Week 9 –  The Real World

Ah yes…the real world!…preparation, networking, and follow ups.

Person-to-person networking in a large setting is not easy for me…as lots of times people congregate in small groups; and you can feel excluded…or just don’t know how to include yourself. And I just feel plain uncomfortable in large group settings.

Lucky for me though, I love to hear people talk about their lives….everyone is so different and unique. That is, if I can get them to open up. And I like one-on-one conversations….so I look around the room for the person that’s standing alone. Then I walk up and ask them how they’re enjoying the event….and gauge their reaction from there.

Networking: So, will I be putting myself out there and networking this year? You betcha’. First up is Toronto’s ‘Canadian Music Week’, then NASI’s ‘Spring Break’ in Nashville, then ASCAP’s ‘I Create Music Expo’ in LA. That’ll take me to the end of April. There are a number of other conferences and songwriting seminars I’ll be attending for the rest of the year, and next year. 

Preparation: reading background information on music supervisors, publishers, and producers that will be at the event. …..bringing business cards (both lyricist card, and publisher card)….demo CDs…and most of all….a large smile, and a firm handshake.

Follow-up: As soon as I can, I write on the back of their business card, what we talked about. Then I’ll send an email mentioning where we met…stating how nice it was to meet them, and (if appropriate) add any personal info that we talked about. If it’s an industry contact that I need to keep in touch with, then I’ll send up follow-up emails at certain intervals.

So, here it is…the end of our 9 Week Challenge. In recognition of challenges, here’s a potential lyric that I started sometime ago:

The Challenge    by Lucy LeBlanc © 2010

Verse I

So there it is

You threw at me…another challenge

But I won’t wither away

I’ll do what ever it takes

I’ll endure

I’ll live to fight another day

Verse II

One more challenge

For me to face….I’m ready to battle

Go ahead - bring it on

I’ve been through this before

I’m prepared

I’m here and standing strong

Chorus

For I have soared with eagles

And danced with my devils.

With a smile on my lips,

I’ll cast sunbeams

Into the drooling jaws of the dark abyss.

Verse III

When I beat my fists

Against the wailing wall…my head bowed low

My heart drenched in sorrow

I lift up one hand

And grasp the sun

I’ll survive another tomorrow.

Chorus

For I have soared with eagles

And danced with my devils.

With a smile on my lips,

I’ll cast sunbeams

Into the drooling jaws of the dark abyss.

Bridge

So, I tell you this

I’m ready and standing strong

So go ahead – bring it on.

I’m standing strong

Bring it on.

Chorus

For I have soared with eagles

And danced with my devils.

With a smile on my lips,

I’ll cast sunbeams

Into the drooling jaws of the dark abyss.

So, bring it on.

Week 8 – Continuum Program

A continuum program?…well, first I had to look up the definition of continuum. I was certain that Ariel had made the word up…after all there are two ‘u’s back to back. I wonder how many words have two ‘u’s back to back? Ack…the things I think about!

So, here’s the definition from my Webster’s Dictionary. (Did you know that Noah Webster started the first American dictionary when he was 43 years old…..and that it took him over 27 years to finish it?) But I digress….here’s the definition:

Continuum: Continuous whole, quantity, or series; thing whose parts cannot be separated or separately discerned. Hmmmm.

Well, there was also a math definition….but I’ll skip that one….I mean I don’t understand math at the best of times….cardinal numbers….what is a cardinal number? Maybe, I’ll look that up later…one more word to add to my list of undefinedness. See now, I’m pretty sure I made up that word….Spell check doesn’t like it. Ah, well. Undefinable…now that works…or should work. Huh?….it doesn’t work with spell check…but works for Webster. I’m on Webster’s side.

Okay…so, continuum. In this chapter, Ariel uses a funnel as the visual aspect of the continuum program. I kinda’ tuned out at this point….something about the visual of heading downwards towards your goal that didn’t appeal to me.

So, I’ve been giving it some thought. I prefer a pyramid….working from the bottom to the top (actually just the funnel, upside down).

It seems to me that this social media networking strategy requires a lot of work and patience and endurance, not to mention ingenuity….sorta’ like the Egyptians putting those pyramids together. Every stone connected together, and built upon each other to reach the top.

So, pyramid building for me.

Slow and steady, step by step, stone by stone…I’ll get there. 

Week 7 – What Have I Learned?

What have I learned? Well, for starters, social media ain’t the way it used to be…and I miss the face-to-face contact. Skype comes close though…when there’s a continent between you and your loved ones.

