Nashville Muse turned Nine Years old this month, February 2012 THANK YOU subscribers and marketing partners! www.nashvillemuse.com

How did Nashville Muse start you may ask – as I have been asked many times. January 2003 I spent a week in Del Mar, CA and taught a workshop for Liz Axford’s NSAI workshop on a Saturday. Monday evening we drove to Bev & Cliff Nelson’s in Irvine, Ca the home of the Orange County NSAI coordinators for dinner.

The LA workshop was represented by Craig Lackey and Rex Poindexter. As I was giving them ideas to build their NSAI workshops ( I started the successful Charlotte, NC NSAI workshop in 1996) Rex Poindexter gave me an idea when he said, “Why dont’ ya do what I do and send an e-mail to let your friends in Nashville know where everyone is playing in the songwriter rounds”?

I did not know how to copy/paste, knew nothing about email lists, servers at the time, however that did not stop me from starting the idea. In January I had invited about 30 songwriters that were new to Nashville to my house and announced, “We are the class of 2003 of songwriters and we have to work together, help each other out on our journey. That is what the successful songwriters told me – to work and write with your peers”.

I sent an e-mail to those 30 people and a couple others I knew to send me where they are playing in town. I would write their gigs down on a pad and type it on Monday mornings and send to those 30+ songwriters. I did not learn about a template or easier ways to do thing till later that summer.I remember telling my roommate at the time, Gary Talley – great guitar player (The Box Tops) and guitar teacher, “What if I build up this list and venues start sending me who is playing that week, I could make this a business and sell sponsorships”?

I can tell ya plenty of ways not to start and e-zine! Memories of dealing with Comcast and telling them, “I am NOT spamming – all these people requested to receive the e-mails”! Getting on the Comcast blacklist, then asking to get on the white list (approved e-mail senders) so I could send the e-mails, then learning how to put names in groups to send 50 at a time. If one e-mail changed or was wrong, had to go through and find the wrong one and delete it so the group of 50 names would send the Nashville Muse!

Dave McDonald moved to town I forget how many years ago and told me I could use his server to send out the Nashville Muse each week. Dave and Rob Wolfe worked to get the names into the server and WHAT A BLESSING! Today I use Mail Chimp as the server.

One week because I typed over and over my “rough template” each week – Danny Arena rushed over to the house and corrected it as the Nashville Muse (Did not have a name yet) was sent and came out about 3 inches wide and several pages long!  My friend, Leslie Benjamin from Maryland showed me how to do a template. Rusty Carr would help me in the beginning with challenges with Nashville Muse how to send these groups out and worked on my old computer.

The name Nashville Muse came to me one Saturday when I was visiting my family in West Virginia, I had the sunroof open and all of a sudden this name came to me “Nashville Muse” as I was getting off an exit on I-64 in South Charleston.

Rob Wolfe came along and helped tremendously with a new format and I would send a Word document to him Sunday night or Monday morning, he would convert it and send out to the list on Mondays – Thank You Rob for the help and great friendship!

The original Nashville Muse site was built by Steven McClintock’s company, Song Catalog and was launched in the spring of 2003. Suj and his people did a great job with the site and some of the original interviews from the early days are still on the site.

In 2010, Michael Lovette became my web person (Rob needed a well deserved break and is focusing on his songwriting) and has been a tremendous help. The present site is on the Word Press format and Michael taught me how to do the weekly Nashville Muse e-zine every week.THANK YOU Michael of Phat Magnet.

Today we are close to 4,000 subscribers and great Marketing Partnerships over the years. THANK YOU Marketing Partners!

The Nashville Muse is the Connector in the Music Community and I am thankful for everyone who has attended an event, benefit, workshop, songwriter round, networking party, for every friend and everyone I have met and those of you who became friends because you attended events listed on the Nashville Muse. This week would be about the 468th edition (9 years x 52 weeks) and THANK YOU for each person that sent a listing, became a marketing partner, showed up at events and supported the Nashville Muse!

Thanks and RIP to Rex for the idea, for Craig driving him to that dinner meeting, Bev and Cliff Nelson, Liz for the invite to Del Mar for the workshop and Each of YOU that keep me on the journey!

Please share a story or comment on how the Nashville Muse has helped you, your business, or an event you remember from the e-zine or site!

