Pre-Order For & Against (Please)

It's that time! I spent last week finalizing artwork (with the help of the fabulous Emily), and I mailed off my master to Oasis Disc yesterday evening. It's all out of my hands for about 2.5 weeks until it's back in my hands...like a ton of copies worth. My hands won't hold them all. Which is why I am asking you to pre-order your copy (or one for you and one for your best friend). Seems like the pre-order thing is popular these days, and I'll tell you why. It's because being an independent musician is popular. We all get to do our own thing, and it's awesome. So what difference does it make if you get one now or get one in 5 months? Well, firstly -- I want you to hear it NOW! I'm so proud of this record. We had so much fun making it, and it sounds really, really good. I'm not going to pull out my usual false modesty here. For & Against is great. It's the best thing I have ever sung on, played on, or written. Some of my favorite people ever are on it. How's that? Secondly...hell. I started this long paragraph about how it costs money for independent artists to produce these things (no lie) and we front it out of our pocket (no lie)...but it got preachy and I've read one too many preachy pre-order emails for me to want to make one. So I'll just say it: if you're here, you have an interest in me as a person or as a songwriter or as a musician or as a tour monkey for people you like. Thank you. If you wanna support and get some music, I'm thrilled! No infomercial needed. Pre-Order For & Against here.

Grad School

Touring is good to me. In June I was named Employee of the Month. This week, while visiting our friends Kris and Jen who work at Adams State in Alamosa, CO, I was presented with my Master of Music Business. Pomp and Circumstance, please.

Folk Alliance

We leave on Tuesday for Folk Alliance...the alliance of Folk. A big time conference in Memphis where everybody goes to schmooze and jam. We hope to meet a lot of venues and charm them. We made postcards. We are so ready.

Rules of Engagement: The Merch Table

All right, so my oldest and dearest job title with what all I do nowadays is Merch Girl. I started this little escapade about a year and a half ago, and while I've stacked on more responsibility, this one remains an important part of the tour day. Be present. When it's appropriate, like at a louder venue where people aren't just sitting and listening quietly, I stay at the merch table the whole time because people will come by immediately after particular songs and ask if they can buy that song. It's good to give people immediate gratification and it probably seals the deal a lot faster than forcing them to remember what song they wanted out of the 20 they heard. They're all my favorite but try this one. People ask me my favorite all the time, and since all of the albums on the table are like unique little snowflakes full of goodness and wonder, I can't pick. But I always do for the sake of giving the buyer some direction. They don't really care what MY favorite is, they just want some decision-making help. Know thy merch. It's not hard for me, because I love Susan's records. I came into the job already studied up on each album. It's been a big help when people will come up and say, "I like the tree song, where is it?" or "the one that goes something like, 'doo doo duh nuh dooooo,' I want that one." People get a kick out of an exuberant salesperson. I've had to sell merch for other artists that I've just met sometimes if it's a shared gig, and it's a LOT harder to even begin when I'm not familiar with their material. Some nights, it pays the rent. Ideally, if I'm doing my other job as the booker well, this is not the case, but...some nights the merch sales are what make the difference between the artist walking away with zero profit after paying the band and buying the gas to get to the gig versus walking out with an ok payday. I try to make this a rare occurrence, but that's how the gig cookie crumbles sometimes. (So if you're ever on the fence about buying a CD at a show and the charming Merch Girl doesn't convince you, think about this paragraph). Be part of the show. I find it always helps when people know me as "The Merch Girl." When I'm a character in this traveling road show that people come to see, it can be an extra bit of uniqueness to the concert-goer and potential merch buyer. Be a good example. When I'm at the merch table, which is sometimes in the back and sometimes front and center in the room, I try to be a good spectator. It helps that I love listening anyway, but I'm always aware that I need to show the respect to the performer that I expect the audience to give the performer. Sometimes it can't be helped (see point number one, when someone wants to buy something in the middle of the show), but overall I'm sharing in the experience the crowd is having, and that makes things work smoothly. And I have been known to give death-stares to really loud and/or rude people who are getting in the way of people's listening. There we go; some more notes from the road. I'm fortunate that my excitement and support for what I sell is 100% genuine. Your mileage may vary, but these things seem to work for us. I did get promoted to Super Merch Girl after all.

