Happy New Year!

In a few weeks, it will be exactly one year since I've written in this blog. In one sense, I can't believe it; in the other, I know how busy I've been and am not surprised. Most of my year has revolved around Aaron Williams and the Hoodoo, the band I manage. The band released their sophomore CD "10:49" to a very welcoming fan base. What we didn't expect was for the CD to chart nationally in its first week (#44 on the RMR) and to take #1 in Wisconsin. I was fortunate to attend the CD release in Madison on August 13, and it was a blast. Immediately before the CD release, Georgia and I traveled out to see the boys perform at the Waukesha Blues Festival in Delafield. For some time, I've been wanting to see the boys in action in a festival setting. I was so not disappointed. I don't know that I've ever seen Aaron in that light. He really owned the stage. That is the type of stage on which he was born to perform. I've always felt that, but after seeing him on that big stage, I now know it for sure. Not only did I get to see the band perform to a standing-room-only crowd, massive applause, and a standing ovation at the end of their set, but I got to meet Eric's parents and a radio guy from the area. It was a great way to spend the afternoon, though we had to literally rush back to Madison to get changed for the CD release party.

When we arrived at the Harmony, there were a few people already there. By the end of the night, the room was PACKED. I don't know that I've ever worked with such a well-loved band. I don't know how long they spent after the party signing CDs, though I do know they sold well over 100 copies that night alone (after selling 70+ at the festival). It was a great night for the guys, and I'm so glad that I had the opportunity to be there for and with them. We had 105.5 WMMM MD Gabby Parsons there to announce the band, and it was just a special night all the way around. It was an experience I won't soon forget.

As if all that hoopla wasn't enough to hold me for a while, in October Georgia and I drove up to Evansville, IN and Paducah, KY to meet with the band. Typically, when I travel to Madison, there's little time for formal meetings, and I thought this would be a good opportunity to do that, as well as to see the guys perform. About halfway through the show at Lamasco in Evansville when the guys took a break, we received word that the band had been placed on the ballot for two 2012 Grammy nominations: Best Blues Album and Best New Artist. We didn't think a whole lot about that because we knew our chances were slim (and none) of making it onto the final ballot. Be that as it may, however, I decided to do a bit of campaigning, and the guys made the second round. That was pretty cool. Though they didn't make the final ballot, just thinking that an unknown band with two albums under their belts made the second round was pretty damned huge.

We had been pretty happy with the way things had transpired this year, and then, out of the blue, we found out that the CD was up for Best Self-Produced CD with the Blues Foundation. Yes, THE Blues Foundation. Of course, it was up with 73 other CDs, so we didn't think much more about it. As a member of the Blues Foundation, I receive emails from the Foundation that keep all of us up to date with happenings. That email contained a link to the 30 CDs that had made the first cut in the Best Self-Produced CD category, so I figured I'd check it out, right? Well, lo' and behold, "10:49" was among the remaining 30 CDs vying for the title. Well, we were just tickled pink! Sorry--I know that was bad, but I'm trying to get across how excited we were. Through it all, however, Aaron has remained grounded and very grateful for all the attention the CD is getting. He and I often reminisce about the fact that neither of us thought this CD would be "the one" but hoped it would be "a step in the right direction." I would say at this point that our initial assessment was very true. :)

As we move to the close of 2011, I'm reflecting on the year. It has been a great year for Aaron Williams and the Hoodoo. My job is to keep it moving in the right direction. The guys are all ready to do that, and I'm already working on things that I hope to bring to fruition in 2012. I think that with a little luck, some huge blessings from above, and our continued hard work, we might just see that happen. So, here's to 2011 and looking forward to 2012. As I reflect, I can't think of a thing I would change. I love my boys, especially Aaron, who has become one of my best friends. It's great to have people in your life that you can rely on, but it's even better to have those people rely on you. I hope I don't disappoint them.

Wow!