“Friends Do Not Let Friends…Play To An Empty Room” – Doak

I love our music community and one of the things I love is that we care about each other. I am on the committee for the Tom Roady Memorial concert Tuesday, January 31st and what a blessing to learn about the life of Tom Roady. I was just getting to know Tom as I kept running into the legend with the biggest smile I have ever seen, you could tell he loved playing music and most important, the man loved playing music and watching the audience while he played to see their faces light up with the music! The concert will be a memorial to Tom as well as a benefit to helping his wife Mel out with expenses from the funeral and other things in life.

Five of us went to his home yesterday to work on putting together items for the auction and sale of some of his percussion instruments – the man has so many percussion instruments – it was amazing! We will sell some of those on Tuesday and set up a website to open up the purchase of many other items from Tom’s collection. The press release is below and I hope you can be at the event on Tuesday ngiht, big on the guitar in the next month and the other items we will post on the site listed below. I usually do not use this blog to promote events – however this is such a unique opportunity for the readers to be part of a legendary musicians life!

“All My Roady Friends” Memorial Show set for Tuesday, January 31^st at Red Rooster on Demonbreun Street in Nashville, TN.

Tom Roady, legendary percussionist passed away in November 2011 and his Roady Friends will honor Tom with a concert and auction at Red Rooster on Tuesday, January 31^st, door at 6:00, auction and music at 7:00.

Tom Roady played on over 1,000 records and CDs including Kenny Chesney, Dixie Chicks, Brooks and Dunn, Mavis Staples, Wilson Pickett, James Brown, Etta James, Michael McDonald, Bob Seger, Art Garfunkle and toured with legends such as James Taylor, John Denver, Ricky Skaggs, Paul Anka and Phil Driscoll.

The house band for the concert is a band Tom played with, “The Alternators”. Some of the special guests playing and singing many of the songs Tom played on and artists he toured with will include Phil Keaggy, Sam Bush, Rickie Skaggs, Suzy Ragsdale, Jonell Mosser, Marcus Hummon and surprise guests.

Some of the auction items include music lessons and consultations with professionals, Michael McDonald signed artwork and CDs, a tour of the Grand Ole Opry with 4 tickets, a custom “Tom Roady” cajon designed and crafted by Jonathan Wells, Tom’s personal Paiste Cymbals will be auctioned at the event. Pearl Percussion will have great selection of their products for the auction. Boxes of Tom’s percussion pieces will be sold for $50.00 each.

Two Old Hippies has donated a $2,000.00 Bedell Guitar that will be on display with several autographs including Sheryl Crow, Joe Nichols, Vince Gill, Amy Grant, Keith Urban, Wynona, Nichole Kidman, Val Kilmer, Allison Krauss, Jerry Douglas and others.  The guitar will be auctioned off in February at www.tomroadyauction.com .

For more on Tom Roady, go to www.tomroady.com .

Business cards
When it is time to exchange business cards, you want to be prepared and don’t want to fumble through a pocket full of everyone else’s cards you’ve collected that day, or trying to find one of your cards that does not have scribbled notes on it. One networking tip is to have your business cards in your left pocket, and everyone else’s cards in your right pocket. Always have a pen available and take notes from your conversations. When you’ve said, “I will call you next week and set an appointment,” make a note of what you’ve said you’d do and follow through.

Speaking of business cards, yours should include your name, phone number, PO Box or address, website and/or MySpace address, and your e-mail address. And make sure it’s all easy to read. Avoid fancy icons such as music notes, unless it’s your company logo, and always have your business cards with you at all times. You never know when you will meet someone in the business.

A NEW technique with business cards is to get a QR (Quick Response) code and have on your card. I have one on the back of my business cards. With the i-nigma app on an iPhone, the phone quickly scans the QR Code, then directly connects with my website www.doakturner.com The QR code is a black and white square. Google QR codes and find the best site for you to generate your own QR code for YOUR site.

Your business card should have your website – YOUR DOMAIN on it and your email address should be your first name at your domain as an example doak@doakturner.com

Other tips at www.nashvillemuse.com/resources page.

Get out there and network – have your Music Business cards and build relationships in the music business!

This is the Second Part of the Resources for Songwriters in a blog a couple days ago. I recommend the following books to every songwriter and artist! Invest the time to read and learn. as my friend, Ralph Murphy says, “Knowledge Is Power” and great knowledge for the music industry is in these resources!

