Energy

Well, perhaps its worth writing some things here again. Explaining how energy dwindles, and recouping on a record investment is a challenge is not the thing - its more about expenditure (investment) of energy elsewhere that has been leading the way. Life is exciting, but as it happens not many new songs are coming from it. Their day will come! I promise you & myself that!

Twangin' in Skebobruk

It was a fun trip up north, albeit for only one show. Sad that the Dössberget show was cancelled, but you can't win them all! The guys & I made the trip up on Saturday to Skebobruk Aug. 27 and were greeted with an extremely warm welcome from Rolf Hedin and his gang at Skebobrukspub. What an audience! Attentive, relaxed, fun, and involved. We couldn't have asked for more. They certainly have a whole lot of TWANG!

 

A Year of Twang!

June 21, 2011. Well, it was one year ago today, that Johan Engström and I stepped into the studio in Nashville to record the first tracks for the Still Crazy album.

(Johan tuning up Paul Martin's Taylor before our first tracking session...)

Man, how time flies when you're having fun. Upon reflection, I can say it had been one of the most rewarding and challenging years of my life.

Rewarding in the sense that I am really proud of the creative work. Last Friday night at High Chaparral up near Värnamo, Sweden, we played to a light crowd at what is Sweden's newest country festival. The gang at High Chaparral did a great job. The place is made for country. In the crowd, people were actually singing along with my songs. Probably the biggest compliment an artist can receive. Sure, if there were another thousand people doing it, it would have blown my mind. But the fact that we blasted away on original music for the entire seventy-five minute set (minus one song to wrap things up by the Marshall Tucker Band), while people were doing air guitar solos along with us was enough to make it worthwhile for me and the band. The number of record reviews, all averaging "4 Stars" since the release in September (the latest in Maverick Magazine's July issue..."A skilled tunesmith with a great turn of phrase and the ability to get to the heart of the matter..."), has been heartwarming. The fact that we have secured a couple of festival shows that are prime-time headliner slots is an honor. Having received radio airplay all over the world in 22 different countries doesn't hurt either. Not to mention, when I listen I can appreciate the energy of the record after a year. What an experience to have pulled together a second album! So, yeah...rewarding.

 (Johan with the great Robby Turner)

Challenging too! To keep things on an even keel, all the nice stuff above has been mirrored by some of the most intensive output I have experienced, as well. All the late nights putting the music out there & all of the money invested to do just that. The time and energy spent securing live shows. The constant need to be pushing against the universe in order to create an opening for one more artist trying to get their music heard, among hundreds of thousands of them. The tole on the spirit when radio promotions that cost big bucks don't fly and there seems to be no other way than to keep throwing money at it in order to be considered serious as an artist. Exhaustion of creative time to cover all the necessary business time. People who stand at the front of the stage who don't recognize (and don't care) that you're even playing original music, and hollerin' for you to play Willy Nelson songs.

(James Mitchell tuning up, with Amy Courts in the 2nd vocal booth & Larry winding up)

What have I discovered? Well, no surprises here...it requires a dedicated team of people, I believe. And if not a dedicated team of people, a healthy level of detachment from the tortoise pace of progress. For me, backing tracks are not an option, and acoustic performances are nice, but don't connect quite the same way as a six-piece band in terms of impact & return energy. For those out touring acoustically and getting paid for it - well done! For those booking shows for a six-piece country band playing original music in Sweden, congrats! If you are doing it all on your own - even bigger congratulations. It's a full time job, really, if an artist is to make it work. My respect goes out to every single independent artist who has ever tried to make a go of it with their own material!

 (Larry Marrs working out some acoustic tracks)

Don't get me wrong. For anyone who knows me, cynicism has never been one of my strong points. Realism sometimes gets in my way while I carry a visionary attitude. As a person who has had the great fortune to train & develop on the business side, I can see in some ways why the music industry suffers so intensely these days. And its not just because of illegal downloading. There are other factors. Can independent artists break-through to easy up the need for self-output 24/7? Sure. The odds are not necessarily stacked in your favor, but if you have talent, good business sense, and a burning desire to succeed in the current music business set-up, you can do great things.

(Mark Beckett's drum kit)

(Engineer Jimmy Tarbutton setting up for some guitar & steel solo overdubs)

(Front of the coolest t-shirt ever made with my name on it! The things we do for love!)

Today I am merely reflecting. What a year! I'm certainly glad to have a little Twang in my life. I am far more detached than three months ago, and feel good about that. What a journey its been to this point! Looking forward to seeing you at our upcoming shows if you're in the area. Killhults Country Festival - August 13, Dössberget - August 26, Skebobrukspub - August 27.

