Day 164

Day 164 of ANNIE B.'s D.I.Y. MAGAZINE (Post #10)

Hello, Hello! Working today on getting all those long-overdue THANKS YOU's out to all the Artbeaters! Also need to send out that e-mail to all the new Des Moines fans from our show last Friday. Did sell a few CDs but I will be happy if we get paid better next time since we did not even get paid expenses (and that was actually part of the deal). But we did really have a GREAT time on the drive out - lots of laughing and bonding. The three of us work well together in the rehearsal studio, and now that I know we can get along fine on a 6-hour small-car drive, that's really a good sign. The show was great, not a HUGE crowd, but a decent crowd... again, sold some CDs, collected some e-mail addresses... moving forward in Des Moines!

Anyhoo, got an e-mail from Kandall Polster (welder artist from the last Artbeat) who is helping me get a show at the Harley Museum restaurant, Motor. Also got hooked up with a gig at Momo's in Austin through a contact there - John Doughty. Scott Berendt also hooked up a gig at the Coach House since he double-booked himself. (Oops!) But it feels REALLY good to be getting offers and calls now instead of always having to solicit the gigs, make the cold calls, etc etc etc. I guess hard work really DOES pay off!!!

New this week: my artwork for The Kiwi Cafe being done by Jesse Engelbrecht (gallery artist from the April Artbeat). His sketchwork would be PERFECT for the Kiwi Cafe album cover, so we are to talk about it tonight over the phone. (TOTALLY excited about putting out the album the way it should be, instead of burning copies for my shows every time!)

Also, I am no longer working with Ralph from Active Artist Management. I guess that's no surprise, since we have been butting heads since almost Day One. He is a good guy, but I know that we do not belong working together.

Thank goodness the dry songwriting spell over the last 3 years or so seems to be FINALLY OVER! Those 3 new songs we started working on at rehearsals are definitely worthy additions to the set!

Theo started e-mailing venues all over the Midwest last week so the band can start building a regional following. So far, we have been getting a pretty good response, but there is a great need to build an online database that we can use to communicate all activities, and find people's e-mail addresses quickly, since I notice that most responses do not indicate the venue/town they are representing. ANOTHER project!!!

I ALSO need to start working on contacting publishing companies for "What Do You Do"... since that song just does not seem to fit in with what we are doing right now. When I am going to find time doing that, I am not sure... but I hope to fit in in somewhere soon!!!!!! Anyone who is interested in interning for a record label based out of Milwaukee, please give a shout: anniebbaby@gmail.com. I know a LOT about the music business and I know how to make things happen, but with everything we've got going on, it can't all be done by just a few people! We need interns!

Have a beautiful day and NEVER GIVE UP ON YOUR DREAMS!!!!

Day 160

Day 160 of ANNIE B.'s D.I.Y. MAGAZINE (Post #9)

Today we had a VERY productive rehearsal, and yes, we will be ready to rock the House of Bricks tomorrow night in Des Moines. 9 songs, 3 of which are VERY new (I have to memorize the lyrics for 2 of them tonight!!!!!) and the trip will be LOADS of fun! Mapquest says the trip is 6 hours and 4 minutes but with it now being "construction season"...

I still have to burn a bunch of CDs so I have product to sell tomorrow night, too...

So, I will meet Theo in maybe an hour at our rehearsal space to run through these songs one more time with him... he needs one more run-through.

FINALLY got the CDs mailed for our GAP performance for "Born To Play" on Aug. 20th, and e-mailed the posters. That GAP manager Joey Deitz is a swell guy, very helpful and totally excited about having us!

I better get back to work, just wanted to say HI!
:)
A

Day 159

Day 159 of ANNIE B.'s D.I.Y. MAGAZINE (Post #8)

The weekend was crazy and fun and Artbeat was a huge success! Honestly, I am not sure if I broke even or if I barely made enough to donate to Express Yourself Milwaukee, but I will be making a donation this week and getting that good energy out there! Thanks to all the Artbeaters for coming out and making Friday night fabulous!!! I also had a great show Thursday night with Scott Berendt at the Coach House, and we will defintley be booking more shows together - he's a very talented guy and lots of fun to work with!

This weekend we have another show at the House of Bricks in Des Moines - it will be with the acoustic trio since we are currently looking for a bass player but there is a kid coming in to check out the band tomorrow - Yay! Anthony and Theo and I have been working really hard this week on this show and it's really turning out to be pretty amazing. 3 new songs for this show and lots of great energy! 9 songs total so we are well on our way to that new album!

Theo has now taken over the job of booking and A&R for remedial children records. He's doing a great job so far and it's working out well since he loves to hang out online a lot (we are using an online database: MusiciansAtlas.com - an AMAZING resource!!! I started with this resource when I first started out on the road in 2006 and it easily paid for itself with one gig booked.) Way to go, Theo - you rule!!! Contacting venues in WI, IL, IA, MN, IN, ND, SD, MI, MO, KY and OH! Wow. No, WOW. Wowza.

Already gearing up for the next Artbeat - got a new gallery artist lined up - met this artist at the Artbeat after-party. Met some folks who really liked Artbeat and want to help promote the next show via their contact lists & other lists they know of. Networking and viral marketing, networking and viral marketing, networking and viral marketing, networking and viral marketing!!!!!!!

Hope all is well for you. Keep the faith, good energy and love flowing from your heart!!!!!!!
:)
A