Rules of Engagement: Booking

I've spent exactly one year now in some sort of official booking capacity for Susan. We do it the homegrown way by doing it together, combining her years of touring and networking with my OCD emailing skills. It is a good mix, and I have learned a LOT. Firstly, I learned that I enjoy it. I like the hunt, the follow ups, the satisfaction of inking something in on the calendar. It's like jumping your opponent twice and getting kinged in a game of checkers; that type of satisfying. I've learned it's not easy. Sometimes I wish my brain worked like they do in the movies, when all of the sudden the special effects team takes us on a trip through some genius mind that has all kinds of neurons connecting to different areas at once and we see how a brilliant thought forms. Some days I feel that powerful, when I can coincide maps and calendars and money and mileage. Some days I need to check everything 4 times to make sure it all makes sense, and correct as I go. I've learned how to steep in a town's music culture in a very short time from very far away. I think it really takes two years or so when you live in a place to really get the ins and outs of a community where you live. Unfortunately, touring musicians don't have that luxury, and a lot of the time, I'm educating myself on a region's culture from my desk in Wimberley. Where's the best place to play for our type of music? What's the best night? Can we do an off night in that town? When are the tourists there? Who else is in town that night? You learn short cuts and ways around things, so that sometimes it feels like I've been somewhere before even when I roll into town for the first time. I've learned that booking requires backbone. This is my boss's JOB, at which she does exceptionally well. I would argue she has honed her craft into the top 1% of people in her field (meet me in the parking lot if you'd like to argue, but I don't think you do). Sure it's all about music and art and joy, but it's also about being compensated well for a unique craft. So I walk into a negotiation knowing this, and it helps. Booking also requires give and take. Venue owners are in business, too. We're all here to make a living, and there's a delicate balance to the relationship between the artist and the owner. We have met so many good people who want live music in their establishments, and on the good days everyone walks out happy. This is why it's important to support live music...it's small business, culture, musicians, and your community all wrapped up into a little ecosystem. We do our best and I love working with venues that do their best. Lastly I've learned, being a songwriter myself, that this stuff has nothing to do with working on your music. But someone has to do it if you're the type who wants to get your music out there. The business brain and the time it takes to back and forth and plan and schedule is actually a huge detriment to working on one's art. I haven't really mastered the separation between the two yet, but it is possible. For now, my constant email checking will continue. And now, I have some shows to book. 2010 is 12 months long!

A bit o' recap for June

June might be processing a little better. When I first got back to town there was much to be done to catch up with things. Red Leaf is in full swing with camp and Susan is headed toward Canada while I am gearing up to finish out her year's schedule already. Dan said today I have lost some of the deer in the headlights look I had before we left on the tour and acquired a little more swagger and confidence, which is nice. I would agree. Before we left on the June tour, which was the first full tour 2000 miles away from a home base I had ever booked, I was FREAKED OUT. Maybe I hid it well to the outside world (maybe I didn't), but you take the thought of 3 people's livelihoods and put it all in your hands based on interacting with venue owners and ticket prices and promotion in places far from home, and it could either work well, be a disaster, or fall somewhere in between. I think it worked well overall...we planned well, budgeted, kept track of things, and kept on point. We did have one lucrative gig pull out a week before we were to be in that town, but Susan (who has obviously been through this more than once) handled it with grace, while I just yelled at the email on the screen in the passenger seat expecting that to fix it. Calm is important. And no one died, and we got some extra downtime in Denver so it worked out. Being the person who books and deals with venue owners and also being the tour manager who walks in the door is unique and seems to be working really well. It allows me to make connections with venues we like on a personal level and not just be a bunch of emails disconnected somewhere in cyberspace. I don't know how common it is to have the booking agent be the tour manager, but people seem surprised and pleased by it so far, myself included. My point...and I do have one...is there are plane tickets booked for New York and a week blocked out for Nashville in the fall and I am excited. Travel and music pretty much top my list and this year has been full of both. Fortunate! And I will still probably scream at a few more emails.

Algebra? Really?

Here's a word problem for ya: A singer/songwriter is offered a gig with a choice of payment options. They are: - take a $450 guarantee versus 80% of the door less $150 for sound at an $8 ticket price - take 90% of the door less $150 for sound with no guarantee - take a flat $650 guarantee with no versus percentage If the singer/songwriter expects to pull in a crowd of 112 people, which deal is the best? We did an Excel spreadsheet with formulas today to figure out something like this. The numbers were completely different, but the formulas are the same. It made my head hurt. We think we picked the right deal.

