After two confusing Tweets from Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry — one alerting fans to the re-scheduling of Aerosmith’s Florida dates, the next saying the show could potentially still take place — I finally received word that the show has indeed been postponed.

Here’s the official Ford Amp statement:

(July 10, 2009)  Aerosmith has postponed their scheduled show for July 11th at the Ford Amphitheatre in Tampa, FL due to an artist injury.   A rescheduled date will be announced soon.     Tickets purchased for the Ford Amphitheatre concert will be honored at the rescheduled date.     For additional tour and ticket information, please visit www.livenation.com or www.aeroforceone.com.

Here’s Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry’s Tweets:

“Tampa Fort Lauderdale both rescheduled in Oct. Sorry for the let down. Better Steven recovers fully than halfway n strains his leg again”

“Billie n I misunderstood looks like we r keeping fingers crossed 4 Tampa n Lauderdale shows.Sorry.Lost in Translation”

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.

As with any conference, the nighttime showcases are the payoff – a chance for attendees to party and an opportunity for the out of town industry folks to see what musical talent the surrounding area has to offer.

On Saturday night, Tampa’s New World Brewery featured performances from Rebekah Pulley, Lorna Bracewell, The Skull and Bone Band and 10th Concession. Crowbar hosted a Mohawk Bomb showcase and The Roosevelt had planned a “green” concert featuring some area hip-hop favorites like Dynasty and powered by a generator that ran on vegetable oil. Early Saturday, word had gotten out that the generator had broken during a run-through and that the Roosevelt showcase was cancelled.

###

Sunday’s activities were mainly centered around The Bunker in Ybor City, which is home to the Tre Amici coffeeshop, REAX Space, a few art galleries and the neighboring Ybor City Museum.

Some of Sunday’s workshops included “DIY Sound Recording Techniques” at REAX Space as well as “Tips on Promotional Photography” (hint: no brick walls or train tracks) and “The State of The Scene” discussion at Tre Amici.

This talk was moderated by event organizer T. Hampton Dohrman and featured Courtney, Joel Cook (REAX) and yours truly. It began as a polite enough re-cap of the weekend and what could be done differently in years to come and escalated into a microphone free-for-all on how Tampa needs to publicize itself to become the next Austin or Seattle.

Singer-songwriter Emily Roff planted herself in front of the microphone and made a case for a large music festival that would draw thousands of people from all over the world. When some crowd members yelled, “What about [Tropical] Heatwave?” (referencing the annual music fest hosted by WMNF that typically features performers from the blues, folk, Americana and world beat genres), Roff shrugged. She’d never heard of it.

Beauvilles frontman Shawn Kyle made a spirited appearance at the discussion, only half-jokingly announcing his 2012 bid for city council and bemoaning the lack of attention the local media and concert promoters give to area college campuses (USF, UT, Eckerd, SPC, etc.).

What did come from the heated discussion was a summation of points that included the following:

1. The internet has replaced FM radio as a highly-coveted media outlet.

2. Musicians must treat their music as a business.

3. Musicians should treat Tampa and St. Petersburg as two separate markets to avoid saturation. (This point was argued)

4. Even though recording and distribution has become decentralized, quality recordings and the packaging and presentation of materials is still very important (maybe even more so).

5. Bands must tour out of market (once they have established themselves regionally).

6. With the decline in the sale of actual recorded music, musicians must learn to diversify their content/revenue streams to include audio, video, performances, merchandise, ringtones et. al. and utilize networks and messaging to stay in touch with fans and followers. (See the content model here).

7. Music criticism is dead. (This point was not argued).

###

Here are some photos from the weekend:
Photos by Kelly Hickman | Photos by Denis Baldwin

Attention Unsigned Bands: July 5 is Deadline for Mohawk Bomb Records‘ No Lip Vol. 3 Compilation. Please submit your best song through Sonicbids. Time Left to Submit: 4d , 3h, 25m

Based in Clearwater, Mohawk Bomb Records is a new kind of records music label, focused on sharing all music with the World using online marketing, social media networks and mobile technologies. To see the entire Mohawk Bomb Records’ discography…

RT on Twitter: @mohawkbomb Deadline 2 Submit 4 No Lip 3 Comp Jul 5. Time Left: 4d , 3h, 25m http://tinyurl.com/maj92g #tampamusic #727music

Courtney Love is nuts. (Newsflash, right?) Years of drug abuse will do that to a person. She uses the Internet predominantly to bicker with Ryan Adams and wonder aloud, “What happened to all that Nirvana money!?”

Sometimes, she covers both topics simultaneously! She either hasn’t quite grasped or doesn’t give a shit about Twitter’s 140-character limit, opting instead for stream-of-consciousness commentary and storytelling sometimes interrupted mid-word. And she’s still close pals with lone original Smashing Pumpkin Billy Corgan.

