Having an objective and effective band biography can be a challenge for many bands. Often, the bands write these bios themselves (they are usually better at playing their instruments than at using basic grammar), and so the bios tend to be full of overly flowery explanations of the band’s origin, their mission, their sound, their myriad influences. Sometimes, these monoliths are multiple pages long and include detailed background information about each band member.
Your bio doesn’t need to be so detailed. Save that for books about your legacy and magazine feature articles. Keep it short and punchy. Like a brand statement or company overview. While I’m not claiming to have the answer to the perfect and entrancing band bio formula, I can impart some tidbits of advice that will make your bio much more powerful and relevant.
Posted by Lily Reisman on Jul. 30, 2009, at 2:16 pm
It was ridiculously hot. It took me 15 minutes to realize that my white wife beater would become my face towel for the day. It was loud. It was colorful. It was my first time at Vinoy Park. And finally, at the age of 24, it was my first time experiencing Warped Tour.
It’s been three years since I attended a music festival and as I walked through the ticket line into a field filled with tents, stages, beer stands and even a slip n’ slide, I instantly recalled why I love outdoor fests; passing through the gates meant entering a world of the unpredictable and the unexpected. I didn’t know what kind of crazies I’d come across (there were bound to be some amidst the 10,000 attendees), what kind of new music I’d hear, or how pleased I’d be with the bands I was there to support. Read the rest of this entry »
Good news for every independent musician in the World. MTV (owners of the Rock Band franchise) just announced its own new distribution platform through the immensely popular musician-simulation game Rock Band.
The Rock Band Network is a revolutionary system that will allow bands, studios and record labels to create and sell playable game content from their master recordings using the same professional tools used by Rock Band developers. Rock Band Network, currently in closed beta, should launch to the public in August (with in-game sales later in the year).
MTV has infused Rock Band Network with professional utilities to enable a community of music makers to get their work to the masses and profit by it. Paul DeGooyer, a senior VP with MTV games, tells Billboard that “We’re talking about a set of serious professional tools to allow people on the front line of writing and recording songs to completely control their destiny with respect to interactive products and then giving them direct access to the download store.”
In three short years, the Reax/ThxMgmtHot Dog Show has established itself as a must-attend event of the summer, providing a great opportunity to see a diverse group of bands, catch up with old friends, make some new ones, and of course, witness a hot dog-eating contest. This year, the Hot Dog Show took place on Friday, July 3, at Crowbar. I arrived just in time to see the first female victory in the hot dog eating contest (sorry – I didn’t catch her name!), which was followed by an animated performance by Bealsville/Plant City-based Shunda K of Yo Majesty! Bringing the evening to a dance party conclusion was Sunbears! (Jacksonville).
Five years ago, any music industry conference would feature hours of discussion about how to get your compact disc into the hands of DJs on FM radio, or tips on how to press and package a CD that wouldn’t get buried on the desk of an A&R executive at some major label. A lot has happened in five years. On Saturday, June 13 and 14, Hillsborough Community College and The Artist and Writers Group hosted the Second Annual Homemade Music Symposium in Ybor City, and in the combined 18-plus hours of discussion, commercial FM radio was not mentioned one time.
Instead, Saturday’s daytime programming included panels and workshops like “Alternative Media Promotion,” “Marketing, Touring and Band Management” and “How to Get the Most Out of a Studio Session.” Panelists included bloggers (Bryan Childs,Ninebullets.net), social networking specialists (Julia Gorzka, Brand Tampa) and local media (Lee Courtney, WMNF; Curtis Ross, Tampa Tribune; Julie Garisto, St. Pete Times as well as Creative Loafing’s Leilani Polk). Mr. Courtney was the only radio personality in attendance. (Tampa’s 88.5 FM is a community station that still allows their DJs to play CDs – they even sometimes play records.).
