This week’s #TVTuesday features Ariel Hyatt of esteemed PR firm, Ariel Publicity, and creator of the Cyber PR program.
Ariel has some invaluable advice on setting and meeting your goals, pitching yourself, marketing, and much, much, more. Log into your Artist Growth account and head to AGtv - this really isn’t a channel to be missed!!
Allow us to introduce you to Rick Hornyak- after quitting his day job and striking out on his own as an independent artist, he lives and breathes Americana roots rock and alt. country from the top of his head to the tips of his toes.
Please introduce yourself.
I’m originally from a small town north of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania called Fredonia. There’s not much to see there except corn fields, the Amish, and old abandoned factories. My earliest influences were my parents records from the sixties, some of my favorite songs were Crimson & Clover, Green Tambourine, Hang on Sloopy, and Summer in the City. Some of my biggest influences are The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Bob Dylan, Tom Petty, Neil Young, Van Morrison, Ray LaMontagne, The Avett Brothers, and James McMurtry.
In 2001, on my twenty-seventh birthday, I did what a lot of Americans only daydream about. I quit my union factory job and decided it was time for me to follow my dream of playing music for a living.
The next few weeks were as terrifying as they were exciting. I prepared for my move to Austin, Texas. I sold my house and all my possessions. I kept my guitars, Cd’s, and a few changes of clothes.
Tell us about your new album, Marigold.
After fronting bands, I decided to pursue a solo career and have had two independent releases. A self titled EP, and my newest release ”Marigold” which is about self reflection. I had recently married, so there was no need to write angry love songs anymore. I was thinking about all the distance that I’d traveled and how far I’d come in my career, all the while missing home.
How do you use technology to help you on tour and to stay in touch with your fans?
There are hours of work involved in running a music career. So I take an iPad and an internet connection with me on the road to help me advance gigs, manage my band members, sell merchandise, and communicate with my fans. I’m not a technology fanatic, but I don’t know how I ever did this without what we have today.
Congratulations to our fearless leader, Matt Urmy, for being honored in the most recent Forbes “Up And Comers” Spotlight! Along with Charley Moore of Rocket Lawyer Incorporated and Shawn Amos of Freshwire, these gentlemen are doing really cool things worth keeping an eye on.
To read the Spotlight, visit: Forbes.com
This week’s #TVTuesday features the BMI channel! Catch loads of videos on licensing, songwriting, and rules for success from BMI execs and artists. Just log into your Artist Growth account and head over to AGtv!
In case you missed it, you can read all about our big announcement on partnering with BMI (and ASCAP and Vector Management)!
Meet Hudson K - self-described sound as soulful dark and shiny electro-rock, Hudson K creates their unique and incredible sound by blending classical piano training, pop, electronic, rock, art, and fun.
How did your classical background shape your music now?
Classical training really gave me the physical ability to make the sounds I hear in my head HAPPEN. In other words, I developed what classical players call “technic” to a degree that ideas can just run out of my fingers. I don’t have to stop and think about how to play something…I just have to make critical decisions on what to play.
Classical music itself gave me insight into how melodies and harmonies are constructed. There is not much difference between Beethoven piano sonatas and pop songs. That would take a lot of writing to back up but I think many musicians would agree the use of primary triads, tension and release, and the harmonization of melodies in both genres are similar.
From listening to and dissecting the “great” composers I have discovered a wealth of information that I sub-consciously impart into my own writing. I learned the language of music from Bach, Chopin and Shostakovich, Scriabin, Rachmaninoff etc.
I also learned that I am more interested in textures. I cannot produce what I hear in my head with a piano alone. That’s why I build instruments in Ableton Live and use samples and looping in my set. I think this allows us to bring the music alive! And we sound like a full band even though there are only 2 of us.
Tell us about your new project, and how people can help.
I received an email from producer Jason Rubal stating his intention to make our next record. I really appreciated his forthrightness and honesty. He has worked with artists I have been following for years; The Dresden Dolls, Bitter Ruin, Bird Eats Baby, and more. I took the initiative to put things in motion and launched our Indiegogo campaign before all the songs were even done. I still have 1 left to write at this point, but I’m optimistic. I feel like our hometown is behind us and our music is beginning to leak out into the region. After a lifetime of dedication to music I feel like this is time for it to spill out and over the little pond it’s been living in for the last 5 years.
People can help by pre-ordering the record. We are only pressing 100 copies in vinyl, and a very limited edition run on CD. I’m skeptical about the future of the little plastic CD and this is an experiment. So far more people have ordered vinyl than anything else and we are almost SOLD OUT!
How do your fans, friends, and fellow artist communities contribute to the vision of Hudson K?
Hudson K has become a community effort. I have been overwhelmed with support from photographers, videographers, designers, makeup artists, dancers and even aerialists! I opened my hear and mind to the possibility of collaboration and magic continues to explode all over Knoxville. Our productions at home have become bigger and better every time. We hope to be able to take some of this on the road with us. Now is the time!
Pre-order: www.indiegogo.com/hudsonk
Website: www.hudsonkmusic.com
Free download: www.hudsonk.bandcamp.com
Artist Growth, 2012’s “Best Music App” (MTV), has finalized partnerships with Vector Management, ASCAP, and BMI to make the platform available to more artists and to help those artists get paid.
The company, still under a year old, has been working with Vector Management to outfit the entire Vector roster with AG Enterprise, extending the platform’s capability to handle the demands of a management firm’s early stage artists as well as those on arena tours.
Integration with both ASCAP and BMI also factors into the AG overhaul. Marking the first partnership of its kind for either PRO, the move allows songwriters to track and report live performance royalties from their phones, before they’ve even finished packing up their gear.
More big news is coming from Artist Growth this fall – in the meantime, see Co-Founder/CEO Matt Urmy speak at SF MusicTech Summit on October 9, at NYC’s CMJ Festival on October 17, and at the Future of Music Coalition’s Summit in DC on November 13.
http://shorefire.com/clients/ArtistGrowth/
About Artist Growth
Artist Growth, the music industry’s most comprehensive mobile software platform, “helps real musicians organize themselves” (Gizmodo). Crowned 2012s Best Music App” by the MTV O Music Awards, and heralded as a “perfect example” (Fast Company), Artist Growth combines a cutting edge toolset including calendars, inventory, contacts, social media, and mentoring resources from experts, available on all mobile and web devices.
For more information about Artist Growth, please contact Elizabeth Lutz (elutz@shorefire.com), David McTiernan (dmctiernan@shorefire.com), or Rebecca Shapiro (rshapiro@shorefire.com) at Shore Fire Media, 718.522.7171.