The Quest for Celtronica: Falling Apart

Or “Burn it. Burn it all.”

So… I feel a little sheepish.

I promised everyone fresh, new music a long time ago. I promised it would be shined up and ready to introduce to your parents in March. And now it’s May. Well, practically June. That’s a lag, and a fairly significant one at that. I owe all of you an explanation, and I owe you all a huge thank you.

You guys, the fans, are the only reason I even need to be here baring my neurotic, weird soul. You buy stuff, you like stuff, you read stuff, you share stuff with your friends, all that kind of thing. You’ve stuck with me, liked posts, shared things and just generally been awesome. So THANK YOU. Keep it up. I really do have big ideas.

So much has happened in the last six months. Everything has changed. None of it has been easy, much of it has been uncomfortable, some of it has been fun, and all of it has been necessary.

Change is never easy, and it is almost never welcomed. Sometimes it comes of its own accord, sometimes you have to light the kindling yourself. Sometimes change just moves in, eats all your leftover pizza, leaves the toilet seat up, uses your toothbrush, and scares your cats.

I had to. I had to start a fire. And not just any fire. I started a fire to rival 1871 in Chicago. (Did I impress you with that? Come on, you know I did. ) In fact, I burned my entire life to the ground. I reevaluated everything that was important to me. Relationships, work, music, friendships, lifestyle, long term goals, my mental health (questionable though it may be), my physical health,  possessions, bucket list, tattoos, cats, family, beverage choices, this lamp, this paddle ball game, everything. It felt like the furniture of my life didn’t fit me anymore, didn’t fit who I am as a person, and I needed to rearrange some things. Well, everything really. I had to trash some stuff. Re-stuff and re-cover others… Too much with the metaphor? Probably.

Okay, but back to my story.

I’m sure all of you know me know that I was married for quite some time. Yes, you read that right: “was.” Past-tense. Sadly, achingly, heartbreakingly for me, my marriage came to an end. To add complication to discomfort, I married (and divorced) my producer, who also happened to be my best friend. I can hear the collective, painful empathy sounds now. Anyhow, at present, we are both taking time to sort through our respective lives, rediscover ourselves, and to figure out how to be true to who we are and what we want and need. We plan to continue working together; the dissolution of the marriage has presented innumerable difficulties that can only be sorted out with time and space. We both need time to heal. Time will tell if we will be able to maintain a healthy, positive working relationship, but both of us place too much stock in our accomplishments and our music thus far, and we value each other as partners.

So, yeah. That’s the big reason I you don’t have a steamy new record to listen to, gorgeous new artwork to drool over, and a show schedule to import into your Outlook calendar. Actually, it’s pretty much the only reason. I mean, there’s been lots of life things going on like a new job (that I’m so fortunate to love) with LOTS AND LOTS of responsibility. But everything else is pretty normal and wouldn’t normally impact the ebb and flow of making a record.

In all honesty, this one reason has impacted me in a huge variety of ways of all shapes and sizes, and you guys probably aren’t all that interested in them. Actually, I know you’re not, so I won’t elaborate.

I will say that some days I am overcome with grief and anger, others I am filled with joy and hope, and still others find me questioning every decision I have ever and might ever make (I don’t recommend having to go through that last one – it’s crazymaking). But most days I am as I have always been; I am sure of myself. I seek my own way, my own happiness, a way to leave my mark, and I look for ways to make this insane world we live in a better place.

As Marilyn Monroe said, “Sometimes good things fall apart so better things can fall together.” 

I believe that.

I’m certainly not done. Neither of us is tapping out. And it’s still 2013B, so stay with me. Keep liking and sharing and making your friends like and share. Threaten, cajole, bribe, whatever. I’ve got bail money. And may the Force be with you. It’s certainly been with me because I now have TWO MORE independent music awards for my shelf. And it’s still because of you guys, the people who listen and keep in touch and who keep supporting me.

I am so thankful for everything in my life, all the good and the bad, the big blessings and the small ones, and especially the ones I don’t notice at all.

Much love and many steamy thank yous,

Moi

Marney

13B

Be you.

Everybody's got their something.

What do I have? What's my something?

Music. Making music. Telling my story, singing my soul, giving everything I have with music. That's my something.

Unfortunately, I also have a day job. I'm fortunate enough to enjoy what I do by day to support what I want to do by nights and weekends. It still hurts to work all day and come home dying to work on the thing I love most and just can't find the energy. Oh, and I have a life and friends and relationships that I want to devote some attention to, as well.

