Songwriter Insights: Nuts and Bolts Talk for Today's Music Biz

I was thrilled to have this second chat with my friend Sven-Erik Seaholm. Not only because he is  so knowledgeable on the music biz and  such a remarkable talent, but as you will hear is a generous and kind gentleman. In this episode we chat about songwriting and the ways he and I  come to writing a song, the discipline of songwriting, and why we do it. That conversation lead us to production and how a singer/songwriter or band should come into a studio. The ending conversation was fascinating; we had a real stroll around ‘Where the music Biz is heading?’.

I believe you as the listener will have as good a time listening as I had doing the show.

Sven’s Links

Kitsch & Sync Production

ReverbNation

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Cory Wilkins, with his unique “Outlaw Riff Country” sound, recording artist and performer is destroying barriers and shattering expectations with his energetic live shows filled to the brim with kick-ass country-rock music and Cory’s trademark rebel humor.

And Cory is just as entertaining off stage as he is while in front of his fans. How many blind guys have YOU seen sitting behind the wheel of a pick-up truck while going through the drive-thru at the local Dunkin’ Donuts? That is the kind of crazy s#@t this guy does!

When he isn’t performing or writing songs, Cory likes to kick back with a beer while following his two favorite sports teams: the San Diego Chargers and Boston Red Sox. He is also an avid poker player having spent nearly two years playing professionally and has even competed in the World Series of Poker!

What’s Covered

* Why polishing your live show should be a priority, and is the investment worth it?

* Building your community through fan relationships

* How to focus your fan engagement on a personal level

* Expanding on traditional methods of marketing

* Periscope – how you can use this live-streaming app

* Branding vs. Humanizing

* Making the case for a connected and supportive music community

Cory Wilkins Links

CoryWilkinsMusic.com

Amazon

YouTube

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Facebook Page

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Criag Bartock is lead guitarist, producer and songwriter with the legendary rock band and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees Heart. Craig has worked and has written charted singles with some of the biggest names in popular music, including, Heart, Blondie, Aly and AJ, Brie Larson, Seal, Simply Red, Toni Braxton, Madonna, and Tina Arena.

His credits also include a long list of TV and Movie music composition and scoring including shows such as Dexter, The Carrie Diaries, Brothers and Sisters, Alien Encounters, MTV’s The Alectrix, Burn Notice, Rachel Zoe Project, MTV Cribs, Sunset Daze, LA Ink, Access Hollywood, Dr. 90210, Valentine, and Reaper. Movies Elizabethtown and PS I Love You. Animation scores for Warner Bros ….The Animaniacs, Pinky and the Brain, Looney tunes, Nickelodeon, Hanna-Barbera.

Craig’s TV appearances include Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Conan O’Brien, Jimmy Fallon, Ellen, Dancing With The Stars, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, PBS Soundstage, The L Word. VH1 Rock Honors, Fanatic Live From Caesars Colosseum, The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, and A&E Private Sessions.

What’s Covered

* Life on the road with Heart

* Exciting performance news

* How music recycles it’s relevancy over time

* Music production styles over the years

* How technology changed the way performances are recorded 

* Technical perfection vs. being human

* The charm of the live performance – flaws and all!

Special Show Announcement: Coming up August 21 and 22 a two night concert series at the Hollywood Bowl with the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra. Check Heart’s web page or Hollywood Bowl for show details.

Craig’s Links:

CraigBartock.com

HeartMusic.com

cdbaby

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Facebook Page

Linkedin

Youtube

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Solveig Whittle is the lead vocalist, lyricist, and business side of the pop/folk duo Solveig & Stevie, whose other member is studio musician and producer, Stevie Adamek. Stevie was originally signed by Scepter Records and then Columbia Records.

Before beginning her songwriting and performing collaboration with Stevie in 2010, Solveig was the lead vocalist for the Seattle folk-pop band Shades of Red, which released two CDs, December Sunday  (2008) and Absolution (2011 – produced by Adamek).

Solveig &  Stevie released their first CD together, Zombie Lover, in 2013, and their second CD, Fire and Other Playthings, in 2014. They also write and record music for events, for other musicians, and for television and film licensing. Their song Little Bird, from the Fire and Other Playthings album, was nominated in 2014 for an award in the Best Female Vocal category of the HMMAs (Hollywood Music in Media Awards).

Solveig began performing in college singing cover tunes. As a tech marketer with various large tech companies in the 1990s, she sidelined in several corporate bands, including one of the first techie “Battles of the Band” ever held. While at Microsoft, Solveig played in a band with guitartist and software guru Jim Allchin. She has also collaborated on several songs with former Heart guitarist, now solo artist, Roger Fisher, who has a cameo appearance on Shades of Red’s Absolution album.

Not content with being a hobbyist musician, Solveig is combining her marketing and business expertise with her love of music to make a name for herself as a thought leader in the world of indie music marketing. She regularly contributes articles on the music industry and music marketing to Hypebot and other music marketing and industry websites, blogs and podcasts. She also guest lectures to music students at the Art Institute of Seattle.

