Music Success in Nine Weeks Blog Challenge: Week Two: 'Perfect Pitch"

It's week two, and I'm in the chapter of "Music Success in Nine Weeks" called "Your Perfect Pitch". It's not about baseball or people that have perfect pitch (actually I do). It's all about branding yourself online and offline. There are lots of tools to help you do this (i.e. go to www.15secondpitch.com and test out your pitch).

My pitch is "Spirited Irish fiddle with a Global Twist" and I've had that for a while. My sister helped me put my musical thoughts into words (maybe that's why she's a writer) and it felt right from the very beginning. Ariel does mention in the book to practice saying it in the mirror and see if it's comfortable for you. It is! In fact, Vita (my guitarist) often asks about it during rehearsals, "Where's the twist?", he says. Sometimes I think he's the twist...

But back to the challenge,
Thanks to some professional help (nothing like hiring a professional) I coordinated three of my sites so they have a similar look and have the pitch. And yes, they are purple! Here they are!
www.myspace.com/cadyfinlayson
www.twitter.com/celticfiddle
www.youtube.com/cadyfinlayson

I also took an even bigger step and signed up to deliver a 2 minute pitch in person at the Western Arts Presenters Conference (westarts.org) which is in Long Beach CA the end of August. This will be a real challenge for me and extra inspiration to be able to articulate what we offer audiences in our show. One of my favorite quotes is "Talking about music is like dancing about architecture" but I'm going to put that aside since people need to know what they're hiring and what to expect.

So I felt good about pitch week.
I'm still writing my 5 successes every day, and actually this was especially helpful this week because it was one of those weeks when everything seemed to go wrong and sometimes it was 11:30 pm and i felt like I only had 4 successes, so knowing I was going to write them down spurred me on to complete that ONE MORE THING that could bring me closer to my goals.

Music Success in Nine Weeks: Irish fiddler starts the Ariel Publicity blog contest

Today I'm starting the "Music Success in Nine Weeks" Blog Challenge. The book is written by Ariel Hyatt, who is a Cyber PR expert (Arielpublicity.com) and the challenge is to complete each chapter in the book and blog about it (the winner receives a publicity campaign from her company).I decided to take the challenge because I knew having deadlines and making a public statement would get me to actually do everything in the book, which is really the point (if any of you like to sit on the couch eating chips and watching programs on healthy eating, you know what I mean). 
So here goes...

Chapter one is all about Getting Mentally Prepared. Setting goals!
I've read just about all the literature out there on goal setting, so I'm familiar with the stats (writing them down means your 10x more likely to achieve them/give dates and write them as if they're already happening etc. ).

So today I started on my list of 6 focus areas (the book offers several suggestions) and I went to Staples to get a notebook and colored pens so I can write them in pretty colors and post them all over. That was the fun part, especially because Staples has finally added a deep purple (my favorite color) to their color palette. Somehow writing in purple gives me confidence that my goals are reachable!

I did get a little overwhelmed on the lifetime goals - thinking about what you'd like to do in your whole life really brings up some complicated questions (why are we here, what is my purpose in life? how long am I going to live?), but luckily there are also short-term goals to balance those. When I started making my lifetime list (play music in Africa, hear Dolly Parton in concert, to name a few), I realized that it does help you see if your daily actions are going anywhere near that direction.

As far as the short-term goals, one of the things as an artist that we all need to do is "build a fanbase" (How many times have we heard that!), and my other more personal goal is to balance the music business work with the being-an artist/creating-part so I'll just start by announcing two of my goals...To be done by August 6th)

1. It is August 6th 2010 and I have 1,000 contacts on my reverbnation page (those come from everywhere - facebook, twitter, myspace etc. ) Notice I finally figured out how to put the reverb widget on my sidebar so you can sign up there...
and 100 subscribers to my Fanreach newsletter which goes out once a month.

2. It is August 6th 2010 and I have written 2 more tunes to be licensed and scheduled a recording session to record them.
There it is, DID IT! I now have two of my goals officially in the universe for everyone to see.

The last thing I wanted to say about Chapter One of the book is that you're supposed to write down 5 positive things you do every day and keep them in a notebook. Two of them need to be career related, but you can include other things like exercising, etc. Not sure if getting up in the morning counts...

The day has only just started, but my first success is that I started the contest and am feeling hopeful and inspired to navigate that complicated creature called the music business.

Celebrate Fairfax: Cady and VIta go to Virginia!

