Lots going on, but most excitingly we are releasing an Album called "True Life and B-sides" which is a live audio recorded from our May 27th show at Winstons along with 4 Dub Versions recorded during my 30 songs in 30 days project (10 tracks 45 minutes). June 28th is the release date and for right now it will be digital only and will only set you back 5 clams. We are really pleased with the live recording quality (Cue kills it) and the playing is good as well although I mess up my fair share :). The release of this record is somewhat a prelude to our upcoming full length that will be released later this summer.
For anyone that wants to write a review for the album, hit us up and I will get you an advanced copy....no writing skills necessary. Ha!
This Friday we will be playing on the Main Stage at the House of Blues and we got some free tickets left. there are a whole bunch of bands playing and this is going to be a great night of live music. Hit us up here or on Facebook for free tickets.
My Mom sent me this in the mail the other day and it is probably the first flier I ever made for my band called Jafiki. You can tell I made it cause there are spelling errors Ha! I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving and eats a lot of Turkey.
I am thankful that I have been able to spend my life creating music with beautiful friends and family and today I think about those we have all lost and those who are still with us.
It is easy to get caught up and today we unwind. FYI, the Doogie Howser MD theme song was playing in my head while I was typing.
This is another entry in the Music Success in 9 Weeks blog challenge. This is week 5 and I only have 4 more weeks to go. This week (and corresponding chapter in Ariel Hyatt's book) is all about the blogshpere and developing a presence on strategic music blogs. This is something that takes some serious time and commitment and the most important rule is not cruising around the web hyping yourself and looking for bloggers to pay attention to you. Bloggers are in fact artists themselves and you have to stroke their ego to get any return attention. There are obviously exceptions to this, but for the vast majority... this holds true.
I have been using multiple blog search engines to target my efforts, but wanted to discuss a specific situation.
I came across tightmixblog.com and wanted to share this with everyone. Chris is the author of this blog and their are great tips on this site as well as some great indie bands on here that Chris has come across. Chris is also the author of the EBook, "How to really get your music on the blogs" which I read and has great advice that runs parallel to this chapter in the competition. I thought a lot of Chris's ideas were in line with Ariel Publicity and it turns out he actually used to work (or intern...can't remember) for Ariel. After reading his blog, I contacted him and we are in the beginning stages of Chris taking over my social media presence. I was really impressed with his quality of writing, insight and passion for indie music. I think this is the ultimate example of what Ariel is talking about in this chapter.... I read, reached out with sincerity and then developed a mutually beneficial situation. Everyone is happy.
The most important thing that I am taking away from this is consistency and professionalism. I have always believed that if you treat venues and booking agents with respect (Show up on time, get on and off stage quick, etc.), treat people with kindness and sincerity and just act professional you will be way ahead of 95% of the bands out there. Just by following up and taking chances this is what I have accomplished in the last few weeks:
Free Video Shoot scheduled for next week - I asked my network of anyone that knew of production companies that did good work. It turns out someone needed a band to shoot for their school project and they chose us out of the dozens of bands because we had a vision, the material and locations all ready to go.
I am in negotiations with a Dubstep producer who I will not name yet to remix a Tommy Dubs song for my next release.
I have musicians in Barcelona, Buenos Aires, Brooklyn and now Arizona all singing or playing parts on tracks for my upcoming album
I secured 50% writing credit on a song that is in heavy rotation
I have established articles, reviews and plays on blogs
booked high profile gigs
Increased my mailing list daily through shows and reverbnation widgets
Contacted an established up-n-coming blogger about spearheading my social media efforts.
Check out this video from our show Friday night.... We need a better camera angle next time :)
Put your email into the widget below to join our mailing list and receive some exclusive downloads from Tommy Dubs. These songs are only available to our mailing list members and we included the new single "Bring Fire on You". We also included our version on "Crazy Fool" by Mano Negra. Sign up, listen and enjoy. Also, we would appreciate any help getting your friends to sign up on the mailing list as we will be making free music available all the time. Thanks :)
