Blind faith - or intention?

Ask yourself.....would give up a secure, decent paying job just to do what you love to do and find a way to earn a living from that? It's a great question, and the answer, as I have come to learn over the years, is that not so many would do this for fear of losing what you already have. Good logic to hold a good economy - maintain a lifestyle, but also good logic to sit in your rocking chair at age 80 and look back on your life satisfied that you didn't let our societal structure dictate where your happiness comes from.

That's why I am impressed Olof Berglund. He's got Twang!  

Here's a guy educated as a music teacher, a multi-instrumentalist, a knack for production & recording technique, a passion for music, learning, growing, and doing what he is is on fire for. Not to mention, and unwavering reliability. When he commits to something - he gets it done - no if's and's or but's. Last year, he made a key decision in his life that inspires me to the core. He jumped. He gave up up that job that consumed the creative energy he wants to put elsewhere. He gave up that routine thing that he knew he could do and has been educated to do...and is now pursuing the development of his independent music business. It takes guts and a firm belief in your own capacity to make such a decision. Impressive! He has the talent and the diligence to make great things happen.

Result? He did a major update of the equipment in his recording studio, has secured and delivered some good quality voiceover projects, and some really cool recording projects. He is learning new ways of thinking about people, selling services, and helping others reach their goals in the audio world. Super cool!

That said, if you have an upcoming recording project (weddings, voiceovers, song demos, independent recording projects, etc.) and you are looking for a committed engineer, talented arranger & musician, and a person who can coordinate & produce your project - go and visit him at his studio and have a look around. Give him a ring, meet him and chat a bit about what you are looking for. He's got a great ability to listen and get focused on what you need for your recording.

If you have been "thinking about" recording your demo, album or whatever - don't think too long. Life goes buy pretty fast. Sprinkle a little Twang into your life and go get it done. It will cost you more in misery for not doing anything about it and letting your potential hide in a closet, than it will cost to get the recording you want.

Be like Olof - do what you love. Life will follow along and open up opportunities for you.

My next post will feature a person who has supported country music more than most people in Sweden combined. He's well known for his "mini-grisar" and onto some new creative outlets now. You should get to know him...

In the meantime...Give Me Some Twang! I need a bunch of it, as I start a full-blown radio promotion/campaign for Still Crazy on Monday when country radio stations across Canada (about 130 of them) receive the title track as the lead off single.

Be well!
//E

2011 = Turn it up to 11!

When I look at the photo below, it brings back powerful memories of a challenging 2 days back in June, 2010. In the photo you see to the left James Mitchell, Larry Marrs in the middle, and Howard Duck up to the right (all three have killer Twang!).  In this "still" moment, we were making adjustments to the room mics during the early stages of the tracking sessions.

I took the photo from the vocal booth on because I wanted to preserve this piece of my history. It reminds me of making decisions, and what we decided in this moment changed the entire sound of the record. As I look at it today I am once again reminded of the speed of the world - how fast time goes by - and how deciding fully one way or the other is a key for progress. It also makes me think about the importance of now.

In my last post I left you with the inspiring result of Charlie & Fredrik over in Karlshamn who are out making things happen, and taking their own world by storm. For me, these two guys are a great reminder of my my need to walk my own talk, after having challenged them to "make things happen" instead of "hope for things to happen". Hope is not a strategy. 

I have also shared with you a little about how a catalyst name Desmond Harty got me moving in the right direction years ago. I'll share some more of that twisted road as we continue our conversation here, but today I want to forget about the past and focus on the now & the future. I find myself at a point where I need to make key decisions in order to "Turn it up to 11!".  I borrow this phrase from Tom Jackson, a live show producer based in Nashville. I own a DVD of his with that title. I love the title because it speaks to me in volumes, and says..."defy limits". And in this case I am referring to my own limits that I sometimes put on myself (as we all do from time to time). I could easily allow what I have invested to this point in Still Crazy just run it's course, and fade out by "hoping" that what I have done is enough to generate what I want from it (to get the music to it's rightful audience), or I can heed my own words of advice to Charlie & Fredrik and "make things happen".

