A Surprise At The Supermarket

I don't necessarily hate getting groceries, but I do hate when it comes time to swipe my card through. Sure, picking stuff out is no problem. Too bad it isn't free; then it would really be fun.

For some reason, we began going to the grocery store on Sunday mornings, which isn't actually bad. There's a lot fewer people around. Sometimes I go by myself, if my husband is tired and wants to sleep in. Again, I don't mind that, except when it comes to bagging and loading stuff into my cart.

Last Sunday, as I was busily unloading my $200.00 worth of items from my cart, a woman appeared out of nowhere, holding two bouquets of roses. "Would you like a free dozen roses?", she asked. I sort of looked around to make sure she was talking to me, and then I said, "Um, sure", thinking, "what's the catch?" "They're past their sell-by date, so we have to get rid of them," she said. "Would you like the red or the yellow?" So, I said, the yellow, and lo and behold, I got me a free dozen yellow roses at the supermarket!

Here they are:


Yes, it's quite amazing to me, because I never get anything for free. There's always a catch. Usually "free" stuff ends up costing me something.

And to top it off, the guy at the checkout actually loaded my cat litter into my cart for me, and he even said, "thank you", and I think he also said, "have a nice day"! The world may be coming to an end.

And yes, the flowers were past their sell-by date, and now this is all I have left:

But it was still a nice surprise. Oh, and McDonalds offered us two free ice cream cones this week. I can feel it - my luck is changing!

Since this is a music blog, I thought this song might be appropo:

Mildred's Garden

It Was Fun While It Lasted

So, here we are, the 25th of the month, and our song, "Ghost Town" has dropped from the number one position on OurStage to number sixty-two. Oh well. It was too good to last.

Still, out of 382 entries, it's not bad. Nothng to shout about, such as:



How much of a dork do you have to be to post a banner that shouts, "We're Number Sixty-Two!"

OurStage is but one of the sites where we've slapped up some songs. It's sort of a fun diversion, but I don't take it too seriously.

So no, I'm not crying about our steep drop in the standings. Cuz, hey! We're Number Sixty-Two!

We're Number One!

I don't go to OurStage very often anymore, because we've kind of tanked there in recent months. But we had a few friend requests, so I logged on to approve them.

I was surprised to find that we are sitting at #1 in Americana/Alt Country, with "Ghost Town"! Out of 332 entries! Yay!

On the realistic side, it's only the 11th of the month, so we'll probably end up at #332 by the time the month's over, but hey! It's still cool!

MySpace Is Selling Music Now

Did you hear that MySpace has gone into the music download business? I read about it, but I wasn't all that interested, since I've got a reliable source for downloadable music (Amazon).

I went to our band's MySpace page today, since I do like to check in once a week or so, and I noticed the "playlists" option. I spent a little time trying to figure out how it worked, and how exactly it would be a benefit to us.

From what I can discern, it's an option for non-band MySpace users to create playlists and post them on their site, I guess to share with their friends or with the world or with whomever might happen to stumble upon their page.

I like it and I think it's a cool option. Who doesn't like to recommend music to other people? I know I do.

I created an "alternate playlist" of songs that the members of Red River like. It's sort of like a puzzle, first figuring out which songs or artists to search for, and then actually finding what you're looking for, and then, of course, sequencing the songs (because sequencing is an art all to itself - just ask my husband - the expert).

So, I'm glad that MySpace created this option. Frankly, it gives me a reason to actually go there, because there's not a whole lot happening for Red River there.

Anyway, if you have a MySpace page, go ahead and create a playlist. And let me know if you do, because I'd like to listen to it.

My playlist is called, "The Eclectic Tastes of Red River". To find it, click on the down arrow next to "featured playlist" on our music player. I probably will add more songs as I think of them, but it's been kind of fun, I must admit.

Then, of course, being the CMA historian that I have apparently become, I created two more playlists; one featuring the singles of the year from 1967 to the present. There was only one that I couldn't find - "Country Bumpkin" by Cal Smith. I don't know what the deal is with this song and its unavailability. I couldn't find it on YouTube, either. There were also two other singles that I could not find by the original artists, so I went with alternate versions.

