Russ Maines Music

Dear Friend, You may have noticed I slowed down blogging. That's because I'm not sure I've done the music biz right. I thought if I wrote an album, tried to build a fanbase online, and sell CD's I'd be able to break through all the noise and deliver Guitar Driven Power Pop that Baby Boomers would enjoy. I was wrong. The truth I discovered is few people really care. Pushing new music out to a handful of boomers, while fun, doesn't seem to be relevant. Today, people want free m

Hello, dear fan! If you've kept up on my blog, you know I want to give you the best music I can. You know I feel the industry continues to feed you content you don't like, but forces you to try to accept. It's called the Meer Exposure Effect. If you like Guitar Driven Power Pop, you know it just doesn't exist in the mainstream these days. So, it's hard to find the great content we're re looking for from artists we grew up with. To try to solve this problem, I decided to try t

The first song I wrote for my second album, "Hook, Line & Sinker" is the headline for this article. As you listen to it you'll hear it has a different flavor than my other material. Those of you who've heard it might label it as EMO, or Punk. The truth is I don't really know what the subgenera is. All I know is I listened to a song called "Powers Cosmic" by a local Pensacola band called "The Deadly Fists of Kung Fu" and started writing from there. What came out were 5 differe

Writing an album all on your own isn't easy. You have to focus on every aspect of the experience from the listener's point of view, and at the same time, hold the quality up so high that as an artist you're personally (and professionally) satisfied. And when I think of the great rock albums in my life, every one of them was written by a band. Bands like Boston, where one genius wrote most of it, are exceptions. But bands like Queen, Pink Floyd, Bad Company, and Heart had a te

When people visit the beach, they may not take the time to visit the calmer and shadier sound side. The sound side also has a more diverse set of inhabitants because there's cover in the trees and grass. This little video shows a side of Pensacola Beach that few people (mainly locals) really know about. This footage was shot about a month ago, when I still needed a hoodie to withstand the freezing 60 degree sunshine. Enjoy! #BEACHROCK RussMainesM

Hey, you! I've finally somewhat sort of commited to getting "Hook, Line & Sinker" produced by Stuart Epps. I made this video as the pitch. In the background are a few dunes located in a secret spot I never tell any one I know about on Pensacola beach. In many ways, the beach is a food desert for critters on all fours. But if you have fins or some wings, you'll do just fine here. Any way, in this video I talk about how much money it'll likely take to get the album mixed, maste

It's becoming time to make personal appearances. My wife and I are fully vaccinated. Together, we've spent more than a half a year developing the Bait & Switch CD's content and art. And now that things are turning the corner, it's time to consider playing out, busking, or doing other things to boost awareness of my music. I know it's a lot, right? The photograph shown here is a little dated, but captures a sense of style and wonder I feel comfortable with. But it doesn't say

It's a busy world with big corporations competing to get your eyes and ears on their products. I guess I'm no different. But because I'm a stand alone musician, I depend on my relationship with you for emotional and financial support to keep me on mission. My mission, you say? Yes. I want you to get the best possible guitar driven power pop you can using minimal technology. Sort of like the way the used to do it back in the 1970's. My parents used to play a lot of vinyl recor

There are days that never end at Pensacola Beach. And there are days that end too soon. But if you stick with what you love, money or not, you may hope to have as many of them as my friend, Phil Thomas Katt. You probably know, if you've read my blog, that Phil is a legend here. Phil and I worked together on my Bait & Switch CD. I mixed and mastered, and Phil gave input. His most useful input was his encouragement. His interview with "Wonderful Colorful World" is precisely why

This weekend I went back to really critically listen to Bait & Switch, after I listened to Queen's "A Night At The Opera" released in 1975. (full album in video link) After giving Queen a spin, I realized how much better their recording is than any of my recordings. There are a number of reasons for this. One of them is because in 1975, bands made complete albums. While singles were desired (and pushed) for radio air time, albums were meant to take you on a sonic journey. Pro

