A huge thank you to the staff and students of St. John Rigby College for inviting me and several colleagues to be a part of their Rigfest 2012 event.
Setting the stage for Rigfest 2012
After the first visit to the college several weeks ago to pass on some lessons learned whilst working on Haigh Fest, I was interested to see how the team of students tasked with hosting the event would do, and I have to say I was really impressed, not only with the management and promotion of the event, but the stage design, the warm welcome we received and the real sense of team spirit that went into running the show.
Of course, it should go without saying that the talent were also very impressive, making our role as judges for the Battle of the Bands style event an incredibly tough one.
Haigh Fest 2011 stars Smitten Kitten threatened to steal the show right from the outset with another memorable performance, though that's not to take anything away from the many and varied acts who performed, each bringing something unique to the table and delivering quality of musicianship and performance which was, I admit, beyond anything I expected.
A special mention must go out to youngsters Vacant Sun, who in their first ever gig, took command of the stage with a confidence and knack for belting out strong, catchy tunes which well belied their tender years. It's a shame I can;t seem to find that band online, because I'd certainly be keen to hear more from them.
Among my other favourites from the night were The Hermitage, who for my money were certainly one of the more entertaining acts of the night, the undeniably talented Jordan Madani, who gave off a undoubted, intangible star quality that made his Frank Turner-like acoustic monsters shine and scorch in the soft, dark atmosphere of John Rigby's theatre.
Naturally, I'd be amiss not to mention Heretic (another band I sadly can't find online), who fought off some very stiff competition with an indie sound, punk attitude and stadium-band charisma to be crowned our eventual winners.
I could go on all day about the talented young artists we were lucky to see on Thursday night. I'm quite sincere when I say there wasn't a bad band on the bill, and though it's tempting to wheel out the old 'They were good for their age' line, that's not actually the case; these bands were just plain good, and would have still been good whether they were 17 or 70.
There was room for improvement, sure, though the same could be said for any band of any age anywhere. What warmed my heart the most, and what made the very tough night of deciding a winner of the competition, was being able to walk away from St. John Rigby College knowing that the future of music is in very safe hands.
Providing they keep learning, practicing, performing and building on their enviable talents, all the young people we saw on Thursday night could have very bright futures and I'm proud to have been a very small part of that even if it was only for one night.
Congratulations to everyone who played Rigfest 2012, you each played with a pride and gusto that was rather inspiring and each made a new fan, and again, congratulations to the staff and students of St. John Rigby College for organising such a first-rate event. You guys have my number, make sure to call me for Rigfest 2013!
Along with postcards produced in much the same way, this really caught my attention as a potentially a great way to promote live music.
Imagine if (or perhaps when) such technology becomes affordable to the masses, being able to print up posters for your next gig, and allow passers-by to actually hear tunes by those bands on the bill, turning curious parties into ticket-buying fans and maybe even catching the ear of others in the vicinity of said audio-poster. A good idea, right?
This technology has benefits for others besides musicians too. Authors could record short passages from their books to include in printed materials, conferences could include brief exerts from speakers, hell, even your average retail store could go down the route of incorporating 'Look how cool we are with our awesome poster, you should come visit and buy our stuff!' marketing messages, but that's another discussion for another time.
In the same week that I first heard of this new app, two other things also happened.
The first was that, in sorting some upcoming content for the Wigan Music Reviews Archive, I read a couple of old interviews I'd conducted with bands back in 2005. I noted with interest how many of them had enthused so passionately about Myspace, this revolutionary new tool in music promotion and how it was so beneficial they just couldn't possibly imagine life without it.
The joys of the Digital Age
Myspace may no longer be king of the social realm, but this did get me thinking about the role technology and new media plays in all aspects of marketing, though particularly when it comes to promoting live music. These days, it seems to be almost a given that if you have a show coming up, you create a Facebook event, add it to your ReverbNation list, tweet it and update your Facebook status.
Of course, I'm a big fan of social media and the seemingly never-ending stream of new apps, sites and services which seek to improve our lives. Great things can be -indeed, have been- done thanks to the new digital age (another great example being indie filmmaker Ad Lane's inspirational campaign to fan-fund his debut feature through Twitter), and I'm all for embracing such tools.
That said, I'm an even bigger fan of the philosophy that we should always use the right tools for the job, and that sometimes, the web actually isn't the best tool.
I'm not going to lie and pretend that we completely ignored social media. Yes, a Facebook event was set up. Yes, tweets were sent, and yes, the event was even added to ReverbNation, but again, that's just basic stuff and was done more as a matter of routine than anything else. After all, it would be silly to ignore those channels.