The more fun playlist, for me, was the CMA entertainers of the year, again from 1967 to the present. This allowed me to pick songs by these artists that I actually like.

I really think the CMA should pay me for all the free publicity I'm giving them. Lord knows, I could use the extra income.

Anyway, as you can see, I'm having "fun with playlists".

Here's our MySpace address. We always welcome new friend requests.

Red River's MySpace Page

We've Made The Semi-Finals On OurStage!

We've made the semi-finals for July on OurStage!

To vote for us, you have to first sign up for an account; then go to "Judging" and choose Traditional Country. Our song will come up for judging quite often, since we're in the semi-finals.

Please judge according to your true opinion, but if you like us, please vote for us!

Cloud Pictures & A Song

A couple of years back, I had this weird preoccupation with taking pictures of clouds from my deck.

I think it all started with an approaching storm, and me noticing that the clouds were strange and foreboding (I guess).

From there, I grabbed my camera every time I stepped out on the deck, and I saw some interesting things in the sky.

These photos were all taken during the same summer season.

Did you ever, as a kid, lay on the grass and look at the clouds? I did. I used to think that the cloud formations depicted the saints and the Virgin Mary, revealing themselves in the sky. Yes, I always did have a vivid imagination.

Maybe I wasn't so far off. Who knows? Maybe we should pay better attention, like we did when we were kids.

When I thought back to those warm summer days as a kid, lying in the grass, staring up at the sky, I wrote:

Saw God in the clouds
On a warm summer's day
Laid in the grass
Let the time tick away
Nothin' much goin'
Just a child who was free
To ponder the heavens
'Neath a cottonwood tree

Here is my "cloud" song. Take a look at the pictures below, as you listen. Yes, the recording isn't that good; it was one of the first times I ever recorded a song. But it has an innocence to it, I guess.

THE COTTONWOOD TREE

*My* Songs

I've got a bunch of songs in the pipeline.

By "pipeline", I mean, they may or may not get recorded. But you never know!

The problem I was having was that I kept re-recording guitar/vocal versions of the songs, until I was at least semi-happy with them as demos. But when I went back to listen to them, I had too many versions of the same song, and I didn't know which was the "good"version, and which was a prior attempt.

So, I thought, hey! SoundClick! SoundClick isn't much good for anything other than storing songs for future reference.

So, since it's FREE, I thought, why not set up a page to store all my "best" versions of my demos?

One tiny problem with that is, everybody can listen to them. But that's a small price to pay, really. I mean, what's the worst that can happen? Somebody will listen to a song and think it's horrible? Well, who are these people anyway? And don't they have anything better to do than to troll for new songs on SoundClick?

Face it, if SoundClick thinks all those hip-hop "artists" they keep pushing are so great, how bad could my stuff sound?

So, my initial idea was actually a good one.

I set up a page: Michelle's Work Tapes

And I WARNED people in my "interview" what the page was all about. I asked people to PLEASE not add any of these songs to their stations (people can set up personal stations there). I told everyone in no uncertain terms that these were WORK TAPES.

Did that stop people? No. Of course not.

Somebody added one of my "songs" to their station.

While it's flattering to find that out, it's also really embarrassing. But what the heck?

I guess I choose to look at it this way: At least it tells me which songs people actually like, and therefore, which songs might be candidates for full-blown recordings.

The one song that people seem to like is actually a throw-away. And I knew that, for whatever reason, that would be a song that would get picked up for recording. My producer feels the same way. That song is, "Hello Dear Heartache".

It sometimes makes me wonder why I put so much work into some of my songs, when the quick and easy ones seem to capture people's attention.

What really struck me as funny was that a song that I wrote a long time ago, "Kathryn's Place", actually hit #20 in Cajun/Zydeoco! Ha! It must have been the bad accordion playing that roped people in. Either that, or, there just aren't a lot of songs in that particular category.

Also, surprisingly, a song called, "The Game", that I wrote a LONG time ago, hit #23 in Honky Tonk. Again, not a real popular category, I'm thinking.

So, all in all, this turned out to be an enlightening experiment. The songs I consider to be my "best" didn't chart at all, while the throw-away songs garnered some attention.

Regardless, the next Red River song to be recorded will be, "The High Cost Of Living".

