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Topic: Random Thoughts from Tin Pan South |
David Pennybaker
From:
Conroe, TX USA
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Posted 9 Apr 2001 9:25 am |
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Well, I just got back from Nashville and NSAI's annual Tin Pan South songwriters' festival. I highly recommend this to anybody who likes hearing music accompanied by only guitar or piano (and the occasional harmonica) and performed by the original songwriter. This is the way music is meant to be heard.
This is set up as a 4-day event, with 7 clubs parcipitating, each with 2 nightly shows (7 pm and 9:30 pm). Each show has 4 songwriters singing "in the round" (well, some places didn't really have them in the round, but they still took turns singing).
If you could somehow be in 7 places at once, you'd have the opportunity to hear 224 songwriters! Unfortunately, you're limited to only 32 if you attend 2 shows each night.
I got to meet Tim Mensy, a great songwriter, and a guy who's got an incredible voice, too. I don't understand why his album (in the early 90's) wasn't a success. If you ever get a chance to buy his album, do it. I just checked Amazon, they don't carry it. Too bad -- glad I have mine.
Hearing these guys/gals sing the songs was at least as good as hearing the original recording artists, IMO. Don Henry singing "Where Have You Been" was just incredible. I've never been a fan of The Kinleys, but hearing Tony Haselden sing "Please" actually made me like the song.
The good news is that there are STILL good songs out there that haven't been recorded yet, just waiting for the right person to pick them up. It's not all "new country crap" -- so don't blame the songwriters.
I also ran into Keith Urban there -- he starts his tour soon with Brooks and Dunn. Unfortunately, he won't have a steel player with him on tour.
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The Unofficial Photographer of The Wilkinsons
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Boomer
From:
Brentwood, TN USA
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Posted 9 Apr 2001 10:35 am
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| Marketing. Best, Boomer |
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David Pennybaker
From:
Conroe, TX USA
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Posted 9 Apr 2001 12:59 pm
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You mean "lack of marketing", Boomer ?
We must've stayed pretty near you last week -- we were at the Extended Stay hotel there just east of I-65 in Brentwood. I stayed at the Courtyard there last year for FanFair.
It's scary, I think I'm becoming very familiar with the area now. And I sure wish we had one of those Backyard Burger places down here. Great burgers.
Anyway, the marketing must've been TERRIBLE for him to fail. I had kinda assumed that singer/songwriters like him, Paul Overstreet, Mike Reid (who all had like 1 or 2 albums) had just decided on their own to get back to writing, and to pass on the singing part of the career.
But I asked Tim about it, and in his case that's certainly not true. He just said that his songs never got any radio airplay. The only one I remember on the radio was "That's Good -- No, That's Bad".
He played "That Ain't The Grandpa That I Know" for me at Tin Pan South. I love that song. I don't think it ever got released as a single -- if it had, I just don't see how it couldn't have been Top 10 at least.
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The Unofficial Photographer of The Wilkinsons
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Boomer
From:
Brentwood, TN USA
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Posted 9 Apr 2001 1:55 pm
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| You're right, lack of marketing. Tim shouldn't give up, though. a great talent. Best, Boomer |
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KEVIN OWENS
From:
OLD HICKORY TN USA
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Posted 9 Apr 2001 4:58 pm
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I heard the blues show from the "Blue Bird" on WSM with all the cussing and stuff. That was a waste of air time. Just more hippie $hit from Nashville. They have every type of music except country and I mean country not that "alt. country out of tune whiny stuff" or the "look at me I can't sing without a protools and I want to be a rock star" crap or the "I have to put 14 chords in a song to cover up the fact that I have no singing range". I bet Ernest Tubb has wore out the inside of his casket as many times as he's rolled over in his grave because of the way the music business and the city of Nashville has treated country music.
Sorry I missed my medication.
Kevin |
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David Pennybaker
From:
Conroe, TX USA
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Posted 10 Apr 2001 6:19 am
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Well, Tim's not giving up just yet. (Of course, he's still writing great songs, too). He said he's working on a new album -- it'll be on an independent label this time. And they're working on how to get advertising and distribution done via the internet, without having to involve radio and all the up-front expenses that requires. I wish him luck in his endeavor.
Kevin, you must've listened to the wrong show (I didn't know they aired any of those on radio). I sure wouldn't go to a "blues show" in Nashville -- just like I avoided "rock night" at one of the clubs.