How Tweet of You

I don't want to brag about my penchant for getting free things because I blog, but I mean...I have a track record. This time, however, Twitter -- which is all the news these days but I'd like to point out that I've been tweeting for quite some time -- has been the cause of my mailbox joy this week. More and more companies are getting Twitter accounts, I have noticed, and it's neat to be able to reach them and say "HEY HEY HEY I LOVE YOU!" without filling out a customer service form or something. Because who has time for that? I always have time for a tweet. Luckily, El Pinto salsa has a Twitter page. I love them because they are real New Mexican chile and salsa (and if you need a refresher on what "chile" is versus "chili" please read this because it's my magnum opus). El Pinto also happens to be available in Austin and Wimberley, enabling many pots of green chile stew and many breakfast burritos to be made. It's almost like being home. This is only one jar because the other one is being refrigerated because I popped that sucker open already. Anyway...I was tweeting away at El Pinto and they asked me what my favorite was...and I replied that their "Wild and Fiery Chipotle" is my current love. So they sent me 2 jars. In the mail. Heck yeah! So thanks, El Pinto...and thank you social media. You bring us together and make my taste buds happy.

Plotting Panels

I'm back among the living. This morning my throat does not feel like it's trying to take a vacation and walk out of my neck, so we're doing ok. It's grey and cold and rainy here, just when I wore a t-shirt multiple days in a row. I'm cool with that. I am going to have a crew pass (badge? wristband? I dunno how that works) to SXSW next week. WOOHOO! The lovely and talented Elizabeth Wills, who I have been semi-stalking because I love hearing her sing, is hooking me up. She's got a SXSW Showcase, so I'm going to be a monkey in all my glory and help her out for that gig. And the rest of the week...I'm gonna try and hit up panels about promotion, gigging, blogging, digital music distribution, and yes...MERCH. This is a conference with a panel about merch. The love. Here is some Elizabeth Wills for your Wednesday...her voice is pretty much like if you hiked up a mountain in Switzerland and then found some bubbly spring that no one has ever discovered and there was a wildflower field next to it, and maybe some puppies romping around. It's pure like that.

Lessons Learning

It's been quite the few days over here on planet Jana. The long weekend consisted of a planned "camping" trip and an unplanned gig. Those of you who know me well know that's pretty backwards for moi. I use "quotes" around "camping" because I slept in a house all weekend, but we sat around campfires a lot and played guitar and my buddy Amy made about 4 killer meals all in one dutch oven over coals. That is skill, people. Also Susan the Boss beat me at Guitar Hero, which is...I suppose...how it should be*. Due to some mix-ups in booking transitioning, Susan found out she had a gig on Valentine's Day in San Antonio...the day before the gig. (Please note right here that if any blame is to be levied here it is not on anyone mentioned in this blog mmmmkay?). This is not optimal because it does not allow one to properly do things like...tell people you're playing a gig. Luckily all 20 or so campers piled into vans and we all drove to Casbeer's in San Antonio, whereupon it was bestowed upon me the title of Opening Act. I was super psyched because Casbeer's at the Church is a fantastic venue and listening room with a great reputation. My comrades commented that "Game Face Jana" appeared for awhile before the gig; I really forced myself to mentally prep for this space. The good news was there were plenty of friendly faces in the crowd...ones I had met before and ones I had yet to meet. I had a great time playing. Susan's set was excellent, and she brought up some of our talented fellow campers to play as well. We kind of bring the big guns when we rough it, so "campfire jam" means something entirely different when a bunch of pro musicians are hanging around. Tiffany Shea rocked us, Andy Pate cracked us up, and Elizabeth Wills about raised the roof with her gorgeousness. Marian worked the hardest of us all that night, because she played fiddle with all of us. So much fun! So all in all...the unexpected turned into a very good thing and I had quite the educational Valentine's Day...about the love/hate thing we all have for the music business. The good thing to keep in mind is that most people who do it - from the artists to the venues to the listeners - do it because they love it. That's what it takes to keep all of us crazy musicians off the streets, yo. * I totally just let her win.

Give Jana Away!

Also see Music To Take Away...

Neither epidemic nor riot...

This week is flying by. The music school life is hoppin' and while Susan is off gigging in Atlanta and writing in Nashville, I have a lot of business stuff to attend to back here...like designing posters, for instance. And making sure they get to the right venues. And making contracts for upcoming gigs. My favorite line from an old contract we pulled out is, "if the Artist is unable to perform as required by this contract because of acts of God, strikes, illness, riots, epidemics, or accidents, they shall not be in breach...". It's nice to know we have an out if there's an ebola outbreak or perhaps a riot over who gets the last hoodie. In other news I welcomed a new iPhone into my life and I'm not quite sure what existed before it. Truly a useful tool, truly a good investment, truly going to make me a good booking agent in training, among other things. I think my business card would say: "Jana Pochop: In Training" for the next 60 years, if I had a really honest one printed up. Except I'm an expert at mailing posters.

Vote for porterdavis and suSANG!