If you have favorite songwriting books, please leave comments and recommendations in the comment section!

To subscribe to the blog – go to the RSS in the right hand corner and click on the RSS!

http://tasteofcountry.com/keith-urban-songwriting-video/

Keith Urban shares advice to songwriters! The Taste Of Country e-zine is a great resource to keep up with country artists, learn about what is happening in the industry – subscribe to the e-zine Today!

Keith was in Nashville about ten years before his first artist deal. He is a study of persistence and never giving up on a dream. Keith played The Bluebird, Douglas Corner and other venues, networking and writing songs and developing his craft! The guy did not have it easy when he came to town – but kept his eyes on the prize – something we all must do on our journey!

Another site with interviews from songwriters, artists, PROs, publishers and other music business professionals is www.musicstartshere.org

What are your favorite sites to learn about the music industry? Add your comments!

I receive e-mails about every week from out of town songwriters asking for advice. I was just like you as I started writing lyrics in 1989, came to town for a CRS radio convention in 1995 and 1996. I found out about NSAI in 1996 and life changed – I had people to help me.

I always send suggestions to those out of town songwriters and will share it here: Please feel free to add your own suggestions. The next blog will include some of my favorite songwriting books that I suggest you read to learn about the craft and business of songwriting.

I got an e-mail today from someone in Nashville looking for a booking agency. Below are ideas for artists who are looking for someone to book them I invite your feedback and suggestions:

WHAT artists are doing what YOU want to do? WHO do they work with?? Who is their booking agency? HOW many shows has your band played? Can you travel 50 or 100 miles a weekend – find venues out of Nashville to play for money and develop fans.

Booking agents and managers work off percentages – how much money are you generating and why would someone want to work with you if they cannot make the money? Sometimes they believe and want to see you succeed, other times they only want someone that is already making the money!

HOW MANY FANS, How many CDs have you sold. If the answer is not many, why would someone want to spend time booking a band with no results as opposed to an artist that tours, has a fan base, selling CDs and merch?

Research IEBA, what about the Nashville Talent Directors? There are resources on Music Row! How many professional organizations are you involved in Nashville where the pros belong to so you can build relationships??

Are you a NSAI member, do you go to their meetings and involved in that organization? Have you had your 2 meetings in the past years with the pros to ask questions? Send in your songs for evaluations, attend the Thursday night meetings to learn and network?

Go sign up and tell Sheree and Tali at NSAI TODAY! If you ARE a member – the last time you used NSAI resources, had the meetings, attended workshops, pitched your songs, networked and asked the pros at NSAI about your goals for your music journey?

You can do whatever you want – starts with knowledge and taking steps! Use your time learning the craft and business of songwriting, having the songs so when you are out there – your songs get the attention! Get with the pros at NSAI – without the songs – what do ya have as an artist?

When is the last time you met with your PRO as in ASCAP, SESAC or BMI??

Are you a NARAS or CMA member??

The resources are on Music Row – WHAT will YOU do to get involved and use the resources?

Have you watched the videos on www.musicstartshere.org with the pros? Artists, musicians, songwriters, ASCAP, BMI and SESAC??

What are you doing to learn how the industry works??

ONLINE?? Face book will NOT get you very much – “friends” yes – but those who will buy your music, attend your shows?

ONLINE – attend Charles Alexander’s Rock Your Net workshops – one starts next week. Look him up! That would be a great investment for you!

Read Ariel Hyatt’s book – “Nine Weeks To Music Success” book! www.arielpublicity.com

That is what a booking agent is looking for to sign an act – results of a hard working artist already out there taking action! Are you REALLY prepared for that showcase that can have a booking agent want to book you, staking their reputation on the line?

Our journey is long as a songwriter or in the music business – a long way to our big goals and dreams – understatement, I know.

However an idea to keep us on the journey – Yeas Of The Day!

Idea – keep a journal of something positive that happened every day – perhaps a phone call, you met someone that was nice or may be a help in the biz or life, you started a song, You practiced guitar, piano, did a vocal exercise, attended an event that was cool, you read something of interest or it inspired you, you played a song out or played for someone in the industry.ANYTHING counts as long as it is positive! What happened good yesterday for you or write for the day in your Yeas Of The Day journal!