The Homemade Music Symposium’s goal is to educate nascent and struggling musicians in the ways and means of the music business and industry trends. It also included out-of-town industry folk and special keynote speakers – this year, it was Tunecore’s Peter Wells and Tony Michaelides, a local author from Manchester, UK, who’s colleagues and contemporaries include Factory Records’ Tony Wilson, David Bowie, U2 and The Stone Roses.
Conference attendees were mostly solo singer-songwriter types, with a sprinkling of MCs, publishers and managers as well as other local bloggers and marketers looking to get involved in the music scene or learn about new media. There was a lot of talk (maybe too much) about Twitter and Facebook, and of course the familiar geographical gripe of how Florida is difficult to tour/break out of, because there are no surrounding states (The closest top 10 market is Atlanta). A good portion of the crowd was visibly older, some dressed in flowery shirts and flip flops, and plenty of eyes glazed over when the topics inevitably circled back to “Tweeting” and social networks.
Sorely missing from the panel of experts, especially on the panel labeled “Area Record Labels and Artist Managers,” were representatives from the handful of local Tampa imprints, namely ADD, New Granada and 24 Hour Service Station (Geri X, Win Win Winter and The Beauvilles). 24 Hour owner Marshall Dickson stated that he would definitely be involved next year, but that this time around he just had “too much on his plate.” The only current label owner in attendance was Ivan Pena, who runs Mohawk Bomb Records (Soulfound, Ascending to Avalon and Rise of Saturn). Pena seemed optimistic about the Tampa Bay music scene, and about the fast-changing online industry, but insisted that artists need to tour incessantly and start treating their band like a business or risk failure.
The “Music Critics” panel, unfortunately the last session of the day, seemed to be the most pessimistic. One girl in the crowd asked for suggestions on how to become a music writer. The entire panel discouraged her. It may be in fashion for music writers to be moody and begrudging, but one would think their passion for music could somehow keep their chins up, not to mention grateful that they still have jobs in the age of Rotten Tomatoes and aggregated, user-generated reviews at Amazon.com.
Posted by Web Editor on Jun. 29, 2009, at 11:00 am
by Denis Baldwin
This year’s Homemade Music Symposium played out over the weekend at the Ybor HCC campus, bringing together musicians, singer-songwriters, music industry professionals, entertainers, writers, photographers and most every other aspect of the music industry to discuss the state of music, the nature of creating and marketing musicians and give a taste of things to come.
Overall, the symposium was a great success. Saturday opened with “Poets of Popular Song, The Lyrics and Lyric Writers of the Great American Songbook,” featuring the piano work of Paul Wilborn and the 107-year-old Rosa Rio. After their performance, many of the attendees broke for the lunch while the rest of us sat at our tables and handed out free swag and met with people.
Ed. Note: What follows is a repost of an item by CL Marketing Director Joran Oppelt from his recent trip to SXSW. At the time, I thought it was just a really cool video. Today I think it’s become something more. You can see Joran’s original post here.
Quincy recalls his first encounters with Michael Jackson and their work on the best-selling records Off the Wall and Thriller, as well as the birth of MTV and how they broke through the “no black artists” mandate.
This exclusive CL TV video was shot in March at Jones’ 2009 South by Southwest keynote address. Video after the jump …
Posted by Eric Snider on Jun. 23, 2009, at 12:53 pm
The crowd cheers as a tattooed man with shaggy hair and a British accent belts out Ozzy Osbourne and Black Sabbath tunes. An hour later, a blonde singer tears through a set of Motley Crue classics while his bandmates pound their instruments into submission. An hour after that, a grown man in a schoolboy outfit duck-walks across the stage and his cohort growls from under his cap while AC/DC riffs blast through the speakers.
Is this a dream team concert lineup of rock ‘n’ roll legends? Not quite, but the crowd is enthusiastic and it sounds pretty close to the real thing. In fact, the only part that’s completely unrealistic is the price, since admission to see all the bands ($10) cost less than parking at major rock concerts.
On June 30, three tribute acts performed at Jannus Landing at the Monsters of Mock show while fans sang along to the familiar sights and sounds. It’s not the real thing, but according to Martyn Jenkins, frontman for AC/DC tribute act Highway to Hell (and the evening’s headliners), the next best thing is pretty satisfying in its own right.