Love has worked intermittently on her second solo album Nobody’s Daughter over the past three years. Because of various false starts and Internet leaks, the disc is three producers and four studios deep. Now it seems Nobody’s Daughter won’t even be a Courtney Love solo album. Courtney has taken a page from Corgan’s playbook and resurrected a dormant, yet familiar name.

Hole.

Britain’s NME got the inside scoop:

[Courtney Love] headed to London, with the intention of finding a band. The only survivor from that initial lineup [was] Micko Larkin… She scooped him up, took him to the Chateau Marmont and set about polishing the talent she saw into her new Eric Erlandson.

She’s still kept a bunch of the songs… but when she began writing with Larkin (whose talent she looks like having been right about), it became obvious that the ‘Rock Courtney’ was back in action, and that this music could only come out under one name, HOLE.

Micko will be lead guitarist, and Hole bassist Melissa auf der Maur, though working on projects of her own, has returned for backing vocals, and may play bass on tours next year. The album is as good as done, with the rest of the touring line-up for now remaining TBC.

To Love’s credit, at least she didn’t take out a pretentious full-page newspaper ad like Corgan. But the lack of important original members, such as Hole guitarist and songwriter Eric Erlandson, creates a startling parallel to post-reunion Smashing Pumpkins.

Corgan and Hole both led cutting-edge ’90s alternative bands, but if Corgan plays the role of misunderstood genius, Love lies closer to the likes of Ozzy Osbourne. She’s a spectacle — burnt out from years of drug abuse, barely intelligible, and long past her creative prime. Also like Ozzy during both his Black Sabbath and solo days, talented musicians surrounded her throughout the prime of her career. Hole, in the current case, is merely a brand name to be slapped on albums and concert tickets to help sales.

And if I were her, I’d totally do the exact same thing.

“Violet” from 1995 MTV VMAs

“Miss World” off Live Through This (1994)

Twitter may be the hottest thing in social networking at the moment, but count NIN mastermind Trent Reznor as a recent convert to the naysayers.

According to Rolling Stone, Reznor “recently contributed a post to the official NIN.com message board in which he confesses his disappointment in the overall negativity of online communities, writing, ‘We’re in a world where the mainstream social networks want any and all people to boost user numbers for the big selloff and are not concerned with the quality of experience..’”

Read more

The mid-90’s Britpop feud between Oasis and Blur has become the stuff of legend. Noel Gallagher once famously hoped Blur frontman Damon Albarn would “catch AIDS and die” (he since recanted, blaming drugs for the outburst).  Surprisingly, he’s 100% behind the current Blur reunion: “I’m right into the Blur reunion, ’cause it’ll finish off the Kaiser Chiefs and put them to bed. There’s nothing worse than a shit Blur. And at least the original shit Blur are back to finish off all these other shit Blurs. I’m bang into the Blur reunion.”

From an old reunion to a possible new one: Nine Inch Nails‘ Trent Reznor no longer thinks very highly about former friend and collaborator Marilyn Manson.  Reznor calls Manson “a malicious guy and will step on anybody’s face to succeed and cross any line of decency … Seeing him now, drugs and alcohol now rule his life and he’s become a dopey clown. He used to be the smartest guy in the room.  And as a fan of his talents, I hope he gets his shit together.”

Lots of news on the Flaming Lips, The Cult, STP, Moz, and more after the jump!

While the drama surrounding the official state song of Oklahoma unfolded, Flaming Lips worked on their new double album! It should be out later this summer.

Bad Religion bassist Jay Bentley outlined all the obstacles that prevent writing and recording a new album — Greg Graffin’s scholarly commitments, Brett Gurewitz’s production and label duties — but “the one thing that’s in short supply is time.”

The Cult will track Love in its entirety on tour this summer. I guess Ian Astbury doesn’t want to be remembered for his Sonic Temple cowboy hat (pictured left).  Unfortunately, no there are dates scheduled remotely near Tampa Bay.

Following the January death of Ron Asheton, Iggy Pop says The Stooges no longer exist. However, guitarist James Williamson has rejoined — meaning the surviving Raw Power lineup is intact — so the band will tour as Iggy & The Stooges … I’m a little confused, too.

Wayne Kramer of MC5 witnessed the failure of the war on drugs first hand as he and many other rockers toured and performed at the Sing Sing prison in New York. Tom Morello, Jerry Cantrell, and Perry Farrell were among those present. Kramer blogged about his experience for Huffington Post.

Scott Weiland confirmed Stone Temple Pilots are writing and recording new material with one-time Rolling Stones producer Don Was. He didn’t elaborate about the ongoing litigation between the band and Atlantic Records and whether or not that will hamstring the release of a new album.