Have I seriously not posted since September? Saying that it has been an eventful four months would definitely be an understatement. We spent the end of September/early October in Dewey Beach, DE, at the Dewey Beach Music Conference. Someone tried to talk me out of attending this conference, calling it "lame," but it was anything but. I really enjoyed the format of this conference. The focus was on networking. There were panels during the day, but at 5:30, all work was done, and it was time to party. The conference hosted a party each night that featured free Budweiser beers and Absolut drinks, both of which were sponsors. They fed us until we couldn't eat any more, and all of the food was good. The parties were a great chance to sit down with the artists in attendance and talk about what they all hoped to accomplish. Dewey Beach was likely one of my favorite conferences ever. Dewey Beach is a wonderful little peninsula on the coast of Delaware. No matter which way we turned, we were on the beach. We're hoping to return next year.

None of our bands accompanied us to Dewey Beach, which was a bit of a departure from other conferences; however, I have been so very busy with Aaron Williams and the Hoodoo. They are beginning to take off, and trying to keep up with them has become quite the challenge (in a good way). Ever since they wons five MAMAs last year, they have been flying high, not only in Madison but in several other locales. They have built a nice following in several Midwestern cities, and they are very well loved in Paducah, KY. We met up with them in Paducah last weekend. Paducah is one hell of a drive (13 hours round trip) for 3 hours of music, but there was a good reason for the trip. The guys are going back into the studio next week to begin work on their sophomore CD. Aaron and I wanted to go over a few things, and I wanted to hear the new songs (not to mention seeing the cigar box guitar). These guys just keep getting better, and what can I say about Aaron? He is driven, very talented, and is a joy to work with. But, back to Paducah.

The guys had a crowd, and I don't think I've ever seen so much dancing! They started almost as soon as the music did, and they didn't stop until the show was over. I got to hear lots of the music that is slated to go on the new CD, and I'm not going to talk much about it now. Gotta leave something to the imagination. ;-) It was a great trip, well worth the long drive. Aaron and I do a pretty good job of managing via email and the phone, but it's always nice to sit down and talk to him face to face. I'm so happy to see great things starting to happen for him. It kills the old cliche of "nice guys finish last." We've got some things in the works for the upcoming CD, and it's very exciting times here at SJK PR and with AWATH. I told Aaron at the end of 2010 that 2011 would be his year. At the rate things are going, that prediction could well come to fruition.

After a very late night (Aaron and I stayed up and talked until almost 6:00 a.m.), I got up at 8:00 and started getting ready for the long drive back to Atlanta, where we would finally see the full Josh Hill Band live--though it was a different band than we met two years ago because Josh moved to Huntsville, AL from Lincoln, NE. They put on a great show and had a nice little crowd. By the time I got home on Sunday night, I didn't get to bed until midnight (after two hours of sleep the night before). Needless to say, this week has been a bit of a challenge for me. I'm now working as a paralegal during the day, and we have a lot going on as well. Let's just say that "TGIF" had a whole new meaning to me today.

So, here I sit with my heating pad around my shoulders, following a nice neck rub from sis for my uber stiff neck. Am I pushing myself too hard? Could be, but I can't slow down until Aaron Williams and the Hoodoo reach the next level. Then, I can rest--a bit anyway. I know that we will continue work hard, even as success begins to come. Never forget that the fall down is faster and harder than the climb up, so we will keep working as if nothing has changed.

Finally, we welcome a new band to the booking roster, Train Company. This band is based in suburban Chicago, and they're pretty darned talented. Check them out and watch for them in a city near you, at least in the Midwest for starters. Stay tuned......

Peace,
Shirlz

Playing Catch-up

A couple of weeks ago, I had planned to blog about our experience in New Orleans. It has now been so long and so many other things have transpired that I will touch on that, as well as some other things.

We had a great time in New Orleans. It was so great to spend some time with my friend John Luttrell, who is the host of Full-time Blues, a blues show that airs on WUEV 91.5 in Evansville, IN. We had met previously at one of Aaron Williams and the Hoodoo's shows, but it was really nice to spend time together in an atmosphere that allowed for talking. John was accompanied by his lovely wife Michelle, and they, my sis, my niece, and I spent my birthday at the Crazy Lobster. I enjoyed being able to relax before the conference activities began.

