The Indie Buzz Bootcamp

So, I’m just home from an amazing weekend at Bob Baker’s Indie Buzz Bootcamp in St. Louis, MO. It was truly an amazing educational weekend for me. The concept was unlike any other music event I’d been to. I’ve been to a few and they always have panels on various subjects and showcases for bands that have had to submit and spend their money to try to get onto the event. This was totally different. Bob simply put together 6 speakers, 3-4 mentors, a behind the music songwriter section, and what turned out to be one of the most educational weekends of my life in this business.

Bob Baker and I became friends about 7 or so years ago when we met on the web. He wrote about me in one of his books and our relationship and friendship grew from there. To me today, he is one of my most trusted friends in this crazy business.  He has written about me in 4 of his books, we have done an audio book together and we continue to work together on finding new ways to educate indie artists on how to be successful. He is a genius with indie music marketing and I was honored when he asked me to come and speak as well as perform at the event.

The lineup of speakers that he put together was amazing. Ariel Hyatt (Ariel Publicity), Derek Sivers (CdBaby), Tom Jackson (Performance Coach), Nancy Moran (Azalea Music), as well as Bob himself. I was flattered to be asked to be part of the group. He also has RyLee Madison host her “Behind The Song” songwriter show. Rylee is a VERY successful and award winning songwriter. She brought HIT songwriter Will Nance along with her as well. Sharing the stage with them, as well as Nancy Moran, was truly a highlight for me as a musician.

The event began Friday night with a welcome party, but I had a show at The Green Turtle in Columbia, MD. After my show, i headed back home to NJ, changed, packed and headed to the airport, so I missed the Friday night portion of the event. I arrived at the hotel where i was staying and the event was being held at about 10:30am Saturday morning. I walked right into the conference room to find Ariel Hyatt already on stage and giving her talk about Web 2.0 and how to take advantage of it. Ariel is a GENIUS when it comes to online promotion and Web 2.0 applications.  I have known Ariel for a long time and she is one of my best friends. I’ve heard her talk many times at the office and in our conversations, but never like this. Her presentation was totally on point and chock full of all the info any artist could need to navigate and get started in Web 2.0, and make headway doing it. It was a very enlightening talk and I found myself nodding my head at the info.

Tom Jackson was up next and was totally mind blowing. Tom is a performance coach to some of the biggest stars on the planet, helping them shape their shows so that they can make the most connection possible with their fans. He took an acoustic duo, had them perform, and then started to take their performance apart and put it back together. When he was done, their show was so different and so much more powerful that no one in the room could believe it. As a performer, it was truly amazing. 

Next up was Derek Sivers, owner of CDBaby.com. CDBaby is THE largest distributor of indie music in the world and Derek knows this business better then almost anyone. I’ve known Derek for a while, but had never met him before this weekend. He is one of the coolest people. For someone so successful, he’s down to earth and normal, and totally “gets it” when it comes to the world of an indie artist. We’ve talked on email many times, so when we shook hands, it was like we’d met 100 times before. His talk was stunning. He focused on what he has seen successful indie artists he knows have done to get to where they are.

We broke for dinner and then came back with Rylee Madison’s “Behind The Song Cafe”. It was Rylee, hit songwriter Will Nance, Nancy Moran and myself. We each played songs and told the stories behind the songs. It was a cool way to add some music to the program without doing the traditional showcases that every other conference does. Then Natalie Gelman and another writer joined the stage andput on some great performances as well. We were done for the night and I went back to my room to try to get my presentation for the next morning up to the level of what i saw from the other. I had my ideas of what I wanted to say, but was not as focused as i thought i could be. So i put a Powerpoint slide show together and rehearsed my presentation in my room for a few hours so that I would be comfy on stage the next day. I’ve talked at conferences before, but always on panels. I had to do a 75-minute presentation all alone on stage, so I was a little nervous! lol..

The next morning, things started at 8am with Bob doing a quick Q&A and then give the stage to Nancy Moran. She talked about alternative avenues for gigs and finding new fans. It was very cool to hear all the things she said, a lot of which most musicians never think about as far as not just having clubs to perform at.

Then it was my turn to talk. I was very happy with my talk and how it was recieved. The practice in my room the night before paid off and I was pretty comfy on stage. I talked a lot about mindset, positive attitude and how to stay focused and organized in runninng your business.  After I was done, it was Tom Jacksons turn again and this time he used a full band and in 45 minutes transformed their show…was soo cool to see.

After that, had dinner with Ariel, Bob, Pooki, Derek and about 10 others and we ate, laughed and had a great time until about 10pm or so! Monday I had breakfast with Shawn Madden, who ran sound the whole weekend and is a talented singer/songwriter in his own right. Then Bob picked up Ariel and I and we went back to his house to work on a new educational recording. We hit the airport and Ariel and I waited for our respective flights. She was heading out to San Francisco for another seminar and i was heading home.

It was a long weekend, but one of the most educational and rewarding weekends I’ve ever had in this business. I am hoping to be a part of it next year. At the very least, I’ll be attending.

I’m back in my studio today working on a mix for a song I’m doing with Tracy Pedergast, and I have my radio show in about 45 minutes, so I have to finish up. I’ll be blogging a lot from now on, so stay tuned!

Talk soon.
J.T.