In the meantime...play it loud!

//Evan

High Chaparral & CD Baby

Gotta love life! Twang is relevant everywhere, as I see it. Next week will be full of it at High Chaparral Festival, where The Smokin' Guns and I will play the big stage Friday night. It's be a fun show, full out, to wrap up the evening for everyone. Ulf "Masken" Andersson will play just before us, so we'll feed off of his talents & energy. We're also borrowing his piano player, Tomas Pettersson for the evening as our regular Truls Hallin just became father to a baby boy, and will need to be with his family. We're looking forward to seeing you up in Småland!

You gotta love CD Baby! One of the most forward thinking independent artist resources on the planet. You've got Twang, CD Baby! In our world of independent artistry, we need all the honest help we can get. Many are out just to take money. CD Baby, helps us earn, as well as reach the independent music lover audience. I'm thankful for having them.

Part of their work pure Twang like this easy access store:

 

Movin' on!

Howdy fellow twangers!

Well, one could say that the Canadian radio promotion produced a "less than desirable" result, whilst simultaneously it was a good perspective generator and learning experience. I love to learn! Basically fewer radio stations than hoped for added Still Crazy, leaving the investment not delivering the ROI in terms of exposure and artist awareness than was the intent. Oh well, we all take our hits (pardon the pun!).

Good news in the balance, well over 100 stations in Europe & Australia have been play-listing the music. A big, big favorite on this side of the Atlantic has been "Waitin' for My Train", which is a sure-fire traditional stomp-your-feet-kick-up-some-dust kind of guitar & pedal steel party of a song. I am thankful for these stations & their wide open and positive reception to the music!

The big question these days is "where & what next?" to get to the next level in creating exposure for what I feel is a rather strong record (but, hey that's only my opinion & the numerous journalists that have reviewed & confirmed that) and increasing sales.

For now - the focus will be on live performance. In this day and age of the music industry, us "low on the totem pole", self-driven, self-financed artists are best rewarded in record and merchandise sales at live shows. So, it's time to take advantage of the spring and summer longing for cold beer & good music. This means that Every ounce of available time will be focused on generating new bookings, and rehearsing & re-arranging up coming live shows.

Here is a run down of the schedule to this point:

Date	Title	Venue	City
31.03.2011	Internationell Författarscen	Stadsbiblioteket Malmö	Malmö, SE
02.04.2011	Mitt-West	Mitt West Country Club	Ikast, DK
05.04.2011	Aalborg Country Club	Huset i Aalborg	Aalborg, DK
06.05.2011	Summer Season Kick-off	Meyers Ranch	Vejle, DK
11.05.2011	ABF/Riffet	Kulturhuset, Trelleborg	Trelleborg, SE
17.06.2011	Headliner Festival Performance	High Chaparral Festival	Hillerstorp, SE
13.08.2011	Festival Performance	Killhults Country Festival	Laholm, SE
13.08.2011	Headliner Festival Performance	Killhults Country Festival	Laholm, SE
26.08.2011	Still Crazy in Dalarna	Dössbergets Värdshus	BJURSÅS, SE

As you can see, a couple of fun festival performances on the agenda. At High Chaparral June 17-19, I'm honored to play on the same stage as a number of super cool Swedish acts like Ulf "Masken" Andersson & the Wild Bunch, Buford Pope and others along with a fellow Canadian artist that folks in Sweden are not so familiar with, but who has generated 5 albums and a good run of success since the late 90's, Julian Austin. He'll put on a rough & tumble, authentic country performance using a band consisting of Nordic members.

And while we're on the topic of true twang...my many thanks for the very enthusiastic response from Jonas Ericson and Svenskyrkan, Bjursås ( www.svenskakyrkan.se/bjursas ) to have the band and I make the trip up north for a show. Jonas, you got the Twang!  As big a fan of Country, Roots & Americana as there is, and it feels great that we can come up and deliver some of that for the folks in Dalarna in late August. We have a little surprise in order for the folks of Dalarna that we'll keep that under our hats until showtime. Focus is now set on securing an additional show that weekend so that the 18-20 hours drive time is maximized well!

For now - that's where things are at. I am re-inspired and feel the twang in my finger tips surging! I had better get them punching the keys of the computer keyboard & telephone to book more shows!

Twang-a-lang!

//Evan

Twangin' Radio Gaga!

Howdy folks & followers!