My decision boils down to this: invest in a radio promoter/tracker or not?

I have European radio to contend with, which, in the country genre consists of a number of radio stations that have what I like to refer to as "pocket programming", meaning that they program country/americana music perhaps once per week in small blocks of an hour or two. I think it's wonderful that people/stations have enough love and respect for country music to do this and not completely limit the opportunity for country to be heard on this side of the Atlantic. The genre is too important to not be heard. Remember, Rock'n Roll came from Country...not the other way around. Anyway - with regard to European radio, the programming of country is so limited that "frequency" is nearly not an option due to the mass amount of music being produced and all of them looking for airplay. Frequency & repetition breeds awareness. Awareness increases potential record sales. Because of the "pocket programming", whatever airplay I am currently getting won't last. Frequency & repetition will be defeated before too long. So I think I'll stick with my current strategy for Europe which includes radio delivery via digital means. So far, this relatively cost effective method has gained me airplay in Denmark, France, Germany, Spain, The Netherlands, Australia, New Zealand, the U.K. & Austria, U.S. and some college stations in Canada.

As I communicate this, my decision is forming. I guess that's why I write my thoughts - to crystallize them. Thanks for reading.

Here is another side of the radio story. In the U.S., there are literally hundreds of radio stations that program country 24/7. And many of them are programmed by consultants who program hits and songs/artists who will nearly guarantee hit status. Most of which are "core" artists, or established artists with hits behind them already. This is also limiting for guys like me, although it is possible to gain airplay on independent stations - this already proven with my campaign in Nebraska. The challenge is getting them to listen, finding someone you trust to get the work done...not to mention that radio promotion in the U.S. is a significantly more costly venture if/when you involve professional promoters.

The 3rd side of this is Canada - my home country. In Canada, there are approximately 130 stations that program country music 24/7. A percentage of those are what we refer to as "reporting stations", others are secondary stations. Reporting stations are the ones where "charts" come from, meaning if you gain significant/frequent airplay and rotation on these stations - they report to BDS (Broadcast Data Systems) and a song moves up the chart by frequency of airplay. Secondary stations are often subject to a "promise of performance" in their programming stating that they will only play hit songs (this because advertisers pay for stations that people like to listen to - and in general people like to listen to songs that are familiar and are hits...makes good business sense, but it's tough on unknown artists). So they don't play the songs unless the reporting stations play them and they have charted well. What this creates is a bit of a vacuum for guys like me and a slight Catch 22 - in the way that I can't get airplay on a significant number of stations unless you get airplay on a few select reporting stations that determine if your music is good enough to become a hit or gain frequent rotation. And these stations are supremely difficult to get airplay from if you are not a "core artist" with a proven track record at radio already. I am a big fan of DIY (do it yourself), but stations no longer talk to artists directly, only professional promoters due to the thousands of artists looking for airplay and having the need to talk about their music.

Multiply all of the above with the number of releases by major labels, the increasingly stiff competition by independents turning out better & better music + the desolate state of the music industry and declining record sales = YIKES! DO I DARE INVEST MORE MONEY TO COMPETE WITH MY MUSIC? ..............Hmmmmmmm...........do I believe in it enough??? Should I pay a radio promoter to test the value of my music against giants?.............Hmmmmmmm.........how else will I know if it can stand up?.............Hmmmmmmm.............how else can the music reach its rightful audience? Will I kick myself in the ass later in life if I don't find out???? ANSWER to the later: Yes. DECISION based on the later question: Go for it! Go for it with a Canadian radio campaign! Sink or swim, baby!

