The title of this blog entry is a song name from this great artist that I met briefly at NACA last year: Tyler James . The reason I thought of his music is that I was talking to an colleague of mine from his college booking agency, which I’ll get into in a moment.
I’m home now. Lowell home. Where I was born home. I’m out of Cambridge for a few days and it’ll be nice to be away from it all. I brought my guitar though and some songs I’ve been working on so I’m never really not working. Anyhow, I played Faneuil Hall last night indoors at the food court rotunda for the first time. My streetperforming has moved indoors. I was nervous because I was outside of my comfort zone and said as much to my friend Kelly who came to grab dinner with me. I settled in and played for three-and-a-half hours which is a pretty good sized work day for streetperforming.
I got a note from someone who heard me play. It said something to the extent of “I’d tip you if I had the money but I really like your music.” Then it had a quote on the bottom, which I really liked: “If you love what you do, you’ll never have to work a day in your life.” I thought that was a nice little message. Anyways, I hope to play Faneuil Hall a couple more days this weekend.
This entry is in two pieces. I started it on December 24th and am only finishing it now, so hopefully it doesn’t seem so choppy. I had a great Christmas with family and didn’t do too much work, which is nice. I need to get back in the swing of things today and inquire about mastering studios for my recordings. This time around I have to spend some money to work with a bigger studio to make sure it sounds great. My inclination is to work with Mark Dann, whom my producers have recommended throughout our recording process. I got a handful of other recommendations, including Peerless Mastering (which mastered Jeff Tweedy/Wilco, one of my favorite bands) but that would cost almost as much as the recording itself so I don’t quite think I can afford it. Still I’ve let things fall by the wayside for a few days as I unwind and it hasn’t been a bad thing, I just need to get back in the groove.
Back to the information above that I wrote about my colleague from the booking agency. I’m debating right now as to whether or not I want to try and find a college booking agency for the Fall of ‘08. I’ve been very successful booking colleges and making money over the past couple years but it certainly takes a lot of time. I might end up giving away 10-20% of what I’ve been making to deal with an agency so I want to make sure it’s the best business alliance for me. For example, I don’t want to sign with an agency who will just ride with my contacts and take the cut. I want one who also will be able to help break me in other regions. Also, I want an agency who will give me attention for booking even if I don’t get a NACA showcase. I know that the overhead for me would be a heck of a lot cheaper because I wouldn’t be paying for NACA and the conferences but it is possible to be used by an agency as just another name on a roster, and I definitely don’t want to be that. Still, I’m leaning towards exploring to see if any agency would be able to give me a good deal, but time will tell if that actually happens.
The last thing I wanted to mention is that I’m in this contest on OurStage.com that has been consuming my time as of late. It’s the “College Clash” and first prize is $5000. I’ve all ready decided that if we find a way to win that we will donate $1000 to a local charity (TBA). There is a series of online voting and so far we’ve made it to the quarter-finals without having to solicit to our fans for help. The quarter-finals are the top-20 bands out of 120. They last through the 28th until 11:59. The top-10 bands get locked in and voting goes until December 30th at midnight. If I’m #1 at that time, then I qualify for the finals and get to compete at The Paradise Rock Club in February. They also have a few wild cards so if I can make a splash, I might get picked, even if I don’t get #1. There are tons of great prizes, and I’m surprised the website hasn’t made a bigger splash than it has made. Still, I’m not complaining. The smaller it is, the more I can push it because after all…I’m a hustler.
For those of you faithful blog readers who want to help me out with this competition, it would be incredibly appreciated. Here is how to do so:
OurStage.com’s College Clash! Help us win $5000!
We’re competing in OurStage.com’s College Clash where we are trying to be the best college band in New England and you can help us win $5000 and other career altering prizes!!! We have all ready committed ourselves to donate $1000 to a local charity if we are somehow able to win the competition. You can help by voting for us and against other artists!
Here’s how:
1. Go to OurStage.com and register an account (it’s free, quick and easy!)
2. Log-in and search for our song “Anna” or go to this link:
http://www.ourstage.com/music/channel/56-college-clash/FXYXSQDAPBYI-anna
3. and add our song as a ‘favorite’ on your profile. Feel free to comment, share, or join the fan club
4. Then, click “Judge” then change the ‘channel’ to COLLEGE CLASH.
5. We are one of twenty bands in the semi-finals. You may have to judge other pairings of bands to get to us. Listen to each song for at least fifteen seconds then judge. Judge other pairings the “same” because it doesn’t really help either band.
6. When you get around to our band vote “by far” after listening to us.
As an incentive, if you can get ONE friend to sign up and to vote for us/add us as a favorite, we’ll send you our most recent CD for free! Just have them get in touch and say that you sent them.
That’s all folks! Sorry this was such a long read. Please help us out! We have from December 25th- December 29th for the semi-finals and if we make the next round then we’ll have ONE MORE round of voting! Thanks everyone!
Happy Holidays and Thanks for a GREAT year!
Brian Bergeron and The Late Greats
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Well, that’s all. Hopefully I’ll be able to keep you posted with my progress. Right now, I’m in 2nd place out of 20 so we’re in good shape!
Happy Holidays.
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