It's Not Me, It's You: Breaking Up With Your Favorite Band~NPR

I thought this was a great list and I had to repost it from All Songs Considered...

On this week's All Songs Considered, we head to Splitsville with a look at some of the bands we've broken up with or grown apart from over the years, along with some of the artists we'll stand by no matter what.
While going through my music library to prepare for the show, I found that a lot of my relationships with bands are more complicated than a simple breakup or reconciliation. So I came up with a short list of sub-categories. Take a look and tell us your own picks for each one:
 
1. Band You Really Thought You Had Something With — They Said They'd Call But You Never Heard From Them Again
This is a relationship that never quite gets off the ground. It's over before it's begun. For me, this is Neutral Milk Hotel or My Bloody Valentine. They put out an amazing record, you get excited about the great life you're going to have together, but then you never hear from them again. What happened? Was it something I said?

2. Your Best Friend's Girlfriend Or Boyfriend You Secretly Want To Hook Up With
I see all my friends with My Morning Jacket, and I think, "I so want to hook up with My Morning Jacket!" They make loving My Morning Jacket look so awesome. Then we finally get together and it's a total disappointment. Basically, it's bands you want to love because everyone else you respect loves them, but it's never what you thought it'd be.
3. The Rebound: Bands You Start To Date After Everyone Else Is Through With Them
When early Weezer fans broke up with the band (around the time Make Believe came out, or possibly sooner), you know there was a whole new group of fans that discovered them for the first time. Early Radiohead fans broke up with the band when OK Computer or Kid A came out, but that's when I started to love them.

4. Band You Broke Up With, Then Got Back Together
I broke up with R.E.M. about 10 years ago when the band released Reveal. I never thought we'd get back together. But then R.E.M. released this year's Collapse Into Now and I found myself falling back in love. I broke up with Bright Eyes for a few years, but then the band returned this year with one of the most amazing albums I've ever heard (The People's Key), and I was head-over-heels in love again.

5. Band That Broke Up With You
This is a band that says it's done with you before you're ready to end it. I really thought The White Stripes and I would spend the rest of our lives together. Then, a couple of months ago, the band told me it was ready to move on. I'm still heartbroken over the breakup.

The original post.

Flickr and Photobucket

I was posting all these photos from our travels on Flickr and now that I'm reaching the 200 photo limit they require that I upgrade and get Flickr Pro.  So I've switched to Photobucket for the time being.  All the new photos (many that I haven't posted on blogger) can be found here.

Imperchorstra On Etsy!

Oh my goodness!  I've finally got our Imperchorstra Etsy store up and running.  Geez Louise.  It took all day long: photo taking, photo editing, account fees, etc, etc.  Phew, but it's done and Conner's wooden necklaces are ready for public consumption!  We'll have more stuff up soon-ish (I'm working on some sunglasses...) but for now, here it is.  Please do pass it along!

Durango Herald News, Arboles musicians, Texas writer hit the road for documentary

Durango Herald News, Arboles musicians, Texas writer hit the road for documentary

We made the Durango paper! Thanks Bryant Liggett, you rock.

List of People to Harass

I’ve been moaning to my mom about wanting a career and health insurance for the past couple years, so when I told her about this road trip, supportive as she is, she was skeptical about me “putting everything on hold for a year.” To my mom I want to say this…Momma, woman, I’ve become super responsible and it’s only been two months! Just think of all the job skills I’m going to have in a year!...It’s important to be enthusiastic with my parents because for some reason, enthusiasm denotes seriousness and believability.

With any small enterprise, wearing of different hats is the key to success. I’m the writer of the group but I’ve also become the road manager, the booking agent, and the general PR girl. For goodness sake I’ve now got an impromptu spreadsheet entitled People To Harass with columns for Name, Info, and When I’ve Contacted Them so as to be persistent but not a pain in the ass. And it seems like it takes at least three times before anyone responds.

For example: We’re heading to Taos on Monday to study Native American music. I confess that I’m a little weary about going because I keep hearing that specific pueblo is really difficult for outsiders to gain access and trust. The one man everyone keeps telling us to study with, because of his more modern Native American musical style, is Robert Mirabal; a general awesome guy who’s won 12 Grammys and has acted in a film about Georgia O’Keefe. This has been my route to get in touch with him: contacting the owner of Sun House Records (Tony Issacs), then the head of KDRU radio (Bryant Liggett), then the radio DJ at KDNK (Luke Nestor), then Robert’s manager, who then gave me his sister’s phone number. Not sure why I have his sister’s number, but I’m on my second attempt to get a hold of her, so only one more to go. I’m keeping my fingers crossed.

For the boys: Dan’s the drummer, chef, and videographer while Conner is the bassist, mechanic, and jewelry maker. Many hats, many hats…
Photo via Uni of Colorado

Playing in Aspen!

Conner has teamed up with Tyller Gummersall and Ally to play a couple gigs up in Aspen this weekend.  We leave tomorrow to caravan on up.  If anyone's in the area please do come out and join in on groupie parade.

Angela-Red

Conner and I are house-sitting for the Gummersall family while they’re in Santa Fe so that the youngest son, Tyller, can finish up recording his first full-length album with a girl named Tina.  Conner and Dan have done some recording with him earlier this year. 

Mamma Jenny is a photographer and when they visited Austin earlier this year she gave me a little lesson on how to takes photos of musicians in action.  Pappa Greg is an abstract painter and ranks #2 on my “Best Networking Skills” list under David Holmes of Intrepid Artist Management—the guys know everyone.  They have two other sons whom I have never met.  One of them is Devon Gummersall, a star in the now defunct My So-Called Life.  I was a huge fan back in the day and even died my hair Angela-red in 6th grade.  I really like the family and always end up telling them way more than I ever plan and blushing accordingly.