Ok kids. There's this thing called the Austin Chronicle Music Poll. It actually really does help the bands who get voted on in this thing...it gets their names out there and the more people know names, the better. You can vote no matter where you live. (Hi, out-of-state blog readers!) Dan's band porterdavis is set to release a great new album this year and they deserve to be at the top of the heap in this thing. All of you who have seen or heard porterdavis know they're great. Dan also did a thrilling job producing my EP "The Early Year" and we're hard at work on the next one. Support the Producer, yo! You all know Susan Gibson, and she put out her newest record "New Dog, Old Tricks" this year so it's eligible for album of the year. She's tops in any category you want to fit her into. Suggested Ballot: AUSTIN BAND OF THE YEAR: porterdavis AUSTIN MUSICIAN OF THE YEAR: Mike Meadows - porterdavis AUSTIN SONG OF THE YEAR: Perfect World - Susan Gibson AUSTIN ALBUM OF THE YEAR: New Dog, Old Tricks - Susan Gibson BLUES: porterdavis ROOTS ROCK: porterdavis FOLK: Susan Gibson FEMALE VOCALS: Susan Gibson MALE VOCALS: Daniel Barrett ELECTRIC GUITAR: Daniel Barrett ACOUSTIC GUITAR: Lloyd Maines DRUMS/PERCUSSION: Mike Meadows MISCELLANEOUS INSTRUMENT: Simon Wallace - harmonica SONGWRITER: Susan Gibson Go Vote! It makes a difference!

Because Terri Hendrix Rocks Like That

I got my Terri Hendrix CDs in the mail today...because I pre-ordered them because, well...WHY NOT!? The big news from Terri was that the pre-orders themselves paid for the recording and printing of these CDs and will pay for her NEXT record, too. That is amazing. In these times of record labels dropping artists and folding and freaking out because people are stealing music by burning a CD for their friends...Terri is the one still standing and still putting out awesome music...independent since 1996. Who's got the right idea?

Positively European

My new tool for the road is a "Euro Lap Desk" (that was what the package said anyway). It's a big piece of wood with padding on the bottom, so I can laptop in the van in style. I've also successfully used it as a writing desk and today I used it to eat a salad with no mishaps or spillage whatsoever. Truly, the Euro Lap Desk is a thing of beauty. What makes it "Euro"...we can't figure out. Maybe lap desks are big over there. Hello, mobile office. We're on our way to the White Elephant Saloon in Fort Worth...

It's Done. And other random updates.

Well...we have a mastered version of The Early Year that is going to be the one that everyone gets in their mailboxes, email boxes, on their computer speakers, and on their turntables. Ok, no turntables. We're not doing a vinyl release...yet, hehheh. I am proud of it. With a capital P! And there's the cover...woot! What is holding me up right now is that I am a little slow to comprehend the embedding of ISRC codes on the tracks, still...so I did not realize I needed to register with the RIAA before this could occur. So I am registering, and then we'll get the codes, which get embedded in the master, which gets shipped to Oasis for duplication. I hope this goes fast. Today is busywork day so I can get my PO box set up (as much as taking orders from my home address via the internet is appealing, haha) and file our paperwork for Bourn Records. And send a fax to the RIAA. Who has a fax machine these days? Oh, that's right...business people. (And Kinko's! Woot!) I am still all happy from last weekend at Threadgill's. Jamming on stage with Terri and Lloyd and Glenn was pretty much a highlight of my...forever. It's neat to think about the things I've been fortunate enough to do in my two years of living here. A lot of the above paperwork and business stuff is thanks to Terri and Lloyd and their never-ending sharing of smarts and experience. From the Life's A Song workshop last October to Terri letting me harass her and pick her brain all the time throughout this past year...it's good to have people who have your back. Dan and Suz and Terri and Lloyd are all really insanely integral parts of me as an artist and of this record...I hope it does them all proud. Thanks for the chance, kids.

Productive Trip

Back in Austin with my college buds Jamie and Mike. The 12 hour drive was punctuated by convenience store stops and a couple of detours in Lubbock and Abilene. Jamie had the joy of driving through the construction, but she navigated well! While in Albuquerque enjoying the family, business partner Josh and I also managed to squeeze in some quality productivity time. We signed the DBA for our Bourn Records label, so The Early Year will have a home. Keeps things tracked and accounted for easier. Why Bourn Records? The definition of "bourn", in an old timey (ok, archaic) translation, is "a destination or goal." We also liked that when you pronounce it, it sounds like the usual "born." So it covers the beginning and the goal of things and we like that. Cool. I also got my songwriting publishing paperwork in order through ASCAP, so now all my songs are published under Patient Grasshopper Music. Again, another term that Josh and I repeat to each other a lot. The last couple years have been full of meeting full of, "Wow, I wish we could fast forward to..." and the other one saying, "Patience, Grasshopper!" Lately stuff is moving at a good clip so we don't say it as much. I thought it would be a good reminder at all times, though...even songs come at a slow pace. That's cool. So...a record label and some publishing. Not bad for a week in Nuevo Mexico!

