Archive for category Uncategorized
SWRFA goes social: KC Clifford and David Broyles on Social Media
Posted by Bev Barnett in Facebook, Fan engagement, Twitter, Uncategorized on October 1, 2011
At music conferences, my favorite panels are the ones that feature artists who are out there doing it, rather than vendors trying to sell the newest widgets for sharing your music on Facebook or creating the ultimate EPK. Don’t get me wrong, we need that technology and I love those companies. But when it comes to learning how to get the job done while booking, recording, managing a merch store, touring… while still leaving time to cook dinner, go to the gym and, oh yeah, write songs… let’s hear it straight from the artists, please.
At this weekend’s Southwest Regional Folk Alliance Conference (SWRFA), we heard some sound advice from KC Clifford and David Broyles of Dr. Pants on connecting with, and more importantly, ENGAGING with fans via social media channels.
KC and David focused on basic resources and troubleshooting some of the issues brought up by those in attendance, and I volunteered to recap the session in a blog post. Yes, sometimes I just can’t help myself. Plus, there were some interesting questions, some new resources I hadn’t heard about, and an enticing Facebook problem to solve from the Kerrville Folk Festival.
The Dilemma of the Kerrville Folk Festival Facebook Presence
When the folks at Kerrville decided to create a Facebook presence, they started with a Profile rather than a Page. This is a common issue with organizations and artists because once you hit Facebook’s 5000-friend limit, you’ve got some decisions to make. Organizations like Kerrville (and artists developing a large fan base) are best served by a Facebook Page. Kerrville established a page, but has had difficulty getting people to switch over to fan the page. Right now, the Kerrville Festivals Facebook Profile has 4948 friends, while the Kerrville Folk Festival Facebook Page only has 807 fans.
The obvious move is to try to encourage the Profile friend connections to transition over to the Page. Easier said than done. KC suggested increasing the posting frequency of the “please fan our new page” plea to the Profile page.
One more simple thing they could do would be to link to the new Page in the “work” section of the existing Profile. In the photo, you’ll see that Kerrville Festivals “works at” Kerrville Music Festivals. The problem is, if you click on that link, it takes you to a Facebook-generated Community Page that aggregates conversation about Kerrville Music Festivals. The steps to create a proper link from Profile to Page are here on my 5 Things You are Doing Wrong on Facebook post.
Here’s another idea for engaging fans to help with the transition. How about creating an image badge to say “I”m a Fan of the REAL Kerrville Folk Festival Facebook Page” and encourage fans to post it on their walls? When the photo is created within the Page, and people follow the link to comment, they’ll be right where they need to be to hit the LIKE button and become a fan. To make it more effective, the Page should be tagged in the caption of the photo as well. As for what you want, and make it obvious how to do it.
For now, I’ll do my part:
CLICK HERE TO GO TO THE REAL KERRVILLE FOLK FESTIVAL FAN PAGE
Another option for Kerrville might be to take advantage of Facebook’s new(ish) option to change a Profile to a Page. Facebook offers information and instructions on the conversion here. This is irreversible, so it’s not to be taken lightly. In the case of Kerrville, though, it may be the best option. It will be easier to move the 800+ fans of the existing page to the “new page” than trying to get nearly 5,000 “friends” to take action.
Blogging
KC and David hit the points I always bring up about blogging. I’m reminded about a friend’s comment a few years ago: “does the world really need one more guitar player blogging about life on the road?” Maybe not, but what if that artist has a specific interest that can develop into a connection point with fans? In my musical life, Greg and I blog about ways people are actively changing the world by looking at each other with love rather than fear. This is a theme for us, so our Love Can Change The World blog ties in with our new CD by the same name.
KC shared that after a period of completely unplugging from engaging online, she was ready to blog again and chose to video blog her discovery of cooking and crafting with her fans. Cosy Sheridan, one of the artists I regularly work with, has started a blog called Persephone and the Pomegranate: The Musings of a Modern Day Persephone as the platform to begin her book of the same name. After writing blog posts for some amount of time, the book will be ready to be refined and taken to the next step.