Decisions like this remind me of when I met my wife in Dallas, Texas in December of 1998. A long story short - it was an extraordinarily romantic lightning strike of a meeting, and at one moment in our conversation we had to decide. When I asked her when the last time was that she felt something so powerful, she replied, "Never." I then suggested that we talk about what was happening, and she asked "Wouldn't that make things more difficult?"...I gave a split-second, gut response, and said..."Absolutely!" So, we talked all night about life, dreams, values, and the ideal future. The next day I flew back to Vancouver, she flew back to Stockholm. I sold all my things & moved to Sweden in '99. We've been happily married for nearly 10 years now. Decisions...

So I guess in summation of this post, 2011 for me is a year to "Turn it up to 11"!

I hope that you do the same. Life is too short! See you in the next post where I will share a bit more of my twisted artist road, plus feature a local Malmö musician who I feel has a whole lot of Twang!

//E

Hot Country 106.5 + Charlie & Fredrik!

I know I should have my computer off at this point, be sleeping and preparing for a big day tomorrow (today, actually...as it is1:39 AM) but I was compelled to check my e-mail one last time before going to bed. What I found was a message from Josh Mackey at Hot Country 106.5 in Ogallala, Nebraska. Josh is the Music Director & News Director, and host of a talk show called Mid-west Opinions.

And, as the result of persistent work & luck would have it, Josh mentioned that they will have a chance to air Springtime in Nebraska on their station, and that he would like to do an interview next week to promote the song/album, and get to know me a little & what's behind the song.

Sounds like fun to me, and a nice early Christmas present!

While I am at it, back to Twang!

Last post, I mentioned that I would like to talk about Charlie & Fredrik. These guys are AMAZING! What a story of simply deciding & getting things done! Here are a couple of young guys who were "stage hands" at the Carlshamn Country Festival a couple of years ago when the band and I were performing as the headliner act. Charlie contacted me this past fall to say hello...and after asking a little about their music, they explained that they played a little acoustically together and that they wanted to make a record. Then came the very common,"..but we are students and don't have any money" line. For those of you know me well enough, you'll know that I can't simply accept such an answer when it comes to matters of the heart. And music is a matter of the heart. So, with more questions it became apparent that not having the money had nothing to do with it...it was more a matter of discovering how to make the money?

So, they put their creative heads together and started planning, deciding, and crystallizing what they wanted first, before thinking about all the reasons they could have it. I supported them in the early stages of what we can call the "innovation process" or "creative process" (I'll expand on some ideas here in later posts). And these guys caught on real fast - not like some of us older folk, less pliable folk, who like to examine all the merits of things & talk about why they won't work before we actually try them ;--). They did some quick work here, and discovered that it was not a matter of money, after all. But more a matter of actions that would lead them to their dreams.

This was on Thursday, November 4. Their first major target is to raise 12 000SEK for a simple album recording. Now 49/50 days later, they have raised over 10 000SEK by just getting out there and making things happen. Playing on the street, playing in shopping malls, playing at grocer stores, contacting newspapers, radio stations, starting a blog and such to create their own little "buzz factor".

I have 3 words to describe how I feel about this: Inspired! Wow! and Twang!

If you want to support these two young guys to get them over the top, go to their blog http://charliefredrik.blogg.se and share your comments & support!

When I got the news of their latest figures in an e-mail seconds after my news from Nebraska, I thought...hmmm...imagine the possibilities for 2011!

Once again, Merry Christmas!

//E

Desmond Harty & Johan Engström - Masters of Twang!

In my last post I mentioned a guy with Twang named Johan Engström, as well as my early focus on Twang back in '95. I'm going to expand on those two things in this post.

It's late, after midnight. I should be sleeping after a nasty bout & double-knock-out punch these past couple of weeks by "vinterkräksjuka" , as we call it here in Sweden, or in English, winter vomiting disease. It was ugly. Got me twice! I seemed to regain some strength today after doing some Christmas shopping, shoveling a lot of snow, and buying groceries for the coming days. I'll let Twang take over.

