Ruthann Baler, Guest Blogger
As a performer, your primary goal is to connect with your audience – to evoke thoughts, actions, and emotions – to make people laugh, cry, tap their feet, or simply ponder life. When it comes to PR for your music, your goal should be to maintain that connection with your audience once you leave the stage.
Having worked as a journalist and in PR, I know that whether it’s music, high-tech, health care, construction or insurance, understanding how to connect with and relate to your targeted audience is the basis for success. Getting a busy person to stop and listen to what you have to say – even for just a few moments – means you have done your job.
Many of the musicians I know are already doing all the right things to stay in touch with their fans and promote their music and shows. They understand the importance of building relationships and using the latest technology to stay connected. I am not only a fan of their music, but also a fan of their innovative and often humorous newsletters, blogs, and email blasts. I have learned a great deal from them.
For example, I love receiving The Kitchen Musician, a monthly blog sent out by singer-songwriter Tom Smith. He “invites” us into his cozy kitchen where he’s recorded his newest song. His blog is clever, inspirational, well-written, and relevant. He not only shares audio and video of his songs, he features a nonprofit each month, discusses community issues and events, and observes the beauty and miracles of nature – especially when he’s at his New Hampshire cabin. Every month, he invites us back into his kitchen to sit back, listen, and “grab a cup of tea.”
I don’t know about you, but I want that cup of tea. I want to sit at Tom’s kitchen table, get comfortable, and listen to his new song. I recently learned he’s been posting this blog on a consistent basis for three and a half years. For $7 per month and many hours of writing and editing (his self-described “labor of love”), he connects with old and new fans – many of whom he’s never met. His blog has also led him to numerous bookings. What’s more, The Kitchen Musician is part of a wonderful website that is updated frequently – very important!
The Kitchen Musician is authentic and appealing, and it has helped Tom communicate his artistry to an ever-growing audience. His message is warm and personal, reflecting who he is as a person and songwriter. In an excerpt from the October 2008 issue, he explains part of the inspiration for his song, “Peabody Hill.”
“Current news about politics and the economy is enough to rattle the nerves of even the most steel hardy of us. It has me seeking some comfort in simple places and simple things. I head for the hills… Peabody Hill that is. This is a place where my family and I find peace. Our little cabin is situated in the center of about 300 acres of wooded hills. Peabody Hill Road is “unimproved.” That is how New Hampshire defines roads that are not paved. For my thinking, it is not possible to improve this road.
As we turn the Subaru onto Peabody Hill Road, we cross a fragile looking stone bridge where we call “Hello Leo Leo!” Leonardo is the turtle we hatched from an egg that was rescued from a construction site. We raised him in our aquarium, taught him to catch guppies, then we released him to the reservoir at the bottom of the hill. This is a composite photo of Leonardo as he was shortly after he hatched, and then four years later shortly before we released him. For the last ten years, we have been greeting Leo with “Hello Leo Leo!” imagining that he has found turtle happiness on Peabody Hill.”
Tom’s writing sets the stage for his new material – as one would do in framing a song during a show – making this blog all the more compelling. Some of his fans write to him if he’s late with an issue – a testament to the growing popularity of The Kitchen Musician.
There are many other entertaining newsletters circulating throughout the music community. If you’ve ever wondered what to write about, look no further than your own musings on life. For example, what do cats with abandonment issues, firearms, and black flies have to do with music? Everything, if you happen to be born musical and funny. Just let your personality shine through, as these outstanding musicians/entertainers have in their most recent newsletters:
Don White, on returning home to winter: “I’m back now. Glad to be in my own bed. Getting some cardiovascular work in by heaving shovels full of snow into snow banks that are three feet over my head. I’m also doing some psychiatric work with my cat who apparently is quite indignant about our vacation and is dealing with some abandonment issues.”
Sam Bayer, on surviving this winter: “I hate January. I’ve always hated January. Sure, it’s after December, which means that the days are getting longer and we don’t have to listen to the Muzak version of “Little Drummer Boy” until we’re tempted to pick up that rifle off the counter in the firearms department of Modell’s, where we’re shopping for just the perfect pair of snowshoes for little Marie, and just go postal.”
Marc Bridge, on making the best of winter: “So until next time, remember winter is long in the tooth and all too soon you will be complaining about the black fly bites on your well….you know. So embrace your New England spirit and get out there and get all you can of it before it’s gone for another year. And when it gets unbearable, go out and enjoy some live original music at your favorite venue (psst….there’s a couple of venues listed above).”
Perhaps you don’t have time to write a multi-media blog or a newsletter, but you do have time to find one or two ways to stay connected to your fans on a regular basis. If you remain committed to your PR, you will significantly increase your chances of getting more gigs and you will notice your audience growing larger with every show.