Resources Mentioned
It never hurts to hash over the resources available for making social media and online marketing easier. Here’s a list of resources discussed at SWRFA:
Tweet Deck and HootSuite - aggregate your social media channels (Twitter feeds, Facebook page) in one place to make it easier to listen and effectively engage.
Nimbit and BandCamp- create your own merch store on your Web site and Facebook page. Nimbit is widget-based, which means you update it once at the source and all the sites where you’ve placed the widget will be updated. The main difference with Nimbit is that your fans stay on YOUR site. Clicking on the download or purchase links in a Bandcamp widget will take you to your separate BandCamp page.
ArtistData - update your calendar once and sync with your Web site, etc. ArtistData was bought by SonicBids a year or so ago. It’s a terrific free resource, but no one is sure how long it will stay that way.
CrowdBooster and Visibli - understand what’s working and what’s not. Re-tweets are a good way to judge the reach and effectiveness of your engagement on Twitter. Each of these resources offers a free version with basic analytics. The paid versions provide more in-depth information about who is engaging with your tweets.
Here’s an analysis of Austin-based Jean Synodinos‘ tweets for the past 14 days using Visibli. Jean mounted a social media campaign during September to offer a free download of her new album, “Girls, Good and Otherwise.”
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Like many of these analytics products, you can get information on anyone’s Twitter account or shared link. I chose Jean’s because I personally re-tweeted her link yesterday and I was curious about how many others did as well.
I think that covers everything. Whew. Back to SWRFA now. If you haven’t been and you’re interested in the folk and acoustic music community in the Southwest, put it on your calendar for 2012. Its a terrific conference of a manageable size, so you can come away really feeling like you’ve met and connected with a lot of people!
Silent Night
Posted by Bev Barnett in Uncategorized on December 24, 2008
Its Christmas Eve, and Day 10 of the 11 Blogs of Christmas. Fittingly, today's song is Silent Night.
Listen to Greg's guitar instrumental here
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image via www.wordle.net
Go to the download page for your free MP3 of Silent Night from our Starry, Starry Night CD
Download available through 9pm Pacific on Monday Dec. 25, 2008 to accommodate email subscribers.
The Christmas Star
Posted by Bev Barnett in Uncategorized on December 22, 2008
Day 8 of the 11 Blogs of Christmas brings us to Carol McComb's The Christmas Star. We first heard Carol's brother Dean perform this song at an open mike in San Jose where the rules state "two songs or 10 minutes, whichever comes first." That night Dean sang only this song, because its 8 minutes long.
Carol is one of those born teachers. Her musical career began when she was still 17, with her duo partner Kathy Larisch. Their album Kathy and Carol debuted on Electra Records in 1965 – the year they played the Newport Folk Festival. For the past 30+ years, Carol has taught guitar at Gryphon Strings in Palo Alto, California – home of the Gryphon Carolers. Each year, Carol and jazz guitarist/vocalist Ed Johnson together with a core group of musicians and around 30 volunteer voices create a magical Christmas concert. As a result, Carol writes a lot of Christmas music.
The Christmas Star is the story of a young, homeless girl who discovers a very special star that warms the snowy streets, growing larger and more brilliant as she sings her song…
Star of wonder, star so bright
I dreamed your heavenly, holy light
Came back to earth on this Christmas night
Came to shine on me
Star of baby Jesus' birth
Born to light the universe
Born to ring peace and love to earth
Oh won't you shine on me
Our version is arranged as a duet, with Greg singing the verses and me singing the chorus – joined by a choir of several of our friends on the last verse.
The only thing is, the song changes key in the chorus. When Carol sings it by herself its no problem. But doing it as a duet meant having to negotiate a key that would work for both Greg and I. Its near the bottom on his range, and pretty much at the top of mine.
So here's one of those behind the scenes stories for you. I thought we were finished recording for the night, and went to taco bell for a taco supreme – yes, with cheese and sour cream. When I got back, Greg told me we had to record all the choruses again. Yeah. The choruses that stretch the limits of my upper range. So, with my stomach growling, I gritted my teeth and sang them again. Once we were finished, I practically dove for the taco and devoured it.
