Day 199 of ANNIE B.'s D.I.Y. MAGAZINE (Post #14)
Wow, lots has happened since my last blog only 20 days ago - the biggest thing is I am sick and tired of not having a bass player for my band, so I am learning how to play bass! Yep, Paul McCartney did it when the Beatles (or the Quarrymen?) needed a bassist! Why can't I? So far so good, we've had at least 3 rehearsals with me on the bass, and things are starting to sound pretty good. I keep saying to myself, "If only I had learned the bass years ago when I first thought of it... think of where I'd be now." But the fact of the matter is: Yes, I thought of picking up the bass years ago, and my singing suffered. I think it was that lifetime decision I made to give everything up 3 years ago to live out on the road - it got me singing 3, 4, 5 nights a week... my vocal chops HAD to improve. Now I can kind of let the vocal part go and concentrate on the bass. Lots of these songs I have sung hundreds (thousands?) of times and they are kind of in my blood... especially those early songs from when I first started writing like the "Kiwi Cafe" and "Girl of Secrets." This new instrument has been keeping me pretty busy, so my activity level when it comes to all the biz stuff is a little low right now. But I am enjoying all the stuff CDBaby founder Derek Sivers has to say! He wrote about a very cool project all indie musicians should know about: The Indie Artist X Music Marketing Plan. You can actually follow this plan YOURSELF if you are a musician/starving artist (LIKE ME!)!!!!!!!! Here's a summary of the project: http://gigdoggy.wordpress.com/2009/07/14/the-indie-artist-x-music-marketing-plan-on-the-go/
I can only hope I have the inclination to follow these steps put forth by the experts involved.
Also these past few weeks, I found 2 local recording studios for the new album. Need to visit & get some demos, but they both come highly recommended. I'll keep you posted!
Still waiting on the Kiwi Cafe artwork from Jesse Engelbrecht, I would have loved to have that ready to rock for this Friday's Plein Air show, but it looks like that's not going to happen. UGH!!!
Totally excited about Shelby Keefe in the Artbeat show for October. She's a trip and a half! I have to get on the appetizers for that show... I have been slacking a little since my Pop moved... There's always something going on there that I have to deal with.
So, that's my story for today. Oh, I FINALLY saw the Jersey Boys in Chicago this weekend! What I great show and now I need to buy all the Four Seasons records I can get my hands on!!!!!!!
Peace, Love & Light!!!!!!!
Annie
About Me
- Annie B.
- I’ve been playing music since I was a kid, & started really trying to "make it" in '93, when I first learned guitar & started writing songs. I "officially" started this blog on March 1, 2009, which is much later than when I started chasing my dream; it's actually Day 5706 on Grammy Road (one of my 5 major career goals). I promise to post blogs here until I win, and when I do, YOU can say you followed me all the way! That's how it began, the dream of that Grammy, & my other career goals, which are 1.Hearing my songs randomly on the radio, 2.Headlining for an audience of 10,000+, 3.Going on a world tour with a real tour bus, riders, hotel rooms, etc, 4.Making a gold record. Those are the best indicators that I've "made it," I guess. I’ve actually toured the U.S., but it was in my car & most nights I didn’t know where I’d end up crashing. I crashed in my car a lot that year. So I'll be writing about the things I’m doing to "make it." The little tasks I perform every day/every week, what I’m doing to get bigger & better gigs, other things I do to move my career forward. It's like getting a chance to be behind the scenes & say "I knew her when..." OK, let's get started...
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