The next day, it was off to the airport to retrieve my second panelist, Bob Baker. Bob is the author of Guerilla Music Marketing, among other books and helpful resources, and I knew he would be a wealth of information for the panel attendees. He is also very adept at Internet marketing, and I was very much looking forward to meeting him.

On Friday morning, I attended the radio panel, which John had been asked to join while my sister and niece went to the airport to pick up Tom Barnas from WGN-9, who I also chose for this panel. Our panel would immediately follow the radio panel, so I was pretty much on pins and needles, hoping there were no delays at the airport. Tom had exactly an hour and a half to make it to our panel. Around 10:45 a.m., my phone vibrated, so I left the room to take the call. It was my sister, letting me know that they had just dropped off Tom and were taking the car back to the hotel. I went out of the conference area, just in time to meet Tom getting off the elevator. Our fourth panelist, Todd Weiss, had arrived on Wednesday afternoon, but I had not yet met him in person. I got to do that on Friday morning. Our panel went really well, but I've left something out: Sean Carey.

Sean is a protege of Eric Lindell. I love his music and think he's very talented. I had told Eric that I wanted to talk to Sean about taking his music on the road, and since we were going to his home base, I thought it would be a good time to introduce myself. Before we left, I dropped him a line at Facebook, giving him my cell and letting him know that I would be in New Orleans for a few days. He called me on Wednesday evening. We chatted for a bit, and I invited him to our press panel on Friday morning. Much to my pleasant surprise, he did show up for the panel on Friday. We spent the rest of the day with Sean, and I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know more about him. He also does a kick-ass impersonation of Eric and pretty much kept me in stitches.

On Friday night, Ordain was scheduled to perform at the House of Blues, and late in the afternoon, the Issues arrived. They joined us at Ordain's show. As always seems to happen in New Orleans, my eating patterns become somewhat strange. I spend so much time during the day running around that I lose my appetite. Then, I'm hungry at 2:00 in the morning, which is somewhat of a bummer because I know I'm going to lay down on what I've just eaten. But, we had to let nature take its course, and John, Michelle, Georgia, Teresa, and I stopped at a pizza joint on the way back. Tom had left us earlier to walk someone to another venue. We touched base by text but didn't get to see each other again until the next day, when we had planned to have lunch together.

Saturday was a dreary, rainy day, which sucked. I had to take Bob back to the airport, and Tom spent the morning walking around the French Quarter--in the rain in a plastic poncho he picked up. His excitement was not dampened by the rain, as this was Tom's first time in New Orleans, and he wanted to take in as much as he could. When I finally returned from the airport, we had a nice lunch at a little restaurant along Decatur Street. My sister and niece had taken a Hurricane Katrina tour that morning, and they walked right past the restaurant Tom and I had chosen! Georgia came in to rib Tom, which she really seemed to enjoy doing that weekend. The rain finally let up, and we all got together to go to the Issues' show at Maison.

We took two taxis down to Frenchman's Street, as it is just too far to walk (though we typically walk back, with stops along the way). The Issues really showed what they were made of, and Tom was really impressed with them. The ONLY complaint I have about the Cutting Edge venues that I visited is that the music was WAY too loud. After the Issues' show, we all (including the members of Ordain) stopped at the Market Cafe for dinner. That was a LOT of fun. Having stuffed ourselves sufficiently, we walked into the French Quarter. We (me, Georgia, and Teresa) had seen it all before, but none of our companions had, so we had a great time showing them around. The Issues soon joined us, but some of us were ready to call it a night. We left all the guys in the French Quarter and walked back to our hotels with John and Michelle and Scott and Rhi, Scott's girlfriend, who had flown in to spend Scott's birthday with him. That visit would turn out to be a source of frustration for me, as I don't believe girlfriends belong on tour, but that's another story for another time.