After that, it will be, "Heartview".

Neither of these songs even hit the charts on SoundClick.

I have to go with my intuition, and that of my producer.

Trust me. These songs will sound good. Way better than the demos.

And I hate to break it to the "fans", but "Kathryn's Place" will never see the light of day.

But "Hello Dear Heartache" will no doubt be recorded.

So, that's some consolation.

"Photoshop" On The Cheap

I always wanted Photoshop. The problem is, I didn't want/couldn't afford to spend the money.

So, I took a look around to see what options I could find for free. Here's one that I just recently downloaded: Serif Photoplus

They also have a $9.99 version, but I thought I would see how I like the free version before I think about shelling out any money.

Basically, what I wanted was the ability to add text to a photo, since we're on a lot of different music sites, and it would be nice to have something that looks professional.

My standard procedure is to search for a photo on Google Images, download it, then (with my new software) add a title to it. Like this:

And this:


Okay, this last one is a little off-kilter. I'll have to go back and fix that. But you get my drift.

I haven't tried any of the other features yet, but for my purposes, I think this will work. PLUS, it's free!

There is other free software out there as well, but this one had text layering, which I needed, so I went with Photoplus. You might want to search for yourself to find something that works for you.

By the way, "Off The Track" is our new instrumental. It's kind of a bluesy rock orchestral type thing. I really like it.

Movie Trailer For Bucking The Tiger!

My (new) friend, Michelle Graye, sent me a link to the movie trailer for her film, "Bucking The Tiger", in which our song, "Ghost Town", will play during the closing credits.

Well, yes, I'm excited! And even better, Michelle will be sending me a DVD of the movie.

The film is based on a real shoot-out that happened in Tombstone in 1882 between Billy "The Kid" Claiborne and Buckskin Frank Leslie.
I guess those Michelles are just very creative people, you think?

Here's the trailer:




Here are some still images from the shoot:







Yea, that last picture could definitely be me. Red hair, free beer. Yea, there you go. That could be me. Except for that "No Smoking" sign. That has to go.

Oh, and here's the song!

Baby Steps

There hasn't been much to write home about lately regarding Red River and our "success stories" - ha ha! (What success stories?) But, to be fair, we haven't been very productive for awhile, either.

There have been a couple of things worth mentioning, though, I guess.

I received an email from Audiosparx this week, letting me know that one of our songs, "Ghost Town", is being used in a short film that will be shown at a student film festival. So, that's kinda nice. The filmmaker will be using the entire song for the end title. It would be nice to know more about the project, but I'm not going to badger the person, to try to find out more. All I know is, it's a short western film.

Then, today, I got an email, telling me that a song I'd entered (and forgotten about!) won an honorable mention in the Song Of The Year contest back in December. I truly forgot that I had even entered anything. It must have been one of my weaker (drunk) moments - no, I'm just kidding about the drunkenness. But I really don't, as a rule, enter anything that I have to pay to enter.

I also forgot which song I'd entered. I'm thinking it was probably, "Prayed For It To Rain". At one time, I was pretty enthusiastic about that song. Also, now thinking back, I believe there were some decent judges in that contest, a fact which most likely convinced me to part with my money.

Of course, this "award" won't do anything for us (it won't even give me a return on my investment), but still, it's a nice pat on the back.

Oh, my name is here: Songwriter Of The Year Honorable Mention List

(Click quick, before it's gone!)

So, there you have it........little teeny baby steps.

If you want to listen to "Ghost Town" or "Prayed For It To Rain", you'll find them here:

Red River's Website (Music Page)

Thus ends today's infomercial.

MySpace Bands & Artists - Good Advice, I Think

MySpace can be a lot of fun. As a band, we get a lot of friend requests, and I enjoy checking out new bands and solo artists, finding out where they live, listening to their music. I don't sign on to our MySpace account as often as I should, but when I do, it's always a pleasant surprise to see new friend requests.

My ONE BIG COMPLAINT about some of these MySpace pages, however, is that they take FOREVER TO LOAD. If I was on dial-up, I would go insane.

There are a lot of add-on options for personalizing one's page. That doesn't necessarily mean that one has to use them all.

