When a relationship ends, people go about finding new ways to fill the time they once filled with their partner. Some write really bad poetry, others become serial daters, others travel and so on. For me, the best thing to do with my spare time after my fiancé moved out a year ago (other than consuming various cereal malt beverages and listening to a LOT of really bad pop music) was to start a stressful second job for which I had no formal training and paid nothing. This is what brought me to the world of music promotion, and I couldn’t be happier. By trade, I am a lawyer, and while I am good at my job and enjoy it just fine, it does not provide a number of opportunities to utilize my creative skills. I wanted to find something that I could do to combine my almost obsessive passion for music and my lifelong love of writing along with my skills of networking and organization. (Go ahead and act like you don’t wanna party with a gal that brags about her knack for organization). Music publicity came to mind pretty quickly, and I set to figuring out how to make this happen.
Turns out, the best way to become a publicist for a musician is to…ask a musician if they need a publicist. This happened on July 4 of last year, when I found myself chatting with Mo Samalot of Paleface at their show in Greensboro, NC. Mo – who is the drummer girlfriend of lead singer Paleface (yes, I am his publicist, and no, I don’t know his real name) – manages the band. When I shared with her my desire to pursue some work in the music industry, she related to my story, telling me how she came to playing the drums with PF while she was working in the New York corporate world. I asked her if they needed any help with publicity, and she revealed that they were in fact preparing to release their new album “One Big Party” (available now at www.palefaceonline.com) that fall and would love my help with publicizing the release.
I could hardly believe it. I had my first client, and it was one of my favorite bands. And all I had to do was ask. But this was an important first lesson in my new pursuit – a lot of times, if you want something, all you have to do is ask for it. Reporters are often looking for good material. Luckily for me, Paleface (and my other clients – we’ll get to them in a minute) provides some great material: they’re incredibly talented, hard-working and prolific musicians with an intriguing history. I have found that, a lot of the time, if I take the time to figure out WHO and HOW to ask, I can often get what I want, whether it’s an interview and a preview for a show or a review of the album. Finding the right “who” is critical and the most time-consuming part of the process. (The “how” is actually pretty easy: be polite, gracious and friendly. Turns out I actually was trained for this job – the manners my Midwestern mother pounded into me have served me well in the world of PR.) The challenges are worth it, because the act of connecting the artist with their audience via the media is really gratifying and part of the reason I do all this. My other clients came along in much the same way as I got my work from Paleface – I just asked. I had actually been fortunate enough to strike up a polite correspondence that eventually developed into a friendship with Jim Avett (www.jimavett.com) via Facebook quite some time before I even decided to undertake this adventure. (He even met the former fiancé, before that very same fiancé disappeared into a haze of Budweiser and Kelly Clarkson. Don’t you judge me.) Jim is the father of Scott and Seth Avett, the founding members of The Avett Brothers, and he is also a talented singer/songwriter in his own right. When I had settled on trying my hand at PR, he was the first person I turned to for advice (and he often still is whenever I hit a roadblock). Eventually, he trusted me with helping him out with booking and promotional work. I’m very lucky to have Jim as a client, mentor and friend. This has been a fun project, but it hasn’t been without its challenges, and I might have given up on my fledgling hobby if it wasn’t for his encouragement and support. Another favorite act of mine over the past few years has been Holy Ghost Tent Revival (www.holyghosttentrevival.com). Comprised of six (or seven, depending on the night – they’re basically the Americana Wu-Tang Clan) of the nicest guys you will ever meet, HGTR hails from Greensboro, N.C. and is one of the most talented and fun young bands I have had the pleasure to witness in quite some time. I wanted to work with them, and once I felt comfortable with what I had done with Paleface and Jim, I sought them out as my final client. Between my day job, my social life (which now consists of more than beer and screeching melodies of post- breakup female empowerment, thank you very much), I figured three clients would the maximum number of clients I could effectively handle while still maintaining my sanity. HGTR’s manager happily accepted my help, and participating in a small way in their upward trajectory has been extremely rewarding.
I don’t take any money for any of the promotional work I do. I don’t need it, and it’s not the point of why I do any of this anyway. I’ve had people ask me why I do this with my free time – it’s very time-consuming and labor intensive, and I don’t intend to launch a new career (trying to get a start in the music industry at age 34 is really not advisable). I always tell them the same thing: I really enjoy doing this. I have met some great people along the way and made some fantastic friends. But more than anything, as cheesy as it sounds, I believe in the musicians I work for, and if I’m able to help share their artistry with even one new listener, that’s reward enough for me.