Ginny’s first press conference: Arts, Beats & Eats
Just announced! I’m playing Arts, Beats & Eats 2016 on Saturday, Sept. 3. Acoustic stage, 2 PM in Royal Oak, MI.
Ginny came to the press release. She danced to the band and played her trumpet.
The story about “Ghostwriter,” and my performance tonight at the Acorn Songwriting Competition
I’m proud that my song “Ghostwriter” made it to the 2016 Acorn Theater Singer Songwriter Competition! Art isn’t a competition, but it feels warm and fuzzy to receive some affirmation during the crazy roller-caster of giglife.
I’m performing the song tonight at the beautiful Acorn Theater, along side some wonderful songwriters from the area.
I wrote “Ghostwriter” after learning how to play Joni Mitchell tunes and exploring the open tunings she used on the guitar. (“Ghostwriter” is in open-D, for the curious guitarist.)
I was also binge listening to both Drake and Nick Drake (not joking). Last summer, I was contemplating the music news reports that Drake was using ghostwriters (remember that silly controversy?) and how Nick Drake died assuming he was musical failure; yet now more people like to Nick Drake on Spotify many months than Jim Croce, Cats Stevens and other songwriters from his era. The music industry doesn’t make any sense.
I was also in a spiral of anxiety about my own challenges with the music industry and what decisions I needed to make for 2016 as a father, husband, and traveling musician.
And then this song emerged: “You don’t need that ghostwriter, you’ve got something to say./Let the words spill out of you in a suicide note, or a long-form love letter…”
I’m going to sing it tonight, thinking of Nick Drake.
Thanks to Ryan Stanton for posting a video of me singing this song at the Yellow Barn in May:
The brightest star in the house, Julie Plawecki
Update 1: Service Announcements: read here
There are visitations on Thursday and Friday at Santeui Funeral Home and the funeral is Saturday at the Church of Divine Child at 10 AM. You can get the times and addresses here at Santeui’s website.
Update 2:
Thanks for the Michigan Democrats for putting together this video reel of my Aunt Julie. No matter where you stand on the aisle, Julie was an example of honorable public service, and she was so active in the communities.
* * * * Natalie’s post, June 28, 2016 * * *
[My wife posted a touching piece about Julie on Facebook. I’m reposting below.]
It’s been a difficult week for Mike and his family. Many of you may have heard about the sudden passing of State Rep. Julie Plawecki in the news. At our house, she was known as Aunt Julie.
Her public service was extraordinary, but so was her role in Mike’s family. She organized the cousin pierogi party every year. She would quietly tuck a gift card into all our hands each Christmas even though the cousins had outgrown the gift giving ritual. Back when I was a newcomer, Julie went out of her way to make me feel welcome. When I told her I was nervous about how the rest of the family might react to the release of my not G-rated book, her eyes got wide, she smiled, and said, “Now I’m *really* excited to read it.”
Julie made everyone feel valued and loved in her family and — clearly, from the outpouring of sorrow we’ve seen over the past several days — everyone who had the pleasure to meet her as well. We were so lucky to have her in our lives, and we will miss her so, so much.
* * * * My first post – June 27, 2016 * * *
I attempted to write something about my aunt Julie Plawecki many times yesterday, and I couldn’t find the words.
But then I saw post after post of kind tributes on my Facebook news feed, from one of Julie’s colleagues in Lansing, one of her former students, a family member, a Divine Child parishioner, a Senator from Michigan, or a person in the community who worked with her during her first term in the legislature representing District 11; your words have brought comfort.
- Read Hometownlife’s article: click here
She was the brightest star in my family’s homes, too. We are missing her just as much on Monday as we did on Sunday.
And to my Uncle Mark, cousins Rachel, Lauren, and Monica, we are thinking of you so much.
Photo Credits: Richard Brown
“There is a sad tradition of the Michigan House of Representatives which occurs when a member passes away while in office.”