Morrissey announced a B-sides compilation due in October called Swords. (Yes, he still records B-sides.)  Also, he released an amusing statement about his latest happenings complete with Rumsfeldian euphemisms. As Pitchfork observed, tour dates aren’t postponed or rescheduled but “repositioned.” Also, he won’t join Facebook or Twitter because “not enough happens in my life that I would wish to share with others.”

X frontwoman Exene Cervenka (right) was recently diagnosed with Multiple sclerosis. She vows her health problems won’t affect current X touring plans or her solo work. Ironically, X has supported the charity Sweet Relief (founded by an MS sufferer) for over a decade.

Tim Armstrong and Matt Freeman of Rancid address and quickly denounce the latest Operation Ivy reunion rumors: “I love what we did back then, but what we do now is to move forward.”

Evan Dando wants a piece of General Motors’ bailout funds. He insists a recent GM ad includes an unauthorized soundalike of The Lemonheads’ “It’s a Shame About Ray.”

Drummer Tre Cool says Green Day is Rock Band bound. “I can’t play the drums on it,” he jokes. “If you were born before 1985 you won’t be able to play the drums.” There are no further details, but my money is on a “track pack” and not a full standalone game.  Green Day are OK, but they’re no Beatles.

The Jesus Lizard revealed full tracklist details for the upcoming reissues of their first four albums.  Head/Pure EP, Goat, Liar, and Down become available on September 22 via Touch and Go in various formats including vinyl.

Vinyl Fever is part of a coalition of about 30 other stores like ours all across the country. It has improved the kind of attention we get from record labels (like all the free samplers and 7″ers we get on such a regular basis, and more access to bands for in-stores). The best part of it is that we share ideas amongst ourselves without concern about sharing secrets, like there’d be if we were actual competitors. With all the hoopla that has taken place in the music industry the past 10 years, it has been quite a saving grace and we’ve made some great friends with some of the best damn record stores in the U.S.

What I love most about this alliance is when the conversations and ideas move beyond music industry junk and into a more universal realm.

We were just notified that Good Records is now following us on twitter and, like a “Good” friend (hardy-har-har), we immediately checked the store’s account. Their latest tweet was a great example of the simple idea that benefits anyone shopping or working any kind of retail these days: “Hand sanitizer available at both registers for your hand sanitizing needs : ).” Five minutes later, Vinyl Fever could very well boast the same thing. Hey, we need all the help we can get these days, right?

Looking for a Vinyl Fever-like store to visit on your travels around the U.S.? Try these, and tell ‘em we sent you!

For the last few months I’ve been thinking about ways I could utilize my twitter account to capture my immediate feelings about things before they have the ability to be filtered and clouded by time and/or sobriety. Then along came the Katy Perry show and I decided I wanted to go, not because I am a fan of her music (though I know her two hits), but because I thought it would be a fun show. More on that later. Somewhere along the timeline from finding out I had a press pass for the show to actually getting to the show, I decided it would be the perfect candidate for testing the “live blogging via twitter” idea out at the show. Here are those tweets:

Tweets, Review & Video after the jump

@autopsy4: CL meeting turned into Wordpress 101. *sigh* Oh Well, Katy Perry bound. Watch for live tweets.
@autopsy4: Sounds like I got here b4 she started. Hope I have time 2 get a drink.
@autopsy4: She better hit the stage soon or 1/2 the crowd will have to go to bed.
@autopsy4: Advantages of a prepubescent crowd: short lines at the bar. and it feels less crowded than it is.
@autopsy4: The shrill would indicate SHOWTIME.
@autopsy4: First outfit. Troublingly devoid of cleavage.
@autopsy4: There is a whole band up there. I figured she was electronic. Pleasant surprise.
@autopsy4: http://twitpic.com/46tqe – iPhone pic
@autopsy4: They’re literally doing the hokey pokey on stage. Huh?
@autopsy4: The crowd loves this one. You’re hot and your cold? Big hit!
@autopsy4: Honesty. She’s a pretty good performer. I could stand for a costume change though.
@autopsy4: You’re so gay. And the crowd goes ballistic. I think the 10 y.o. Beside me just had her first orgasm.
@autopsy4: Katy: “any players in the house?” Little boy on his dads shoulders raises hand…
@autopsy4: http://twitpic.com/46vqh – This boy
@autopsy4: I dunno about studio but live. They’re a 2 guitar, drummer, bass & singer rock band. Surprising but I think I said that.
@autopsy4: Rocking the 80s cover, “I don’t wanna lose yr love 2night”. Kicking it’s ass too.
@autopsy4: My hopes of seeing a scantily clad Katy are vanishing but the show is managing to keep me engaged.
@autopsy4: I may have types too soon. Katy has left the stage!
@autopsy4: Pink and black cat suit. Now we’re talking!
@autopsy4: Playing I kissed a girl. There must not be an encore.
@autopsy4: That’s all folks. Way better than I expected.