C and D will probably accompany Tina and Tyller when they play their cd release party in Santa Fe in a couple weeks.  Details to follow…

 Photo by Jenny Gummersall

Send-Off Shindig!

We're throwing a send-off party!
All are invited--the more, the merrier!

SXSW Marketing

As a resident of Austin, Tx there are two events that we use to orient ourselves throughout the year like the North and South Poles; one in the fall, Austin City Limits, and one in the spring South By Southwest.  These are the times that Austin is transformed into the best party scene ever.  Frankly, its the reason I moved here in the first place.

My personal favorite is SXSW; video games, film, and the largest part, music.  The whole city essentially shuts down for more than 1,400 bands over 4 days; UT even arranges to have spring break coincide with with festival because they know everyone would be skipping class to go see a show.   Although that number is a little misleading because it doesn't include the huge number of "unofficial" shows that happen in makeshift venues that pop up in backyards and abandoned warehouses.  And the fashions, I've never seen so many hipsters in my life; it's like a constant parade of eye candy.  My favorite way to tackle SXSW is to go see as many day shows as I can handle.  In the past the day shows have all been sponsored by some liquor or beer company and you can drink for free.  Plus, the day shows tend to be smaller and more laid back.  Then around dusk I like to retire with some friends and have a cookout before heading back out to one more show.  My favorite site to scope out all the bands and get the low-down on where they're playing is Showlist Austin for the unofficial shows and SXSW for the official ones.

Since SXSW is so chaotic and confusing at times the Austin Music Foundation hosted a discussion panel at La Zona Rosa to help musicians navigate the festival with the most marketing know-how as possible.  The AMF is an excellent resource for local musicians learn the business side of music by hosting free lectures around town.  Get on the mailing list, you won't regret it!

So I went and took a couple notes:

**Don't worry about giving out demo cds or merch in any way.  Most people don't want to carry it around and if they do, they probably end up breaking it or loosing it before the end. 
**Have business cards made with your photo on it; eople remember faces before names in a crowd, and myspace address on one side and a list of shows you'll be playing at SXSW so people can come hear you play.
**Research  label owners, marketing people,  musicians that you want to meet before the festival starts and scope out where they're going to be so you can ambush!  But in a nice, non-overpowering way of course.
**If you're playing an unofficial show then by all means DO NOT put the words South By South West or SXSW anywhere on your poster.  They could sue you to protect their intellectual property.
**Most relationships you'll make at the festival are going to be with other musicians.  Don't negate that face.

And that's what I learned.

I can't wait! 
*A graphic designer who's been working with SXSW just came in the store and said that Home Slice on South Congress Ave is having some really good shows and to keep a lookout.  Word to the wise.

The Tipping Point

I'm late to the Macolm Gladwell bandwagon, but better late than never, eh? I just finished The Tipping Point and aside from being brilliant, it is also an endless well of party conversation starters. "Oh! I just read that George Gershwin wrote "Rhapsody In Blue" in my hometown of Asheville, NC...and Zelda Fitzgerald was totally institutionalized there too. Great town, great town.", or, "If you want to get a really good deal on a new car, you gotta go to a fleet buyer on the 25th of the month.  It's true, it's the word on the street."

Despite the inexhaustible sources of information available, we're now entering the word of mouth epidemic. The way we find out about new insurance plans, restaurants, or drugs for depression will be ruled by what we hear from people we trust, which will just happen to be one of three kinds of people: Connectors, Mavens, and Salesmen.

Connectors are people who have a natural talent for making friends and acquaintances. There is a test in which out of 250 last names, randomly taken from the Manhattan phone book, you get a point each time you know someone with that last name. "Knowing" spans from being good friends to merely meeting someone in line at the grocery store. If you know multiple people with the same last name then you get one point per individual. What you score on the test should give you an idea of how social you are. Most people average around 21 points, a Connector typically score around 100.

In addition to knowing a ton of people, the types of people they know are spread over many different social circles. Despite the fame brought about by the game of Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon, Kevin Bacon actually isn't that connected in Hollywood--he ranks 669th out of all Hollywood actors. The most well connected actor is Rod Steiger who has been in all types of movies from On The Waterfront to the abismal Car Pool.

The Mavens are the information specialists. They collect information from all sorts of different sources and are socially motivated to share that info with others, they can't help themselves.  They are essential in the word of mouth chain because people trust them to have the low-down on a given subject and pass that along for no particular reason except they like you and want to help; they are the trusted unbiased source.

In a cultural epidemic the “mavens are data banks. They provide the message. Connectors are social glue: they spread it. But there is also a select group of people –Salesmen—with the skills to persuade us when we are unconvinced of what we are hearing.” When people interact they fall into a mutual rhythm of speech and movement—called cultural microrhythms. Salesmen possess the power to draw others into their own rhythms and dictate the terms of the interaction, which is crucial in convincing someone one way or the other.

Another facet to understand in order to make a cultural movement explode is the power of the group. If you want to change someone’s behavior or ideology, you need to create a community around them where those new beliefs will be expressed and nurtured.

Say, for instance, you’re trying to break a new band, I think all of this information is invaluable. It’s essential to identify who the Connectors, Mavens, and Salesmen are and target them with info about the new musical group. On a national scale, I think the best way to identify these people is through blogs. Blogs such as Aurgasm, The Corner, or Said The Gramaphone are all written by total music mavens and contacting them would be my first bet. Locating the music Connectors is more geographically specific however, with a little research finding the local what’s-happening guides and their writers, and local record shop proprietors would be where I would start. Creating a community around a certain band or type of music seems to happen organically, but I think you can facilitate the growth through staging a series of house parties. The community that would arise through the house parties would associate the community with the music and continue on to support the band as they moved on to more official venues.

Just some ideas…