Ralph Murphy, shown here, was one of my music mentors. If there was a secret sauce to writing a good song, Ralph knew the recipe.
In his book, "Murphy's Laws of Song Writing", he talked about going to Nashville and pitching his songs. He said the first thing the Music Industry Professionals would ask was, "What else you got?"
The music biz sets expectations. And if you fail to meet expectations, you lose money not for yourself, but for those who use your music. For example, if a restaurant plays Jazz, it creates an expansive mindset. People will pay more for a glass of wine, and get that desert. You can expect to pay 30% more for dinner. If classical music is played, you can still expect to pay 30% more for dinner, but people drink less and leave earlier. Classical music creates a stiffer environment.
In Country and in Pop music in 2013, the pronoun "You" was used in the first 20 seconds after the lyric begins in all #1 songs. All #1 songs had a 14 second introduction, but one. 2/3's of hit Pop songs had 100 beats per minute. And that tells you a lot about the listener. It tells you they like to dance. In Country, the opposite is true. 2/3's of hit songs were 60 beats more minute or less. This tells you the listener is likely distracted and driving to work. On Country radio, listeners want to hear local news, local weather, local traffic and a familiar song. Nobody wants to hear a new song on Country a.m. radio.
You see in music, there are expectations from consumer that most people don't know. Music, for the most part must match the heart beat of the listener.
Why am I explaining all of this? Well, as news grows in the UK music scene and on the Gulf Coast about my music, I've realized something. It's time to come up with the "What else you got?" Even with successes like, "2 Lazy 2 Werk", "The Last 2 No" and "Everyone Needs A Hero", which could hopefully get selected for films this Spring. It's no guarantee.
So, it's time to come up with a new album, and grow musically.
The album will be called "Hook, Line & Sinker". I'll probably only print 100 vinyl LP's for my superfans. The LP's will be personally signed by me, and shall retail about $25 dollars. Of course, the cost will be a lot less if I can order more. And of course, it'll take about $10,000 dollars to record, mix and produce here in Pensacola Beach. So, I'm going to have to begin a "go fund me" campaign to get things rolling. My goal is to raise $30K to get all the merchandise, recording, photos, and video with Phil Thomas Katt completed. It'll take about a year to complete, based on my experience with Bait & Switch. Any donation shall be considered a "pre-order". That means you buy nothing. The music, and merchandise ship directly to you based on the level you can donate when everything is completed.
I'll let you know when the go fund me begins. Please like my facebook page #BeachRock for updates. I don't want to spam you to death. If you want to help immediately please get your copy of Bait & Switch, now. Any proceeds from those sales feed the next album, as well.
Thanks,
Russ