When I picked up Tom the next morning to return him to the airport, he let me know that he had returned to his room at 4:30 a.m. Ah, youth! We went around the block to get Todd and Joanne. While I very much enjoyed meeting everyone, Tom took a special place in my heart. He's very personable, and I really enjoyed getting to know him better. He is a wealth of information, and he is a great example of achieving success by working hard and being focused. He has done much in his young life to advance his career, and I really admire him. I hated to see him leave and had a special hug for him at the airport. He later texted me, at my request, to let me know he had made it safely home. Now, I feel that Tom is not only an important press contact of mine, but he is a new friend. I hope our paths cross again in the near future.

So, I ended up talking more about Cutting Edge and New Orleans than I had planned, so I'll save anything else I have to say for another post. One thing I learned from Cutting Edge this year: Take a pair of sneakers for walking. I had the hardest time finding a comfortable shoe! I ended up buying a couple of pairs, searching for comfort and, on Saturday, for dryness. It was another great experience at Cutting Edge, and I hope we'll be back next year. Until next time....

Peace,
Shirley

Tom Barnas and Me

A New Client (and Other Things)

Well, my dearest friend pointed out to me that I have neglected to blog about SJK PR's newest client. How could I be so short-sighted? Could it be that I had to hit the ground running with him? Could it be that I was afraid I would sound like a babbling idiot, trying to talk about him? Whatever the reason, I have decided to rectify my shameless faux pas (I hope I spelled that right and didn't further shame myself, LOL).

Allow me to introduce you to the newest addition to the SJK PR family, Mr. Eric Lindell. For the ignorant or uninformed, Eric used to be with Alligator Records, the world's largest contemporary blues label. Because Eric decided to move forward with his own record label, Sparco Records, I am one lucky girl. Where do I begin when discussing Eric Lindell? He's likely one of the most prolific songwriters on the circuit today. His unique mix of blues, roots rock, soul, and a little New Orleans funk puts him in a class all by himself. Stellar vocals accompanied by pure musicianship make him a "must listen," but his live shows make him a "must see." As my friend is wont to say, no matter how long Eric's show runs, he always leaves you wanting more.

If you remember me from my freelance writing days, you likely read the article I wrote about Eric for the release of his CD "Low on Cash, Rich in Love." Just in case you don't, here's a link to the article: Alligator Records' Eric Lindell: Low on Cash, Rich in Love (and Other Things). Just a little shameless self-promotion to go along with the good news. ;-) I would go through how I met Eric and how we came together at this time and in this place, but I think that's all TMI. Know that I am thrilled beyond words to be working with him, and pushing Eric to the press is a no-brainer. He's already made two appearances that we secured for him, and we're working on several others. In other words, this man is golden. He makes my job easy, and he makes me look good. I can't ask for anything more. His latest body of work "Between Motion and Rest" is classic Eric Lindell, and it's a beaut. He decided to release this one in vinyl as well as on CD, and it's a very cool, slick product--and it sounds good, too. Or, did I say that already?

So, we have LOTS of work to do in the coming weeks and months, as Eric has me pretty much hopping. We'll likely also be working with a couple of his proteges, one of whom I got to meet while in New Orleans this past week. But, I'll save all that for when it happens. Just know that we're VERY excited to have an artist of Eric's caliber on our roster. Stay tuned for more news.

Peace out,
Shirley

Ordain Returns

We sent Ordain off to Florida yesterday, goody bag in hand. The guys have two shows in Florida, one in Gainesville and the other in Pensacola. Then, they'll finish out the weekend in Alabama with their good friends and another great band Refuse the Fall. Those guys sound great, and those should be two awesome shows. They will play together a total of five times before the tour is over.

As always, we enjoyed having the guys here for a few days. Though they can create a lot of work, it's a labor of love. They pulled in on Sunday afternoon, and I already had dinner in the oven. I decided to try a new recipe called taco lasagna. It was pretty darned good, and the guys left very little in their wake (though there was a snack for Jeremy after the show on Tuesday). On Monday, the guys and I (literally) piled into my car and headed to Collinsville, AL, to tape radio at DreamField Productions. This place is unbelievable. There's a huge stage sitting in the middle of a field, and while standing there looking around, I had visions of what it would look like, filled with people. But, I'm getting a bit ahead of myself, as the ride proved quite eventful.

