Thursday, December 1, 2011

Michael J. Media December 2011 Newsletter

Happy holidays, everyone. I can't believe I'm saying that, and that 2011 is rapidly coming to a close. Thanksgiving is already a week ago, and now Christmas is 24 days away. You know all that crap they tell you when you're a kid about how the years whiz by when you get older? Yeah, about that -- it's freaking true. That's why I think it's important to try and live life to the fullest, and be thankful for what you have. I sure do, and in the spirit of Thanksgiving I have to say how thankful I am for my clients, that I get to do what I love every day, and how I have the opportunity to represent some amazing talent -- some you've heard of, and some of whom you should if I'm doing my job effectively. On that note, check out what we have going on this month.....

New and exciting newly designed website: www.michaeljmedia.com
Thank you Josh Preston of Me and the Machine and please check out their awesome new releases from Adam Burrows, Nathan Griffin and Joel Meeks.

New Clients

Burning River Ramblers--They were named one of the Top 25 Bands to Watch by the Cleveland Plain Dealer this summer, and they are playing quite a few shows during the holiday break (most of the band are students at Ohio University) in their hometown. The band's self-titled debut album was released in August 2011. www.reverbnation.com/theburningriverramblers

Cornflower Blue
--Cornflower Blue is Trevor May and Theresa McInerny, a country/rock duo from Canada who are releasing their new album, Run Down the Rails, in early 2012. Rootsy arrangements, thoughtful lyrics, stunning harmonies, and hot guitar solos have led people to compare Cornflower Blue to other male/female groups such as Richard and Linda Thompson, or Emmylou Harris and Gram Parsons. www.cornflowerbluemusic.com

Martin Zellar--Martin Zellar, formerly of the Polygram band Gear Daddies, will release his new album, Roosters Crow, his first in nine years, on February 7, 2012. Martin, who now lives in Central Mexico but has roots in Minneapolis, will release the album to coincide with the Gear Daddies' 25th anniversary and tour the U.S. in support of it. www.martinzellar.com

Returning Clients

Jason & The Scorchers--This legendary Nashville band will be celebrating its 30th anniversary with some tour dates in the Southeast in late December and early January, including a New Year's Eve appearance at The Rutledge in Nashville. www.jasonandthescorchers.com

David Mayfield Parade--It's been quite a year for David Mayfield after the release of his new solo album, The David Mayfield Parade, and including appearances at Bonnaroo and Mountain Stage among others, and as a featured band to watch in Southwest Spirit's 40th anniversary issue, including a partnership with iTunes and Southwest Airlines' in-flight music. www.davidmayfieldparade.com

The Iveys--This El Paso sibling pop/rock group is back, and has just wrapped up recording their sophomore album, due out in February 2012. Following lead singer Arlen Ivey's recovery from damaged vocal cords, the group is also out playing some shows in and around El Paso. www.theiveysmusic.com

Other News/Upcoming Releases

Charlie Parr--As someone with an encyclopedic knowledge of American folk, blues and country music, Charlie Parr is an Americana legend. And he's about to release an album (in January 2012) of traditional gospel songs, featuring some amazing talent such as Emily Parr, Four Mile Portage, and Alan Sparhawk and Mimi Parker from Low. The album is being released by Minnesota based label House of Mercy. www.charlieparr.com

Red Wanting Blue--In advance of their debut album recorded for Fanatic/EMI, From the Vanishing Point, on January 10, this longstanding group of Ohio based road warriors has released a holiday song--a cover of "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch." The band has a full slate of nationwide tour dates for early 2012 as well in support of the new record. www.redwantingblue.com

Jeff Campbell--San Francisco based singer/songwriter Jeff Campbell (from Bay area band Pine and Battery) is releasing his debut solo acoustic album, Stop and Go, in January. The idea for the project came to Campbell when going through some old demos with co-producer Charlie Wilson. www.jeffcampbellmusic.com

Ludo--Still touring in support of their latest Island Records' release, Prepare the Preparations, Ludo is back with its "A Very Ludo Christmas" shows on December 10 in St. Louis and December 11 in Chicago. www.ludorock.com

Tim Mahoney--Minneapolis mainstay has released a holiday song on the Home for the Holidays compilation of holiday songs put out by Target stores of Minnesota musical acts. Mahoney's version of "Winter Wonderland" is on this year's edition. www.timmahoney.com

A Clever Con--Their Pledge Music campaign is rolling along, and the band is busy recording their upcoming release, which will be a duo of two EPs in 2012. www.aclevercon.com