Yet there was one reason we didn't pursue those channels more aggressively; we knew our audience. The mission here was to promote a show much different from CMB's usual live experience in that the band would only be performing cover versions of traditional Irish songs and popular Irish bands.
The audience for such a show wasn't going to be tech-savvy tweeters, hip, young things with a Facebook addiction or music geeks who spend much time on niche sites.
The audience we were expecting, and specifically wanted to target, were the kind of people who would get excited when the band struck up a cover of U2's In the Name of Love, who would know all the words and sing along to Fields of Athenry, and who would feel comfortable enjoying that music in a venue which, though perfectly lovely, attracts an older crowd.
I'm not suggesting that anyone over the age of 20 isn't interested in social media since you and I both know that not to be true, but the point is that we already knew the kind of audience such a show would likely attract, and from past experience in the venue, knew that a heavy social media campaign wasn't going to be the way forward.
Back to basics
So it was back to much more traditional methods. A very simple poster was produced which, whilst it didn't sing or do much of anything, did get the message across about the show. Once produced, said poster was placed not only in the venue, but at specific locations which knew were popular with our target audience, and where they would likely see them.
With that done, a basic story was drafted, sent to the press and published in one of the free weeklies several days before the show. Again, knowing that the paper's demographic was roughly the same as our target audience was a big help.
At a time when so much technology is available to us, printing a poster and writing to the newspaper might seem like an incredibly basic -perhaps even primitive- way to promote a show, but it worked.
The venue was packed, the show went down a storm and the audience who made it such a memorable evening was made up less of tweeters and Facebookers and more of those who'd seen a poster or read about the show in paper.
The point I hope comes across here is that whilst social media is awesome, it's not the only option available to you and it pays to figure out the best way to connect with your target audience. Sometimes that may mean going back to basics which, whilst not necessarily always making you look cool or innovative, can certainly be effective.
Going through some of my old folders earlier today, I stumbled across a small batch of pictures I shot on a hot, sunny day in the summer of 2004.
Added with a few that I took on my last trip to the city, I've created a new Flickr set, with all the pictures published under a Creative Commons License (CC-BY-NC-SA)
There's a lot going on over the next several weeks, so I thought I'd drop by with a quick update just in case time, as it often has a bad habit of doing, passes me by and I run out of time to say much about the projects I'm involved in.
As I write, there's little over four weeks remaining 'til I catch a train to London, don the running shoes and embark on the biggest challenge I've ever been faced with; running the 2012 Virgin London Marathon.
Words can't fully explain the kind of emotions I feel when I think about the marathon. It's a strange cross between nerves and excitement, unwavering determination and what I like to think is a healthy amount of fear.
Even if I have to drag myself across the finish line on hands and knees, drenched in tears and sweat long after the weary crowds have long dispersed and the only folk left on the course are me and the cleaners, I know that one way or another I'll complete the 26+ mile marathon, but I'm in no doubt that doing so will be anything but easy.
Once that's done, I'll have a couple of days to recover before spending another three days running around a field in charge of things at Millstone Rocks II. There's some fantastic bands lined-up for the event, many of whom I'm yet to see live but have heard great things about, and I'm sure the chance to see such groups will more than make up for the lack of sleep and fourteen-hour days that come with the whole Millstone Rocks experience.
To be honest, I'm sure I'd be entitled to do nothing but catch up on sleep once the festival is done, but alas no.
Instead, I'll be back on a plane to my beloved Minnesota to hang out at this year's Dylan Days event.
Before that, I'm looking forward to returning to St. John Rigby College in a few week's time to provide some support at their annual Rigfest event. After speaking to the students on my last visit there, it's clear that a lot of work has gone into the event, and I was thrilled to be invited to be a part of it.
I've also got a couple of web design projects I'm working on for some very cool start-ups, the Diamond Rocks Fest line-up to select, and a bunch more articles for Lifehack.org to write, so if you don't hear from me for a while, at least you'll know why!
Band hope for luck of the Irish on St. Patrick's Day
This coming Saturday, thousands of revellers across the country will be out in their droves, raising a cold pint of Guinesss and toasting to the luck of the Irish.
Yet for party-goers in Golborne, St. Patrick's Day celebrations will come with a certain rock 'n' twist as Leigh-based funk-rock band Colour Me Blind take to the stage at The Millstone on Harvey Lane on March 17th to perform a special tribute to Irish artists past and present.