Posted by Joel Weiss on Jun. 16, 2009, at 10:28 am
“Doing a Radiohead.” Big-box exclusivity deals. “360″ contracts. These and other new business models are side effects of the digital media revolution — a paradigm shift caused by the MP3. The days of $15 CDs are all but dead. Long live the $10 digital album and the 99-cent single, both still dwarfed by everyone’s favorite method of acquiring music: illegal downloading. I think in hindsight, considering the events of the past decade, the recording industry would have been happy for a fractional dip in revenue built into the transition from brick-and-mortar stores to iTunes, but factor in music piracy and the numbers aren’t even close.
We’re getting cranked up for Best of the Bay — yes, already — and this year more than ever we want your input early in the process. We just had a brainstorm meeting to choose award categories for the Readers’ Poll, which we’re expanding this year. We’re in the process of fine-tuning our choices, and we don’t want to miss out on any great ideas.
As usual, we’re going to have a bunch of Readers’ Poll categories in Music. Our list includes some perennials — Best Local Band, Best Concert Venue, Best Singer/Songwriter — and some new ones (Best Jam Band). Here’s your chance to suggest a category you’d like to see. (Best Autoharpist, Best Tuvian Throat Singer, whatever. Maybe even something more sensible.)
We’re finalizing the categories next Tuesday, so the deadline to add suggestions in the Comments section below is Mon., June 8 at 5 p.m.
And just to be perfectly clear: We’re not looking for who you think should win, just the category itself. Thanks!
Hello fellow geeks! When I woke up this morning, I found out some AWESOME news. Today is Star Wars Day. HAPPY INTERNATIONAL STAR WARS DAY!
May 4 is called Star Wars Day because of a play on words based on the similarity between “May the 4th be with you” and “May the force be with you”, a phrase often spoken in the Star Wars movies.
Dorky, but this is a great occasion to do a blog post about the Top 5 Movie Themes of All Time. Here’s my 5:
A form of influenza caused by overly aggressive pigs (also known as law enforcement professionals) that occurs commonly after close encounters with these infectious vermin. Symptoms include nausea, despair, and a general lack of a good time.
After a successful performance at the State Theatre in St. Petersburg, I caught a flight this past Friday to rock mics with the rest of B.A.S.E. Inc at Radford University’s Quadfest 2009 in Virginia. We were all excited to play a show together for the first time on our home turf. Little did we know that we were the ones about to get played.
I hate to perpetuate a rumor, but this is a juicy one worth mentioning: Tupac is Alive in New Orleans! No…. freakin’…. way!
BallerStatus.com reports:
We’ve always heard that the late rapper was hiding on some island somewhere, locked in a studio, recording all the music you’ve heard released following the years after this death.
But, that’s all not true. He’s alive, and has been hitting the town.
TMZ obtained a few photos of the Tupac, alive and well, drinking and have a good ole time at Hand Grenades in New Orleans.
In this post I will impart the 6 things to keep in mind when making a flyer for a show or event. It may seem simple and trivial, but a good flyer/poster will give people all the information they need to make up their mind to come to your show or not.
The purpose for the flyer/poster is to entice people who don’t know your band or the other bands playing to come check you out. You are asking them to take their leisure time and hard-earned money and spend a fraction of it with you. Also, the flyer needs to communicate to your fans and provide them an incentive to return to your concert. Here’s what 10 year of making flyers has taught me:
1) Highlight the date – The most important element is the time element. “When is the show?” is the most important question in your potential concert-goers mind. Also, the time the show starts is a nugget of information to never omit.
This recording is an excerpt from a half-hour session the band recorded using drums, bass, guitar, saxophone, percussion and various analog sound effects (including assorted balloons and toys). No word yet on whether the entire session will be released, but it’s likely. No word yet if this means more performances from the group, but keep checking their site and this blog for updates.
On Sunday, April 19, Skipper’s Smokehouse will host the 4th annual Alchemy Fest – an all-ages, family-friendly, outdoor event that’s like Easter, Earth Day and 4:20 all rolled into one.
There will also be face painting, tarot card reading by Natty Moss Bond, henna tattoos by Aleka Phoenix, arts and crafts activities for the kids and “many more surprises.”
The event starts at 2 p.m. and goes until 6 p.m. Admission is $10. Children 10 and under get in free. Skipper’s Smokehouse is also a restaurant that serves some of the best Florida/Cajun staples around such as hush puppies, crawfish and gator tail bites.
What: Alchemy Fest 4 When: Sunday, April 19 Where:Skipper’s Smokehouse, 910 Skipper Rd. Tampa More: 2 – 6 p.m. | $10 | All Ages | 10 and under free
WIN TICKETS: Send MIXTAPE to 50618 for your chance to win a pair of tickets to Alchemy Fest 4. Congratulations to our winners!
Posted by Eric Snider on Mar. 30, 2009, at 11:07 am
That’s how Flee, music director at the station, headlined an e-mail he sent this morning. He continued:
Doubtful — but it looks like the amount of music is going to be reduced. During our current pledge drive, news and public affairs has been frequently out performing music. Especially vulnerable are the drive time shows (M-F 6-9a and 4-5p).
If you like to hear music in the afternoon, we need to hear from you today (Monday 3/30) between 4 and 6pm. Every pledge is a vote for MUSIC! A $5 pledge is a vote, a $1000 pledge is a vote.
Keep fresh un-boring music alive at 88.5.
Thanks,
Flee
If you can’t call or e-mail in between 4 and 6 today, you can pledge for this time slot on line.
I’ve had a long time to muse over the Phish reunion shows, to listen to the live downloads over and over again, to read the reviews and see the pictures and laugh at the outrageous (and in some cases, sad and amazing) stories on the message boards, and to plan out all the ways I can scrimp and save so I can hit some more shows on the second leg of their summer tour in addition to the three (or four, or maybe five) I’ll be hitting up on the first leg.
I had my soul cleansed in Hampton and now I’m ready and hungry for more.
But before I can set my sights on the shows that are to come, I thought I’d share some pics and other odds and ends from the Hampton shows — my observations a few weeks later, having stewed on things a bit.
It was my first time in Hampton, Va. I was underwhelmed by the town itself, though it held a certain charm I equated with its place in Phishtory. We had a prime spot at the Ramada Inn, likely the cheapest and closest hotel to the venue. In fact, our main room (we had two split between a party of four) afforded us a perfect view of the Hampton Coliseum. Read the rest of this entry »
“What a diff’rence a day makes” – María Méndez Grever
The music portion of SXSW has begun and Austin is infested with indie rockers, scenesters, hipsters and musicians from all over the world. The snarky t-shirts and iPhones of the interactive and film portion have been replaced with leather, tight pants and guitar cases. And they’re everywhere.
Try to imagine if every bar, club and art gallery in Tampa and St. Pete tented their parking lots and had full concert lineups on indoor and outdoor stages for 6 straight days. It’s a lot to take in. Not to mention, the stimulation of the local economy here – from stage and equipment rental to groceries and clothing – is staggering.
These Arms Are Snakes at Red Eye Fly. More photos after the jump.
There are many methods of navigating the music portion of “South by.” You can meticulously plot your path, you can wander from bar to bar (if you have a wristband or a badge) or you can do a combination of both. Modes of transport can include car (shout out to Monica Armendazzle), cab, bus, shuttle, bike (they ought to rent these), rickshaw, horse-and-buggy, and finally your own two feet.
Ivan is in town now, as well as some folks from Creative Loafing Atlanta, so we’ve been coordinating via text. This has worked to avoid overlap and to catch wind of “secret” parties such as last night’s Playboy Party held in a warehouse on E. 12th in which Jane’s Addiction played a surprise hour-long set. Word on the street is that Metallica will be doing a similar stunt tonight to promote their new Guitar Hero game. We’ll see.