I frankly have often given up on trying to listen to someone's music, simply because, after waiting for all four of the videos to load, and for all 50 pictures to materialize, I've lost interest.

My PC is operating at near max capacity as is, and therefore, a heavily loaded MySpace page will often freeze up my computer. This is extremely annoying.

Sometimes less is better.

I've been guilty of overloading our page in the past, too. But something that is helpful is actually clicking on one's official MySpace link to see how it loads (rather than just editing the page and leaving it at that).

Here's what I like to see when visiting someone's page:

1. A nice background (not the generic default background - that just looks cheap).

2. A picture of the band or artist.

3. SONGS - the most important component!

4. Blog entries - If I want to get to know a band or artist, their blog posts will tell me more about them than 100 videos on their home page (which I am not going to watch). The writing doesn't have to be fancy, just real.

(A note regarding blog posts - please try to use font sizes and colors that are easy to read. Sure, there are a lot of options - red text on a yellow background, for example, but that kind of stuff just gives me a headache. And I don't like squinting to try to read what someone has written.)

5. Videos are fine, but just add them to your video page - then if someone wants to watch them, they can click on the video link.

6. A bunch of press releases aren't really that impressive. The only people who are going to read them are your family.

7. Update your page now and then. Give people a reason to come back.*

*I should take my own advice, perhaps.

So, there you go. Some hints and tips from just an average MySpace peruser.

Oh, here's our link, by the way (thought it would be appropriate to put that here):

Red River On MySpace

The Year In Music - Red River

Whew! I'm getting this in under the wire!

I thought I would take a moment to take stock of Red River's accomplishments for 2007.

Most importantly, we added two new band members, Dale Boylen and Mike McClelland. Dale is a singer-songwriter from Hawaii, by way of Minneapolis. Mike is a drummer extraordinaire, with loads of experience. Dale and Mike have made Red River better.

2007 started out for Red River with the number one country song on SoundClick, "Ring In The Old". Thanks to my friend Cliff for helping make this song number one.

Surprisingly, since this has been a long dry spell for me, Red River did manage to record some new songs in 2007:

April Days (mine)
The Red Sky (Dave's)
That Girl (Dave's)
Heaven Knows (Dale's)
She'll Never Know - this one will be finished today, December 31! (Dale's)

Okay, only one of those was mine, but how do you know I don't have a bunch of great songs in the pipeline? (Okay, I don't; but I do have a few new songs that are possibly ready to record).

We also re-recorded a couple of our older songs, "Triple Service" and "To Talk To You Today". Thanks to Mike for making "Triple Service" sound SO much better; and thanks to Craig Larson for helping to improve "To Talk To You Today" substantially, and for helping to cover up that microphone stand bump that I did. (Hey, I never claimed to be a professional).

2007 was the year that I started exploring music licensing. Nothing's happened yet, but you never know. Audiosparx used Red River's music in a YouTube video, which was pretty cool!

I also created a new website for the band. I like it a lot better than the old one. You can find us at www.redrivermusic.biz

I guess that pretty much sums up 2007 for Red River. It was a year that found us kind of trying to decide what direction we wanted to follow.

But the future is the future. One never knows what will happen.

So, here's to 2008 and all the surprises that are in store.

Another Take On Illegal Downloading - From A Member Of Red River

Some guy posted a link in one of the audio message boards to a story about the RIAA suing people for illegal downloads and said it was chicken shit.

Here is my reply to him:

"Just another way that digital recording is destroying the music industry. People now think music is "cheap" and should not be payed for. The average person has no clue what it costs to record a commercial cd, not including the time and effort spent writing the material for said cd, practicing it over and over and over again (cause studio's charge way too much to not be 100% prepared before you enter one) and the likely years and years, perhaps decades of learning to play and perfect your instrument of choice.

It's a TON of work, time and $$$ invested by the artist....the ones that get screwed the most. It's no wonder we have "music" these days performed by "Artists" who can't read or write music, can't sing and can't play an instrument. Those are the ones making money and those are the ones most likely to survive in a digital world.

I'm sure i'll get flamed for this post, but i'm truly sick and tired of people thinking quality music should just magically appear on their personal computer with no payment for the people that created the music.