1. Vita and I played at this festival in Virginia called Celebrate Fairfax and this is a video of the event ..see Vita with the Camel, the rides, the carnival and if you watch past the closing credits, you'll see what I think of the new McDonald's frappe....
2. After Fairfax, we went to DC and did a little quick video by The White House. Very quick! I'll let you know when that's one up

Live show: Cady & VIta play reels at Sound Off for Haiti

http://video.yahoo.com/watch/7599745/20163532

House Concerts: the new trend

It's April first and I could not have asked for a more beautiful day in Brooklyn.

Vita and I did our first duo house concert last weekend, and it was a lot of fun. I've heard about house concerts, but except for the African drum/fiddle moment I did in DC years ago, I've never done one. My image was that they are geared to singer-songwriters, but having had such a nice experience, I will probably do more in the future. We were on a double bill with artist Steve Robinson (stellarob.com) and the best part was being able to listen to music with an audience that is really listening - I think that's a lost art these days and I loved that part. He sang one song called Every Minute that was about a guy who really loves his wife but doesn't really articulate it, saying "But don't let the silence fool you, my love is going out to you every minute of the day". It was very romantic and also so true... (we all know guys like that, right?)
The place had a little stage and spotlights and terrific sound, so it felt like the best of both worlds (intimate and also a concert setting).
House Concerts can be trickier in NYC (people live in apartments more than houses, noone has a zillion chairs...) but I now endorse them. It's like the new club but you don't have to be in noisy crowds, or wait in line, or buy x number of drinks....
I'm a member of Concertsinyourhome.com and Fran (who runs the site) has been encouraging house concerts for years. Well know I really know what he's talking about....
See photos of the concert here
http://www.flickr.com/photos/robertberkowitzrsbimageworks/sets/72157623628640313/

Electric Green

It's Electric, It's Green and it's finally here!
I think I might be entering this century because I'm actually doing a digital release. That seems to be the way music is going these days.
Although to be honest, I miss having something to open and look at and read the credits....am I the only one?

The inspiration for this project started one night at a GoGirls Event at Otto's. If you don't know Otto's, it's this total dive bar in New York City. They have funny cups and a photo booth.

Vita and I weren't sure how the trad Irish stuff would go over at Otto's, so we tried something new -an electric set, with Vita's salmon- colored guitar and wah pedal. Our set was a hit, and when we listened to the tape after (yes I did have an actual tape recorder!), we just had to go somewhere with this electric guitar/fiddle concept.
That's not to say that there aren't some of those beautiful acoustic tunes on there too. It's a mix!
Vita took his funky guitar influences, his North African rhythmic influences, some rock, some Rhumba and some of that pretty fingerpicking stuff. I wanted so badly to record something with the bagpipe and piper John Bradley came over and the "All set for St. Pat's" was born.
Vita thinks some of tunes could be in a cartoon, they do make you laugh.
We'll have a few samples at fiddleandguitar.com and then in March it will come out for real to online stores.
When I think of Electricity I think of all the usual things like lights. I also think about that electric feeling coming from the audience during a great show, and that electric feeling between two musicians who love what they do.
I hear it in our new cd, and I hope you do too!

Touring is like dating: Planning our irish fiddle/guitar tour

It's that time of year, time for a tour. After spending much of last year on tour with the Almost Heaven show, and then being home, I'm ready to go out again. I guess I'm not a homebody after all!
This time, Vita and I are going to do a fiddle/guitar West Coast Tour- Seattle, Tacoma, Portland and Bellevue WA.
It's funny getting ready for these things, but it's sort of like going on a first date.
You're introducing yourself to new audiences and you have to decide what part of you or in this case what part of your show, you'd like them to see....
So for me it means looking through all the music sets we do and deciding what is "the perfect set" for each show, and what tunes to leave out...

It means figuring out what you're going to say, or in this case mention on stage.
Just like a date, the stuff you're not supposed to bring up right away like how you come from a family of psychos and want to get married TOMORROW (not really!).

and of course there is always the question of what to wear (especially when your guitar player is a French fashion plate).
We'll figure it all out eventually (hopefully before the tour) and it's going to be a lot of fun.

See all our tour dates at www.fiddleandguitar.com
Kicking it off July 13th in Tacoma WA at the Mandolin Cafe and finishing July 20th in Seattle...with stops in Portland and Bellevue in between

Good Coffeehouse Music Parlor

I'm just noticing that my last post had a coffee theme to it, and it seems to be inescapable.
Last week my guitarist VIta and I did a very electric fiddle/guitar set at Otto's Shrunken Head, which is a dive bar in New York City. We were playing for GOGirls Night and every set was 20 minutes, so it was just enough time to try something new- electronics and foot pedals. It was different and I was surprised how much I liked it, especially since the electric guitar isn't in my top ten favorite instruments. Even Vita kept saying, "On paper, this shouldn't work" but like most of life, it never happens on paper!

Now that I'm all excited about the electric possibilities, we'll be doing a completely acoustic concert at a great listening room in Brooklyn called the Good Coffeehouse Music Parlor. The best part is that people go there to hear music (not so common these days!). Even though the coffee isn't exactly Italian espresso (I'm from Seattle so I do tend to like strong coffee), it's a pleasure to play there and I'm looking forward to it.
(Friday June 6th 8 p.m.Good Coffeehouse, 53 Prospect Park West in Park Slope Brooklyn bsec.org)

I don't know what the future will hold. Should we have an electric/edgy set for the whiskey crowd and an acoustic version for the coffee drinkers?
I do know that we are having fun creating new sounds, and that is one of the best parts of being a musician.

Irish Coffee

The first time I had Irish coffee was the night before my sister got married. The town closest to the wedding had a downtown about 3 blocks long, and the groom and his guys were at the other bar, so we (the girls!) ended up at this Irish place. They had a woman there playing the djembe like you've never heard it before, and wailing away the whole time. She seemed to be enjoying herself, and although musically speaking it was scary, you had to admire her for being in the moment. The three of us ordered Irish coffee...
I don't know if we knew then what was in an Irish coffee, but I do know that they were so strong that we had to ask the waitress to frequently come back and add more cream.

Fast forward 10 years later and that's the name of my upcoming album. It's Irish fiddle "with a global twist" and it's at the manufacturing plant as we speak.

I think the music captures my influences (Irish fiddle, African drums, American Folk) in a way that I couldn't have predicted. and when it's done....we'll definitely be going out for Irish Cofee.

Thoughts for the New Year

To be honest, I haven't even had a chance to think much about Christmas yet, so it seems a little premature to be writing about the New Year, but since this is not a historical blog, here it goes..

I have been thinking about the New Year a lot lately, mainly because my band has a First Night Show (New Year's Eve) and I wanted to make it a special night for the audience and for us. With all the logistics of gigs sometimes, the good part- having and doing a show - sometimes gets lost in all the preparations. I was thinking about how I wanted the show to be, and what we should or should not change, and then I got this Christmas card in the mail today from my friend Dehconte. Dehconte is a musician - really great djembe player who also sing and plays guitar.
See if this inspires you to make a good year for 2007...it inspired me!

"Our goal on this path of awakening is not to change who we are, but to remember who we are. Are you a chicken or an eagle? Were you born to scratch in the dust, or soar in the heavens? In your answer lies your destiny."
- A. Cohen

TAXI Road Rally

I made it to Hollywood! I have to admit, although I am a member of Taxi (a screening organization, -helping with placing music in film) and I'd heard that their annual conference was great, the fact that it was in LA was an extra incentive to go.
Seeing the Chinese Theater and all the prints of the actors over the ages was inspiring...
and the Taxi Road Rally was inspiring, informative and a great place to meet others in the music business. I went to several classes on music business topics, but my favorite one was about "groove"...

I've always enjoyed playing fiddle tunes with different rhythms underneath them - everything from Irish bodhran to African beats to Brazilian percussion.
Last year I had a heart test (just checking on my heart valve) and I was amazed when I saw the heart on the screen and heard a Brazilian rhythm. I guess this explains why I have such an interest in the groove...

Storm King Arts Center

My band did a show this month at the Storm King Arts Center which is a 500-acre museum in Mountainville, NY that celebrates the relationship between sculpture and nature (ww.stormking.org). The sculptures are HUGE - and the trees are beautiful.
One of the tunes I played at the concert is one I wrote and haven't been able to think of a name for it. So I asked the audience for ideas- I've never done this (is it sort of like asking someone else to name your child?) but I was really delighted by the number of people that had ideas and that had a visual image during the song. Not being very visual, I don't usually picture things when I hear music, but obviously, some people do.
Some of the names ideas were: The Muse, Cozy Cottage, anything with the Storm since we were at Storm King, Isle of Clover, and "Breath of the Sculpture in C".

Recording and choosing a musical identity

I've been working on a new recording project recently and something about having it "on the record" feels sort of ultimate. All of a sudden I'm checking to make sure the music is really "me" and then it goes back to that essay question they used to give you in Jr. High - "Who are you?" Choosing a musical identity is tricky. Maybe it's because I"m a Gemini, but some days I want to go for a real world rhythm sound, other days the Irish influence seems most important, and then I listen to some of the tracks and a few of them sound very orchestral, but not in a bad way. I guess we all aren't just one thing, but since an album is supposed to be some sort of cohesive unit, figuring out what that is, is a project in and of itself....

Celtic Sisters, Dunkin Donuts, and the tow truck on the road

The new show we're doing, Celtic Sisters, officially kicked off in MA. It was an auspicious beginning. Jodee James, our singer extraordinaire likes to stop at Dunkin donuts for coffee. In fact, she seems to do the tour routing based on the locations of these places. Some people do mapquest, some people do donut places... whatever works.
When I told one of my violin students I was going on tour this summer he said, "Oh, like Rock Star". I guess he watches tv...
After the car overheated somewhere in MA and we were stuck on the highway for 3 hours due to the traffic jam, waiting for the tow truck, I decided it's not exactly like Rock Star, but probably infinitely more interesting.
We did the Glasgow Lands Festival, and later the Blackstone Celtic Festival (as the Jodee James Band)...
Audience members at the Blackstone Festival came out in pouring rain to support Celtic music and that was fantastic....they had groups of sheep running around too, which made me laugh.

Cleveland Police Memorial

In May I have the opportunity to go to Cleveland for the Police Memorial service and Tattoo (Concert). The Tattoo (show) is a highlight for me - it's all Police pipes and drums, plus the Marine band. The band I play for is from NJ, and they're a great group. There's something really magical about playing with the bagpipes....

Celtic Lullaby Album

I'm collecting lullabies for a celtic lullaby album. I'm asking everyone for their favorites. Any beautiful melodies...

and anyone who has some tunes to recommend from some of the less common Celtic Nations...for the Celtic Sisters show I'm looking for some nice tunes from Galicia, Isle of Man, and Cornwall in particular....

St. Patrick's Month

Before I started playing Irish music, I thought of St. Patrick's Day as one day. Now I know better. It's a whole month of festivities and parades and events. In New York, they stagger the parades, so each city might have theirs on a different day.

It's exciting to be a part of all these things, and at the same time part of me is thinking, Irish music is here to stay, it's here to be listened to all year, not just this month. March seems to be the month the mainstream media pays attention to Irish music, so I guess we just have to go with that!

I saw the film The Emerald Diamond, about the Irish National Baseball team. They used music from my Harp and Shamrock CD, as well as several other Irish bands, so I was looking forward to seeing how they used the music. The film is very funny and inspiring and I highly recommend it. Visit www.irishbaseballmovie.com for a full schedule of screenings across the country.

Upcoming projects include a new show I'm doing with Welsh singer Jodee James called Celtic Sisters. We are featuring spirited music from Seven Celtic Nations - Scotland, Ireland, Wales, Cornwall, Brittany, Isle of Man and Galicia. That is a research project in and of itself! But seriously, there's something for everyone in this show, and we're looking forward to sharing it with the world.

The holidays are approaching and it's a very busy time to be a musician, but in a good way, as there is a lot of work! For those of you who are looking to celebrate New Year's in a new way, my band will be performing in Bridgeport CT as part of their First Night Celebration. It's a family-friendly event that takes place all over Bridgeport from 4 pm on, (no alcohol served in venues) and buying a $7 button admits you to all venues. We will be at the Playhouse on the Green (Playhouseonthegreen.org) with two lively Irish music shows at 8:30 pm and 9:45 pm. More information about the show at www.cadyfinlayson.com on the show dates page.

On another note, I went to a great workshop yesterday about music in film. It was presented by Mark Northam, who runs filmmusicworld.com (you've probably heard his music if you watch tv at all!). There are so many music workshops out there, and this one was very informative, realistic and also fun....I met some great musicians and film composers as well...

Happy Holidays!

Ireland meets Africa

This weekend I had the pleasure of performing in Washington DC with Liberian singer, Dehconte. I have used African drums on my recordings, but not in a live performance, and this was my chance! The highlight of the weekend was playing a fiddle and talking drum duet with Master Drummer Joseph Soh Ngwa of Cameroon. This drum blends so nicely with the fiddle, and I think it's just a preview of what is to come...stay tuned for more fiddle/drum collaborations! Photos from the show will be posted on my website, www.cadyfinlayson.com

Fiddlers on the Loose: multi-genre show in NYC

What do Irish fiddle, funk and jazz have in common?
They will all be a part of our multi-genre fiddle show in NYC August 24th!
I met fiddler Darrell Looney at 2MNC (a great music conference! ) in Nashville. We were surprised to find that we both lived in NYC and both fronted bands that featured the fiddle.
So we had to do a concert together, there was no getting out of it.
We joined forces with world-jazz fiddler Elektra Kurtis and there you have it....our first multi-genre fiddle show. Wed, august 24th at the Under_score, 1733 First Avenue in New York City 7 p, $5
We had a lot of fun rehearsing our grand finale, and the funky band, Da Phatfunk Clique, let me try some Irish tunes with their rhythm section. Only in NY!