Indie Band Guru

These Magnificent Miles: On the Long Road with Red Wanting Blue is a new documentary about Red Wanting Blue, a rock band from Ohio that is known as one of the top independent, yet unknown, bands in the country. The film follows the band as they record and release their eighth album in the hopes of finally getting a record deal — more than a decade after forming.  I always love watching war stories from the road of indie bands trying to make it.  They give everyone motivation and show what true dedication looks like.

  
Directed and produced by internationally known theater producer Ken Davenport, These Magnificent Miles is a powerful and gritty rock documentary about the big dreams of an underdog band. Critics have called Red Wanting Blue “the best underground independent rock band in the United States of America,” “one of the top unsigned bands in the country,” and a band that embodies “a commitment to career that many bands only hallucinate about.” But no matter how many records they sell, how much their fans love them, how many accolades from critics they receive, or how much they accomplish; it never seems to be enough. The film is an honest portrayal of the struggles that musicians go through to compete as the music industry changes, and it sheds a whole new light on Red Wanting Blue’s own metamorphosis from a group of small-town musicians to a well-known band with thousands of fans.
 
These Magnificent Miles: On the Long Road with Red Wanting Blue is available on DVD at www.redwantingbluemovie.com. The film features never-before-seen concert footage, as well as interviews with the band members who have put their heart and soul into making music. This DVD is a must-have for music lovers, documentary enthusiasts, Red Wanting Blue fans, and anyone who has ever rooted for the underdog. It is also a great watch for other indie bands to gain inspiration and see the perils of life on the road. 

You should know by now that we are not used to promoting any music services.  We just want to hear as much music as possible and determine if we like it for ourselves, instead of it being shoved down our throats.  Sometimes something comes along that we find so useful that we feel forced to pass it on to you.

Let me introduce you to MOG.  MOG is a company conceived and run by true music fans who share one simple goal: to create the perfect destination for music lovers to learn about and discover music. They recently won top honors as the “Best Music Streaming App” at Billboards Mobile Entertainment Live Music Summit beating out some other ‘music streamers’ with more well known names.

Due to this, I gave it a try recently and was blown away.  I had a lot of trouble trying to find a legitimate band that wasn’t available on their servers.  They have everything!  If a band’s music is digitally distributed, it is most likely available on MOG.  They take the best aspects from all the other services out there and combine a music streamer, a download service, and music discovery in one easy to use application.  MOG is commercial free, allows unlimited skipping, and allows the user to pick and scroll through songs to their hearts content.  Another feature that really interested me was how you can choose an artist and then adjust a slider to add in how many additional similar artists you would like in your mix.  It is also extremely easy to use and download music to your smart-phone through their app.

They are offering a 2 week free trial now that I strongly advise you take advantage of.  If you love music as much as we do, I am sure you will fall in love with their service too.  Check it out and let me know what you think, or if you know of any service that comes close to comparing.

Do you want people to remember your band’s name after they leave your show? Make your band stand out!

Impress them with an awesome banner on the stage, merch booth, or even outside the venue. Get known!

We now offer High Quality – Full Color – Digitally Printed – Heavy 13 oz. Vinyl Nylon banners for a ridiculously low price. We can make any size banner that you want. From a 1′ x 6′ banner with just your bands name to a 6′ x 10′ banner to cover the whole stage.

The banners are printed with a solvent ink, hemmed with 1″ banner tape and grommet-ed with #2 grommets, making them strong and easy to hang. The same standard that you see behind the biggest bands in the world.

You can either provide the artwork for us to print, or we can have one of our graphic artists design a logo that makes your band stand out from the crowd. We have the highest quality printer on the market so your color choices are pretty much endless.

The files that will work for printing are:
Illustrator .ai
Photoshop .psd
Corel .cdr
Encapsulated Post Script .eps
and even a high resolution JPG (300 dpi or greater)

** Graphics that are cut and pasted from the internet can not be used due to the low resolution.

Get in touch now for a price quote.
-Go to our stage banner or contact page now!

Your music doesn’t suck…so why do your press materials?

Simply put, the right press, marketing and promotional materials will help get your music heard.  We are now proud to offer the following writing & marketing services:

• Bios
• Press kits
• Press releases
• Website content
• Content for banner ads, email blasts, and more
• Brochures
• Articles & profile pieces
• One-sheets
• Blog posts, social media bios/profiles (for LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, etc.)

Paul is our in-house writer. Based in NYC, he’s written bios, profiles, articles, website content, winning grant proposals—and much more—for bands, musicians, and artists of all genres nationwide.  He has ghostwritten 5 published books and 3 successful e-books, and also earned a BA in Professional Writing from Carnegie Mellon.  Perhaps most importantly, he worked for 10+ years as a full-time musician, so he’ll “get” precisely what you’re doing.

Get in touch today and lets get started.  Our prices are more than reasonable and the work will be worth its weight in gold records.

Welcome to our newest feature, The Indie Band Guru Book Club. Let’s face it, we can’t always be listening to music. Sometimes we like to just curl up with a good book for inspiration and ideas. Granted, that curling up may be in the back of a packed tour van. Reading the books that Indie Band Guru suggests will further your knowledge of the music industry and how it works. if we can’t be playing or practicing music, we may as well be learning how to advance our musical careers.

This must read is the never before told story of the musical revolution that happened right under the nose of the Reagan Eighties – when a small but sprawling network of bands, labels, fanzines,radio stations, and subversivesreenergized American rock with punk rock’s do-it-yourself credo and created music that was deeply personal, often brilliant, always challenging, and immensly influentual. This indie rock classic features chapters on bands such as Black Flag, Minor Threat, Sonic Youth, Fugazi, and Mudhoney.

Read it ASAP and be inspired to re-create your own scene with your music at the forefront.