All I can say is I have to be fierce. I have to be incredible. And I can't wait for anyone else to tell me I am those things. If I want to win, I have to be all in and I have to be fierce and incredible for myself.

On Winning

Funny thing about winning. The high never lasts long. I always want more, another win, a bigger win.

We are so honored, so thrilled to have won not one, but two Indie Music Channel Awards this year. We were awarded Best Dance Song and Best Dance Group for So Much More.

Here are few photos from the awards show.

We had an awesome time, met some great people, had a few days off in LA, and are looking forward to kicking out a new record this year.

Stay with us this summer, because we'll be launching a website, a single and a line of fun 13B stuff. Maybe even a few surprises along the way.

Our Nominations

Here's what we're up for:

Best Dance Artist (So Much More)
Best Dance Group (So Much More)
Best Dance Song (So Much More)
Best Dance Producer (So Much More)
Best World Music Artist (Dulaman)
Best World Music Song (Bedlam, Dulaman)

Very respectful list, isn't it? I was hoping we'd get onto the list for Best Album, but it didn't happen.

Next year.

Full Steam Ahead.

Like, ohmahgah. Something new.

First things first: 13B will be in L.A. at the end of April and beginning of May for the Indie Music Channel's award show. This will be their first ever award show, and it will be an annual event ever after. So, any of our peeps who kick it in L.A. need to hit us up and let us know when we can meet up.

Along those same lines, WE ARE SO EXCITED WE COULD PEE. We will find out today (waugh!) if we are up for any awards. Cross your fingers. And toes. And eyes. And anything that can be crossed. In the meantime, we are learning to make our clothes by hand. For those of you who don't know us that well yet, we are into Steampunk. Don't know what that means? Imagine this: bringing technology back in time, if you will. So, think about the Victorian time period with all the nifty things that make life worth living today. Or, in another way, imagine how the world would have evolved without oil. Steam power, cogs, clocks, gears, airships, awesome hair, deliciously detailed fabrics and clothes. Le sigh. It's heaven, if you ask me. And you did, because you're reading our blog.

Focus.

Back to learning how to sew. I am learning to make a bustle to wear at the awards show (oh yeah, we'll be Steampunked to the hilt). I looked on Etsy at all the loveliness available, but I've been wanting to learn how to do this anyway, so I jumped in with both feet and hands. I am, however, doing a Practice Bustle, and I thought I would share some Work In Progress pics:

If you want to know what full-blown Steampunk looks like, I'll leave you with a few choice links. Enjoy!


Steampunked Girls

Steampunked Boys

 Other Steampunked Stuff

Another take on Steampunk: What is Steampunk?

FaceBook Music Store Up!

A quick post to say that our FaceBook music store is up and running. Enjoy!

13B on FaceBook.

Cross-Post.

I was a featured writer for a glorious website this week. Go check it out!
 

In honor of our Number 3 status on the Countdown!

The Quest for Celtronica, Part II :: Creating a Web Presence

or Trying Not to Let the Internet Eat My Brain

The internet is a big, scary place, and not just for online daters. 

Even when 13B was just a glimmer in my eye, an idea in the back of my mind, I knew having a strong web presence would be key. We would need to be posted, listed, played, streamed, pictured and referenced everywhere we possibly could. What I didn’t realize is the sheer enormity of the task. It’s overwhelming.

No.

Wait.

To say it’s overwhelming is like calling the Grand Canyon a butt-crack. It’s a crude understatement. Much like the universe, the internet is constantly expanding in every direction. There are so many different websites that want you to post your music, or want you to join, or create an account, sync all your social websites,  create your mailing lists, get all your fans to visit and/or join, create your own band perfume, merchandise, hairstyle or your own special kind of wool sock. There are an infinite number of places you can put your face and your music; they go on and on forever. 

This infinity can be both a blessing and a curse. Options are probably the number one Good Thing™ about the unending possibilities. If you don’t like something about a certain website, don’t worry, there are 49 more just like it with similar features. There is something unique and interesting about every website I have played around with or posted Bedlam on. Whether it’s the layout, the colors, how customizable the pages are, the overall shininess, or how easy it is to find any given record on that website, I have found something I liked. In general, I like the websites that are easy to use and easy to point fans to. For instance, if I have to copy and paste a five-thousand character web address from the browser into my post or email, I won’t use it. Note: just about the only exception I make is for iTunes, but iTunes compensates for this with a link for me to create a button that my peeps can click on and be whisked right through the time-space-internet continuum to my record. Handy! In any event, unless it’s something like www.postasmuchmusicasyoulikehere.com/13B, I tend to stay away from it.