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The Unofficial Photographer of The Wilkinsons
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KEVIN OWENS
From:
OLD HICKORY TN USA
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Posted 10 Apr 2001 3:35 pm
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The show I heard was on WSM "part of Tin Pan South, live from the Blue Bird Cafe" and it was a disgrace to professional musicians of any type of music.
Kevin |
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erik
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Posted 10 Apr 2001 5:06 pm
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Someone with clout should hand pick a small stable of high quality singer/songwriters who are having trouble getting a break and market them on one web site, and try to create a brand name, instead of 100 people trying to do it on a hundred different sites. |
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erik
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Posted 10 Apr 2001 5:08 pm
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| (erased double post) [This message was edited by erik on 10 April 2001 at 06:11 PM.] |
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David Pennybaker
From:
Conroe, TX USA
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Posted 11 Apr 2001 9:24 am
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Kevin,
Do you know which night, and what time, that show was?
The shows started at 7 pm and 9:30 pm -- and it was every night from Wednesday to Saturday.
We had tried for reservations at the BlueBird for the Saturday shows, but couldn't get them. Good thing, though -- because getting to see Tim Mensy, Fred Knobloch, Tony Haselden, Jim Weatherly, et al at the Sutler was a great experience.
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The Unofficial Photographer of The Wilkinsons
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David Pennybaker
From:
Conroe, TX USA
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Posted 11 Apr 2001 9:27 am
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I agree, Eric.
Create a site with a name like countrysongwriters.com and market the CD's there.
Better yet, provide small, mono, low-quality MP3's of the music for people to truly sample. Then let people place an order for the songs they want and have them burned to CD. Should be able to easily get 15 - 18 songs on a CD.
Price them at somewhere between $0.50 and $1.00 per track. With a minimum of 6 tracks allowed per CD (to cover costs).
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The Unofficial Photographer of The Wilkinsons
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KEVIN OWENS
From:
OLD HICKORY TN USA
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Posted 11 Apr 2001 10:19 am
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David,
It was between 10 and 10:30 Friday night.
Kevin |
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David Pennybaker
From:
Conroe, TX USA
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Posted 11 Apr 2001 10:21 am
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Oh, yeah -- I almost forgot. One other "not-so-random" thought.
SheDaisy's been brought up here before. Specifically, their vocal talents (or lack thereof) as displayed on certain TV appearances.
I've always assumed that these were probably difficulties encountered due to the monitor mixes. My experience at Tin Pan South lends credibility to that assumption.
The two sisters showed up to help Krystin at Douglas Corner Cafe on Thursday night. I can assure you their vocals were outstanding.
Whether you like them or not (I happen to like them), they do have good voices -- and aren't in need of much help (if any) with software/hardware "fixes".
I, too, have seen some of their TV performances that were less than stellar. And now I can state even more emphatically that it's got to be something about the monitor mix -- either that, or a really bad case of the butterflies.
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The Unofficial Photographer of The Wilkinsons
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David Pennybaker
From:
Conroe, TX USA
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Posted 11 Apr 2001 10:26 am
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Thanks, Kevin.
Assuming no significant tape delay of the show, that would have been:
Vince Melamed
Bob DiPiero
Gary Burr
Jim Photoglo
The only name there I recognize is Gary Burr.
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The Unofficial Photographer of The Wilkinsons
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KEVIN OWENS
From:
OLD HICKORY TN USA
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Posted 14 Apr 2001 6:37 am
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David,
That was the line up. You can hear better talent in almost any club in Nashville.
Shouldn't have been allowed on radio muchless WSM.
Kevin |
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John Floyd
From:
R.I.P.
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Posted 15 Apr 2001 4:21 am
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| Quote: |
| And now I can state even more emphatically that it's got to be something about the monitor mix -- either that, or a really bad case of the butterflies. |
I think that too many times that too much is blamed on the monitor mix. In days long gone by, we didn't have monitors. Wonder how we got by in those days without megawatt PA systems and no monitors.
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JCF (The Picker formerly known as Sleepy John)
[This message was edited by John Floyd on 15 April 2001 at 05:21 AM.] |
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Janice Brooks
From:
Pleasant Gap Pa
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Posted 15 Apr 2001 5:51 am
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Vince Melamed
Bob DiPiero
Gary Burr
Jim Photoglo
Bob DiPiero is or was married to Pam Tillis.
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David Pennybaker
From:
Conroe, TX USA
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