One of the most common questions I got throughout the show was what in the fuck I was doing there. Well, when I saw she was coming I thought it looked like a fun show. I spend so much time at shows full of bearded kids drinking PBR and screaming the words to every song that I thought an irreverent, silly pop show might be a nice change of pace. In that respect, I was dead on. Furthermore, while I didn’t really know any of the songs very well and she didn’t change costume nearly as many times as I’d hoped (I dunno why, but costume changes are a big part of a pop show in my mind’s eye), it was honestly an entertaining show. I even found myself smiling and genuinely clapping at one point. And the kids there, they fucking loved it! So, I gotta deem the show a complete success and if I were offered a free ticket to her next show I would go again.

The live tweets on the other hand … I dunno. I think what I got turned out good enough, but the side-effect of all the twittering was that I saw as much of my iPhone screen as I did the show. That’s fine for Katy Perry, an artist I’m not really a fan of, but that would never work for, say, Lucero or Two Cow or Jason Isbell (playing Tampa on May 6). While I’d like to think there is a happy medium, I’m not so sure. Less tweets = less story, but more tweets = less drunken show watching. For now I am gonna try it again, probably at the Jason Isbell show, and see how that turns out.

So. Yeah. Katy Perry = Good Times. Micro-Live Blogging = Undecided.

Katy Perry – Mannequin (live)
Katy Perry – Hot ‘N’ Cold (Yelle Remix)

Video-snippet of “I Kissed A Girl” from the show:

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.

2) Include Websites for each band – Under each band’s name, you should include the URLs for each of their Websites. This will give people a chance to check out the bands to see if the want to come out. Including a “Recommended If You Like” for each band if you can. For example, let people show your style, genre or similarity to popular bands your fans would like. People like new styles, but usually when ushered in a familiar way.

3) Provide venue information - This is important when making flyers to hand out at other local establishments. This lets people know where the show is and they can just type it in to their GPS on the night of. Also, include the phone number to the venue in case people have questions.

4) Mention giveaway or raffle – Letting people know what’s in it for them for coming to your show is a good way to get those on the fence or first time fans. A good idea is to give away some music or tickets to a raffle. 2 or 3 songs on a download card or a CD-R works fine. Just make sure you provide a link as to where to buy more music or to find out when you are playing next. Remember, playing live can be very lucrative in the long run, much more so than music sales, so do not neglect your live experience and always give people more than one reason to come back out. Just ask The Dead, Phish, 311 or The Roots.

5) Provide ticket info and restrictions – Technology is making it easy for everyone to sell pre-sale tickets to their own shows, including will call and box office services using a laptop and a cell phone. Many bands and venues use these online ticketing box offices to get some cash flow to help with promotions. Also, you can measure the effectiveness of your marketing by seeing the number of pre-sales. If the online thing isn’t for you, you can do pre-sale paper tickets people can buy or reserve at the club at a discounted rate or through text/phone RSVPs. In my opinion, venues should always encourage pre-sales through their own marketing efforts.

6) Have a reproducible flyer – Make sure your text is clear and that your graphic doesn’t look like an ink blot when photocopied. Sometimes people will pass along the info. Since those types of referrals are invaluable, make sure you make it easy for people to be able to do so. Make a couple of versions for each medium: full color posters, black and white handbills and MySpace/Facebook banners.

Enjoy. Share. Promote.
Ivan

About Ivan
Ivan has an Advertising degree from UF, 9+ years in corporate and consumer marketing, 11+ years in design and promotions. When he is not dressing up like a clown for children’s birthdays, Ivan runs his own independent record label and boutique “advermarketing” agency, Mohawk Bomb Records. Join Ivan on Twitter: www.twitter.com/mohawkbomb

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?”

There is some laughter, but everyone seems to take it very seriously, shouting, “UGC!”

“No. SXSW UGC!”

“No! SXSW colon UGC!”

“UGC” is finally decided on and discussion begins on how to deal with quality control issues, how to monetize user content (YouTube, IMDB, America’s Funniest Home Videos) and how to best harness “mob mentality.” Questions are then taken from the audience, but when it’s over, there is an overwhelming sense from the crowd that the hour-long conversation didn’t even begin to define what “user-generated” really means.

It’s 3 p.m. and my hearing is still affected from the flight (still hearing nothing on the right hand side) and my equilibrium is off. My lower back is out from schlepping around a laptop, video camera and three tote bags full of magazines, bottle openers, chewing gum and condoms (ah, the glory of a Platinum badge), so I catch a cab back to the East Side and decide to call it a day.

Tomorrow’s 9 a.m. yoga session on the 4th floor of the center is sounding pretty good right about now.

We’ll see if my iPhone wakes me in time.

And for those wanting to follow the daily, hot Twitter action: @jorantampa