The band, originally formed in 2007, have earned a reputation as an energetic, entertaining live act thanks to performances across the country including support slots with artists such as The Levellers and Dr. Feelgood, a headline appearance at The Shires Show in Shropshire and many home-town performances at venues such as The Musketeer in Leigh, often noted for their crowd-participation and mass-sing-alongs.
It's this feel-good factor which the group plan to bring with them to The Millstone when they give traditional Irish favourites such asThe Wild Rover, Black Velvet Band and When Irish Eyes are Smiling andmany more their own unique rock 'n' roll twist.
Colour Me Blind drummer, Stuart Skoyles, 20, said:
"At a lot of pubs and clubs you're likely to find a traditional Irish band playing all the old classics, but we really wanted to give people something different, so we'll be playing all those well-known songs in a way that most have probably never heard them before.
"We think it would be great if we could get songs that have entertained for generations out to younger audiences, helping to pass them down to new generations the way they have been for years.
"Even for those who aren't so keen on the traditional stuff, we've still got plenty to offer as we'll be playing a good number of popular songs from Irish groups like U2, Snow Patrol, and yes, even Boyzone too!'
The band, completed by guitarist and vocalist Danny Werner (20) and Sam Clark (18) on bass, promise that their one-off Irish-themed show will also include games, prizes and a chance for would-be rock stars to join the band on stage.
Entry for the show is completely free and Colour Me Blind are due on stage around 8.30pm. For more information, see www.facebook.com/colourmeblindband
I did fess up that Giggin’ for Higgins didn’t quite draw the kind of crowds I’d hoped for, but I also managed to turn that into what I hoped was a useful nugget of advice not only about timing and location, but also about learning from past mistakes and using those lessons learned to ensure further success the next time round.
Things were much more positive from that point.
The students, tasked for the first time with organising the college’s annual Rigfest event, were polite and a joy to speak with as they grilled myself and my colleague Andrea on all aspects of pulling off an event; from marketing and sponsorship to catering, stage production and much more besides.
Answering those questions with tales not only from Haigh Fest, but from other events such as Millstone Rocks, I did my best to ensure that I passed on the best possible advice I could.
Haigh Fest may not be on the cards this year, but I’m still keen to see live music thriving in our small part of the world, and it always warms my heart somewhat to find young people so enthused about getting some bands together and putting on an event.
Of course, I’ve always enjoyed working with young people, though usually I’m meeting with them to help run journalism skills workshops or talk to them about a web project we’ll be working on.
Having the opportunity to come and talk to young people about music and promoting a show was something of a new experience for me, though one that was very much enjoyable.
That said, I did have some practice.
I’ve had a number of conversations with several fledgling bands and music promoters over the past couple of months and have always been more than happy to pass on any advice I can when asked for it, and this is something I’d be very keen to do more of in the future.
Indeed, I’ve already spoken to a small number of people about organizing some kind of ‘Promoting a Music Event’ seminar/conference with guest speakers at some point in the future.
With a marathon to run at the end of April followed by another jaunt to my beloved Minnesota, I haven’t been able to give this a great deal of thought just yet, so it’s likely that this won’t happen until later in the year, but it’s certainly something I plan to look at more.
Yes, whilst arguably the most important part of our session was helping the John Rigby students with their festival, I’m quite prepared to say that the most enjoyable aspect for us all came when my boys Colour Me Blind dropped by the classroom to perform an impromptu acoustic set, entertaining the class (and later the entire college cafeteria!) with a number of tunes which helped bring our morning to a fine finale.
A big thank you to all the staff and students at St. John Rigby College. See you at Rigfest!
As simple as this was to put together, I'm still rather pleased with it. I created this for a piece of work I've been doing providing online information for young people on smoking, to tie in with No Smoking Day 2012.
I needed an image to go with a page which aimed to 'bust' myths about smoking and, well, this was the result.
Tasked with the challenge of completely revamping Ruready2.com, a website which provides young people with information on health services, I knew that I had to start with the graphics.
The idea was simple. These banner graphics had to be bright and colourful to appeal to the youth audience, yet not so garish and over-the-top that they distracted from the content or looked bad.
I followed the same basic idea I'd used when making the LINC Online banners, keeping the site's name (also completely redesigned) on every page, but letting the name of each individual website section take precedent.
I used fonts which were clear and easy to read, yet which were kind of fun without being silly. Health is, after all, a serious matter.
The site itself isn't live yet, at least, the new design isn't anyway, but in terms of graphics we're pretty much good to go.
All thoughts and opinions expressed here are entirely my own. They do not necessarily represent the views of any organisations or clients I have worked now or previously.
