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!

Tips for spiffing up Facebook musician/band pages.

I'd posted a while back about using a Facebook app called DamnTheRadio, but because it was so cumbersome, I never finished it.  In the meantime, while perusing Joe Bonamassa's page, I checked out the great looking app that he is using: BandPage, provided by RootMusic.  It interfaces with SoundCloud to stream your music and produces a Facebook landing page that has a custom banner (you make), music player, links to purchase and share the music, info on the band, contact, etc., show dates, and to top it off, incorporates your wall.  User friendly, fully customizable, free, AND beautiful!  Here are the two that I've created so far:

Caroline Aiken
Carly Gibson

It took a little bit of time to learn the ropes and to upload and input all of the information.  RootMusic provides tutorials and a lengthy "help" section; quite honestly, this may take more time than many artists have available, but that's where I come in.  For a reasonable fee, I'm happy to put it all together for you.  I love doing this stuff, and I'm armed with all the necessary software.  Let me know what I can do to help you polish your social networking presence!

Playin' the Judgment Day blues.

What?!  You're still here?!  Yeah, me, too.  But then, I never put too much stock (i.e, any) in end of the world prophecies...it's bad for business and it damages morale.

Let's each raise a glass, shall we, to many more years of music, joy and life.

I can haz spelling?

Okay, I am going to admit right now that I am a spelling, punctuation, and grammar whore.  Furthermore, I think that the world needs more of us.

I especially cringe when I'm reading somebody's professional website, MySpace, Facebook, or other example that is posted for public consumption and I'm seeing the English language garbled in the following ways:

 "Johnny didn't waist any time learning to play his guitar."  "Jane went threw a lot to get were she is."  "Your the best thing that ever happened to me."  "He said, pick up you're guitar and play!"  "I said that I play drums, to."  "Suzie asked her parents if she could go too the concert two."  "I would hate to loose my guitar."  "Do you no weather we go on at six or seven?"

People, words that sound the same (homonyms) are NOT interchangeable (synonyms); they all have different meanings:
to, two, too
there, their, they're
your, you're, yore
waste, waist
bare, bear
stare, stair
baited, bated
whether, weather
through, threw
strait, straight
no, know

Furthermore, it is important to understand that words that look similar but have slightly different spellings also have different meanings:
lose, loose
hose, house
where, were

Improper spelling radically changes the meaning of what you are attempting to say, and sometimes in ways that (trust me!) you would rather avoid.  I believe that Taylor Mali says it best, in his spoken word performance regarding the importance of proofreading:


As you can see, carelessness can lead to embarrassing situations.  Furthermore, it presents an impression of unprofessionalism that is easily avoided.  "Easy," you say?  "I've always been a bad speller!  I can't help it!"  I've heard this excuse from so many people, and let me assure you: the rules are not that hard to learn.

Allow me to introduce you to some fun and helpful resources provided by one of my favorite websites, The Oatmeal:

10 Words You Need to Stop Misspelling
How to Use a Semicolon
How to Use an Apostrophe
What it Means When You Say "Literally"
When to Use i.e. in a Sentence
The 3 Most Common Uses of Irony

These links will provide you with fun, illustrated, easy to remember rules about spelling and punctuation.  Another great resource is Daily Writing Tips, which a blog that provides information and answers to just about any writing-related question that you might have.  You can learn about the correct application of punctuation, grammar, spelling, and misused words.  I highly recommend them!

If you still feel unsure about the accuracy of your spelling, grammar, or punctuation, it is wise to enlist the help of someone who does, in order to proofread your text before you take it "live."  This is important if you're a musician; if you're a writer and you have these issues, it is professional suicide not to have a good editor.  Incidentally, this is a service that I happily provide.

Awesome LOLcat photo retrieved from http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/ff111/tempestw/Cat%20Macros/GrammarCat.jpg.