Then through the crunching I heard Greg say oh %?$# (insert inappropriate word to say during Christmas music recording). He lost the file. So with my throat coated with sour cream, I sang those choruses yet again. And they sound pretty good, I think. So maybe I'm on to something with the sour cream.
Download free MP3 of The Christmas Star
available through 9 pm Tuesday Dec. 23 to accommodate email subscribers.
While Shepherds Watched, Yee Haw Style
Posted by Bev Barnett in Uncategorized on December 21, 2008
Its Sunday Dec. 21 – Winter Solstice.
And Day 7 of the 11 Blogs of Christmas – I've been waiting for this one all week!
In 2003 our friend The Rev. Nancy Harrington, who officiated at our wedding, wrote a short sermon/drama called A Cowgirl Christmas. Its the story of the Cowgirl who was over on the next hill with her herd, watching all the goin's on with them shepherds and those bein's hangin' in the sky. Just like the cowgirl in the story, I'm convinced that Nancy would spend the winter out on the range with her horse and the cattle, given the chance.
Nancy asked us to help her with the music for Cowgirl. It was serendipitous that we'd already written Starry, Starry Night which worked perfectly. We found others that worked for part of the story – but we needed something for that crucial moment when the Cowgirl realizes what those bein's were, well …
"They was ANGELS!"
I went to the red Lutheran hymnal of my youth and found "While Shepherds Watched." I sang it for Greg, and he said "I don't think so." Go here for a MIDI sample of the original version. Turn your speakers on, then come right back.
Ok, now you know why Greg was skeptical. But I told him I had an idea for how to re-write the verses, and insert a snappy chorus.
And here it is. Straight out of Bev & Greg's Yee Haw Hymnal.
http://www.youtube.com/v/ypMnsaqyj7A&hl=en&fs=1
And we love playing it with friends. This was one of the highlights of our TrueWind Music Christmas House Concert this year.
Music has the power to impact our emotions like nothing else. And in the Christian church, "what's proper" music-wise has been a source of conflict for many millennia. While Shepherds Watched is a good example.
The original hymn was written by Nathum Tate sometime before 1700. From Wikipedia:
The exact date of Tate's composition is not known, but the words appeared in Tate and Nicholas Brady's 1700 supplement to their psalter, New Version of the Psalms of David of 1696. It was the only Christmas hymn authorised to be sung by the Anglican Church; before 1700 only the Psalms of David were permitted to be sung.
Rules schmools. King David would be up there twangin' his harp and yee-hawing right along with us, given the chance.
Go to Download page for a free MP3 of While Shepherds Watched, Yee Haw style.
Download available through 9pm Pacific on Monday Dec. 22, 2008 to accommodate email subscribers.
Forget about me
Posted by Bev Barnett in Uncategorized on December 20, 2008
Day 6 of the 11 Blogs of Christmas points toward thinking about those who don't have a beautiful 8 foot Christmas tree in their living rooms, like we do.
You can start downloading Forget About Me at the download page here, and while its doing its thing, read on about ways you can help those in need during the holidays and year round.
The song starts out with a kid who want's something that he might not get – a new leather jacket, or a TV set, and his mama says "don't worry, Santa won't forget." Lucky kid.
Then we're two blocks way, in a world of doubt where its a little colder, 'cause the fire's gone out. And some poor kid want's something that he might not get – a little something to eat before he goes to bed. And his mama says "don't worry, God won't forget."
I'm gonna have a merry, merry Christmas
I'm gonna trim an eight foot Christmas tree
I'm gonna pray for them that God remembers
and I'm telling Santa, to forget about me
The fact that people in the Bay area – in America – anywhere in the world – go hungry, is just really stupid. Thank God for people who are passionate about creating and sustaining programs to end hunger. Our friend Pat Plant started Sunnyvale Cares about 5 years ago, with the goal of ending hunger in Sunnyvale California. Period. End hunger in Sunnyvale – seems like an attainable goal, doesn't it? Now each month churches from all faiths throughout this Bay Area suburb bring literally tons of food to the central collection point at Sunnyvale Presbyterian Church and it is distributed through six different agencies in the city. The point is to solve hunger, period, no strings. Because its stupid for anyone in a city with an average family income of over $90,000 to go hungry.