First, back to 1995. I was telling you about a program I took that kinda changed my focus in life (insert Twang here). It went something like this:

I went into this Dale Carnegie program thinking human relations, communication, leadership and a more forward-moving life back at the radio station I was working at. But I came out of the program thinking music, music, music. How? Why? Well, one of the ways we developed our communication skills & speaking skills was to communicate things about ourselves - who we are, our defining moments, achievements, mistakes, goals etc. And along about the 4th or 5th session of the program...I recall talking about my music again, and my rather peculiar methodology of learning how to sing & play at the same time. I used one of my favorite old songs by Paul Simon called Slip Slidin' Away...playing on my dad's 30 year old acoustic which I still have today. I practiced by propping a ski pole up between cushions on the sofa, and then trying to play the chords and get a vocal out at the same time! LoL! I was living in a basement suite apartment at the time, and the landlord was above on the next floor. Every time I heard that she was home and moving about, I would crimp up, loose my courage, and stop until I thought she was gone...then continue. Anyway, as I was explaining all this to a group of fellow participants in the program, the instructor, the now late Desmond Harty, interrupted me briefly. It went like this:

Desmond: "Evan, it seems to me that whenever you talk about music, you are on fire inside! Is that true?"

Evan: "Yeah, you could say that..."

Desmond: "You become more enthusiastic about this than most other things you talk about. Do you agree?"

Evan: "Uhh, yeah...?"

Desmond: "Well, why don't you stop talking about it and get off your ass and do something about it!?"

Desmond, as a person, became one of the most important catalysts in my life (I worked with him for a number of years after that...but that's another post). I have had a few people play the catalyst role in my life, but what he hit me with was the the question that changed me most significantly. From that evening I set out on a journey that brought me here (and I'll share some really cool parts and mind blowing experiences to let you know a bit more about me & my own kinda Twang as I blog on...). "Des" as we used to call him, had a lot of Twang, and of the most beautiful sort - a keen insight into people and a relentless dedication to see people achieve their potential. I miss him deeply since his passing February 14, 2007.

Now onto Johan Engström. He is a bit like a bookend, in the sense that he supports the book(s) to stand up properly on the shelf. Here's how I relate to this:

When I stepped into my "vision" on November 4, 2007 of getting onto an aircraft in Nashville with the Master of my first album in hand, I found myself looking straight into nothing but gray & fog in a metaphorical sense. I had no idea what my next step would be (besides packaging & manufacturing 500 copies). Just after Christmas in 2008, I was asked to perform in Trelleborg in conjunction with Musikföreningen Riffet. I contacted Johan and asked if he like country music, and I remember the conversation going something like this (the short version...):

Evan: "Hey, Johan...this is Evan Westerlund. Johan Hallström says you like to play guitar. Do you like country?

Johan: "Yeeaahhh...haha!"

Evan: "Ok, well I just recorded an album in Nashville and I have to get started playing again, and need a guitar player for an acoustic gig in February...you interested?

Johan: "Yeeaahhh...haha-ha!"

Evan: "Alright, do you play any steel?

Johan: "Yeah, I play steel as well..."

Evan: "Can you make me look really good?"

Johan: "Well, yes I can!"

Johan has an amazing attitude, and he has stood by me from the start. He is an outstanding guitar player, a fun guy to co-write songs with, and he has a work ethic & desire to stretch that impresses me. As long as you feed him when he's hungry, he'll be 100% present for whatever the task is. I appreciate him as a friend, and as a professional musician. He's been a great sounding board for me, and we have a lot of fun on the stage together. He's been supporting me with dazzling guitar work (like that bookend does...) the whole time, and his type of dedication inspires me. When he stepped into the studio with the boys in Nashville, he fit right in, as I knew he would. In my books, Johan is Twang. Here's a Hipstamatic pic from the trip featuring Johan and the legendary pedal steel player Robby Turner after a day in the studio:

And by the way, Johan has a brand new Christmas song at his Myspace site. You'll find it here.

That's it for this post. I hope that you enjoy a wonderful Christmas with family & friends! See you on the other side where we'll revisit a couple of young guys name Charlie & Fredrik from Karlsham that have a lot of Twang!

//E

So let's get to it!