Set List – June 12 – Nor-Eastr Festival
June 12- Noreastr Music Festival
Main Stage – Mio, MI
1. Damn Fine Day
2. I Just Want to Be Your Last
3. Don’t Mess Around with Jim (Jim Croce)
4. A World That’s Bigger
5. Ghost Writer
6. Big Yellow Taxi (Joni Mitchell)
7. One Way Road
8. Burning Bright
I was sold out of CDs by the time I got to Nor-Eastr, but you can download my music at
Bandcamp and iTunes; or listen online at Spotify, Apple Music and other music streaming services.
Thanks so much for attending! Here’s a recap of what I addressed, and a few points I wanted to share.
1. The music industry is like high school, it changes every four years! So don’t get frustrated with technology and social networks changing on us. Remember, we are always surviving your stories. Tech is just the tool.
2. We need to be as creative with our social networking and promotional stuff as we are with our songs. I’m going to list some anecdotes of my examples, but remember, you will find your own ideas! Robert Frost wrote, “way leads on to way.”
3. We need to plan our technology schedules with the same organization and attention as we do our tour schedules and gigs. You know how some gigs take a year or more to book? But others are booked three months out? Then there are the last minute pitches? Plan your tech ideas a lot!
4. The Tunecore tip is one small thing a week, one big thing a month. Write a blog might be a small thing. Releasing a single, or a five day tour could be a big thing. However, it’s a sliding scale: What’s big for you might be small for another artists. That’s OK! Pull out a calendar of months. Plan out one small thing a week and one big thing a month.
Here are some tech tips:
Songkick – it’s my widget on my website for my gig calendar. But it also sends out to Spotify, Soundcloud, Bandcamp, etc.
Mailchimp – this is my email list builder. I recommend you sign up for a lot of musicians’ email lists (have a separate email address for this task.) Find out which lists encourage you to open. How often they send. Then get creative and find out how to make it work for you.
If you post once a month, you should post about the same time every month. Some artists post more regularly. Don’t only post once every three or six months, for your followers will forget you.
Noisetrade.com – I used to use this to give away free music from an iPad for an email list and other promotional stuff for releases, but I’m moving a bit away from overly focusing on downloads now.
Twitter – I know engagement is low, but I still use it. For example, at SERFA here’s a way to tag other musicians that I see! On Facebook, we can’t over post our feeds without losing engagement. On Twitter, it’s a different format, and posting more regularly is possible. Here’s how I create lists and watch what other venues, publications, and radio shows that my musical acquaintances play. It’s like a river! It’s a daily stream! Facebook is more of a lake to throw the big rocks.
EXAMPLES:
Facebook groups – I’ve never really used these, but there’s a great opportunity to network with a solid group (like Michael Kornfed mentioned).
Or get creative! I’m going to host a little songwriting challenge the month before my next album comes out and make it an open group. Each week there will be a songwriting prompt. I might make some fun prizes. I’m going to pull some words from my songs. The group would be a cool way for people to share their songs.
Instagram – I do a little goofy thing called #giglifehaikus, and I write these poems when silly things happen on the road. This gives me another chance to talk about my life as a former English teacher before being a traveling songwriter.
Did you know you can embed your photos into your website too?
Concert Window – I hosted an online concert for my 1000th gig. This was a way for me to highlight that notable milestone and try an online concert for the first time. Having a story behind it helped draw some attention. I also had a videographer named Charlie Steen there to capture high quality videos for my next release.
I’m nervous about Facebook’s live videos that are happening. Will this cut out some opportunities of the online formats where we get paid?
Blogging on my site I’ve been doing this a lot over the years. I come in waves, but I’m a huge fan of Seth Godin. I’ve had some bigger moments with my blogs, like when Lefsetz featured my blog about “the new rules” I’ve also taken a break from time to time.
Bandcamp – I use Bancamp as a way to offer a deal on buying all of my music at gigs, by selling from my Square reader on my iPhone, and emailing out download codes.
I do offer the traditional merch: CDs, shirts, etc. But I also try to have one unique, even handmade piece of merch that I’ll sell.
Clint Alphin at SERFA 2016!