Last but not least, let us remember that the music you steal is an artists labor of love....life's mission if you will, and that it means the world to him/her and the artist poured their soul into creating that music"

They just are totally clueless. I wonder how many of THEM stayed up half the night to work on their "job" like Dave did the other night?

Bothers me that music has become so cheap.....disposable. I HATE that. Man, I remember saving my money for months so I could buy the next Beach Boy's album. I got a lot of satisfaction from that.

Happy new year to both of you.

Dale

Before We Say Goodbye To 2007

Here's a little photo montage I put together of those we have lost in 2007, along with some personal memories.

This is becoming a New Year's Eve tradition for me.

So, without further a-dooo, here is "Ring In The Old" - 2007 edition.

Red River Music Featured On A YouTube Video!

I received an email from Audiosparx the other day, mentioning that they have a video up on YouTube, explaining what they're all about.

So, having a bit of free time, I thought I would check it out.

The video contains samples of all the different genres of music they offer, and guess what?

For country music, they used Red River!

I was absolutely expecting a more "polished" sort of track to advertise the country music genre, but they used us!

Now, that's cool.

Here it is:

Fa La La La La

I suppose all workplaces have a lot of activities going on this time of year.

For me and mine (?), the big thing this week was the annual departmental decorating contest. The prize is a bowl of candy and someone's old bowling trophy, gussied up to say, "Christmas Decorating Winner" or something to that effect.

It doesn't take much to get those old competitive juices flowing!

Since I am on the Fun Committee (three Michele's/Michelle's and a Jennifer), it was our responsibility to come up with a theme for our department's Christmas decorating. Oh, easy enough, you say. Well, no. First, we had to solicit suggestions, then we had to send out an email so everyone could vote for their favorite, then we had to execute (hmmmm.........execute.......sounds inviting).

So, we had seven suggestions, some of them quite original........and the one that garnered the most votes was.............Individual Cubicles! Yes, we apparently each like to do our own thing.

So, not being very creative in the decorating department, I trudged off to Target to see what I could come up with. I'd already papered my cubicle walls with wrapping paper, courtesy of one of the Michele's, who brought all her leftover paper for everyone to use.

Now, what to add, what to add.........

Well, being on a budget, I didn't want to spend a boatload of money on cubicle decorating, so I found a few things that were "decent yet inexpensive". I got me a string of lights ($2.00), a string of fake cranberries, a card of burgundy bows, and that's about it. (Did I mention I'm not much of a decorator?)

I have to admit, for being such an amateur, my cubicle turned out.......hideous.

But, I had that old Christmas spirit (or I could have used a bit of "spirits"), so I put up all my bows and strung my lights, and plastered a sign on my cubicle that said, (someone else's suggestion), "Christmas BOW-tique".

Whew! I had a theme!

Meanwhile, one of the Michele's had a "Christmas In Arizona" theme, one had a bear theme, Jennifer did her cube up in blue and labeled it, "Blue Christmas". The best one of all was Lori's "Pig Christmas". Lots of pigs and even an ornamental reindeer with a pig nose and tail.

On the other side of the building, my friend Julie's department had gone all out. They had street signs and homemade candy trees and all the other trappings of Christmas.

They deserved to win.

We were the department that begged for pity votes.

I did get to write up the signs for everyone's cubicles, since I do have good handwriting (it's something I'm famous for).

So, at the designated hour, the judges sauntered past. I did a little hand sweep and said, "Christmas BOW-tique", and they said, sarcastically, "Yea, we get it." This did not bode well for our department.

Needless to say, we didn't win the trophy or the bowl of candy. Julie's department won, as it should have.

At least now it's over. Losers again. I guess we just weren't cut out to win someone's old musty bowling trophy.

I guess it's just as well that our plan to "carol" the judges sort of fell apart.

So, Michele T and I went out and smoked and drowned our sorrows with assorted caffeinated beverages.

Next week is Secret Santa. I pray that goes better than the old "Individual Cubes" went over.

Oh, and did I mention that I'm ceding my position on the Fun Committee to someone new in the near future?

Exploring The Avenues

Have you heard? The music business is dying. Yes, it's true. I read it in Entertainment Weekly. A bunch of labels have laid off a bunch of people, because nobody, apparently, is buying music anymore.