Learning from the Master

Postcards to hand out so people know The Early Year is on its way! Greetings from the mountains in New Mexico. I'm holed up outside of Albuquerque for a family reunion and there are good times all around, including games of speed Scrabble, green chile stew, hiking, and blue skies to the moon and back. Excellent! Thank goodness wifi extends to the outskirts of civilization, because we've been going back and forth with the very cool dude who is mastering The Early Year in Berlin, Germany. The wonders of the internet allow us to upload files and he sends them back, and nary an ocean crossed by either of us. Amazing. The past two days between fits of Scrabble and harassing my nieces and nephews, I've been cramming in a bunch of info about the mastering process. Apparently you embed ISRC (International Standard Recording Code) info into the master...which enables royalties to be tracked and tells your computer/iTunes/whatever info about what track is what. Makes sense. Lots of numbers and letters. Off to harass some more family members, haha...

Friday Randomization of Text

Greetings from my mechanic's waiting room, where they are cool enough to have wifi. No problems, just new belts for the car before I go to New Mexico in a week or so. No breaking down in the middle of somewhere! I think I'm dehydrated as I feel my face shriveling up while I type. That's interesting. To me, anyway. We're busy getting mastering of the EP all set up and ready to do, the artwork is coming along nicely, and I need to get some paperwork in line today. Filling out forms is ok if it's for something fun, I have decided. I am currently enthralled with Sugarland's new CD, "Love on the Inside." As I have mentioned before, they are one of my guilty Nashville pleasures, and they did a great job with this new record (please do not judge by the first single...it's summer fun but the rest goes a lot deeper). Jennifer Nettles' voice is fantastic. It's also neat that they released a version with bonus material FIRST, and will release the "normal" album in a few weeks. Usually artists release a record and then a year later you can buy the "Bonus Track" version which just makes the diehard fans buy things twice. This is the way forward, methinks. Don't mess with your fans.

Oh Corporate America.

Three Stories. Before I proceed, I will state that I totally love small businesses, hope to officially start one this year, and frequent them as much as possible. One of the many things Albuquerque and Austin have in common is embracing the small business owner and having a populace that is conscious about where they buy their goods. That being said, I have had 3 really awesome experiences with Corporate America lately, and had to share how one can learn from these peeps, too. Case 1: Starbucks. Ok, I'm a bit of a fangirl. I consume a lot of my Austin caffiene at the indie shops, where great people hang out and work, but when I want a cup to go with a predictable taste, I head for the Bucks. Plus, my sister lives in Seattle and I have visited both their headquarters and the first Starbucks store ever (on the Pier, check it out), so I feel an affinity. Plus their people are generally pleasant to talk to and get health benefits, so I respect that. Anyway, apparently a while back some of us registered Starbucks card holders (I know, nerd alert) had a day or so where our points were not available. This did not affect me in any way because I didn't try to use my card at that time. Lo and behold one day I get a package from Starbucks, and in it is an apology note for the card issue and a POUND OF ESPRESSO ROAST. Huzzah! That's how to treat a customer...one who didn't even know anything had gone wrong. Lesson: Go the extra mile without question and without exception. Case 2: Southwest Airlines. I usually fly Southwest because they're usually the cheapest and fly to cities I frequent. Their in-flight jokes are a welcome break from the generic safety lecture (I swear one flight attendant said, "If you are flying with more than one child and must choose which one to put an oxygen mask on first, please for the good of us all, choose the child with the most potential." Mwaha). So I was a little delayed getting out of Seattle this week because they had to fix a problem on the aircraft. Didn't bug me at all. In fact, I posted on Twitter: "made it back to austin with only one delay getting out of seattle. plane doodad fixing. good for them fixing the plane. i love southwest." It did not occur to me that I was Twitter friends with Southwest. It also did not occur to me that they would ever track Tweets about them. But they do, and Southwest wrote back: "We LUV you too. And glad to hear we have our doodads in order. Sorry for the inconvenience." Shucks. Lesson: the personal touch goes a long way to making a lifelong fan. Case 3...Oasis Disc Manufacturing. To be continued tomorrow because It's 3 AM. Right.