Tuesday, April 3rd- The Mayor of the City of Fort Collins declared her appreciation to the musicians and music lovers in this city and proclaimed April 2012 as LOCAL MUSIC APPRECIATION MONTH, urging all citizens to join in recognizing the great contributions made by local musicians to help make Fort Collins an important cultural center.
Category: Misc.
Bohemian Foundation Brings Grammy Winner to Fort Collins
FREE Professional Development Series for Musicians “Road Warriors: The Ins & Outs of Touring” scheduled for April 14
featuring hip-hop artist ‘Speech’ from the group Arrested Development hosted by Nick Forster (eTown) & including Johnny Hickman (Cracker), John Magnie (subDudes), Karl Alvarez (The Descendents)
Fort Collins, Colorado —The Fort Collins Musicians Association (FoCoMA) and Bohemian Foundation are pleased to announce the next workshop in their FoCoMA:ProDev series, a professional development series for musicians in Northern Colorado.
“Road Warriors: The Ins & Outs of Touring” will include featured guest ‘Speech’ of the Grammy-winning hip-hop group Arrested Development. Nick Forster (eTown, Hot Rize) will serve as host and moderator. Also included on the panel are John Magnie (subDudes, 3 Twins Broadband), Karl Alvarez (The Descendents, ALL), and Johnny Hickman (Cracker, Hickman-Dalton Gang). They will be discussing everything you wanted to know about surviving life on the road as a musician.
WHO: Fort Collins Musicians Association (FoCoMA) & Bohemian Foundation
WHAT: “Road Warriors: The Ins & Outs of Touring”
FoCoMA: ProDev Series presented by Bohemian Foundation
Nick Forster (eTown, Hot Rize) = moderator/host
Speech (Arrested Development) = featured guest
John Magnie (subDudes, 3 Twins) = panelist
Karl Alvarez (The Descendents, ALL) = panelist
Johnny Hickman (Cracker, Hickman-Dalton Gang) = panelist
WHEN: Saturday, April 14, 2012 3:00-4:30 PM
WHERE: The Armory Event Hall 314 East Mountain Ave Fort Collins, CO 80524
COST: Free
RSVP: www.bohemiannights.org/ProDev3
ProDev will take place during the weekend of the Fort Collins Musicians Experiment (FoCoMX) which features 300+ bands at 30+ venues over 2 nights. For more information on FoCoMX, please visit www.focomx.org.
The goal of the FoCoMA:ProDev series is to find ways to help the music community of Fort Collins to become one of the best places in the country, in reputation and in fact, for the creation of music. The series aims to strengthen the skills local musicians need to master the music industry by providing educational and professional growth opportunities.
The event is sponsored by Bohemian Foundation with collaboration from FoCoMA, Beet Street and SpokesBUZZ Fort Collins. The workshop is free and open to the public. Musicians of all calibers are invited to attend. Space is limited. To reserve a seat, please RSVP at http://www.bohemianfoundation.org/ProDev3
The Best Day, Way, and Reason to Send a Press Release
It’s Tuesday morning. Since yesterday I have received over 40 “press releases” across three email addresses as well as private messages via Facebook. One email in particular, from someone I happen to like, prompted a rather goat-ish personal email from me explaining that local gigs are not news worthy events – but are more likely those “press releases” that will elicit a delete or “I’ll get to it later” (and never do) type scenario.
My friend wrote back, “Wow! So, I should just play gigs and expect people to show up with no support from the press. Just because I am daring to play music that truly love instead of pandering to the usual commercial formula is nothing special. I studied jazz, gigged with bands too numerous to mention, learned to write music, build an improvising ensemble… Harsh man… P.S. Sorry to bother you and the rest of the press with my gigs… I let you know if pass away or have another heart attack or something special…”
So what is news worthy? I cannot answer for my peers in media, but for me it’s not about when you’re playing next. There are gig calendars for that – twitter and facebook etc. However, perhaps you’re opening for “X-Superstar” at “X-MAJOR VENUE.” That would spark some interest … that might be considered news-worthy. Not so much you gigging out locally.
Releasing a new album is almost (note I said almost!) not even news worthy anymore except for the purposes of attempting to receive a review, and then only the smallest percentage receive those … since recording is no longer the exception but the necessary rule for being a musician, and 99% follow the rule.
So, how do I come across this opinion? Decades in the trenches as a journalist, radio personality, venue promoter, record promoter and musician …. and reader of the most esteemed of local music media on a daily basis. I’ve often wondered how to improve my skills as a promoter sending out information … and as well, I’ve studied incoming information to determine what works and doesn’t from my position as “media.” It’s not easy.
What I’d like to see more of is personal information — births, deaths, marriages, divorces, awards, break ups, new members etc … things that people really want to read or hear about or as my friend suggested “…something special…” When I prep for my weekly news and notes on my radio show or the monthly News Notes and Spins column, it’s that “something special” that I want to relate to my audience.
Because I thought (no doubt rightfully) that I had distanced my “friend” with my email response I looked for some other articles on press releases etc. Opinions are as varied as the persons stating them. I dug around a bit and found what I considered to be a reasonable explanation of the subject at blog.journalistics.com … … The Best Day to Send a Press Release.
Enjoy.
Chris K's Colorado Playlist 