tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7229239852863782071.post4335617012988681047..comments2023-03-25T08:07:36.936-04:00Comments on Little Georgie's Blog-a-Thon: Daily Dose #31 (06/27/11)Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7229239852863782071.post-88080079727884167742011-07-07T05:51:14.321-04:002011-07-07T05:51:14.321-04:00Thanks George! I loved The Works and was also a tr...Thanks George! I loved The Works and was also a true believer. I did my level best to help spread the word. As with all live music. Seeing was believing and if you could get the people into the room, Hamell, you, Mike, Joey, and Dave would do the rest.<br /><br />Audience outreach has always been challenging, but the internet certainly reduced the costs. I recognized the value of email and internet discussions early on when I started the folkmusic listserv in 1990. But it didn't happen overnight. When I did a presentation on email promotion at the International Folk Alliance conference in Boston in 1994, they put me on a computer applications panel with a couple of accountants. They told me to keep my presentation to 20 minutes. I was up last and actually had about 6 minutes to squeeze my presentation into. There was no computer, no projector. I had an overhead projector and some black and white transparencies to illustrate.<br /><br />From the moment, I started, people looked at me like I was from MARS. Of the 60 or so people in the room, I am not sure that anyone really got the takeaway of what an important resource this was to become. I was like Howard Beale, mad prophet of the airwaves. (except I wasn't mad as hell) and I spent the rest of the conference trying to sell people on the internet one on one. <br /><br />To be fair, I think the one person who really enabled me to ultimately become "The Godfather of the Folk Internet" was Christine Lavin. She heard what I was saying and understood. She validated me and introduced me to a hundred or two of her folk legend friends and then the folkmusic, folkbiz, folkvenu, and FolkDJ lists all began to take off.<br /><br />Now, of course, all of these have been eclipsed by Facebook, Twitter, SonicBids, CDbaby, and a variety of far richer and more sophisticated internet resources, but the work we did back in the 1990's was the proof of concept that blazed the way. <br /><br />Underneath all the selling and promotion and audience outreach though, the foundation is still the songs and the performers. Without "Three Chords and the Truth", it is all for naught. Quality music is job one. True, they call it the Music BUSINESS for a reason, but read carefully, the MUSIC always has to come first.<br /><br />Love you Georgie. Thanks for the nod...Alan Rowothhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06326824183558995495noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7229239852863782071.post-11242612576758108562011-06-28T18:30:39.440-04:002011-06-28T18:30:39.440-04:00Loved the Works. You must have some great stories...Loved the Works. You must have some great stories from those days. Hey, is Pete still around Syracuse?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7229239852863782071.post-49483721926261367752011-06-27T18:20:14.126-04:002011-06-27T18:20:14.126-04:00Ah, The Works. Still my favorite band of all time....Ah, The Works. Still my favorite band of all time. You guys always played when I needed a lift, and man, I could use a Works night out these days! I think I still have tapes Grover made of some shows at the Reef...wonder if they're in good condition, and how I can get them onto a CD? More importantly, I wonder if I still know the lyrics?? <br /><br />~ CathSailBoatFuelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18216299329177928920noreply@blogger.com