My lizard brain.

The class that I'm taking this month has pushed me so far out of my comfort zone that it has me in another different zip code entirely: Professional Communication and Presentations.  I expected to enjoy this class because I like creating imaginative slide presentations, but oh, no, no...they expect video presentations as well.  Like as in, me on camera, talking to people.   Ai yi yi!  There was a time when I'd rather be stood up against a wall and shot at than do this.  Obviously, I'm braver than I used to be, but it still has me shaking in my boots.  My lizard brain is telling me that a) I'm uninteresting, b) I look old, c) I sound dull, and worst of all, d) everyone can tell I gained that Freshman 10 and Sophomore 20.  Ouch!  My cover is blown!

My professor seems to disagree with my lizard brain, however, and this gives me some confidence.  How do you deal with your lizard brain?  I'd love to know!  (This video, BTW, is not my presentation.  It is a source I refer to to slap some sense into myself.)

All you need to know about the music business.

Donald Passman is the foremost expert on the music business, having written the indispensable book,  Everything You Need To Know About The Music Business.  He also has a lot of video discussions available at Artistshouse Music, a fabulous resource for musicians and the people who support them.

I love innovation.

I love innovation, especially when it saves me money.  I've been really frustrated with banks charging excessive debit card fees and annoyed with the percentage that I have to give up if I use PayPal to accept payment for the websites I build.  I'd been asking folks to just write me a check, but I may have stumbled across a better, more efficient way to do things!  I just finished reading this article about a relatively new company called Dwolla that might very well make debit cards obsolete.  It will also give PayPal a run for its money, as its sole transaction fee consists of a flat rate of just twenty-five cents.  Check it out and let me know what you think.

By the way, I apologize for my posting infrequency.  Last month involved two extremely challenging classes in the same four week period, and it was all I could do to keep up with it and maintain my grade point average.  This month is also a challenge, but I have a little bit more time than I did.  Hopefully I'll be able to be more regular here.  So if you're still reading, thanks for sticking with me!

I fear that our federal government is guitarded.

I have been watching the Gibson guitar issue with great interest, collecting the media stories about it and trying to get to the bottom of what is happening.  To make a long story short, the US government has raided Gibson twice (the first time in 2009; no charges have ever been filed) for alleged environmental violations over imported wood.  The problem has virtually nothing to do with the wood being harvested illegally; it is not.  The problem has everything to do with the fact that the wood purchased is only two-thirds of the way finished, as Gibson (naturally) prefers to finish their own fretboards for purposes of quality control.  There is no US law prohibiting this, yet the Feds are claiming that Gibson may be violating an obscure Indian law which they (the US gov't) are interpreting to state that only Indian workers can finish Indian-sourced woods.  The last raid involved similar shipments from Madagascar; according the Gibson's CEO, Henry Juszkiewicz, the Feds have told him that if he will allow foreign labor to finish the wood, "the problem will go away."  Does this make sense in America, particularly given the current unemployment rate and the stagnant economy?  It is also interesting to note that Gibson's major competitors use the same wood without retaliation from the federal government.  The difference is which political party the competitors support.  This smacks of political retribution to me, and I don't like it.

Now here's the real rub: owners of Gibson guitars are now at risk of having their instruments seized at the border if they are unable to provide documentation that sources the wood and bone used to make the instrument.  I don't know about you, but while I can document when I purchased my guitar, and from who, I know that I cannot document the source of every little piece of wood used to build it.  Does this mean that I can no longer travel with my instrument of choice?  Will this ridiculous trend affect owners of other makes and models of instruments, or only those loyal to the Gibson brand?  Are we willing to take the risk of having our legally purchased instruments confiscated by overzealous government agents?  Where does the abuse end?

I remember what it felt like to live in a free country; it was nice while it lasted.  It'll be a great story for the grandkids.

References:

Gibson: Feds Want Guitar Work Done By Foreign Labor
Chris Daniel Interviews Gibson CEO Henry Juszkiewicz
Gibson Guitar CEO Responds to Federal Raid
CEO of Gibson Guitars' Main Competitor is a Huge Democrat Donor; Also Uses Same Wood Without Any Complaint From Feds
CEO of Gibson Guitar a Republican Donor; Democrat Competitor Uses Same Wood - Landmark Report
Guitar Frets: Environmental Enforcement Leaves Musicians in Fear

Some scathing related satire:
New Scandal at DoJ as Illegal Guitars End Up In Hands of Mexican Drug Lords

Updated 9/10/11:
http://savannahnow.com/exchange/2011-09-09/federal-seizure-wood-products-used-gibson-guitars-concerns-local-guitar-makers#.Tmt7xXPHoj6

Wow...busy summer!

I have been incredibly busy with school, work, and more work.  So much so that I hadn't written in this blog for almost a month!  Hopefully I'll be able to be more consistent in the future. :)

I just finished a new website.  Take a look at it when you get a minute: www.BJWilbanks.com.  In building BJ's website, I discovered that ReverbNation will let you use their pro widgets for free...it only costs money if you want to remove the RN logo from them.  So, yet another great service that costs virtually nothing.  I love it!

I hope y'all have a great Labor Day weekend!

Help give a talented kid a leg up!

In the spirit of full disclosure, this is a fundraiser for my daughter, Carly Gibson, who is a very talented singer/songwriter and guitarist (lead electric and acoustic).  She is attending the acclaimed Atlanta Institute of Music's guitar program beginning in October, and we are trying to raise funds to reduce the amount of student loans she'll need, since recent economic circumstances have rendered us unable to help her with loans. People have been very generous so far, and I'm just putting the word out where ever I can:



Feel free to "boost the signal," meaning that you are welcome to share the widget with your friends and family who might be willing and able to help out.  It's tough everywhere these days, but we can all do a little bit to make big dreams possible.

Always learning something new.

It's been a minute since I last posted.  Between school, the day job, and the work that I do for independent musicians, I have been busier than a one-legged tap dancer in a butt kicking contest (this is the South...we love our similes!).  I have, however, been picking up some new indie career tips for musicians.  Here are a few of them:

• I have discovered that ReverbNation now offers the ability to insert your own links to your posted songs so that when you click on the "buy" button it will take you to the page you designate, whether that be iTunes or Bandcamp.  If your songs are already posted, you simply select the "edit" link to insert this. 
• ReverbNation also has a custom module that I am using to insert the most recent album image, along with the link that will take a visitor to where they can buy the actual CD.  While logged in, click on "control room", "my profile" and then "customize".  The module will be in the inactive modules column.
• While you're looking at the "customize" section of ReverbNation, make sure that the modules you aren't using get moved to the inactive column so that you aren't cluttering up your profile page.  Move the active modules around so that the most important ones are the most prominent.  Also, consider customizing your background so that it looks nice and blends with your website theme.  Example of how to rearrange modules:

I love the BandPage app for Facebook from RootMusic.  It is extremely functional and looks fantastic.  I did discover, however, that the music player does not work on the iPad, as the iPad cannot use Flash.  WTH, Steve Jobs?!  This is good to know, and something that I hope Apple will address.  I am, however, very proud of my latest BandPage, constructed for Diane Durrett:

I created the banner in Photoshop and uploaded it to BandPage, then customized the colors to match.  The goal is to look sleek and professional.  One quick tip about BandPage...be sure to set it as as your default landing page on Facebook so that new fans end up there first to get the best possible impression of you!

I'll soon have another service to tell you about; I'm still in the process of vetting it, so you'll have to wait until I know more about it, but if it does what it purports to do, it is revolutionary.

I will try to be more regular in my posts.  Thanks for taking the time to read my tips; I hope they are useful to you!