Tuesday, September 13, 2011

What Does A Music Publicist Do?

Have you ever had that experience where you're telling your friend about this great John Coltrane (or The Residents or Rachmaninoff or The Arcade Fire, or whoever) track you just heard, and you automatically get that blank look that says "I don't know who you're talking about"... but then you introduce that friend, and a fan is born?

As a music publicist, that's kind of what I do for a living... except the music in question is yours, and the "friends" are hundreds of contacts throughout the music, publishing, and media worlds. Now I admit that when I do it professionally, there’s a lot more involved to it: making phone calls, publicity campaign design and implementation, rounding up interviews, pitching and distributing reviews, making phone calls, creating promotional materials, promoting tours, making up electronic press kits, shouting around at various social media, pitching talent to magazines and E-zines, making phone calls, doing tour support, building relationships with performance venues and managers, updating press kits, contacting radio stations, making phone calls, researching artist bios, making new contacts…

Also, there are a lot of phone calls. I mentioned that part?

But basically, that’s the job. Drop me a line and we’ll talk!

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Move Over, Malcolm Gladwell: Oliver Sacks Is In The House

On the face of it, you'd think that music isn't necessary to human evolutionary development: you don't need a melody to start a fire, an eighth note to kill a mastodon, and crops don't get planted by killer riffs.

But the deeper you go into the brain... into what makes us human... the more music is just there, and involved.

It's as important as oxygen is to our existence....

So, like, what will you inhale next....



Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Happy Birthday, Carlos Santana

Not just here in the Mission District in San Francisco, but all over the world... we love you Carlos.




Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Why I Love Canadians (And Seeburg Jukeboxes)

Hard working, always helping out on their own end, and take irony up to 11. Here are some of my favorite (favourite?) examples of that:










...you can spread all kinds of rumors about me... the Maple Leaf cookies and Seeburg jukeboxes always combine the sweetest of musical treats.

...And speaking of Canadians, The Kirby Sewell Band will be appearing at Biscuits & Blues with John Nemeth on August 15th!


Thursday, July 14, 2011

My new favorite song.....

This is what I'm listening to now!
Rahsaan Roland Kirk - Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me)



Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Peter Parcek

A fiend of mine, Peter Parcek, was just nominated by the Alternate Roots Mag 1st Annual Readers Choice Awards for "Best American Roots Guitar Player"

The other nominees are great, so it would be wrong of me to insist you go vote for Peter without good reason. So, listen to this first:



And then you'll be able to go here and vote with a clear conscience.

Monday, July 11, 2011

This Day In Dirty Music

2008, Rolling Stone Ron Wood traded in his wife of 23 years, Jo Wood, for an 18-year-old... Kazakhstan-born cocktail waitress Ekaterina Ivanova. Ron, 61, met his young lady love while out on a bender.

It didn't last.