The Second Harvest Food Bank is another local agency that we support and have great respect for. Second Harvest has a Four Star rating on Charity Navigator. They offer a variety of programs in addition to the typical holiday food drives, including a summer "Share Your Lunch" program to provide nutritious lunches during the summer months for children who's parents depend on school lunch program during the school year.
Find out how you can help Second Harvest raise $8 million and collect 1.7 million pounds of food this holiday season.
Or donate to the food banks in your area – because, say it with me, people going hungry is just stupid.
And so is war. And the ravages of war.
In another village, a world away
the bombs are dropping, and the mines are laid
and some poor kid wants something that she may not get
just to know if her daddy's alive or dead
and a mama that still believes, God won't forget
My son is a high school freshman. His world geography teacher is one of those gems – the teachers who love to figure out how to engage kids in what they are learning. One of the first things they did at the beginning of this school year involving teaching the kids about the realities of the third world. Each student was assigned a country to "be" in this little game.
The next day the teacher set up a beautiful table with iced water bottles at each place setting and a big cake in the middle. The desks were still set up in the middle of the room … but over in the opposite corner was a ratty blanket on the floor. Then came the bad news. She read the name of each student's country and told them that they were either part of the first world, second world or third world… and where they would be spending the rest of the class period. The second worlders also got water bottles, but the third world got little paper cups and one warm bottle to share among them. Then came the lesson in third world relief. Those at the table, enjoying their cake and iced water and those at the desks (this was September in California, it was hot) were invited to share with those in the third world. The third world countries all shouted out why they thought they should get the cake and water. They held out their little paper cups. They grabbed for cake crumbs.
I'm sure at the time she wasn't sure if this was having an impact – I can just imagine the mayhem in that classroom. But in the next weeks those students learned more about their countries, and how we all relate to each other in this world.
Kevin's country was Sierra Leone, the blood diamond capital. And yes, it had an impact. Here's just a sampling of what he found out:
A devastating civil war gripped Sierra Leone throughout the 1990s and into the turn of the century. Rebels gruesomely amputated the hands and feet of men, women and children, both to terrorize the population and to deter them from supporting the government.
Learn more about the Prosthetics Outreach Foundation and how you can help the Sierra Leone amputees.
And here are some other links that my blog and Twitter friends have suggested, as you sit by your eight foot tree in your very warm home this Christmas season:
Kiva lets you lend to a specific entrepreneur in a developing country, empowering them to lift themselves out of poverty.
Heifer International works with communities to end hunger and poverty and to care for the earth, giving families a source of food rather than short-term relief.
Donors Choose, where teachers list projects, you choose what you want to fund, and if you fund the project to completion you get a report from the classroom which is very cool.
Veterans for Peace, working together for peace and justice through non-violence.
Veterans for America Campaign for a Landmine Free Worldhas, for more than a decade, worked to raise awareness about the suffering and devastation caused by landmines by advocating for a global ban on antipersonnel landmines. Also check out the Concerts for a Landmine Free World CD featuring tracks from some of our favorite performers.
Feel free to add more suggestions in the comment section. There are so many ways you can help.
I'm gonna have a merry, merry Christmas
I'm gonna trim an eight-foot Christmas tree
I'm gonna pray for them that God remembers
and I'm telling Santa, to forget about me
I Wonder as I Wander
Posted by Bev Barnett in Uncategorized on December 19, 2008
We discussed, rearranged, fretted over and generally thought through the song order for Starry, Starry Night very carefully. There are two guitar instrumentals on the CD, and we placed the first one, I Wonder as I Wander, half way through at Track #5 to provide a mid-CD respite of sorts.
So here we are on Day 5/Track5 of the 11 blogs of Christmas and if your sound is turned on, you're listening to Greg's guitar instrumental arrangement of I Wonder as I Wander. He recorded the melody in one take on the first track, then layered the second guitar on a second track, also in one take.