If you're like me, you don't live in a fancy house, or own a fancy car. You keep things simple. Why I keep things simple may be different than why you keep things simple, but speaking plainly, I find flashy stuff attracts too much attention. And that's precisely why I love Pensacola and Pensacola Beach. Pensacola Beach is never really on anyone's radar. It's not riddled with hotspots, like Miami or Fort Lauderdale (or Orlando). It's a beach where generation after generation o

You may not know it, but in this photo, I was 52 years old. The snow was landing quite softly around me. You'll see my hair is short with very few grey streaks. This photo was taken before my favorite studio cat, Climber, kicked off into the space-time continuum. I really miss my old studio buddy. I'll have to find footage of how I used a $10 dollar Walmart fishing pole to cast cat toys at him. Quite funny. Now, I'm getting close to 57 and age related conditions are beginning

About a decade ago, I played with a band called regular JOE 2.0. We based the name off of Joe Scarborough's band, and gave the sounds a little more attitude. A point of pride is we played a lot of songs that we thought were cool, but didn't get a lot of air time. Example? Flag Pole Sitta. One night over at the Malibu, we decided to do "She's So Fine" from Black Eyed Susan, a song written by Dean Dickerson from Brittany Fox out of Philadelphia. It was a disaster! Our drummer,

In the music biz, like so many others, there are all kinds of people who love to take your money. The artist, who generates the intellectual property asset, is the last to get paid. And to make matters worse, music labels dump millions of dollars into acts which go nowhere. They can, and do, spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on advertising just to get an artist to chart above #17. Those artists, like me, who can't sell 500,000 records get dropped. Those who "make it" ow

Before Covid, I used to travel quite a bit, especially to Washington, D.C. It's not that I enjoy airplanes. I hate them, actually. But I enjoy the anonymity of a big city, and I like interacting with people who I may find working around the Pentagon area. For example, I ran into my old boss in a tunnel once. We didn't have time to talk, but we caught up while we could. We were both surprised to see one another. He was shocked to find out I was working somewhere else these day

Good question. But, I think the question needs a two part answer centered on Influences and values. Let's talk about influences first. Good old authentic guitar driven power pop has its roots in the blues. We should probably blame Elvis Presley for moving from Country and Blues into Rock'n'Roll and making it very popular with a predominately white audience. It's probably better to say Elivs was so influential because he embodied both black and white music in the 1950's. But n

The other day, I got an email from Ray Hamilton of MERF Music Group. The email said, " Thanks for submitting your music! It's greatly appreciated! We like the melody, lyrics, and production of your song and you certainly have a good pulse on how to craft a good one! It's not quite what we are seeking at this time for this particular project but we would be very interested in hearing more of your catalog and we'd like to connect with you directly, as we see potential in you as

Today is day 6. "What's that," you ask? You may or may not know that I write, mix, master and produce my own music. I play all of the instruments, too. So, it's a lot of work. There are analog instruments, digital instruments, tons of software and education that are needed to mic everything up. And I don't have a formal education in music, or the engineering that supports it. So, stand alone musicians like me must invest in education in order to get songs sounding their best.

About 10 years ago, Armando and I put together a band called "regular JOE 2.0. Armando and I had been together for years, and we trusted one another. Still, with Rick (drums) and Adrian (lead guitar), who were new to us, we struggled musically, we struggled to find our audience and we struggled to find our chops. But once we got there, we did pretty well. As is typical with cover bands, eventually everyone got bored and wanted to move on. Adrian (God bless him) decided to do

There are many people I need to thank this year. One of the most important people behind the scenes is Leah McHenry. And I've never thanked her. I should be ashamed of myself. Without her encouragement over the last 6 years, you wouldn't even be reading this blog. Six years ago, I was defeated. My music was going nowhere. I gained weight. My singing was horrible. My guitar playing was substandard. My writing was mediocre at best. But Leah encouraged me to think differently a