Thank goodness for friends & family for sharing their comments about the single & the entire record, and thanks to all of the anonymous folks who have been requesting Still Crazy at radio stations across Canada but not getting to hear it. Thanks to the 15 stations that have picked up the song so far in Canada, and 96+ other stations around the world (that I know of) that are playing it, and hundreds of folks who send in their positive comments from all over the U.S., Canada, and other parts of the world via Jango Internet Radio. It all helps to keep the fire burning!

Now for a dose of reality. I told you last time I was to share some of the bad & the ugly of the Canadian radio promotion to date. It's coming at you, right after this brief commercial pause...

T-shirt & CD Bundle

The past six weeks have been humbling, enlightening, downright nerve-wracking, and somewhat frustrating with the Canadian radio promotion. But you know me (at least some of you do...) and I don't necessarily throw in the towel just because I am smashing into the harsh realities of the commercial music world. I knew what I was getting into when I started...and I believe in the idea a person/artist can never know what is or isn't possible unless they go for it, take some risks, believe in the music and find out for themselves. If we only believe in what everyone tells us is near impossible, then the picture becomes rather bleak, like a shallow empty grave with a hand reaching out and inviting you into it. If you see that, what do you do?  Do you oblige? Nnnnnnnahh...not just yet, Pilgrim.

"Not crazy about this. Gary Allan struggles to get radio airplay how is this Gary Allan wannabee going to?"    

This was a comment made about Still Crazy by a highly respected Program Director in Canada a few weeks ago and passed along to other programmers in his "notes". I posed the question in my last post..."is this good, bad, or ugly?", and the replied, "all three...". Here is what I mean:

The Good:

I love getting associations to other artists - I take it as a slight compliment...

The Bad:

It means they won't be adding it to the play-list because of this and possibly other reasons...

The Ugly:

These comments are posted by this Program Director (who will remain nameless because I respect his work) in notes to other Program Directors who also consider Still Crazy for airplay and it can & likely will influence how others perceive the music, sound, and intentions of my music.

But, that's just a harsh reality of the business. No tears shed...just more curiosity bred as to how the heck I am going to make this work!!??!! Just buckle-down and book more shows, I guess.

Despite the lack of positive result so far from my investment in Still Crazy to commercial radio across Canada, I am still happy that I took the chance to put it out there. There are still a two weeks left in the initial phase of this promotion (8 weeks). The encouraging tracker/promoter I hired, Bob Martineau says, "Keep your chin up, it's still early...". It kinda feels like the old days when my hockey coaches would say such things when we were down 3-0 after 2 periods. We would have to go out onto the ice, win every face-off, make more hits & rough the opposition up a bit in the corners, wear them down with the classic Canadian "dump & chase" strategy, and capitalize in the late stages of period three to come back and edge out the opposition 4-3 in regulation or overtime. With steady goaltending, and intensive offense & calculated risk by the defense, most teams (if they had the willpower) could pull this off, and have done so thousands of times throughout the history of the sport. It makes for exciting hockey!

Trouble is, this is radio & music we are talking about...not hockey. I like to consider myself at least somewhat intelligent, and I don’t see the score changing all that much in the next two weeks - although I'll follow Bob's advice and keep my chin up. I think I might have needed 15-20 station adds in the first week or two, inclusive some BDS stations taking the lead in order for the song to grow wings. Much is left in the hands of the Program Directors, whom I respect, have a duty to play the best music possible for their listeners. They hold a lot of power over whether an artist gets exposure or not. An amazing amount of power, actually. I never looked at it from that perspective when I was working as a Program Director/Music Director.

What I am not go into is explanations as to why the song is not being played by more stations, or why it should be played...that’s up to the programmers to decide. If the song isn't good enough, it isn't good enough. There are a lot of great songs out there. What I share with you, if you are interested enough to keep reading, is the way it’s set-up and how things influence each other. Stations in Canada are broken down into 4 main categories 1) BDS (Broadcast Data Systems) reporting stations, 2) Secondary stations, 3) Community & college stations, 4) Public radio in the way of the CBC (Swedish equivalent SR). BDS stations hold the most power because they are the stations that report to the “charts”. I could be played on 100 Secondary stations, and never be a hit because they do not report to Broadcast Data Systems. BDS stations make up the charts, and influence other stations.

Now here comes the first Catch 22 that I have experienced...