Megan Slankard--Megan is wrapping up the touring in support of 2011's A Token of the Wreckage with an acoustic "evening with" show presented by KC Turner at the Swedish American Hall in San Francisco December 10. www.meganslankard.com

Tommy and the High Pilots--Cantillon Entertainment Group is presenting their third annual "A Tommy and the High Pilots Christmas" December 23 at the Lobero Theatre in their hometown of Santa Barbara, with special guests JR Richards of Dishwalla and Tim Lopez of Plain White T's. www.thehighpilots.com

Jesse Terry--Jesse is in the studio working on his new album due out in early 2012 after reaching 100% on his Pledge Music campaign. www.jesseterrymusic.com

Recent Releases

Sunspot: The Slingshot Effect www.sunspotmusic.com
Link
The Energy: Streets of In-Between www.theenergy-music.com

Papa Juke: Out of the Blues www.papajuke.com

Corey Hart: Winter Bones www.coreyhartmusic.com

Dan Miraldi: Rock N Roll Band www.danmiraldi.com

Zach Williams & The Reformation A Southern Offering www.zwrnation.com

Some Love for the Companies we Represent

Bullz-Eye.com: With reviews, original entertainment features, sports, commentary, men's fitness advice, humor, and blogs covering a wide range of topics, Bullz-Eye.com is one of the premier online entertainment magazines for men ages 18-34. Bullz-Eye.com/Black Mountain Publishing also publishes blogs such as Premium Hollywood, The Scores Report and Mikey's Kitchen. www.bullzeye.com

TAXI: Back for its fifteenth year, the TAXI Road Rally was held at the Westin Hotel in Los Angeles last month, and composer Charles Fox received TAXI's Living Legend Award. www.taxi.com

On TourLink
Badfish, a Tribute to Sublime (celebrating 10 years) www.badfish.com
Scotty Don't (original project of Badfish members) www.scottydont.com

David Jacobs-Strain www.davidjacobs-strain.comLink
Papa Grows Funk www.papagrowsfunk.com

Whitney Mann www.whitneymannmusic.com

Chris Knight www.chrisknight.net

Ida Jo www.idajoandtheshow.com

Will Kimbrough www.willkimbrough.com

Pure Prairie League www.pureprairieleague.com

Poco www.poconut.org

Jon Pousette-Dart www.pousette-dart.com

The Mighty Short Bus www.mightyshortbus.com

Blogs and Other Writing Projects

Mikey's Kitchen (food blog) www.mikeyskitchen.com

Just Another Autism Blog

Progressives Punch Back

Contributor to NY Giants Blog: Big Blue View

Contributor to Bullz-Eye.com

# # #

Thursday, November 3, 2011

Michael J. Media November 2011 Newsletter and Client Roster


Happy November, everyone.  I am going to count this as a new month and a new beginning, because the past sixty or so days have been extremely trying in a technology sort of way.  Our website was hacked, as you might have already gathered if you attempted to go there recently.  We are working on resolving that as we speak. 

But wait, there’s more.  Forgive me for giving you some personal accounts that you may not care about, but trust me, I will get to something you will or should find important.  Yesterday I contracted a virus on my PC that rendered it to a blank piece of machinery (weird things have been happening for a few weeks now, however).  It’s the second time since August I’ve had a virus, but this one was nastier than the first one and is forcing me to plod along slowly as if I’m using a computer and the Internet for the first time. 

Last month I was the victim of credit card and debit card fraud—thankfully my credit card company and bank almost instantly knew these were bad charges and called me and also luckily, the damage was less than a hundred bucks in each case, and even then they were reversed. 

Is all of this related?  I don’t know, but doesn’t it seem odd?   The fact that you can now be online and feel like someone is literally watching your every move is an extremely frightening proposition.  It’s like we’ve come so far that we’ve come too far. 

Anyway, I am lucky.  I have Carbonite online backup—something that helped me when I bought a new PC last year, and something that is about as invaluable as it gets right now.  This is not a commercial and they are not paying me to say this—but if you are not using this or a service like it, you could easily lose all of your files.  Since I run a small business from home, this is worth far more than the $50 per year it costs.  Not having my regular PC yesterday also forced me to do something I have been putting off—getting the website fixed, and also getting identity theft protection.  So my other point here is the importance of protecting yourself from fraud that is becoming more and more widespread these days. 

