Find The Silver Key

April 2, 2010

been awhile

Filed under: New Music News, Uncategorized, Weirdo Deluxe — admin @ 9:24 pm

First there was spring break, which means SxSW in Austin. And the Ides of March. And St Patrick’s, naturally. I played, I think, five gigs with The Silos, which was great fun. Walter even asked me to mix some of the new record, which was a very kind thing.

Then I threw my back out and spent a good number of days horizontal & not moving much. Not fun. Not very highly recommended.

April Fool’s Day came and went and I didn’t get pranked. Last year I was in on a rather elaborate plan to ensnare my grand-boss – he’s a pretty sharp guy, too, but we got him. He was embarrassed as he normally catches all kinds of people and prides himself on being difficult to fool. So I anticipated a reprisal at some point. But nothing happened. Perhaps next year.

Music? Why yes, I’ve been writing a bit, my fascination with the ukulele continues, and I have a recording session next Sunday (4/11). I still need to write the horn parts. I’m rather stumped, but pressure and deadlines have a way of frightening things out me, so we’ll see what pops out. I do hope it’s good.

Tomorrow: shoes. Probably some more Keens, probably from REI. I like Keen’s ’cause they’re wide enough for my toes. Many brands aren’t. I’m not 100% sure they’re ideal, but they’re damn close. And I am a firm believer in REI because of their customer service & return policy. It’s hardly ever come into play because they carry quality stuff, but it’s nice to know I can return anything, for any reason.

O – and it looks like The Silver Key will get a small spot of advertising in the near-ish future. And I’m contemplating some sort of hint: how to do it, how it will work, what format(s), etc. It’s fun. Almost as good as making the album in the first place. Watch here and/or the site for updates, etc.

AND, as if that weren’t enough, there will be a website for the Weirdo Deluxe shortly. I’ve seen the layouts, and it’ll be cool and simple with lots of music. Slim on wordy info (like, say, this post) but it should encompass most of the things I’ve worked on in the last 15 years or so. Which is a lot.

Sleep. Now.

March 3, 2010

flummoxed & puzzled

Filed under: Uncategorized — admin @ 11:33 pm

So.

How to start.

Well, I need some insight, some help, some opinions.

When I conceived of The Silver Key I guessed it would be a moderate success. I’d sell x number of copies, get a little recognition, maybe turn a small profit, and voila, things are ducky. However, while I think the game itself turned out well, I’ve sold very few. Very very few. And I’ve lost a tremendous amount of money.

Now when most people say “it’s not about the money” it really is about the money. And I won’t lie, I’d rather turn a profit than incur a loss. But. I made it to do it and am incredibly gratified that I did. More gratified than if I thickened my bank account.

I have: put together a great band for gigs, played on tv, sent out a TON of promos, hires two marketing companies (both with great track records), etc. And. . . . well, not much.

My question, my plea: what can I do to get the word out? What have I missed?

thank you

February 14, 2010

an odd thing about blogging

Filed under: Music, Uncategorized — admin @ 3:19 pm

I am new to the blog-o-verse. And I can’t imagine there are a whole heck-of-a-lot of folks reading this thing. I’m not a famous celebrity, author, entertainer, politician, or, well, anything. I have no gold records, no books, no sell-out shows, no fame. I mention this not because I’m unhappy, but just to put things in perspective: in the blow-world I am a comparatively small fish. A minnow. A guppy. Roe.

I get a few comments from the readers. Here and there, now and then. Which is great, I love it, and it shows that someone somewhere is reading – which is nicer than yelling into an empty well.

What’s odd though is the amount of blog spam I receive. Dozens each week. All wanting me to link to it click on links. Motorcycle and fire insurance, Russian brides and Viagra, generic Lipitor, internet banking solutions, carpet cleaning machinery. And the really odd ones don’t link to anything – just a sentence or two of random words that make no sense when strung together.

Why? What’s the point? They get marked as spam ’cause WordPress is pretty smart, and who do they think they’re gonna reach? I know, I know, there is no “who”, it’s all auto-generated, but someone programmed it to do this. Are they just casting a net as wide as possible and hoping to snare the odd guppy one-in-a-million times? Or do some bloggers actually post this stuff? I can’t imagine who or why except for some very lonely person or a spam-based art project.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, it’s a weird world out there.

Anyway, I’m listening to Otis Redding sing “Don’t Mess With Cupid” which is a stone motherfucker.

He really is one of my very favorite singers of all time ever. Just stunning.

It’s more productive to listen to genius than ponder the mysteries of the internet. So I’ll turn up Otis.

Happy Valentine’s Day. Love is good.

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