Everyday – something happens – look for the good and perhaps make it great! What happened today or yesterday that was a YEA Of THE DAY? Keep that journal, look back from time to time to say – YEA – I will stay on the journey and celebrate along the way to my big dreams and goals! YYEEAAAAA!!!

Let me know YOUR thoughts on Yeas Of The Day!

My friend, Deb Austin Brown www.debaustinbrown.com just sent this to me. Use it for your music journey.

In the movie City Slickers, Curly explains to Billy Crystal’s character that the secret to life is “one thing.” When he asks what the “one thing” is Curly says, “That’s what you have to figure out.”

When it comes to making 2012 the best year of your life, the secret is the same, figure out the “one thing” that if you achieved it, would change your life so dramatically that it would make for the best year of your life.

What would you do to make that happen for your music journey, how much time, energy will you spend, how much would you invest, what would you do different this year that you have never done in your life for that ONE THING?

Go for your dream and goal – give it your very best and this time next year, where will you be – ya do not know without your best efforts!

Doak

Happy New Year and what are ya going to do about it to make it Happy? What are ya going to do to make it better than 2011 and past years? Are you going to do the same things you did last year and expect different results (that is definition of insanity)? Are you going to be bolder, pitch your songs more, write more, ask people to co-write, to listen to your songs and get out of your comfort zone?

Are you going to use the services at NSAI  www.nashvillesongwriters.com (go to their site and also meet with those great folks to make sure you are taking full advantage of your membership), going to attend workshops offered in Nashville (see previous post for those resources) as Blair School of Music Monday night workshop starts January 9th and Major Bob workshop starts January 24th?

Are you going to use the weekly Indie Connect www.indieconnect.com meetings and workshops or attend their January 14th workshop with 5 industry pros?

Are you going to find your champion at the PROs – BMI, ASCAP or SESAC and work with them to improve your odds on your journey and learn from their advice to help you?

Are you going to take those guitar, keyboard or other instrument lessons to learn to write better songs, find a vocal coach and performance coach and improve those areas of your music journey?

How many songwriter nights a week can you attend to support the community, network, play and can you get involved in benefits and other events in Nashville.

What are your daily activities for your songwriting and artist goals? How much time will you devote to your goals and dreams? Will you pick up that guitar every day or play that piano, write a lyric or idea down or look at your ideas and maybe expand on it?

Gretchen Peters wrote the awesome song, “Independence Day” – took her (7) years to complete it. – A little here, a little there, edit, work on better ideas to make that song one of the most impacting songs of our time. Jimmy Hall told me he wrote, “Keep on Smiling” – one of my all time favorites – Wet Willie was Jimmy’s band – in :20 minutes.  So there is no telling what you may write- the key is taking action.

What books, resources to keep you inspired, internet marketing workshops such as Charles Alexander’s, “Rock Your Net” workshops for artists and songwriters, build new positive friends will you take the time to develop into relationships to helping each other on your journey?

If you have not already, are you going to update your website and have YOUR DOMAIN for your website with your music, shows and other important information – perhaps consult with Michael Lovett at Phat Magnet for your website work as he does a great job for my sites and many pros in the music biz.

Will you invest the time to watch the hit songwriters play at the local venues perhaps research and learn their songwriting journey – how did they do it, what kept them on their journey? You can learn form their websites – perhaps pick a songwriter of the week, go to their sites and learn from the pros!

I say all this because I ask myself the same questions – what can I do to make my goals and dreams come true, what do I need to do every day, what do I want to happen in Nashville for my music journey and what will I do – what will YOU DO?

If you live out of town – how many trips and how can you make the most of those investments – perhaps getting with a local pro and work with them to improve your songwriting skills (let me know if you need help finding someone to work with you)?

If already a hit pro songwriter or artist- what are YOU going to do to get more songs cut this year, to sell more tickets, to give back to the community? Will you help someone on their journey, perhaps a little time as a mentor to someone you believe in to develop them? It worked pretty good for Victoria Shaw when she saw something in Hillary Scott and worked with her for, I believe 5 years to what is now Lady A!

Let’s REALLY make 2012 out greatest year ever! You comments are welcome – go ahead – share what yo will do on your journey and go take action! Blessings and Greatness to YOU!