Source Audio Blog

Guitar players - how do we find listeners?

Thursday, March 01, 2007

Posted in: Artist / Heroes

I am sure that all of our fathers (or grandfathers) have asked us "what are the three most important aspects of real estate?" Then, they would knowingly chant the words "Location, Location and Location", look us in the eye and nod their head until we "get it".

Well, what exactly is "location"?

Basically, it means visability (well, it means more than that, but that definition will suffice for this entry). A busy corner property in London is going to be worth more than the same size property in Death Valley.

Which brings me to one of my favorite topics regarding music: visability for the unsigned musician.

I remember that Guitar Player magazine in the 1980's had a fantastic column by Mike Varney, owner of Schrapnel Records (http://www.shrapnelrecords.com/storehome.jsp), which featured 3 virtually unknown  guitarists a month, which included their bio, picture, and a critique of their playing by Mr. Varney.  I believe that Mike had an idea that there was a possibility that the next great guitar god could literally be anywhere - and it was his mission to find him (or her). A couple guitarists named Eddie and Randy had recently come from Southern California and changed rock guitar playing - how many other great unknown guitarists could be out there?

I recall reading features about Scott Henderson, Steve Lynch (who I knew from the Guitar Institute of Technology - a fantastic player) and Yngwie Malmsteen. If you got a thumbs up from Varney - you had to be better than just good. I think Varney even brought Malmsteen to the US, stating his career.

At the time - that kind of visibility for an unknown player was like being brought out on tour by a headliner.

What do we have now?

You have got to consider MySpace. MySpace is a fantastic medium - regardless of how many other bands are doing the same. Bringing your music to strangers is a great thing - in other words, what's the alternative? You can sell your cd's, feature 4 of your songs, show video clips, tell whatever story that represents you - and it's free.

YouTube is also a great (also free!) site - where you can view video/audio clips of almost any musician you can think of.

I am on those sites every day - you can never run out of great stuff to find - new or old.

And, it's no accident that Guitar Player magazine now features a page of a dozen or so MySpace artists a month.

Get out there!

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