After getting through two fairly "hairy" traffic jams on 75, I realized that we had missed our exit. Scott was navigating--or I should say that he was supposed to be navigating. We hopped off on the next exit to turn around and stopped at a gas station/convenience store. I swear I didn't see the Slush Puppy sign ahead of time, though I did have to have one. They don't sell them here in too many places, so I always get one when I'm on the road! We left there to get on the highway to go back three exits, and damned if I didn't get back on the northbound ramp. Sheesh! I turned around again, and we kept moving in the right direction. Then, we missed another exit, and I formally fired Scott as the navigator.

Turning around again, we were finally going the right direction (or so we thought). The kind folks at DreamField had already told me that you can't find the place with GPS, and she was right: My GPS just looked at me like I was crazy when I tried to plug in the address. Scott, being more skilled at GPS than I am, figured out how to get Jason (my GPS voice) to take us to "the center of Collinsville." As we continued down a road that appeared to have no end, however, I decided to pull over and call Shannon at DreamField. Amazingly, we were 15 minutes away! You know that saying about how God watches out for children and idiots--well, you get the picture. Someone was definitely looking out.

We finally arrived at DreamField, and I'll pick up with me swooning over the pure expanse of the place. DreamField hosts at least two major festivals every year, and after seeing the place, I understood. I got visions of Woodstock (though I never attended Woodstock, but you know what I mean). Shannon and Donnie shared that these are camping/music events that can draw thousands. Again, I got visions of Ordain on that big stage, playing to thousands. Ah, what a place! The inside area was simply beautiful, with literally everything made from treated wood. Shannon and Donnie began the interview, giving the guys periodic breaks during which they shot pool, drank tea, and generally had a blast exploring the place. Shannon and Donnie, the awesome folks who run DreamField, are just wonderful and are personality plus. I forgot to mention that when we were driving down, Donnie called me to see what the boys wanted to drink. When asked, they all said "water," and Donnie responded with, "Cool. We have a pond." I knew then that we were going to have a complete blast!

We hung around DreamField for a few hours, and around 8:00, we started the long drive back to Stone Mountain. These drives beg me to answer a question: Why can't boys hold it? We must have stopped two or three times for bathroom breaks. The drive back seemed longer, as it had gotten dark, but we finally made it back for sloppy joes, courtesy of sis, which the boys scarfed down rather handily. Needless to say, it was a late night for us, and as is my habit, I was back up at 7:30 a.m., dragging a bit for the rest of the day. The guys were to play in Smith's 3 for $5 that night, and I had to find some energy to get moving.

Their slot at Smith's turned out really well, drawing the requisite 30 for the evening--on a Tuesday night, no less. They were in a bit of a weird line-up, with two solo acts playing after them. I don't think either of them drew one person, but most of Ordain's fans stayed and listened. I sold a TON of Ordain merchandise, and it was a great night. Back home after the show, "tacosagna" and sloppy joe hit the microwave, and we sat up for a bit and talked, but I was quickly running out of steam.

After the guys left yesterday, we went about the task of putting the house back to normal. I was happy to get back into my office and the desktop, which houses mostly everything I need to work with. I can get by a bit on the laptop, but I have to drag a lot of crap down with me, and there's so much on the desktop that I obviously can't access when on the laptop. It was good to get eight hours of sleep last night so that I could get back to hitting up press for all the clients. Speaking of clients, we have a new one. I'll talk about him shortly. In the meantime, we'll see Ordain again in a few weeks in New Orleans for Cutting Edge. I'm looking forward to that, as it's always a good time at Cutting Edge.

Shirley

When will I learn?

The music industry can be a scary place. You meet so many people who want to blow smoke up your ass and still others who want to take from you. I've met both, but I've really been taken by one. The unfortunate thing is that severing relationships can be tough. I try to always maintain an amicable relationship with people, but sometimes, it's just not possible. My website has been such a headache for me, but it's a necessary evil. My last web guy was a sweet guy, but he just didn't really have the time to invest in his "side" job. It was taking forever for him to roll out the new site, and I thought I had found someone who could take care of that and all my technical needs. In hindsight, I don't think he was as skilled as he alleged.