I came across this blog on Appalachian history that explains the origin of the song:
"The Morgan family, revivalists all, were about to be ejected by the police, after having camped in the town square for some little time, coking, washing, hanging their wash from the Confederate monument and generally conducting themselves in such a way as to be classed a public nuisance.
“Preacher Morgan and his wife pled poverty; they had to hold one more meeting in order to buy enough gas to get out of town. It was then that Annie Morgan came out–a tousled, unwashed blonde, and very lovely. She sang the first three lines of the verse of "I Wonder as I Wander". At twenty-five cents a performance, I tried to get her to sing all the song.
“After eight tries, all of which are carefully recorded in my notes, I had only three lines of verse, a garbled fragment of melodic material–and a magnificent idea. With the writing of additional verses and the development of the original melodic material, "I Wonder As I Wander" came into being. I sang it for five years in my concerts before it caught on. Since then, it has been sung by soloists and choral groups wherever the English language is spoken and sung."
Download mp3 track of the day: I Wonder as I Wander
Available through 9 pm Pacific, Saturday December 20, 2008 to accommodate email subscribers
If I Can’t Sing with you this Christmas
Posted by Bev Barnett in Uncategorized on December 18, 2008
Today is Day 4 of the 11 Blogs of Christmas, so today's song is our duet, If I Can't Sing with You This Christmas. The free download link is at the bottom of this post.
In her review of Starry Starry Night, Carol Swanson at ChristmasReviews.com said:
"All of these original numbers have true merit, but the star debutante is the remarkable "If I Can't Sing with You This Christmas," with compelling lyrics ("Sitting by the fire I got a chill when I heard you say/ you might not make it back by Christmas Day"), achingly lovely harmonies, and a memorable melody that will carry you away."
We've always thought this song would be perfect for Amy Grant and Vince Gill. Or Faith Hill and Tim McGraw. But as our friend JD Martin says, 99.9% of the time the person who's going to be singing your song is, well, you. In this case, us.
And that's just fine. We can't imagine not being able to sing togther at Christmas, so I guess the heart of the song really is about us.
"If I can't sing with you this Christmas
there might as well not be snow
I'll hear your voice in the whisper of the evergreens
I'll see your eyes in the candle's glow
'cause darlin' in your song, right or wrong
I've found my only home
If I can't sing with you this Christmas
at least I know I'm never alone"
http://www.youtube.com/v/BGMbcdnehDM&hl=en&fs=1
Download mp3 track of the day: If I Can't Sing With You This Christmas
Available through 9 pm Pacific, Friday December 19, 2008 to accommodate email subscribers
Everybody’s Singin’ ’bout Christmas
Posted by Bev Barnett in Uncategorized on December 17, 2008
Day Three of the 11 Blogs of Christmas – Everybody's Singing' 'bout Christmas! Each day leading up to Christmas 2008, I'm blogging about the tracks on our Christmas CD Starry, Starry Night, and giving away a free MP3 download.
When we were recording Starry Starry Night back in 2004, we started with eight songs that we knew we wanted to include. But eight just seemed untidy to me – it didn't seem complete. So we added Carol McComb's The Christmas Star, (more about that on day 8, Dec. 22). That made nine songs, which seemed even more untidy than eight did.
So started off on a tenth song – Everybody's Singing' 'bout Christmas. Greg had the whole CD just about mixed when I told him I had a new song that needed to go on it, so let's just say he was not immediately thrilled by the idea. But he liked the groove and as we usually do, we finished it together. He pulled out his black Telecaster that he had at the time and wired into a Brian Setzer kind of sound, and off he went back to the studio to add the last track.
And two months later we knew we had a hit – among a certain demographic, anyway. Christine and Laura were both in 8th grade and Kevin in 5th, and Greg picked them up every day after school. One day shortly before Christmas break he drove up to the middle school pick up area and as he approached he saw and heard a whole gang of 12 and 13 year old girls – plus kevin – singing at the top of their lungs:
Bells are ringing, everybody's singing 'about Christmas!
