Defining and Promoting yourself
Refining your skills and promoting yourself Article written by Arny Bailey Back to Cover
Growing up in a suburb _________
of San Diego, I spent much of my youth circling counterclockwise at Rocket Roller Rink in Imperial Beach, CA. When I started skating in 1964 (I was 3), the typical skating rink soundtrack was big band and I vividly recall rolling to the rhythms of Benny Goodman, Glenn Miller, Les Brown, Duke Ellington and more. Caving to pressures of attendees and the music
explosion of the 60’s, the Big Band reel to reel tape was pitched and replaced with 45’s of Motown, the British Invasion and some classic 1960’s American rock bands. The Supremes, Smokey Robinson, The Temptations, The Four Tops, The Beatles, Kinks, Rolling Stones, Jefferson Airplane, Turtles, Grass Roots and the Doors were much more exciting and the youth flocked to the new sounds of the roller rink.
As we moved on into the early 70’s, the soundtrack changed to the “pop” sounds of The Jackson 5, The Archies (well, Sugar Sugar anyway), then into the mid to latter 70’s rock/funk of Grand Funk Railroad, Stevie Wonder, Cream and more. By the time I hung up my skates in 1979, Disco had taken over.
Music seemed to be everywhere. Radio was the primary source with LP’s and 8 tracks, 45’s and cassets, and later Walkman’s and CD’s. Live concerts were fairly inexpensive. I paid $7 to see Sammy Hagar and Boston at the San Diego Sports Arena __
in 1978 (my first real concert excluding Buck Owens and His Buckaroo’s that my dad took me to when I was 6). Bands toured to promote new albums and made their real money from the resulting record sales. These days with music readily available through legit and non-legit sources, concert ticket prices have skyrocketed and live music is where the money seems to __
be. In response to this, the big names are producing some very cool live shows to justify the high ticket costs and recuperating the production expenses through the repetitive use of effects from show to show.
The advent of the bigger live shows and an increase in commercial applications for music is great for the __
Weekend Musician. Sophisticated yet relatively inexpensive recording software has made home recording a reality and musicians, although almost as plentiful as the opportunities, can be just about as busy as they want to be…but it takes work.
First, you need to admit that it’s competitive and that there’s always ___
someone better than you out there. Hone your skills through study and practice. Of course, this can take an immense amount of time and if you’re truly a Weekend Musician, you already have a day job or two. Next you need to define what you are about and be able to promote yourself to the target audience. In this issue, we will focus on defining yourself and promotion. The result should be more opportunities to play and more money to spend on gear. Heck, that’s how we all blow it anyway.
Arny Bailey
Editor
MEET THE WRITER - ARNY BAILEY
President of In Form, Inc. Media Design and Chief Editor of Weekend Musician is a licensed architect practicing in the Pacific Northwest and weekend musician currently fronting ABOUT FACE, a classic rock cover band and The Grand Delusion a Tribute to the music of Styx and Journey.
