7 Online Sites to Promote Your Shows That Aren't Social Media | Gigmor

7 Online Sites to Promote Your Shows That Aren\'t Social Media. Even after you use Gigmor to book a great show with one of the 2000+ venues, your work...

https://blog.gigmor.com/7-online-sites-to-promote-your-shows-that-arent-social-media/

A Letter to March 2011

March, I apologize. You were post-less, and for that I am indeed sorry. But don't fret, because you were not post-less in vain. Work was being done, songs were being recorded, and plans were being made. And for that March, I thank you. Plus, you were a liiiiittle brutal on the weather front, so let's just call it even, shall we? The point is, we're getting there. Jess and I have managed to carve out a little time here and there. Why creativity always seems to get a back seat, I'll never know. But that's the nature of the beast... hell, if we have to schedule time... "be creative from 8pm-8:30pm on Thursday this week," then that's what we'll have to do. In fact, that's not far from the truth. This week, I imagine we'll put our planning hats on in relation to Home of the Brave, her cd, and that pesky little goal of world domination. One goal at at time; one day or month at a time too, I guess. So March, now that you're gone, we're hanging out with April. It's been good so far and the best is yet to come. Can't wait.

A Little Extra

Sometimes, what seems to be is not always what is.

It might seem like a good idea to take on a little extra work, to make a little extra money, to be able to put in a little extra for something else. But what happens when that little extra work turns out to be an extra strain on your time?

It's such a balancing act to think about time and money. Which is worth more? How much is your time worth in terms of the non-monetary things in life? Time with your music? Time with your family? I'm sure everyone's number would be different....

And now we've finally had a little extra time to talk about all the extra time we don't have. But it made for a good motivator for both Jess and I. Each of us were kind of waiting on the other to take the lead with a little musical endeavor. It seems like were on the same page now....

But sometimes, what seems to be is not always what is... nah. Just kiddin' ~ we got this.

Write.
Record.
Repeat.

Hoping you find the music in your busy-ness... and that you let other people hear it too :)

'50' On the Spot

Today, I create something for future use. I write songs in many different fashions -- sometimes it'll be a riff on the keys, a beat, a phrase, etc. A lot of times though, it'll start with a title.

So with no pre-conceived notion of what will come out... here's some fodder for Grammy's yet to come... the first 50 titles that come to my head. Boom.

1. Blackberry Blues
2. In Time
3. Not Quite Done
4. Cool Wit It
5. On The Flip Side
6. Mistaken
7. Last Night
8. March Forth
9. Lonely Day
10. Your Next Text
11. Better Be Gone
12. Insatiable
13. Glass Half Full
14. Never Knew
15. Plastic Smiles
16. Shake it Up
17. Put 'em Up
18. Tell Him Again
19. Melt Away
20. Everybody Thinks They Know
21. Sunsets and Chocolate
22. Love Me Again
23. I Blame You
24. Don't Try It
25. My Future Self
26. Never Let Her Go
27. Picture This
28. What Had Happened Was
29. Coulda Been Me
30. Always Thought I'd Know
31. Keep It
32. Don't Go.. So Slowly
33. Hand in Hand
34. That Kinda Man
35. Lock and Load
36. What Did You Think?
37. Take You Home
38. Sorry's Just a Word
39. More and More
40. Alternate Ending
41. Words Won't Work
42. Better Take a Pill
43. Lovely
44. 6am
45. First Thing I See
46. Deal Me In
47. You're Killin' Me
48. You Made You Mad
49. Hope It's Good
50. That's What She Said

And as it typically goes, most of what comes out is crap. But sifting through it, I see some stuff I like. Ideas are-a sparkling. Ahhh... that side of my brain DOES exist.

Hello future Grammy, my name is Leonard. I'll be writing you and my wife, Jessica will be singing you. See you soon....

Keep Moving

"The greatest thing in this life is not so much where you stand, but in what direction you are moving." Oliver Wendall Holmes, Jr.

Love it.

See, that's always been a chore for me mentally. And by chore, I mean something that I've really got to work at. Not to get complaisant with what's goin' on right now. Not to get too -- dare I say -- content. When you get content, everything is good.

But good is the enemy of great (just heard that on TV).