The biggest drawback to having 13B splattered across the interwebs? Trying to get a feel for exactly how many fans we really have. Take MySpace, for instance. We have over two thousand "fans" on MySpace, but I never interact on MySpace. Ever. MySpace has evolved into a big, dirty infomercial. There are ads everywhere and it’s overrun by porn-star wannabes and lecherous dudes who sit around in their underwear huffing on keyboard duster cans. On the other hand, we only have about 200 fans on FaceBook. Even though that number is smaller, FaceBook is really rich with content and interaction, so I talk to fans there all the time. So do we have 2,200, or just 200? 2,200 looks better on our stats page, but I really only consider fans to be people who respond to my posts, tweets, texts or emails. Or even people who invite me to parties, pretend to knit with me, do yoga with me, put me through college, or even promise to go to the farmer's market with me on Saturday mornings. I think that puts us right around three or four hundred "real" fans, but who knows. Maybe all two thousand people on MySpace are voracious but silent 13B worshipers.

Some websites and companies are trying to help with cross-pollination by offering the ability to sync several of your sites or accounts to one place. My favorite by far is ReverbNation. This site has oodles of tools that show you how many fans you have, where they are, what network or website they're on, how many unique listeners you have, who your biggest promoters are (don’t think I don’t see you buzzing around under the radar, Jacki W.), and I can post once on the Verb and it will cross-post to Twitter, my personal FaceBook, my 13B FaceBook page, and MySpace. Again, handy! Shiny, even! Also, the Verb has these nifty widgets, banners, buttons and apps that I can get the HTML code for and post on any of the other 67 websites 13B graces.

Another significant downside to multitudinous websites and accounts (besides keeping up with a thousand passwords) is for people who don’t know me or 13B, it can be quite a challenge to pick the best place to send people to download, buy, or just listen to the record. Which place is cheaper? Can they listen to the whole song before they shell out the cash? Can they get a free download anywhere? Do they get a discount because they're already a member of postasmuchmusicasyoulike.com? Do they get a discount for being enrolled in a post-doctorate program? Do they get a discount for having 13 cats? Can they buy one song or do they hafta buy the whole stinkin’ record? Good questions, all.

Maintenance of the web presence is probably the most time-consuming chore. Yeah, it’s a process to get your stuff on to each of these websites (I submitted Bedlam to Pandora back in March and I still haven’t received a yes or no from them), but once you get up and running, you get messages and posts and comments and ratings from every single one of them. If I get more than one or two emails per week about a website's services or activites, I tune it out or delete myself off it. I can't stand getting every email a website sends out, whether it's relevant to me or not. I strive to keep each site we are listed on rich with posts, content and witty yet hilarious interaction. It simply takes a lot of time. Also, you get spam. Spam, spam, spam, spam. You know the ones; “hello. my dear. how are you. I am female looking for true love…” Blah, blah, blah. You can tell whoever it is has a thick Russian accent and is living somewhere in Jersey in the basement of a dry-cleaner's.  Those can be a little aggravating when you're expecting the comment or post to be from a rabid new fan telling you how awesome they think you are, and what you get is a poorly composed, error-ridden message from someone with limited English skills who thinks they might be able to con you out of your life savings, which isn’t very much anyway because you are, after all, an independent musician.

I digress.

With everything in front of me, I feel I’ve been modestly successful with creating a branded, consistent internet presence for 13B. Here, let me show you it: 

www.reverbnation.com/13b

www.indiemusicchannel.com/13b

www.facebook.com/13bmusic

www.myspace.com/thirteenb

www.cdbaby.com/13b

www.twitter.com/13bmusic

www.purevolume.com/13b

www.grooveshark.com/13b

www.jango.com/music/13B?l=0

http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/bedlam/id416262354?ign-mpt=uo%3D4

http://www.amazon.com/Bedlam-13b/dp/B004MFODM0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1302060561&sr=1-1

Go. Click. Listen. Love. Share. Become a fan. Like us. Follow us. All that jazz.