Sunday. Laid low today. Resting up for the long week ahead. Took another nice long walk this morning to HEB (Texas’ answer to bad grocery stores).
Definitely no iPhones at HEB. Actually, there was a Cricket and Boost Mobile kiosk in the entryway next to the Coke and holographic sticker machines.
Spent most of the day cutting together footage from day one.
Here it is:
UPDATE: Davey (one of the guys I’m staying with) just returned from DJ’ing what he described as a “Rat Pack-themed interactive after-party.” He said the party was totally lame, but that he played for an hour and got paid $300. Travis (his roommate) lamented on how last night, his band played a three-hour gig, two hours away, got paid $100 and had to split it four ways – less the gas money. Seems like half of us are always in the wrong business.
There’s something magical about waking up to strange birds singing unfamiliar songs. In the quiet of Austin’s East Side, this is how day two began.
And the morning of day two was difficult. My lower back was definitely still in pain and my right ear wasn’t fully functioning yet. (Later, a passing ambulance would prove it was back to normal). But, a hot shower, some good stretching and the fact that there was no coffee in the house was enough to get me motivated.
If for purely economical reasons, I decided to walk from the house to the convention center downtown - a distance described to me as “around ten blocks.” Very long blocks. It was still a brisk 40 degrees, and I could see my breath as I passed the businesses on Comal St. Several places in the predominantly Latin community offered party rental services (pinatas, moonwalks, table and chair rental) and were staging their colorful wares (yes, even the moonwalks) sometimes dangerously close to traffic on the dingy, gray curbside.
I arrived back at the ACC just in time to catch the first workshop of the day, ”Profit by Mobilizing your Online Community.” Definitely a disappointment. When I think “mobilize,” I think “inspire to action” or “cause to move in an excited and motivated manner.” The panel from Unwired Nation apparently understood the word “mobilize” to mean “sell them a mobile API with a voice and messaging plan.” I should’ve known. Read the rest of this entry »
It’s 40 degrees outside, drizzling non-stop and Austin has just become ground zero for every hipster with an iPhone.
It’s 10 a.m. and registration at the Austin Convention Center has just begun. Already the lines are starting to form down the surrounding hallways and escalators and the entire building is buzzing with people camped on the floor in clusters around the power outlets, charging their laptops and digging through their goodie bags.
The South by Southwest Conference kicks off today with the Interactive portion of the workshops. With sessions titled “User-Generated Content: A State of the Union,” and “Championing Social Media to the Man,” these first few days have drawn the new media elite, journalists, programmers, game developers and authors. In short, I am surrounded by every living geek in the world, all chomping at the bit to learn something new about content management, the new killer app (other than Twitter) and how to finally put the term “Web 2.0″ to rest.
I’m seated next to Jemima Kiss of the Guardian UK, as the UGC workshop begins. Before moderator Chris Tolles can even introduce the panel, someone interrupts him, saying, “Can you please let us know the hash tag you’d like us to use for Twittering this workshop?” Read the rest of this entry »
So far, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon has failed to impress many, but the show’s first week of music wasn’t too shabby (the Roots as house band, Van Morrison, Justin Timberlake). Last night Clap Your Hands Say Yeah ripped out a new single, called “Statues” to a very excited audience (what’s with the people on the side of the stage, anyway?).
If you’re having a difficult time spotting Artur Dyjecinski in a crowded room, just look for the guy in the cowboy shirt with the super bad-ass mustache. Then, once you find him, ask him to tell you about all of the places that you want to travel to, because it’s almost guaranteed he has been to them and can tell you where the party is at.
Artur was born in Poland, moved to Canada when he was two, then later relocated to England and is now pondering the idea of moving to Australia after touring the United States and France.
It all started when Artur picked up the guitar for the first time at age eight. He booked his first gig covering Bob Marley songs at age 13, and to this day has still never had a formal music lesson.