So I'm doing my best not to be satisfied with where I stand. I'm doing my best to keep throwing lines out there and seeing what happens. Whether it's heading to Nashville for a music conference, working with local musicians, re-recording and re-releasing "Home of the Brave" this year, or making an exerted effort to make sure the world knows about my talented wife.

We've become so busy with activities to help us stay afloat, that I'm afraid we'll miss the boat. I firmly believe there are a couple of tickets with our names on them too. Ok... may not be VIP, but I know there's a path. And the only way I'm going to know?

Not to get content.

To not worry so much about where I stand,

but to keep moving forward.

"Luck" is the point in time where preparation and opportunity meet. So, I guess I should go get ready now... what about you?

Hope you find the music in your busy-ness.

Book 'em

Today started off pretty slow. I slept about 7 hours which is unusually long for me. I'm a 5-hour a night kinda guy, but of course, I've been sick lately. But even when I "woke" up, I was still almost in a sleepen stupor. Hate that cloudy feeling.... hmm, it's probably why I've never smoked anything or ever done a drug. Yep... me no likey.

Once I finally got going though... I was on a roll. And today's roll (or maybe role) was all about booking. Booking bands is oddly enough, something I enjoy that I really didn't know that I would. I've done it for my band for 8 years now, but has been primarily out of necessity.

There's something about matching up bands to clubs, helping PEOPLE find work, helping PLACES make their venues more lively. Love it. Never thought in a million years when I made my first little press kit for Living Proof in 2003, that I'd be doing similar tasks for other bands. Never thought in a million years I'd be making a living doing this.

Is it getting to know new people? Is it sitting down across the table from a bar owner with a problem or a need to fill? Is it the puzzle factor? Maybe it's all of that combined with the fact that I get paid a little sumpn sumpn. Yeh... I'm on to it.

It's being lucky enough to find an aspect of something I enjoy and also having that same task be something that generates income. Recently... the income hasn't necessarily been what it needs to be to cover all bases, but it's always evened itself out. At least until this point. And right now, that's all I can ask for.

I am indeed lucky. I have a lovely wife, an awesome son, and work with a bunch of caring musicians (not all of them, but a bunch). I do use the term "work" very loosely. I've worked for 20+ years and it's never really been this fun.

Man. I gotta write something soon. Here's to a good night's sleep, whether it be 5 or 7 hours.

--Hope you find the music in your busy-ness.

Total Recall

How time flies when you're living life. I imagine everyone says that though. It just really hits home when you experience it yourself. I remember a lot of things that have happened, but I've also tried to forget.

I just saw on the Today show where an actress and maybe a few other people in the world are diagnosed with a certain type of memory. It allows them to recall VIVIDLY, almost every day of their lives... people they've met, places they've been, etc.

Yeh, I'd love that... for maybe a week.

What would I do? Among other things, it'd give me time to recall all of the songs I've written. The ones that were on those (gulp) floppy disks that went to my old peavey keyboard; the lyrics on my college computer, although they were probably a bit cheesy at that point in my life. I DO recall submitting a cassette tape (member those too?) of about 50 instrumental songs to the copyright registration office sometime in the early 90's. Hmmm....

Now, only if I could find my copy. I'd love to hear them.

The funny thing is I hear chord progressions or little keyboard or guitar licks that sound familiar in songs on the radio today. I've thought to myself several times: "that sounds just like that song I wrote called ..."

I wish I could put out an actual recall notice to my songs -- like I'm an auto-dealer. "This recall is going out to all of the partial and complete songs that I have started in the past. Please call this number, or better yet, email yourself to me immediately." Wait a sec... just got an email....

Dang. Nothin'.

So I tell ya what. How about I try to recall the creativity? Maybe those songs weren't meant to be remembered? Maybe they were just the practice run of songs yet to be written? It's easy to rationalize when you've got no other options, but THAT'S what I'm going to go with. I'm going to find a way to make sure my MO6 sitting here is more than just a shelf. It's a musical instrument and many-o-songs have been written on keys shaped just like these.

Ooh. Maybe I'll post my songs on here too?!? Ok. Now I've got a plan (and I think blogging may be therapeutic for me=)

Take care and don't forget the music in YOUR busy-ness.