What’s Covered

* Why purpose matters

* Defining your purpose and what you represent

* How knowing who you are resonates with others

* Be yourself to source your best work

* Achieving your vision through incremental goals 

* The magic of the “music zone” experience

* Recognizing your talent through the eyes of others

* Is your vision realistic and obtainable?

* Defining your story

Solveig’s Links

Shades of Solveig

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Ashley “Bad Ash” Davis is an experienced Radio Personality, Commercial Voiceover Artist, Emcee, Music Journalist, Food & Travel Blogger, Yoga Instructor (RYT-200), Surf Instructor & Slackliner.

Meet Ashley

My name is Ashley Davis… also know as “Bad Ash”.  I was given this nickname while working as a Rock Radio Personality in Champaign, IL… it stuck.  I’ve worked for all kinds of radio stations (Top 40, AC, Hard Rock, Alternative & AAA) in Chicago, IL, Champaign/Urbana, IL & Asheville, NC.  Loved it, but after 10 years I needed to explore new options… I moved to Hawaii, where I did lots of yoga, surfed & learned to slackline.  While there I worked casually doing voiceover acting, writing album reviews & interviewing singer songwriters around the country, and did a lot of traveling.  Over the summer I taught surf lessons on the coast of North Carolina & traveled to Fiji where I received my certification to be a Yoga Instructor.  I love yoga, surfing, slacklining, acro yoga, traveling, eating, hiking, skydiving & just all around adventuring.  BadAshVoice.com is my outlet to tell everyone about crazy awesome life I lead. And, because (I think I left it out) I LOVE to talk!

What’s Covered

* Money opportunities for today’s artists.

* Defining the whole artist package.

* Adapting your skill and talent to change with the times.

* Are talent shows and competitions relevant?

* Why humility and gratitude are so important.

* How your music genre allows fans to discover you. 

* Discovering your niche by being authentic and defining your style.

Ashley’s Links

Bad Ash Voice

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Michael Brandvold is a music marketing consultant with over 25 years experience. Having launched Michael Brandvold Marketing to leverage his years of experience to provide digital strategy to large and small clients in the areas of online & social marketing as well as e-commerce and fan acquisition and retention.

Gene Simmons of KISS first tapped Michael’s skills as a pioneering online marketing strategist to launch and manage all aspects of Kissonline.com’s multi-million dollar enterprise, including their ground-breaking VIP ticket program.

Michael has also managed the online efforts for Accept, Narada Michael Walden, Jordan Rudess, SOiL, Tantric, Killer Dwarfs, Ron “Bumblefoot” Thal, Dream Theater, Andy Gibson, Alexa Carter, Greg Kihn, Little Caeser, Motley Crüe, Rod Stewart, Ozzy Osbourne, Madonna and Britney Spears to name only a few.

Michael recently released his first ebook, KISS School of Marketing: 11 Lessons Learned While Working with KISS. He is also the founder and cohost of the following podcasts; The Music Biz Weekly, Rock Star Branding, Dropping The Needle and Three Sides of the Coin. He has cohosted and presented music marketing webinars and writes about his music marketing knowledge and experience on his blog at Michael Brandvold Marketing.

What’s Covered

* The Key ingredient for success in today’s music biz opportunities.

* The right time to start building your fan base.

* BYOB – Be Your Own Boss

Why and when you should hire others to help you

* Learning to take baby steps to build your fan list.

* Staying positive

* How to use online “Tools” to promote yourself.

* Proactive methods to find your fans.

* Do you need to spend money to make money?

Michael’s Links

Michael Brandvold Marketing

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Dave Good is an award-winning journalist and author. Originally from Ft. Worth, TX, he writes about music, pop culture, and American life. His life-long infatuation with music began in an unlikely place: Crawford High School, in East San Diego. There, he played sax with future jazz luminaries such as Carl Evans, Nathan East, and Hollis Gentry.

After journalism school at SDSU, he found work in Top 40 and album-oriented rock radio for the next two decades, a period of time in which he also hosted KGB Rocks 10, a popular local music video show on ABC television. In the course of a media career that now approaches three decades, if placed end to end the number of words he has published thus far would stretch around the globe at least once.

Currently at work on a book about rock and roll’s farm team and the unsung music heroes of San Diego past, Dave lives in La Mesa, CA. His book, Jukebox Confessions, is available through Amazon.

What’s Covered

* The influence of Music on Culture

* How music defines groups within society

* Music mirrors the culture of the time and historic events are marked by the music of the time.

* Does technology contribute to music being more disposable?

* Music has always been communal, is today’s technology now making it a private experience?

* Live brick-and-mortar concerts vs. the digital experience 

* Why publicity and marketing must respond to the new musical paradigm.

Show Mentions

Jukebox Confessions By Dave Good

Dave’s Links

San Diego Reader

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Carlos Castillo is a web designer, musicpreneur, music marketing strategist, live performance recordist, international road tripper, lap-steel player and Captain of the Schwilly Family. His mission at Schwilly Family Musicians is to help productive musicians earn a living with their creative output so they can focus on creating more music for the world to hear.