When I got my first bill from the guy, I almost fell off my chair. By the time my website rolled out, it had cost me a small fortune. I found out the hard way that this guy charges you to talk to you on the phone. Ain't that some shit? The only people in life I've met who charge you to talk on the phone are lawyers. To complicate matters, the guy loves one of the bands, and we became friends--or so I thought. He would call and talk to me for hours, taking me away from my work. Then, I would get a bill with 40, 50 or more minutes of "tech talk." Well, like most folks, I never kept up with our phone conversations, which was related to my site and which was related to chit-chat. Thinking this guy was a friend who would never cheat me, I also began teaching him to do press work, hoping to lighten my load a bit. It's very time consuming managing two bands while working press for three others, and he needed to make money as well, so I thought it the perfect solution. It didn't take me long to figure out that he would similarly be gouging my clients, and when he tried to totally take over one of them, I had to give him the boot.

He was hosting my website, and when he got upset, I determined to move my website to another hosting site. He had the NERVE to withhold my hosting information until I paid one of the band's bills with him. He had previously quoted me $35 to build a "placeholder" for the band's site, and as was the norm with him, when the bill came, the price was double. To make matters worse, the placeholder he built looked like my four-year-old great nephew built it, so the band leader redid it himself. Even though my band leader had to redo the site, this jerk refused to reduce his charge and used it to hold my hosting information hostage. Needless to say, I paid him his blood money, got my information, and moved my site.

People are a TRIP. I had paid this jerk over $700 in three months, yet he was afraid I would not pay him $78. We were supposed to be "friends," and I have learned a valuable lesson in what that word really means to some people: We're friends as long as I have something to give you. On the bright side, at least I learned all this before I lost clients behind him gouging them as he did me. The main lesson I learned, however, is to not let people get that close without really knowing them. Thank God I called my friend Geoff and told him the story, as he was about to let rip-off man work on his site. He was grateful for the information. All this guy wanted to do was get next to me so that he could generate new business from my clients and friends. Well, that's over. I chalk it up to another great learning experience in the music industry. It is full of rip-offs and shysters, and the lesson could have been much more painful from a financial perspective, so I'm grateful that it wasn't worse.

So, life moves on. I've been rewarded for my pain with the signing of a fairly high profile new client, whom I will discuss shortly. I never reveal a client until the check is in hand and the contract signed. Stay tuned.

Peace,
Shirley

Eventful Week

Another very busy week has drawn to a close. Aaron Williams and the Hoodoo seem to be growing by leaps and bounds. Today, they have the extreme pleasure of serving as support for the incomparable Jonny Lang. This is a real treat for the band, as even they are big fans of Jonny's. Such awesome opportunities don't come along every day, and the guys intend to take full advantage of their blessing. I was contacted on Friday about yet another impressive opening slot for the band, which I will share once everything is confirmed. These guys are on a serious roll and show no signs of slowing down. Every time something good comes their way, I have to work that much harder to take advantage of it. I think it's only a matter of time before these guys are more well known on a larger scale. Keep those eyes peeled.

Last week also ushered in the release of Ordain's full-length debut, "Broken Glass." We've been working hard to get the word out, and several fans have purchased download copies. We got a bit bogged down in getting the physical CDs ready, but they will be available during tour week. Speaking of the tour, it's shaping up quite nicely. A few holes remain to be filled, but I have the utmost confidence in Georgia (a/k/a GG, Gee, or G3--depending on the band that's addressing her). We are planning to join the guys in Gaffney, SC, so that Georgia can meet her talent buyer friend Beau. It looks like a beautiful venue and city, so I'm looking forward to it.

I'll keep this short and sweet, as I need to get ready for the coming week. Still much press work to do on Ordain's upcoming tour, and something is always in the works with Aaron Williams and the Hoodoo. We're assertively moving forward with our press work and hope to see some thing popping up for all of our guys (and one girl, in CWB) very soon.

Peace,
Shirley