Yesterday I got together with an old band mate and now hopefully a full time drummer with the current project I am working on. We were rehashing past gigs and all the years that we played together. We recorded as a band, a tune that actually made it onto to local radio here in Cornwall. I didn’t know this until yesterday, but that song actually made it into standard rotation for a full week. That was over 5 years ago and the band broke up shortly after, but it was the first time I ever heard one of my songs being played on the radio.
Lately, I’ve been doing kind of a folk revival, revival type of thing. As a recording artist, a large part of the whole process is figuring out exactly who you are, what you want to say, and how and where you are going to go about saying it. I’ve been writing and performing for over 20 years, and recording for the last 10, mostly working as a solo act, but right now I am getting a good touring band together and building a fan base. I was recently interviewed on a local cable TV show and performed a few tunes. The interview was great for me personally. Being able to voice what it was that I was really doing, and being asked questions about how I was planning to pull it off, really solidified the ideas I had spinning around in my head, but up to that point, had never totally committed myself to. Most likely the show was not viewed by many, however there is now video that can be used. Those couple of hours of performing and talking are what would be considered a force multiplier.
A few months back one of my songs was played on an internet radio station in Northern Ontario at 3 in the morning. Once again most likely the listenership was modest. That being said though, the song was being heard in some far off place across the world. The DJ pronounced my name incorrectly. Hehir. It’s “Hare” not He-Hire. Get known and they'll know how to say it. They played the track right after the Scorpions though so that was cool.
Now I’ve submitted countless cds to local, college and internet radio stations. I've also been featured on Earbits radio and have made it onto their rotation on a limited scale, probably once a day or so. Earbits does not pay royalties, however it still gives the opportunity to be heard by a lot of people that would otherwise not know you at all. Along with Earbits, there's also been limited rotation on Jango.com and their paid service available should I wish to do this in the future. Standard land radio rotation is not the easiest to get onto. There has to be a real buzz about your group for this to occur. TV and Radio are excellent avenues for exposure and one or the other can catapult a career to great heights. Having the right song at the right time reaching the right audience is the ultimate force multiplier. I've once heard that showing up to your local station with breakfast for the DJ's is an excellent way to start. I personally haven't done this but it is a thought.
