Got the following link in response to an old post here about ways to market your band; while the message is a little on the crude side with some glaring grammar errors, the info contained is solid. Some of it’s obvious but some is quite creative–check it out here:
http://grimygoods.com/2010/02/25/38-sure-ways-to-market-your-band-with-little-to-no-budget/
Back in the very early 1980′s the biggest band in South Carolina was the Charleston-based Killer Whales, who recorded a few albums, appeared on Star Search for a couple weeks, and faded away as the band members got older and got ‘real’ jobs. They have reunited a few times since that golden era, and singer David Bethany can still be found playing solo acoustic gigs around Charleston that include the occasional Killer Whales tune. He once described the band as “The Police meet Elvis Costello at a party thrown by Bo Diddley for Marvin Gaye,” which says it better than I can.
Last week Bethany posted the following nostalgia trip on Youtube, which features their best song, “Marlene”, along with some great photos and posters from the early days of the band. Look closely and you’ll spot a very young version of producer Don Dixon in several shots.
And for a bonus, here’s the band’s biggest hit, “Who Controls The Video Screen?” from their Emotional Geography album.
A couple years ago Dallas, Texas native Dylan Sneed packed up his stuff and moved to Hartsville, South Carolina for some reason even he’s not totally clear on. The process included a tour he dubbed “Texodus” where he played shows all the way from Texas to the Carolinas, and now he’s working on an album of the same name. Here’s a clip from his last Texas concert that kicked off that transitional tour:
Here’s where you, the fans, come in. Sneed is utilizing the Kickstarter.com model to fund his project’s recording budget, which gives ordinary fans like you and me the chance to contribute funds in exchange for some sort of perk that typically increases in value with the size of the donation. Kickstarter is unique, however, in the fact that unless the artist/band involved raises the total amount they’re shooting for in their designated time frame none of the potential contributors are required to donate anything.
Sneed’s goal is a modest $6,000, and he’s already raised over a third of that in pledges so far, but his deadline is April 1st, which gives him about six more weeks at this point. Want to help? Go here to check out his Kickstarter page and donate.
For more on Dylan Sneed’s music, go to http://dylansneed.com/
For South Carolina audiences, Sneed will be opening for Chuck Brodsky at the UUFC concert series in March in Columbia.
Yes, you read that right… there’s a new album coming out this year from The Outfield.
I almost hate to admit it, but I love Play Deep, the first album from the 80′s pop/rockers–probably because 95-SX in Charleston, South Carolina went something like seven songs deep playing cuts off of it the year it came out. They were huge in Charleston–the band even booked a King Street gig back then that didn’t actually happen because of the fire marshal shutting the club down due to overcrowding.
Anyway, back to the present…got a tweet today that clued me in to the impending release of a NEW album from The Outfield. Curious? There’s a link HERE to an interview conducted a few days ago with a British journalist that includes a new song, “Baby I’m Crazy.” Or, check out an in-studio recording session take that’s up on Youtube:
Once you’ve heard the new song, which is okay but not great, go back and find the songs from that first album, like this one:
