WEB PROMOTION. My name is Jack. I play guitar for Highway 17 Blues Band. Lua Wells and I were discussing the use of the internet to promote home grown music, and she asked me to provide some information about one of the methods that my band uses.
What follows is just one option, but it serves as an example of how easy, and inexpensively, one can reach out to thousands of people. Using the internet to promote a band can be very fruitful in getting recognition, credibility, and bookings. There is a myriad of options available, one of which is www.reverbnation.com. This site is one that musicians worldwide, including some of our own Lowcountry Blues Club friends (see list below), use to promote their music. Lowcountry Blues Club also has a reverbnation presence, where users can enjoy recordings of some of the weekly jams.
Many of the services are offered for free. Some of the options available include band bio, photos, video, show schedules, and streaming audio. It also offers a set of popularity charts, sortable by location and genre, which aids browsing if a user wishes to explore a local scene. Listeners can bring up the site and enjoy the band pages without having to sign up for a free account. Statistics are reported to each band that shows fans, stream counts, and downloads. This site also provides (for a nominal fee), the ability to upload music for retail sale to iTunes, Rhapsody, Amazon, Google Music, and some 30 other retail sites. It also integrates with other social media sites such as Myspace, Facebook, and Twitter to enable broadcast of promotional information.
Since we started using this site in summer of 2009, Highway 17 Blues Band has gained over 6,000 profile visits, over 2,000 streams, and over 5,000 fans in 30 US states and in foreign countries such as India, Germany, Trinidad, Canada, and the UK. Sales reports of our music are starting to come in and I am pleased to report that we have sales reaching as far away as Canada. Today, we are #216 on the national blues chart and #331 on the global blues chart. Port City Prophets (featuring Tim Kirkendall) and Highway 17 Blues Band have been trading off the number one spot in Charleston for the past few months. Currently, PCP is #1 and Hwy 17 is #2.
It takes a bit of time to put all this together, but it has been worth the effort. Being able to connect with such a vast audience has never been easier with the use of this technology.
Shameless plug: Check out Highway 17 Blues Band at www.highway17bluesband.com.
Partial list of Lowcountry Blues Club friends that use ReverbNation to promote their music: Dan Wright, DownWright Scoundrels, Highway 17 Blues Band, J Edwards Band, Jack Downey (solo), Johnny Mac and the Booty Ranch, Jonathan Robinson, Juke Joint Johnny, Momma and the Redemption, Paul Parr, Port City Prophets, Rob Lowe, Shrimp City Slim, Skye Paige and the Original Recipe, Tim Shaw, Tommy Thunderfoot and the Accelerators, and Victoria Station.
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Weekend Music -
Don't forget the Lowcountry Blues Club's Road to Memphis Benefit this coming Saturday night, January 21, at Fiery Ron's Home Team BBQ/West Ashley, 8 pm, with Victoria Station, the Hibachi Heroes, and headliner The J Edwards Band - an awful lot of great music and fun for just a $5 donation!
Also, on Friday:
Highway 17 Blues Band w/ Jack, Gary, Jojo & Motor will be at Smokey’s Place
Mason Dixon w/ Scott Bucholtz is at Fat Boy’s
And also on Saturday:
Starling w/ Captain Kirk is at Bottom’s Up
The Port City Prophets w/ Tim Kirkendall are at Smokey’s Place
Old You will be on The Vendue Rooftop at 6 then later at Boones
Homemade Wine will be at the Wild Wing Downtown
And remember: The Lowcountry Blues Club now has TWO weekly jam nights. Smokey’s Place Sports Bar & Grill at 1213 Remount Road in North Charleston hosts a weekly jam from 5 pm to 9 pm on Sunday’s. And there's the regular Wednesday night jam at Home Team BBQ/West Ashley, 8pm.
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Reminders:
If you want to see your band's gigs in this newsletter, send all the details to lowcountrybluesclub@gmail.com, with "For the blog" as the subject line. We usually send out the newsletter on Thursday or Friday, so get the info in before Wednesday, please. Or just post to facebook directly!
Check out some of our recordings from the Wednesday jams at http://www.reverbnation.com/lowcountrybluesclub
See you at the jams!
LMW, JD, and SB, January 19, 2012
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