It's a sad state of affairs. These rocket scientists who are illegally downloading music haven't quite grasped yet that before long, there won't be any more music to illegally download. Because artists aren't going to make any new music if they're not making any money from it.

Oh, I'm not blaming it all on the illegal downloading brigade. The corporate dunderheads in charge of the music labels haven't exactly been doing a stellar job in releasing good music - the kind that people would actually pay money for. Take Nashville, for instance.

Say you have one male vocalist with a thin, reedy voice, who happens to catch on somehow with the public - maybe because he wears a black cowboy hat or something. Well, the Nashville scions say, hey! We gotta find us another lanky dude with a black cowboy hat and a thin, reedy voice! Voila! We'll be millionaires!

And then we'll find a bunch of songs about fishin' and people dyin' and pickup trucks and......hey! How about this? Combine all those things into one song? A guy goes fishin' with his buddy, and then his buddy dies, and then the guy who's still alive loads the dead guy onto the back of his pickup truck and as he drives on down to the funeral parlor, he ruminates about all the fun him and his friend had through the years. It'd be a real sad song, and it would sell MILLIONS.

Well, you get the picture.

So, since the music business is dying, what's an independent artist to do?

I've been exploring the option of licensing music for TV and movies.

There's a bunch of websites out there that will accept your music (if it's professionally done) and will stick your music on their site and wait to see if anybody in TV or the movies is interested.

It's a win-win.

Of course, nobody is creating any new TV or movies right now, due to the writer's strike. Just my luck. Bad timing, as usual.

But, be that as it may, I have found a few sites that have some potential. And dang, I'd be thrilled to hear one of our songs on a TV show, or better yet, in a movie. Who wouldn't?

Even if it didn't earn us more than $20.00, it would still be well worth it, just for the thrill alone.

So, if you're making music and don't have anywhere to go with it, do a Google search for music licensing. There's a bunch of sites out there; some better than others. Read their terms of service and make a decision for yourself if their site is the place for you. You never know!

P.S. Of all the sites I've found, one that offers SUPERIOR service, in my estimation, is Audiosparx. Great, great personalized service. I highly recommend it.

Progress Update

Well, I haven't given up on my new song yet! Still working on "The Road To Ruin". I came up with some chords, but I haven't actually recorded the song on my wonderful free recording software yet, so I don't know how it will sound. That is always the test. If it sounds boring, then it gets filed away, never to be heard from again.

I'm also not sure that the song is finished. It seems like it's missing something, so another weekend gone by, more progress made, but still more work to do, obviously.

My husband relayed a comment that was made about me by one of his musician friends. It went something like, "It's surprising that she can come up with so many different melodies.....considering that she is so limited in the number of chords she can play."

Ha! So true! So, I guess that's sort of a compliment. ""Well, she's not too bright, so it's a wonder she accomplishes anything at all."

All I can say is, out of adversity comes "something". It might not be something good, but kudos for the effort. (ha ha)

You gotta keep trying. If it was easy, everyone would do it. Or some sort of cliche like that.

Writing Again - And A Resource For Writers

Now that the summer is almost past, I feel the creative juices flowing once again. (I was worried there for awhile). I'm working on a couple of songs at the same time, which is the way I prefer it, actually.

A new resource I found that has helped me, is called Chord Studio. What it does is add instrumentation to your songs, and you can also set the BPM (beats per minute) and add whatever instruments you'd like. It helps me to actualize a song.

So, the new songs I'm currently working on are, "The Late Great Me" and "Road To Ruin". I like the title, "Road To Ruin", so I'm hoping I can do it justice. Just finding an interesting title is really half the battle.

I'm still feeling positive about "The Late Great Me". I've actually had the song going through my head all week, so I take that as a good sign. What with all the other stuff that's been going on this week, it's a wonder my brain has the capacity to hold anything other than (boredom alert!) insurance claim stuff.

On another note, we've gotten some great responses from people on our mailing list at Number One Music Dale's song, "Heaven Knows", elicited a very positive response. I am always thrilled to read positive feedback, and this song definitely deserves it. Click the link above to hear what's up with Red River.

