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Facebook Tip: If you have a public page for your band, do not put up a post that is only text. If you do, the Facebook algorithm will intentionally squash it, limiting its reach to even fewer people than normal. Make sure every post has a photo, a video, or a link to a web page.  "Compared to..." by Seth Godin Without a doubt, there's someone taller than you, faster than you, cuter than you. We don't have to look very far to find someone who is better paid, more respected and getting more than his fair share of credit. And social media: Of course there are people with more followers, more likes and more of just about anything you'd like to measure. So what? What is the comparison for? Is your job to be the most at a thing? Perhaps if you play baseball, the goal is to have the highest on-base percentage. But it's probably more likely that you should focus on the entire team winning the game. Just because a thing can be noticed, or compared, or fretted over doesn't mean it's important, or even relevant. Better, I think, to decide what's important, what needs to change, what's worth accomplishing. And then ignore all comparisons that don't relate. The most important comparison, in fact, is comparing your work to what you're capable of. Sure, compare. But compare the things that matter to the journey you're on. The rest is noise.  Cris: When you introduce someone to Cowboy Mouth, how do you describe them for someone who hasn’t heard them before, someone who hasn’t gone to a show before? Mark Bryan of Hootie and the Blowfish: That’s a great question. And I have a great answer for it. Because early on I realized that the only way to put it into words … you could sit there and try to describe it for 15 minutes, but a quick way to put it into a context where people knew that I was serious about it was I would say, “They are one of my top three all time live acts I’ve ever seen.” And then they’d go, “Who are the others.” And I’d say, “The Who and Fishbone.” So all of a sudden if you get a visual of The Who and Fishbone, you realize that there is going to be an energy that’s other worldly, if you have ever seen either of those two acts or even heard of what they do live. And I can put Cowboy Mouth on that level and mean it. Cris: That’s great. It’s like describing them without describing them. Mark: Yeah. Like I said, rather than try to describe them, it sort of lets people know how serious I am about “You have to go see this show.”  John Pierce (bass player for Huey Lewis & The News): I first got to know the guys through Bob Brown. Enough that in 1986, when Mario (Cipollina) had a hand injury, they called me up. Cris: You were with them on the road for like a month while he was healing? John: That's right. And they were at their peak. And I had one day to learn the stuff. Literally one day. Mario actually had cards that he would hold up on the side of the stage with notes. Anyway, as you can imagine, it was ridiculously fun. And I remember … I think we were in Springfield, Kansas. (After healing) Mario had done a show or two. And I was still there just in case. But he was okay. And they were like, “OK, John. That's it. You're done. Thank you. You can go home.” And so we are at the airport and the band leaves. And all of a sudden, it's quiet. The whole party went away. I mean, that was such a bummer. It was just so fun. (photo: Rock Subculture)  Everyone I know fast forwards through commercials. So why, when bands have their own channels in the form of Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, etc., do so many artists only post commercials? I see numerous band pages where the only posts are: > Buy this album > Buy this shirt > Buy tickets for this show Should that be part of your social media? Yes. Should they be the only posts you have? No. I don't know anyone who would subscribe to the All Advertising Channel.  |
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