Nothing is more valuable than the lives and health of ourselves and of our family.  But I would argue that in 2011, personal information comes after that on the importance scale, and as such it’s important that we do what we can to protect that.  That’s my message for the day and for the start of November, and I thought it made sense to begin this newsletter that way.  Meanwhile, here is more for you to chew on and listen to……

New Clients

Ron Pope After finishing his successful tenure as a Universal Republic recording artist, Ron Pope’s new album, Whatever It Takes, is a game changer, combining all the things that make his music refreshing and special; part guitar hero, part introspective songwriter, he writes from a perspective that is always earnest and sincere and creates music with an overpowering sense of grandeur that you can’t help singing along to.  Pope is currently on a nationwide tour.  www.ronpopemusic.com

Music Hates You:  Music Hates You is the angriest band in Athens, Georgia. In a town known for esoteric pop bands and quirky, sometimes precious, singer/songwriters, Music Hates You is the dissenting vote – the sound of disenchantment.  The band is touring in support of their latest, Where Did All This Dirt Come Fromwww.musichatesyou.com

The Energy:  Mere days after they finished recording their latest album, Streets of In-Between, Brooklyn based band The Energy appeared on Voice of America (VOA) “Border Crossings” program for some 100 million listeners, and shortly thereafter helped to host an episode of ESPN’s “Inside the Big East.”  Selling out many of New York City’s and Boston's premier venues over the past three years, the band currently ranks among the top grossing indie acts in the Northeast.  www.theenergy-music.com

Papa Juke Colorado based Papa Juke is blues with a difference and their intoxicating and infectious original sound is courageously creative and enticingly danceable. Their heartfelt live performances are both hauntingly memorable and contagiously fun loving. You will go home after one of their shows strangely fulfilled yet still wanting more.  The group is currently supporting their latest release, Out of the Blueswww.papajuke.com

Other New/Upcoming Releases

The Iveys: After lead singer Arlen Ivey took care of his damaged vocal cords by seeing many specialists and getting way more rest than he would have liked, this El Paso based sibling group is back in the studio wrapping up their sophomore release, due out in early 2012.  They are also playing a few shows in and around Texas and New Mexico.  Stay tuned!  www.theiveysmusic.com

A Clever Con: New Jersey rock band is in the studio working on their new release(s)…more on that soon!  www.aclevercon.com

Sunspot: The Slingshot Effect (November 22)  www.sunspotmusic.com

Jeff Campbell Stop and Go (January 2012) www.jeffcampbellmusic.com

Red Wanting Blue: From the Vanishing Point (January 2012) www.redwantingblue.com

Recent Releases

Corey Hart: Winter Bones  www.coreyhartmusic.com

Tim Mahoney: “Hey Adam Levine,” Tongue-in-cheek track about Mahoney’s experience on NBC’s “The Voice.” www.timmahoney.com

Ashley Brooke Toussant: Sweetheart  http://abtmusic.tumblr.com/

Dan Miraldi:  Rock N Roll Band  www.danmiraldi.com

Bill Toms: Memphis www.billtoms.com

Griffen Alexander: The Sound and the Sea  www.GriffenAlexander.com

Hannah Miller:  O Black River  www.hannahmillermusic.com

Carley Tanchon:  Leave the Light On  www.CarleyTanchon.com

The Hops: Won’t It Be Fun www.thehops.net

Arty Hill: Another Lost Highway  www.artyhill.com

Zach Williams & The Reformation: A Southern Offering  www.zwrnation.com

Some Love For The Companies We Represent

Bullz-Eye.com:  With movie and music reviews, original entertainment features, sports commentary, men’s fitness columns, humor content, and blogs covering a wide range of topics, Bullz-Eye.com has become one of the premier entertainment sites for men between the ages of 18-34.  Bullz-Eye/Black Mountain Publishing also publishes several blogs including Premium Hollywood, The Scores Report and Mikey’s Kitchen.  www.bullzeye.com

On Tour

David Jacobs-Strain  www.davidjacobs-strain.com


Badfish, a Tribute to Sublime www.badfish.com

Scotty Don’t
(original project of Badfish members): www.scottydont.com

Charlie Parr:  www.charlieparr.com


Tommy & the High Pilots: www.thehighpilots.com

Michel Logen: www.michaellogen.com


Will Kimbrough www.willkimbrough.com

Megan Slankard: www.meganslankard.com

The Greencards: www.thegreencards.com

Pure Prairie League: www.pureprairieleague.com


Chris Knight: www.chrisknight.net

Papa Grows Funk:  www.papagrowsfunk.com

Jon Pousette-Dart: www.pousette-dart.com

Farmer Jason: www.farmerjason.com

The Mighty Short Bus  www.mightyshortbus.com

Blogs and Other Writing Projects

Mikey’s Kitchen www.mikeyskitchen.com

            
Contributor to: www.bigblueview.com
             
Contributing writer to Bullz-Eye.com: www.bullzeye.com