I've got a few things on my mind this week that I want to talk about, but I'll put them in another post. Funny how something you read strikes a nerve, and you think about it long after the fact. I've got a couple of those things going on this week.

So, stay tuned......

Clutter

(originally posted 07-14-07)

I’ve been on a mission lately………to clear out the needless clutter in my life.

The impetus for this was all the Nigerian emails and others that I’ve been receiving lately (what is WRONG with Yahoo, anyway? I used to be a Yahoo fan, but lately…..geez, they have really been falling down on the job.)

It’s gotten to the point that I’ve been ignoring my friends, because it’s so daunting to weed through all the junk emails to find the legitimate ones.

But, aside from the spam, I only have myself to blame for subscribing to certain sites, thinking the newsletters would be interesting, only to find that they’re either NOT interesting, or I just don’t have time to read the stuff anyway (I need to click on that “unsubscribe” button.) Or, once you subscribe to them, they ask for money for the “real inside scoop”. I think maybe that’s the outlet I’ve been looking for……I need to ask for money to have people read my stuff…….then I could become rich and I’d have LOTS of time to spend browsing the internet.

Funny how the world-wide web was supposed to make our lives easier, but in actuality, it’s just caused more aggravation in our lives. Am I right? Yes, I am. And, really, isn’t there enough aggravation to begin with, without asking for more? I mean, after spending countless hours on the internet, you find that you have adware and spyware and all kinds of “ware”, so you have to purchase programs that get rid of all of that for you, or your computer will go up in flames. It’s created a whole new industry.

But I’m on a mission to de-clutter my life. There are currently three sites that I pay for the privilege of being a part of. One of them I will be ditching quite soon. Another, I have mixed feelings about. It’s not that it does me any good; it’s just that I like the look of the paid site, as opposed to the free one. Ah, vanity. The third, I believe I will hang onto for awhile. That is the only one that has reaped any benefits/rewards for Red River.

Funny how musicians get sucked into joining these organizations. It’s the promise of rewards that never come. But we always grasp onto that sliver of hope. Oh, this one will be the one. I think we’ve got Red River music all over the web; most of it on free sites (thankfully), and most of it uploaded on a promise of riches that never materialize.

There are probably websites out there for every inclination and aspiration. I don’t think musicians are the only ones targeted. I suppose if you write short stories, there are most likely HUNDREDS of sites out there, promising you that they are the ones who will deliver fame and fortune to your doorstep. It’s a racket, but yet we choose to believe them (at least for a day). Then we move on to the next new one that pops up. It’s an endless graph of highs and lows, and lower-than-lows. But without hope, what do we have?

But the advice I would give to aspiring musicians is, tread lightly. There are a lot of people who are circling like sharks, waiting to chomp onto your money and your dignity. Promising you those riches that you so rightly deserve.

I say, create a MySpace page. It’s free, and you can upload four songs. You can gain lots of friends who surf the net looking for the latest “add”. It won’t make you rich, but neither will any of those paid sites, and you’ll feel good, knowing that you have a lot of “friends” (not that they actually listen to your music, but still…..)

If you are truly serious about making any money in the music biz, search out a song plugger, and see if he or she will agree to shop your songs around. Be forewarned, however, with the state of music nowadays, you’d better have something that’s generic, preferably three-part harmony (ala Rascal Flatts), or don’t even waste your time. If you’re an artist, well, good luck! Nobody is signing new artists. Heck, they can’t even clear their shelves of the product that they have, and it’s pretty damn good. I mean, c’mon, Prince is actually GIVING his stuff away. So, how the heck do you think YOU are going to make any money?

But, hang in there! Maybe YOU are the one. You could be. Who knows? If you’ve written something that has a modicum of intelligence and heart, you COULD just hit the jackpot! Hey, it happens! (occasionally).

Just don’t waste your money. I implore you. If you’re poor like Red River, then you will just dig yourself further and further into debt, and all you will have to show for it is a comment on your MySpace page, saying how much they like your music; but yet, they won’t put themselves out enough to actually buy anything.

Don’t waste your time on websites that ask you for money. Log off of the internet, pick up your guitar, and write something. If you don’t please anyone but yourself, you’ve still pleased someone important.

(I leave you with an image to clear your palate….my songwriting hero, Kris Kristofferson.)