In the early part of the century, Schwilly Family Musicians founder Carlos Castillo (Captain Schwilly) wreaked havoc across the Midwestern United States with a rag-tag group of young hippies under the self-inflicted banner of Schwilly Family. He and his friends staffed big festivals and toured with the Grateful Dead. Time went by and Carlos eventually drifted into corporate America, but he never forgot his musical roots and never stopped thinking about how to give back to the world of music that had opened his eyes to the universe around him.

By 2012 Carlos had an epiphany. He quit his corporate job, bought some recording gear and a motorhome, and set out on a journey of self-discovery that led him all across the country. His mission then was to record and share as much local music as he possibly could and figure out how to make a living in the music industry.

Over the next year-and-a-half Carlos recorded 225 bands, studied music marketing and learned about the modern music industry first-hand from everyone he met along the way. In mid-2013 he settled in Utah to focus on putting to use everything he had learned and join the revolution of the music industry by sharing what he had learned with the world and build the ultimate independent musicians resource. Schwilly Family Musicians was born.

What’s Covered

* Today’s Music Business – Something Old, Something New

* The Musicpreneur

* One secret word for achieving success

* Pareto’s Principle

* Why it’s important to understand your value

* Outsource-Automate-Eliminate

* Selective Social Media

* Why performing “Covers” is a good thing!

* Creating your Brand Identity

Show Mentions

Smart Online Musicpreneur

The 4-Hour Workweek by Tim Ferriss

Left Over Salmon

Hookaville Music Festival

Carlos’ Links

Schwilly Family Musicians

Facebook

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Sven-Erik Seaholm has been known to wear more hats than a Macy’s mannequin. As a result, he has acquired a number of inter-related skills. These include the writing, recording, producing and arranging of original music for his albums and soundtracks, independent journalism, graphic design, photography and web site development.

Seaholm’s production work has garnered San Diego Music Awards for Best Producer 2003, 2005 & 2006 Best Local Recording (Via Satellite “Wake Up Heavy”), Best Blues Album (Buddy Blue “Pretend It’s Okay”) Best Americana Album (The Coyote Problem’s “Wire” & “California”) and contributed his production talents to anther SDMA winner for Best Acoustic Album (Carlos Olmeda “Sensitive Groove). He produced Michael Tiernan’s “Jumping In”, which received an LA Music Award for Best AAA Album. Another LA Music Award winner was The Morning Riot, who’s Seaholm produced debut album received one for Independent Punk Album of The Year.

Erik is also a familiar singer/songwriter name to fans of great Southern California music. His dynamic performances and rich catalog of original songs have kept his name on the fertile San Diego music scene’s A-list for years.  Seeking new challenges and opportunities, Sven-Erik Seaholm relocated to Mountain Green, Utah in 2015.

What’s Covered

* What it means to ‘respect the room’

* Learn to be a servant to the song

* Maximizing strengths and weaknesses as a producer

* The single most important thing before booking studio time

* Valuable benefits to beginning with small projects

* Combining authentic, spontaneous performance with technical skills

* How doing your research before entering the recording studio will save you money

* Why you “The Songwriter” deserve a big pat on the back!

Show Mentions

‘The Sexy’

“The Sexy” is my latest and best, a soul-inflected “Pet Sounds”, featuring 13 killer songs! — Sven-Erik Seaholm

Visit INDIEGOGO and check it out!

Sven’s Links

Kitsch & Sync Production

ReverbNation

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Rebeca Randle has proven that with a combination of physical gifts, study, and hard work, dreams can come true. Rebeca has made her life’s work revolve around working with the human voice. As a professional performer and entertainer, she currently composes and performs with her husband, David Randle as Rebeca and David.

Rebeca has had a varied and successful career, doing everything from recording publishing demos for A & M Records and Warner Bros. to recording for TV and film with numerous commercial projects for TV and radio as a SAG AFTRA actress. Rebeca also performed up and down the state of California for her personal recording career which included seven releases, several of which delivered International radio airplay, performances at the Temecula Hot Air Balloon Festival with the Mamas & Papas, street fair performances with Switchfoot and a host of others. Even with this busy schedule Rebeca always found the time to lend her amazing voice to southern California churches every Sunday for 20 years.

Rebeca has trained all types of singers, from beginners to music award winners. She not only helps professionals master their craft, but also teaches singing enthusiasts how to get the most out of their voice, from becoming a great “shower singer” to singing in a choir or stealing the show on Karaoke night.

What’s Covered

* Rebeca’s Journey – A life lesson

* Knowing the right opportunities

* Can singing be taught?

* The many components to training the voice

* Fifteen minutes a day

* Why is Connected Tone important?

* How training your voice broadens your styling and interpretation

* Five essential skills every performing vocalist should master

* Gesturing

* Believe in yourself

Show Mentions

Soul of Yoga

Rabeca’s Links

Singing Lesson Expert

Rebeca and David

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