Editor’s Picks
March 5, 2012
SIGHTINSOUND working on EP, planning East Coast tour
March 5, 2012
The days of the record companies being sugar-daddies to helpless musicians are over.
The word on the tip of our generation’s tongue is “independent,” better known as “indie music.” The reason behind this shift in the industry is because of a little thing called the Internet.
We no longer need the middlemen meddling in our music with their sticky hands in our pockets. Musicians no longer have to sign their souls away to a record label to get their albums produced, tours booked and music heard.
While the financial backing of a record label can be a wonderful asset to musicians, it also puts pressure on artists to produce something that can be packaged and sold. After all, it is an industry and often artistry is sacrificed for business.
Websites like www.reverbnation.com allow bands to put their music online along with band info, photos, show dates, etc. It is also an excellent way to network with other indie artists and hear their music.
Also, sites like www.discmaker.com and www.cdbaby.com allow musicians to produce professional-quality albums by the caseload. Their albums are then available through popular marketplaces, such as iTunes and Amazon.
Once they have a huge pile of sparkly new albums, what do musicians do with them? Go on tour and spread the love.
But where does one start planning a U.S. tour, you ask? One can go to www.indieonthemove.com to network with bands and venues across the country and, voila, the artist has show dates coming out of his or her ears.
Aside from making good music, networking is one of the most essential things for indie artists to do. Mass media and professional marketing are accessible to anyone with a computer and a little ambition. This is a luxury that was not available to musicians 15 years ago and, today, it is why anyone can be heard anywhere.
Members of Houma’s budding indie music scene are playing stages and reaching audiences across the United States by simply networking and traveling.
The Alex Mark Band, Secret Society in Smaller Lies and Clay Parker are a few locals that come to mind when contemplating self-sufficient touring musicians. The Alex Mark Band used the traveling indie website to play shows in Tennessee, Georgia, Mississippi and Alabama.
Secret Society in Smaller Lies has toured in California, North Carolina and Florida. They are of the philosophy that every show played is one more window open to new opportunities.
Band vocalist Joe Harp says “whether you are playing for 10 people or 10,000 people, you always give the best performance possible; you never know who is listening.”
This was a true scenario for the band when they played to a crowd of 15 in New Orleans. One of the people listening was booking agent/artist Steve “504Whatstyle” Williams. The local band has been reaping the rewards since then.
Clay Parker has just returned from his Highways and Airwaves tour, which stretched up to North Carolina, with a group of singer/songwriters from Baton Rouge.
Parker says he finds social media to be a useful tool, but it is no substitute for the old-fashioned method of hitting the pavement and meeting people.
There is an authenticity about the grassroots effort to make and share music, how ever possible.
– Rusty Bouvier is co-founder of Houmapalooza Music Festival and Art Versus. He is a part-time rock star and artist. Bouvier has a BFA from Nicholls State University and is currently serving as the Community Development Coordinator for the Houma Regional Arts Council.
Thibodaux folk/country artist Clay Parker is home fresh off his Highways and Airwaves tour. His debut release, “The Wind & The Warble,” is available on Old House Records.