Check out music from 13B

Check out press from 13B

The Quest for Celtronica, Part I :: Radio Play

or Did Video Kill the Radio Star?

Oddly enough, in this world of Epic Technology, radio is still alive and kicking. When radio first gained popularity in the 1920's, if you had enough money you could buy the rights and put anything you wanted on the air. Baseball games and farm reports were among the first things to be broadcast. Radio has managed to evolve and stay a vital part of everyday life in any number of forms. Radio can now be accessed via satellite, like Sirius Radio, it can be an internet experience with sites like Pandora.com, AccessRadio.com, WomensRadio.com or any number of other great sites. Radio can be accessed through cable TV stations or other television add-ons like Tevo. Radio is still on airwaves, too, though I find that particular form less accessible. Mostly because I detest commercials, or more precisely, the sheer number of commercials I must endure to listen to the music. Honestly, how many times do I have to hear the same ad for that car dealership or new prescription drug? Most stations play the same handful of songs over and over which isn't apparent unless you listen to the same group of radio stations. Also, our garage door ate our car's antenna, so we don't listen as much as we used to even though our MP3 players have radio apps.

I have been moved to do quite a bit of research recently into what it takes to get a song played on the radio, in any of its forms. Most of the big, brick and mortar stations are strictly pay-to-play operations. They are paid by record labels, management companies, agents, and other music industry drones to get songs played. And we're not talking five bucks a pop here; we're talking thousands of dollars that are part of a major artist's promotional and marketing budget. Needless to say our pockets aren't that deep, so we are looking into local stations that play local artists. Another way to get radio time is to have someone who loves you and your music, who is well connected and can champion you. In contrast to champions are minions, or street teams; those are the people who call the radio stations and request your songs relentlessly. On a side note, we're hiring Champions and Minions if anyone wants to take up the mantle.

Another factor to radio time is location and genre. We live in Nashville, and we don't do country music, so our options have decreased by about 90%. In that final 10%, we have the Local Buzz (102.9 The Buzz), the Local Lightning (Lightning 100), and NPR.And those are just the ones we know about. I haven't made it as far as college stations yet, but that is next on the list.

To be fair, we have about an even set of odds to get airplay on any of those last three stations, but our genre might get in our way. We are a mix of traditional Celtic music blended with electronica and rock/pop/alternative influences. We don't really fit anywhere. Yet. We are creating a whole new genre that we refer to as Celtronica. There's no drop-down for that. I think we could be a great fit for the Local Lightning Spotlight, which is where we are starting, and we know someone who works for The Buzz, so that's a leg up. NPR is kind of a crap shoot. We did a record several years ago that we shipped off to them and never even got a response. I checked in with them several times and never even got a "no thanks" from them. But, you know what they say: try, try again. So I'll be doing another submission to a couple of substations at NPR. Here's hoping.

Internet radio, now that's a little different. It's much easier to get someone's ear, get your music to them and get a response from them. It's difficult to be accepted into their lists and streams, but that's understandable because most of them are free stations that rely on advertising from sponsors to keep the spins going. They have to play stuff that their listeners like so they'll keep listening and clicking on ads. I totally get it.

I have no idea if we'll get any airplay, but it's been an adventure so far, and very enlightening. So for any Champions or Minions out there, if we do get some radio spins, it is your job to request, request, request.

New Review from IMR!

http://musicreviewblurbs.blogspot.com/2011/03/13b.html

13B

Here at the Indie Music Review, we've heard some cool musical hybrids before, but this one might have topped them all.  13B crafts a unique blend of traditional Irish music and electronica for acutting edge sound that they refer to as "Celtronica."

www.myspace.com/thirteenb

Casting Away.

Here we begin. We begin a journey, an idea, a creation. This journey was truly begun several years ago, but we have only just reached the jumping off point, the true casting away.

Here's a little about who 13B is.

Brett.

Producer. Programmer. Drummer. Singer. Songwriter. Guitar and bass player. Made of General Awesome.

Marney.

Engineer. Singer. Flute player. Bodhran player. Lyric and idea editor. Composer. Arranger. Made of Yoga Awesome. Oh yeah, I'm a yoga teacher, too.

So, this is but a beginning. I will write as often and as entertainingly as I am able.

Stay with us and experience everything we do. Hopefully we'll get out of our living room and out into the Wide World of Epic Musicness soon.