I was at a house concert last weekend….the talent and emotional honesty from the performers was palatable. That synergistic energy flowed through to the audience, and was fed back to the performers. It was like a giant love fest….well, okay, an intimate love fest….it was a house concert, after all.

Social media, at it’s finest. 

The second thing I learned is that you can spend an in-ordinate amount of time sitting at your keyboard, trying to generate more and more social media…..to the extend that you can (if you’re not careful), find that you’re spending less time with your friends and family.

Now, that’s more like social dis-media. Sounds like a disease, doesn’t it? Perhaps it’s the start of some sort of isolation…and a fixation with quick small bites of information across the digital highway.

And I want it fast…fast…and amusing. Whadda’ mean, I have to wade through pages of discourse?  Quick….give me the theory of relativity…in 21 words or less…and please, glam it up.

My attention span is decreasing. Sound bites…witty sound bites…sum it up quick! And of course, give me new content…always more…more…and new content.

Whadda’ mean, you wanna sit by the fire, and contemplate life? Who has time? Fire up that laptop, bring out the smart phone, connect, turn on…the answers are all there, in quick little blips, from your fingers.

Ah,…what? Stop, and smell the roses? Is there an app for that?

My ears are open. My eyes will read. My mind’s on overdrive. My fingers won’t work.

Today, I’ve decided how I will tackle Week 6 on Blogging. I won’t do it. No, I won’t…I won’t (sounding a little petulant. here).

An on-line diary is not my thing…I’ve never even kept a notebook diary, or a journal….and I don’t feel like starting one now (okay, a little more petulance).

However, and this is the good part (pay attention now)…..however…I will read other participant’s blogs from our Media Challenge…and I will comment on them. I will close my eyes, and listen to their music, wholly absorbed.

So, I’m opting for Option #2….Become an Avid Blog Reader and Comment Back. Yes, yes….the all important feedback…the pat on the back…or the sassy rebuttal. Without our comments, how do the bloggers know if they’re making any impact…are their words simply dissipating into thin air?

Ah, the difference a blog reader makes. I mean, what’s an orator without an audience? What’s a blogger without his bloggees? Does music need to be heard?

I’ve found my place. I am needed after all. Thanks all round. There now, that wasn’t so bad, was it? Cut me a little slack here….I’m still in the game.

Well, maybe not the 9 Week Challenge….more like the 9 Month Trial. Ah, ha! One more step forward………

Oh, how I’ve enjoyed this week. I’m not a performing musician….so I didn’t have to set up a Youtube channel….yeah!!

So, what have I done this week, that’s music related?

1. Set up a Soundcloud account for Midnight Mama Music.

2. Sent a follow-up email with a link to Soundcloud to a music supervisor that I met at a SAC event.

3. Worked on lyrics for a rock song that I’m co-writing with a musician in Brazil.

4. Registered for NSAI Spring Training in Nashville at the end of March.

5. Booked a hotel in Toronto for Canadian Music Week in March.

6. Took part in a Nashville song critique session, via Skype.

7. Joined Airplay Direct…and placed John’s blues songs there..for international radio stations to download.

8. Sent follow-up emails to radio stations that downloaded John’s songs.

9. Submitted songs to TAXI listings.

10. Sent out applications to blues and folk festivals…on behalf of John. 

11. Took part in SAC’s webinar on Tax Tips for musicians.

12. Planned my event schedule for this year and next.

13. Submitted deposit for Hornby’s Island Blues Camp, in May.

And now, as an on-going part of this challenge’s first week assignment…setting more goals, and keeping myself accountable.

And on a personal note….I’m working on my next belt for Taekwondo.

I enjoy this social media challenge…not!I enjoy blogging….not! Am I a Luddite?…perhaps. Let’s examine the evidence.

PC at home….check 

Laptop...nope 

Smartphone….no   

Cellphone…check (but do I turn it on?…Only if I’m running late, or need to locate someone )

Text…no (well, I have used it occasionally….when I’m out of town)

Website…just started setting one up, but still not sure that I need one

Twitter… don’t even get me started down this road…I don’t even tell my family what I’m doing three times a day, every day of the year.

 So, there’s a few no’s up there. Maybe, I should list what I do like in this digital world:

 Email…yes

Facebook….yes

Co-write via email….yes

Co-write via Skype…yes

On-line sessions via Skype…yes

Webinars…yes

Youtube…yes

Soundcloud…yes

Dropbox…yes

As a lyricist, I’ve co-written with musicians that I’ve never met in person, or even talked to on the phone, or Skype….songwriters in Australia and the US…all via email…and recently I’ve started a co-write with a fellow in Brazil.

