approach I take with music videos. I have written the concept for a video (which can be seen on my "My Work" page on this site) and am working on a few new ideas. The approach I like to take with videos is to tell a story. That is generally what songs are doing in lyrics, so I attempt to bring these lyrics to fruition in pictures, so to speak.
I have recently seen a couple of videos that do a great job of this. The video for "Cath" by Death Cab for Cutie does an amazing job of bringing the song to life. Not to mention it's a fantastic song. Another video that recently came out is "You Found Me" by The Fray. This also does a great job of showing a story.
What about you - do you like a video that tells a story? Or a video that just shows a band rocking out?
This week's Artist of the Week is a good friend of mine, Patrick Davis. I first started talking with Patrick about four years ago. He is a cousin of another friend of mine, and I started working on getting Patrick out to Colorado to play some shows. We were trying to figure out a good time to bring him out from Nashville, but hadn't found the right time/show/location yet. Then he called me and said he would be in Denver to open for Hootie and the Blowfish in two weeks at the Paramount Theatre.
I went to that show, and had one of the most amazing concert experiences I've ever had. Patrick is a singer/songwriter with a heavy southern rock and blues influence, with a little country thrown in the mix. He opened the sold out Denver show (2000 people) playing a solo acoustic set. He has an amazing stage presence that captivates the audience, not to mention his music/voice are spectacular themselves. His songs are very heart-felt, and really pull people in. By the end of that set, the entire audience was on their feet giving him a standing ovation. It was the first time I saw a solo opening act completely steal the show from a pretty well known act. As soon as he stepped off the stage, he sold every single CD he had brought out with him (about 75 CDs) before Hootie could even take the stage. I grabbed my laptop and started burning CDs for him, which he continued to sell at $15 each. For those that bought the burned CD, he promised to mail them a real CD as soon as he returned home.
In addition to being a great entertainer, Patrick is one of the nicest, most down to earth musicians I have ever met. Always willing to help out where he can, and never forgets who makes it possible for musicians to do what they love - the fans. About two years ago, Patrick signed a publishing deal with EMI, and has been writing non-stop ever since. He has written with a ton of big names in Country, Rock, and Pop. Some of these artists include Jewel, Robert Randolph, Pat Green, Matchbox 20, Mat Kearney, Jason Michael Carroll (who currently has Patrick's song "Where I'm From in the Top 40 on the Country charts), and many more. Patrick still plays shows in the Southeast, and will probably return to more touring in the next few years.
If you're ever in the Southeast, check out one of his shows and say hello. In the meantime, check out a few of his tunes at his Myspace - www.myspace.com/patrickdavismusic. Keep listening, and let me know if you hear something I should check out!
Here we go with the first installment of my Artist of the Week feature! The feature band this week is Castaneda from Los Angeles. I first learned of Castaneda when a good friend of mine joined the band as their new drummer. I recently received their new EP "So This is What We're Gonna Do", and love it! The EP is filled with great vocals, excellent harmonies (not often seen in a rock band), big guitars, and driving beats. They have a sound that can definitely stand above most of the filth that is out there these days. Castaneda's musical diversity comes across in the songs on the EP, with the variety of sounds/styles.
The band's music has been featured on numerous movies, video games, and TV shows, and they aren't even signed! I have a feeling that might not be far off. I expect to see big things from these guys over the course of the next year or so. At the moment, their touring is limited to Southern California. They will probably branch out further in 2009.
Although their new EP is great, it was actually recorded before the new drummer joined the band. The drummer, Mike Schneider, is hands down one of the best drummers I have ever seen perform live. I am very excited to hear what these guys sound like with Mike in the band.
Check out their myspace at www.myspace.com/castanedaband, and buy their new EP! If you're in Southern Cali, definitely go check out their live show (and let me know what you thought).
Beginning this week, I will be posting a new weekly feature. Each week (hopefully on Tuesdays), I'm going to post an Artist and/or Album of the Week. I'll give you my thoughts about a new album that has come out or an artist that I think you should know about.
The weekly Album/Artist of the Week will feature artists/bands that have a great sound, inspire, have creative ways to promote their music, and much more. I like the type of artist/band that leaves it all on the stage, so to speak - they really put their heart into their music, and truly enjoy what they are doing. Some artists are just out there to try to get rich and get laid, but then there are artists that love what they do and show it when they perform.
Please check out the bands that I write about, and let me know your thoughts. Also, if you know of an artist or band that you think I should check out, I'm always open to recommendations. Stay tuned for the first Artist of the Week!
I've been in NYC for 2 days now, and it's been a whirlwind ever since the plane touched down. The first night, I went to dinner with a colleague/, Julia Roy (www.juliaroy.com - great blog, and founder of Tweet Week) to pick her brain about social media, how it fits into music, and how far you can walk to end up at a restaurant right by your hotel. :) (just kidding JR) She gave me a ton of great info, and is very sweet, so read her blog and follow her Tweet Week updates if you're not already!!
The next day, I had a few meetings, then went to the tree lighting at Rockefeller Center with my client. We were fortunate enough to get a police escort through the crowd and right up by the stage (which was awesome - thanks Tommy!!). We saw a few musical performances, including Harry Conick Jr. The funniest part was that many of the big name acts were taped a week ago - but there were thousands of screaming teen girls there that thought they were going to see the Jonas Brothers. NBC made it look like they were on the top of Rockefeller Center (wich is really where they shot), but nobody knew they weren't even in the city last night, which I found quite funny. We ended up leaving before the tree was officially lit, due to the client being cold and both of us being very hungry. Went to dinner at a very nice restaurant, and ended up hanging out until late chatting. Good client relation building time!!
Today, I've been in meetings all day. The day started out great, then kind of started to drag. I'm writing this blog, then heading out to dinner with the people I spent the whole day with. Supposed to be a nice place, so we'll see. Tomorrow, it's more meetings, then home on Saturday.
All in all, I'm having a great time here in NYC. There is just so many cool things going on, interesting people, and very inspiring things to see. I'll try to write more soon, that's a little more than just filling you in on my hectic week. :)
Hey all, I apologize for being short on the updates last week. Had to spend some quality time with the fam. Now I'm on a whirlwind East Coast business trip (Atlanta, Orlando, NYC). At the airport waiting for a delayed flight right now, so what better time to write some blogs? I'm going to try to keep updates coming a little more regularly, but please bear with me for another week.
I'm heading to the tree lighting at Rockefeller in NYC on Wednesday night. Never been to it, so I figure it's one of those things I should do sometime in my life. Got a hook up to get myself and a client in a good spot to watch (thanks TH!), so it should be fun!
Tomorrow night, I'm heading out to dinner with a social media goddess to pick her brain about the best way for social media to fit into music in today's world. I have my ideas, but I'm going to see if I'm way off base.
I'm going to keep this post short, and didn't really say much of note. But just wanted to let you all know to keep an eye out as the week goes along - I should have some great stuff to tell you about. S
