Whew! Two months in and I'm learning so much my brain is expanding;) I have this sense of great things being out there in all directions, so I keep turning around to see what's around the next corner, and the next and the next.. a bit dizzying but I think I am starting to get a handle on a few things.
For one thing, I have discovered that I need to learn how to schedule in some down time. It's really great to get out and play all the time, but if I keep doing it as much as I did in January, I end up with no time to sit and think and plan. Oh, and sleep. Yes, sleep turns out to be very important.
I seem to be going through a process of setting big goals and then learning how to back up and figure out all of the teensy little steps that go into making them happen.
When I first started this experiment, I just wanted to book shows. Playing open mics helped make that happen, but I now know there is a difference between booking a show and booking a show that can help build a sustainable career. (i.e., a show that at least pays you something in gas money and food - or a place that has a big natural draw of its own where you can play for people who might become fans.)
Turns out, most of the venues 'worth booking' book three to four months in advance. I'd also like to play at house concerts and festivals, which book six months to a year - sometimes even a year and a half - in advance. So I've been trying to figure out the balance between working on promoting the shows I've already got on my schedule, while looking to the future and researching where I'd like to apply and whose deadlines haven't already passed, etc… basically, trying to live in the present but also stretch my brain to plan for the next two years without actually knowing if any of the things I put into the plan will fall into place. (i.e., I can say I want to tour CA in May, and I-5 up through to Idaho and back in July, and even pick the places I'd like to play along the route, but whether or not I'll be able to get bookings in nice, neat order along the road is completely unknown.)
In order to properly market myself to bookers, I need an Electronic Press Kit - links to my music, links to good quality video, possibly even an 'Intro to Artist' video where someone follows me around and I talk about what it is I want to do with life, music, and sustainability… I need to write a better bio, and I need to record better versions of my songs so that I feel comfortable pitching myself to these places. Since I have come to this realization slowly during the month of February, I have just started doing most of these things.
I have also been revisiting my defunct website and working on getting that up and running, because that is a good place to be able to send people once I've sent them an EPK.
AND, I've been working on new material that I can play out so that I'm not always performing the same songs, and will feel comfortable performing longer and longer sets. This should also help streamline the recording process, because every performance also counts as extra credit practice!
Needless to say, learning how to prioritize is quickly becoming my top priority!
Other great developments this month = team building. With the number of things in my current 'job description' piling up faster and faster, I have realized that I need HELP! So I am recruiting some friends and possibly some family to help me achieve many of the above goals and tasks. If you are reading this and would like to jump on board, contact me through the site you are reading it on!
Much love to all,
Mandalyn
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Mandalyn May / Blog
Towards a unified central government...
Have no fear, this post is actually about music.
I'm all for state's rights. In fact, I think that most US states have given away too much of these rights in favor of receiving federal government funding.
Here on the internet, however, it's getting a little crazy trying to stay updated on all of my different sites. They all have something specific to offer, with their own communities that they are trying to manage: MySpace, Facebook, ReverbNation, Twitter, EZFolk, Bebo, Jambase, Labtones, Tumblr, YouTube, 12Seconds, etc, etc, etc.
I would have to stay online all day if I was to manage all of these sites and actually keep them properly updated with my web 'presence.'
So, this post is to let you know that I love all of you, in your various choice of listening formats, but, I'm going to have to make it official. From now on, my website of choice is going to be my own.
www.mandalynmay.com. yep, you've got it. I don't require you to become a member, or 'like' anything before your friends do, or sell ads that are directed at your specific age/sex/location demographic. I just put up music and videos and hope that you like it enough to watch it. I will still keep links to all those other pages on my site - I find youtube.com and bandcamp.com to be particularly valuable, since they don't require you the listener to become a member in order to listen.
I'd also like to start putting up more sustainability links so that the other parts of my life get a little more time and energy too. Music is love, from the creative force to me and from me to you - but gardening is love, too! And cheesemaking. And Quilting. I don't have much time lately for these last three, but I'd like to get to the point where I am living a more balanced lifestyle, semi-nomadic, with waypoints to stop and enjoy the earth (or the ocean) in between.
I hope to put up a blog style tribe page in the near future that will allow you to get to know me better and have room for discussions and suggestions. This is a tricky career path and I can use all the positive energy and right thinking that I can get! So, if you're reading this and this site is sorely out of date, I hope you'll come and visit me at my new home!
(www.mandalynmay.com) and if you missed it, I'm the one who said just grab 'em in the biscuits
(okay, that wasn't me... but you get mad points if you remember who that really was.)
Love and more love,
~Mandalyn
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Prioritizing and Strategery ;)
Whew! Two months in and I'm learning so much my brain is expanding;) I have this sense of great things being out there in all directions, so I keep turning around to see what's around the next corner, and the next and the next.. a bit dizzying but I think I am starting to get a handle on a few things.
For one thing, I have discovered that I need to learn how to schedule in some down time. It's really great to get out and play all the time, but if I keep doing it as much as I did in January, I end up with no time to sit and think and plan. Oh, and sleep. Yes, sleep turns out to be very important.
I seem to be going through a process of setting big goals and then learning how to back up and figure out all of the teensy little steps that go into making them happen.
When I first started this experiment, I just wanted to book shows. Playing open mics helped make that happen, but I now know there is a difference between booking a show and booking a show that can help build a sustainable career. (i.e., a show that at least pays you something in gas money and food - or a place that has a big natural draw of its own where you can play for people who might become fans.)