One definition of Twang: to resound with a sharp, vibrating sound.

This is often associated to guitar playing. As Fredrik Silfverberg and I wrote in our song Give Me Some Twang on the Still Crazy album, "Son, you know the deal...you ain't got a thing 'less you got the twang!"...Twang is a certain sound you get when you pluck and bend the guitar strings in a certain way. 

I'll be using the word Twang more metaphorically in this blog. It's a really cool word, and for me it encompasses not only a guitar playing style, but also an attitude. So from here on, you can relate you Twang as who we are, how we see things, and how we act.

Here is a guy with Twang, on guitar and in life. I'll explain more in future posts. His name is Johan Engström. The photo was taken when we played at show at Blåbåten in Malmö last spring.

Since I was a kid, growing up in Golden in the Rocky Mountain Trench of British Columbia, I have always been a bit of a "go-getter". But I want to take you back to where Twang became my focus for real. It was in 1995. I was attending a Dale Carnegie Course in communication, human relations & leadership. I had heard about the course for many years through different people that I met, and in ´95 I was given the opportunity to participate in the program through the radio station I was working at in Penticton, called 800AM EZ Rock. Why was I taking this program? Well - long story short, I wanted to learn how to communicate with my radio audience better, understand people better in the workplace, overcome my general fear of speaking in public, and primarily learn how to properly set goals for myself. I felt as if I was standing still, and I don't do well when I stand still. What I have learned since that time about myself, people, fear and courage, has been astounding.

Reminder: this blog is written to inspire.

It's not about me. It's coming from me, but it's about what I have learned from others along the way since 1995 and "how" I came to be doing what I am doing. In itself, what I am doing is not a big deal at all in comparison with others pursuant of success in music. Some may even read this and think, "Who is this guy? I've never heard of him. What's his rant all about? And what right does he have to be spouting off ways of thinking, ways of working, ways of making good things happen?". Comparison with anyone other than ourselves, I think, is irrelevant. Analyizing what others are doing & using what we learn to apply to ourselves is far more useful. I feel I have evolved tremendously, especially over the past 15 years.

We are headed into 2011. What are you most inspired by? What are you passionate about? What is one big hairy audacious goal that you have? How do you plan to access these things and take your own world by storm to bring out the best you for you & your family's sake? Some thoughts to ponder until my next post...

Me? Well, I am in a planning phase. This is dangerously inspiring when you go about it in a certain way (yes, for certain, I will share some thoughts around this). One very clear outcome that I want to generate in Spring 2011 is to get the song Springtime in Nebraska into as many Nebraska households as possible for the tornado season (by the way, if you can help me with this in any way, please don't be shy - get in touch!).

If you are intrigued to follow - hit the follow button 3rd down in the left-hand column. At the bottom of this post is a small e-mail icon. If this is something you feel may be interesting to a friend or friends, family etc. forward this blog to them!  

//E

Twangin'

Howdy!

Welcome to Give Me Some Twang! The purpose of this blog is to inspire.

What I mean by this is that I am going to share with you some interesting slices of life. As you might be able to see by the background image (yes, that's me...), I am a musical artist. Where the story is gets twisted is "how" I became an artist. I don't have a musical background other than as a listener. I was never trained as a singer, but found my way into this through a series of connections with interesting people and situations. This blog is about people & insights. Some posts will come in the form of short stories about amazing people, some will relate to seemingly normal situations that will generate contemplation and thought provocation, some will be video blogs of my latest artist challenges & how I am tackling them, and even some audio in the way of a Give Me Some Twang - Podcast, once I get the podcasting thing down to a habit.

So, let's get to know each other. My name is Evan. How do you do? The photo you see is from my album Still Crazy which I released back in October this year in Scandinavia via Rootsy/ADA/Warner. It is the follow up to my first record Howlin' At The Moon released a few years ago in 2008 which was also released through Rootsy.

Now you know who I am, and what this place is all about...if you want to enjoy some genuine, real life inspiration, I'll see you on the next post!
//E