If he isn’t interesting enough to you yet, get this: Artur’s day jobs include creating and selling his art and using his Masters degree in Mathematics to run statistics for banks.
In the hip-hop community, no one really wants to be labeled a hater. While I don’t hate Lil Wayne, I am far from a fan. I respect the fact that he has put out more music than any other major hip-hop artist in the last five years and probably has the best work ethic of any rapper not named Tupac Shakur. But is doing your job really worth the iconic status he seems to have achieved? I’m going to have to say no. So at the risk of earning the not-so-superlative hater label, I present to you my Top 3 reasons why a dead Biggie Smalls is better than a living Lil Wayne.
Lil Wayne has been successful but is he really a worthy successor?
Coattails
Sean Combs might be the owner, but Christopher “Biggie Smalls” Wallace, better known as the Notorious B.I.G., is responsible for the Bad Boy Entertainment empire. The considerable wealth Combs amassed thanks to Mr. Wallace’s efforts funded his Sean John clothing line and propelled Puff Daddy to stardom. Diddy got a Grammy for his No Way Out album that featured Biggie on five songs. He also gave Lil Kim, the most popular female rapper of her time, her start.
Ultimately, Case says, the songs on Middle Cyclone are more about the universal need for love, regardless of what form it may take.
“What other people might call ‘love songs,’ I think of as homages,” she says. “They can be to a person, a region, a feeling, even sad feelings.”
In addition to 12 new tracks, Case also covers two songs on Middle Cyclone: “Never Turn Your Back on Mother Earth” by Sparks, and “Don’t Forget Me” by Harry Nilsson.
Middle Cyclone was produced by Case, with Darryl Neudorf, and recorded in Tucson, Brooklyn, Toronto and Vermont. It features Case, backed by her core band: guitarist Paul Rigby, bassist Tom V. Ray, backing vocalist Kelly Hogan, multi-instrumentalist Jon Rauhouse, and drummer Barry Mirochnick. She’s also joined by a number of guests, including M. Ward, Garth Hudson, Sarah Harmer and members of The New Pornographers, Los Lobos, Calexico, The Sadies, Visqueen, The Lilys and Giant Sand.
Version 1.1 – WITH MORE BASSISTS! – I’ve always wanted to write a post like this. I have been a student of the Bass Guitar for around 15 years and have always fought the “apparent unimportance” of bass players in contemporary music. Through this post I hope to once and for all assert the position of bassists everywhere in the highest echelons of cool.
Finding a new and profitable business model has eluded major record labels since the decline of recorded music sales began as MP3s took hold. In his presentation at MidemNet — one of the most elite music business event in the World — Techdirt’s Mike Masnick profiled Trent Reznor’s recent successes selling his music without the help of a major record label and condensed it into a simple formula. Masnick ventures to say that Reznor made over $1.6 million from his latest release alone. That notion definitely got my attention.
Creative Loafing’s annual arts, music, film, etc. event goes digital this year. It will be held on Saturday, March 28 at the Honey Pot in Ybor City and will feature interactive installations by Santiago Echeverry, Giancarlo Giusti and Deon Blackwell. Music (*subject to change) will be some heavies in electronic/IDM (*intelligent dance music): Eliot Lipp, Michna, Daedalus and more.
Ticket info coming soon – KEEP CHECKING BACK!
For a taste, check out this mix courtesy of Jack over at AES>>>
“something from earlier today, inspired by & including artists soon to be confirmed for the Sensory Overload 4.0 jam. stay tuned for more info on that.”