That was the best endorsement we could ever have imagined. And now four years later, the girls are 17, seniors in high school, Kevin is a freshman and they still love to have fun at Christmas. Not sure where they get that… watch through to the end of the video for some family Christmas tree hunting fun.
http://www.youtube.com/v/NF-10pOK0mU&hl=en&fs=1
Download mp3 track of the day: Starry, Starry Night
Available through 9 pm Pacific, Thursday December 18, 2008 to accommodate email subscribers
Video from live performance on KKUP 91.5 FM, Cupertino California. KKUP is 100% all volunteer and listener supported. Your support of community radio is appreciated www.kkup.org
Starry, Starry Night
Posted by Bev Barnett in Uncategorized on December 16, 2008
Track two in the 11 Blogs of Christmas – the title track to our Christmas CD, Starry Starry Night.
In 2004, Bev learned to finger pick from Carol McComb. This song is the simple telling of the Christmas story, set to a familiar Carter-style finger picking pattern embellished with Greg's guitar capo'd at the 5th fret.
It honestly never occurred to me at the time I wrote this song that the title might be confused with the Don McLean song Vincent. This was pointed out to me once, but to tell the truth it hasn't been a problem. I see consistent downloads of the song year-round on iTunes, and it is NOT my fault if those purchasing aren't paying close enough attention!
We sang Starry starry Night at our Christmas House Concert this past weekend. We hope you enjoy the video, and please click the link to the download page below to download the track, free.
http://www.youtube.com/v/JRrMZASb77w&hl=en&fs=1
starry starry night, shepherds watching
O what a sight, on this starry night
the angels fill the sky with so much glory that they blind the starry nightstarry starry night, three guys watching
to see the brightest light on this starry night
don't know where they're goin' but they follow on a starry nightstarry starry night, mom and dad watchin'
newborn baby's eyes on a starry night
starin' down in wonder at our savior who was born on a starry nightstarry starry night, are you watching?
the sky is shining bright on this starry night
'cause the diamonds of the heavens are the same ones that were shining
on the shepherds and the wise men and the Savior on this starry, starry nightstarry night
Download mp3 track of the day: Starry, Starry Night
Available through 9 pm Pacific, Wednesday December 17, 2008 to accommodate email subscribers
O Come All Ye Faithful/The First Noel
Posted by Bev Barnett in Uncategorized on December 15, 2008
Greg and I have been singing Christmas music together for a long time. When we recorded our Christmas CD in 2004, we knew that our arrangement of O Come All Ye Faithful blended with the First Noel, had to be the first track.
And so starts my 11 blogs of Christmas.
Every day between now and Christmas, I'll post a link to download the tracks from Starry, Starry Night sequentially, along with stories, videos and other tidbits about the songs. Most of the tracks are originals, with some seldom heard covers, and a just a few well known carols (two are instrumentals).
“Starry, Starry Night is an absolute wonder. The album contains both terrific takes on old standards, well as hauntingly beautiful original songs. "
– Art Polimento of ChristmasRadio.com
We begin with O Come All Ye Faithful/The First Noel
Years ago, we were singing for a church service and had to choose which one of the many wonderful Christmas carols we would sing. There are so many we love, so we put these together. Turns out it works really well, both musically and lyrically. The lyrics are intertwined "call and response" style near the end:
The first Noel, the angels did say
(O Come let us adore him)
Was to certain poor shepherds in fields where they lay
(O come let us adore him)
O come let us adore him, Christ the Lord
You hear the familiar melody of Joy to the world as the song fades to a close with a resonating bass note. This is one of my favorites of Greg's guitar and vocal arrangements, and listening to it just puts me in a festive mood.
I hope you feel the same… enjoy!
Download MP3 track of the day
(O Come All Ye Faithful available for download only on Dec. 15, 2008)
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The Blender Brain
Welcome to Bev's Blender Brain Blog, where we blend right brain and left brain thinking to explore how creative individuals can break through the stigma and fear of marketing to embrace the practice of finding, nurturing and building an audience. The answers aren't always black or white.