Turns out, most of the venues 'worth booking' book three to four months in advance. I'd also like to play at house concerts and festivals, which book six months to a year - sometimes even a year and a half - in advance. So I've been trying to figure out the balance between working on promoting the shows I've already got on my schedule, while looking to the future and researching where I'd like to apply and whose deadlines haven't already passed, etc… basically, trying to live in the present but also stretch my brain to plan for the next two years without actually knowing if any of the things I put into the plan will fall into place. (i.e., I can say I want to tour CA in May, and I-5 up through to Idaho and back in July, and even pick the places I'd like to play along the route, but whether or not I'll be able to get bookings in nice, neat order along the road is completely unknown.)
In order to properly market myself to bookers, I need an Electronic Press Kit - links to my music, links to good quality video, possibly even an 'Intro to Artist' video where someone follows me around and I talk about what it is I want to do with life, music, and sustainability… I need to write a better bio, and I need to record better versions of my songs so that I feel comfortable pitching myself to these places. Since I have come to this realization slowly during the month of February, I have just started doing most of these things.
I have also been revisiting my defunct website and working on getting that up and running, because that is a good place to be able to send people once I've sent them an EPK.
AND, I've been working on new material that I can play out so that I'm not always performing the same songs, and will feel comfortable performing longer and longer sets. This should also help streamline the recording process, because every performance also counts as extra credit practice!
Needless to say, learning how to prioritize is quickly becoming my top priority!
Other great developments this month = team building. With the number of things in my current 'job description' piling up faster and faster, I have realized that I need HELP! So I am recruiting some friends and possibly some family to help me achieve many of the above goals and tasks. If you are reading this and would like to jump on board, contact me through the site you are reading it on!
Much love to all, Mandalyn
Reply
Music is my life! Next step: earning a living:)
January 30th, 2010
So, we are a full month into 2010. It's been a great year so far! I've been wandering-with-purpose, having made the official decision to hit the road in pursuit of the ever elusive music-for-a-living. I've been fielding a lot of questions from friends and other musicians, so I thought I'd write you all a note to let you know how it's going so far.
If there is a rule of life I've learned in the last month, it's this: If you want to do something, do it. Thinking is great, and I do a lot of that, too, but thinking too much keeps people from acting.
So, I want to make music. So do a lot of people, right? But how do you get from wanting to doing? (Especially when the goal is eventually to earn a living?)
The truth: *I Have No Idea.* But I have been picking up a few clues on the road.
First, I have been treating this like a real job. Every day I do something that will help me get a little closer to being a music-wage-earner. Some nights I am out at an open mic (or 2 or 3), practicing in front of other musicians. I am pleasantly surprised at the effect this is having on my performance skills and my confidence in such a short time. I can't say I've conquered stage fright, but I just don't have as much time to freak out before a performance. I'm performing four and five times a week!
Second, I'm friendly and I let people know what I'm up to *while I'm on stage.* Sometimes I say that I'm looking for bookings and could use advice. Other times I say that I expect to have shows in the area soon and if you'd like to give me your email so I can tell you about them, please do. I have yet to get any certified paid gigs this way, but I am meeting a lot of really great people, and I have booked four opening slots / showcases in a very short time!
Third, I am doing my best to use the power of the internet + my friend's floors to reach out to places I've never been before. My 'tour' so far consists of anywhere I have a place to crash + internet and word of mouth research on what open mics to play. I've even been on a radio show out of San Francisco - www.piratecatradio.com - they don't broadcast very far but it was a great experience and any opportunity to be heard right now is a great opportunity!!
My next steps are all about figuring out how to get to the next level. This includes improving my packing skills (2 performance outfit, one work outfit, one sleep outfit, don't forget the toiletries!) I currently cannot find my toothbrush. I know it is in one of these darn bags (unless I left it in Oakdale). At any given time, moving around so much, I can't find Something! So some kind of system has to be put into practice.
And then there is Administration. Aside from entering in the emails I receive and trying to find ways to communicate that are NOT spam, I do a lot of research on a very slow computer. I look for places that are booking acts like me. I look for other acts like me to see where they have booked. I try to write these things down in a meaningful way, but as yet, I need a better system here, too. I write new songs. I do my best to copyright them and register them with ASCAP. I make flyers for the shows I've booked already, and use facebook and myspace to let people know about them. I call people. I email people. I try not to drop any balls.
This is difficult when you live out of your car. Even when you have nice couches to crash on... what I really need is a nice couch equipped with wifi. And, because I like to be where I am, when I am - a lot of the administrative tasks get pushed aside because I want to be present with my friends instead of just crashing and sitting in front of the computer all day. Some day I will fix my website. But right now that day seems very far into the future.
Like maybe some day in February;)
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New year, new tour!!
Dear blog: I'm sorry that I forgot about your existence. I have been on the road, exploring new countries and making lots of music since we last spoke. I've had some incredible, mind blowing experiences, and met so many lovely amazing and kind people along the way. My heart is feeling very full these days. Sometimes I do wish that I was better recording these events in written form (so I will try to remember you in the future)... Then again, there is a great deal of happiness to experience in the moment, and pulling out the trusty iPhone in an attempt to capture it sometimes just pauses the flow.
Zzzzzz. For example, right now I should be sleeping. Good night!
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Time to stop Thinkin'
What's today, August... 8th? Well, it's after midnight so really, the 9th. An odd anniversary to be starting up a blog.
I've almost unraveled the plan for the next few months. Now just have to stop thinking about it and go do it! Scotland, here I come:)
If you are happening upon this page, I hope you will say hello or come and find me on twitter. I expect to be traveling soon, but am planning to get one of those swanky new iphones to attempt to stay connected via wifi... (international roaming is a biatch). Hope to have some video up soon, too! (note: next step, figure out how to do that from the phone... *before* I leave the country)
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