tracklisting:
Secret Frequency Crew – Deep Blue
Eliot Lipp – Rap Tight
Eliot Lipp – Street
Michna – Swiss Glide
Daedelus – Touchtone (Jimmy Edgar Remix)
Daedelus – Touchtone (Original)
Dert ft. Jose Gonzalez & The Game – Dreams / Crosses
Goodie Mob – Fly Away
Dam Funk – Indigo
Afta-1 – The Time In Between
Posted by Leilani Polk on Feb. 5, 2009, at 5:26 pm
The 17th annual fest takes place Feb. 24-March 1 and will feature Antony & the Johnsons, Deerhunter, Stephen Malkmus, Josh Ritter (solo with a string quartet), A.C. Newman, French Kicks, Matt Costa, Thao Nguyen, Martha Wainwright, From Monument to Masses, Kool Keith, Mike Relm, The Morning Benders, The Submarines, Ra Ra Riot, Dear And The Headlights, The Matches, Portugal.The Man, Sholi, Flosstradamus, N.A.S.A., No Age, Les Savy Fav, and several others. For more info, check out the Noise Pop 17 website.
Over the last decade, there has been much talk and figures to support the fact that the heyday of the music industry has passed, or at least shrunk.
For example, the Top 10 selling albums of 2008 totaled 19 million units, including digital sales. In 1988, the 5 top-selling album alone sold over 26 million units (George Michael’s Faith, Dirty Dancing Soundtrack, Def Leppard’s Hysteria, INXS’ Kick and Michael Jackson’s Bad).
Did music lose its appeal? Does Lil Weezy not hold a candle to the King of Pop? Do bands today suck more than those of the 80s? What gives? I am sure there has been some kind of “lack of quality” perception from some old timers and music critics, but for the most part I think its about greed and lack of following supply and demand.
Something Planet is a weekly podcast featuring a troupe of funny men talking about not-so-everyday things. David the Day John J, Stuey B, Endless Mike and Corporate Jared offer up 90 minutes of music, laughs, cries, trivia and even horoscopes. Something Planet usually plays and interviews local and regional bands. The guys also have released some Web videos that are freakin’ funny. They are celebrating their 1st Birthday in May with a huge concert at Gasoline Alley in Largo.
SMAsh Radio, your favorite local-music-Web-radio-show, turns 3 YEARS OLD! with Episode 29. Joran and Stephen talk about the scene, play some music and even take your phone calls! This month features tracks from Geri X, Roppongi’s Ace, Sons of Hippies, Palantine, Daylight District and Ryan Wendell Bauer. Stay Up, Tampa Bay!
Next month: Shunda K (Yo Majesty), Acho Brother, Will Quinlan and more.
Mohawk Bomb Records, the award-winning, Clearwater-based independent record label, announces its release schedule for spring 2009.
Soulfound “Live at Zen Recording”: features 5 songs performed live at Zen Recording from their “Is a Rock Band” album, released in September 2008. There are 5 video companions to the songs available on Soulfound’s YouTube channel. The EP will be available as a digital release on February 17, 2009.
No Lip Vol. 2 Compilation: This 14-song eclectic mixed bag of Rock music anthems is the second release in Mohawk Bomb’s No Lip series. Although leaning towards Punk and Pop Rock, No Lip pulls samples from the Florida, California, Texas, Ontario (Canada), UK and Australian music scenes as a survey course of the caliber of independent music. Profiles on each of the contributing bands will be posted on the label’s Website at www.mohawkbomb.com over the next month. The compilation will be available for sale online after February 24, 2009. Physical CDs will be passed out as free giveaways and sent to music press around the USA.
Mohawk Bomb Records is a new kind of record label, focused on sharing all music with the World using social networking and Web 2.0 technologies.
Having an objective and effective band biography can be a challenge for many bands. Often, the bands write these bios themselves (they are usually better at playing their instruments than at using basic grammar), and so the bios tend to be full of overly flowery explanations of the band’s origin, their mission, their sound, their myriad influences. Sometimes, these monoliths are multiple pages long and include detailed background information about each band member.
Five years ago, any music industry conference would feature hours of discussion about how to get your compact disc into the hands of DJs on FM radio, or tips on how to press and package a CD that wouldn’t get buried on the desk of an A&R executive at some major label. A lot has happened in five years. On Saturday, June 13 and 14, 
I hate to perpetuate a rumor, but this is a juicy one worth mentioning: Tupac is Alive in New Orleans! No…. freakin’…. way!