Because I am focused on commercial BDS & Secondary stations, if I am not played on BDS stations (so far in none yet during this promotion - some still thinking about it...)...then the song can never chart as a hit. If the song never charts as a hit, by default the effect can/will be that I will not be played on a majority percentage of Secondary stations either. Why? Because they are programmed to “only play the hits”. OUCH! There is the odd renegade program director out their that sort of "flip the bird" to the charts, and still play music that they like and feel should get some airtime. Award winning Program Director Bruce Leperre from 730 CKDM in Dauphin, Manitoba is an example. He takes chances and took a chance on Still Crazy, for which I am thankful. There are others, as well...but no so many left. Radio, like the music industry, is a changing landscape. Not so many people taking chances on artists they are unfamiliar with. Summary: if I don’t crack the line-up/playlist of the BDS stations which comprise at a guess - roughly 15-20% of the 134 stations across Canada ...then the promotion will yield a significant loss due to the fact that most other stations won’t/can’t play it because it’s not already a hit. But you can’t become a hit until you are played = Catch 22.

Here is a second Catch 22...

The idea is to let Still Crazy run for 8 weeks as a single (we’ve done 6 now), and then evaluate whether or not to continue promoting it for another 4 weeks, after which more decisions need to be made. What decisions? Well, the main decision as to whether or not to invest in another single to be promoted. I am damned if I do because it’s gonna cost me and add to the pile up of investments to produce, release & promote the record without so much payoff so far from the promotion. I am damned if I don’t because if I don’t release another single...I will likely not be taken seriously by program directors as a developing artist...and without appropriate exposure via radio, it limits the opportunity establish as a developing “mainstream” artist...which in turn, limits the amount of respect from potential venues & festivals....which limits the opportunity to recoup costs via live shows. And.....there are no guarantees that the next single will be played either. So, summary: damned if I do, damned if I don’t = Catch 22.
Good news in all that...heck, it’s just one big experiment to see how far a guy can go with a little focus and effort!

So, that said...............thanks for reading. I need to sleep, evaluate, and make good business decisions.  I need to balance the desire for breakthrough motivated by self-actualization with the ego bashing that I get when I am “passed over” by program directors because they are either not familiar with me, or they just don’t believe that the song is good enough to compete.

If you have advice, knowledge, expertise that could help me make wise decisions in this game you are welcome to reach me! I am always open for suggestions. So long for now...

TWANG ON!
//Evan

"Bull" Twang!

Howdy!

Been a while! So many things to ponder, contemplate and write about, so little time to do it. But we roll on, despite. It's a speedy world!

And what would a speedy world be with people to make things just a little easier for you because of their ability to give of themselves? I tend to meet a lot of those people, and I am constantly amazed by the generosity & selflessness of some. Today I want to introduce you to Per "The Bull" Gyllingberg.

Per once held down the established svenskacountryartister.se website. He, over the years, invested more time promoting country music & country artists in Sweden than anyone else I know. With a passion for all things country - new - old - traditional - bluegrass - honky tonk - you name, it...Per was & still is supportive of it. His site helped give a lift to artists daring to showcase their brand of country in this country. I remember asking him if he was willing to put a small profile together for me back before I traveled to Nashville for the recording of my first album "Howlin' At The Moon". And of course he welcomed the opportunity with open arms. After a a number of years doing all of that work for free...he put it out to members that he would charge a small fee. Needless to say, I paid him a few years worth in advance. If it was country in Sweden you wanted to know about - that was the site to find all the information you needed.

Per takes care of relationships & I think is a great example of how to influence. When you give a lot, you attract the masses. His idea to break away from svenskacountryartisterna.com recently, to do his own thing, was a good choice I think. Why? Because I believe that some people took his work for granted. Not all, but some. Now Per is reviewing music that he loves at "The Bull's Place", and continuing to promote...but in a different way. I'll attach his link a little lower in this posting posting. You'll find that he is currently supporting the promotion of another Alan Jackson concert in Sweden coming up this summer.

Per has some serious Twang. "Bull" Twang! And I thank him a great deal for the contributions he has made to my artist career since late spring of 2007. Pay him visit at:

On my next post, some updates on the radio promotion thing - the good, the bad, and the ugly.

For example:

"Gary Allan struggles to get radio airplay how is this Gary Allan wannabee going to? That may sound negative...it's not intended to. He simply sounds a bit too much like Gary Allan. Which is not a bad thing at all! However, Gary Allan struggles to get airplay in Canada and the US with his unique sound. I wish Evan the best! He has talent."   

I would never want to be Gary Allan, who has been through a heavy period in his life after his wife committed suicide a few years back. But I am impressed with some of his music. Are the statements above a good, bad, or ugly? Well all three, but I'll explain more! See you next time...

Twang!

//E