So, am I a Luddite? Perhaps, perhaps, not. Either way, I’m slogging through this social media challenge…falling behind….a bit obstinate….but still here. 

Yep, that good ol’ standby…procrastination. If all else fails.

Week 3 - Setting up a website. It’s enough to make me run for the hills. Why have I signed up for this Media Challenge? I think maybe, it was the word challenge that drew me in. I mean, who can resist a good challenge?

Now, if it only wasn’t so much…well, like work.

So, my mind is whizzing out in all directions, I can’t seem to capture any good thoughts, and my focus is gone. What was I doing? Ah, yes…procrastination.

What to do?  Website…oh gosh, where to start? If I’m been having trouble logging into my blog at Tumblr.com, what makes me think I can design and set up a website? So, says the glass half empty side of me.

Ah…but wait, the Pollyanna in me trills…”of course, you can do it”…”focus”…”put your mind to it”….’baby steps’…time to queue in motivation…”The Hills are Alive with the Sound of Music”.

Overcome…overtake…”just do it”.

I don’t have to actually design the website…the wheel has already been invented…I just fill in the blanks and voila…a perfectly designed website, that reflects the myriad parts of my musical journey.  So, says the glass half full side of me.

Reality? I don’t know yet….but I have a feeling that it’s going to slap in the face…and make me sit up and want to bite down on something hard.

So, here’s my blog…but no website yet. Procrastination. I’ll keep you informed on my progress…well…maybe…..

A brand for me….Who am I? How do I come across to others?

Well, as long as I can remember people said that I was nice (and hopefully, I’m still nice). Nice???

How I wanted to be anything but nice….I mean nice sounds so blah, boring. Nice?…Why couldn’t I be captivating, dynamic, challenging, mesmerizing, emotional engaging, intelligent, sensitive, beautiful (in my dreams), active, daring, mysterious, funny, adventurous, maybe even high strung….but nice? Ugh.

Nice kinda sits there….static…kinda vanilla like. Yeah, that’s it…like vanilla ice cream….but I wanted to be chocolate, maple walnut, cherry supreme, marshmallow delight, or Rocky Road. Yeah…Rocky Road….something different and exciting.

But nice it was. So, I started thinking about it….maybe, it’s all in how you look at it. I happen to like vanilla ice cream…it’s kinda basic, pleasant, natural and honest (not all gussied up with other flavors)…so I guess that’s the way I am. Nice….vanilla, basic, honest and true…yeah, nice…so, give it up for Nice!

So, that’s me….just like all the other nice people in the world. The ones that smile at you when they pass you on the street, and hold the door open for the person coming in behind them…or know when you’re feeling down, and how to cheer you up, or comfort you. You know…all those nice people.

Ah, but don’t mistake nice for lack luster. There’s a percolating current running underneath. The one that sometimes people find surprising…when they find out that you break boards with your elbow strikes and side kicks in Taekwondo…that you went kayaking in the Antarctic….that you love travelling alone to LasVegas…that you savor new experiences…river rafting, rock rappelling, or the Polar Bear Swim…or staying up all night, just because….always testing yourself…wondering can you do it?

But, it’s uncomfortable to talk about yourself. I’m sure I’m not much different than all the other nice people we know…we all have our complex parts under that wrapper of nice. 

So, how does this relate to songwriting? Well, for a closet songwriter, it meant getting out to local Song Camps and Retreats….learning from creative teachers…meeting other songwriters…then expanding out to Nashville and LA…networking….defining yourself as a lyricist….co-writing…and now setting up a publishing company to represent an established Vancouver artist.  

So, here it is. My brand:

Lucy LeBlanc: “Lyricist….from folk to rock”

Midnight Mama Music: “Watercolours of Sound”

Okay, so I’ve signed on for…I don’t know exactly what yet. It’s called a Social Media Challenge. I mean, who knew that social media was more than face to face chats, phone calls, meetings and press releases. I’ve been on Facebook for awhile (and getting addicted to it)…and now here it is. My first blog.

And they say that Twitter is next, and a website. Oh lordy. I’m going to take it one step at a time.

First week….setting goals. Done. Pasted on my mirror. At the end of each day, list 5 things I’ve accomplished (big or small). All right. I can do that.

Yea…my first post. And…..I joined Skype today. Two firsts in one day.