Believe it or not, one of the only times I get to enjoy music is the 2-3 times a week I drag myself to the treadmill.  On Thanksgiving morning, I decided to go against the grain and start the day with a workout.  I needed all the momentum I could get so I called on Stephen Kellogg and the Sixers to get me out of the gate.

As I was listening to my own version of his greatest hits, I realized why I am such a big fan.  For those of you who don’t know who Stephen Kellogg and the Sixers are, click here for their story.

It’s hard for me to be a fan with all the exposure I get to bands on and off stage, to their management team and to their inner workings.  We see them at their best and at their worst.  Somewhere in all this, the passion sometimes dims.

So why is Stephen Kellogg something to get excited about?

1-They can open for any band and make them think twice about phoning it in that night.

2-They can play after any band and keep the audience glued to them.

3-They change it up each night never playing the same set twice.

4-They are a real band with names like “Boots” and “Goose” that enjoy being on stage together.

5-They write amazing songs filled with maturity and reflections of immaturity.

6-They are hilarious, humble and not afraid to fall on their face.

7-They appeal to kids, teenagers, adults and boomers.

8-They have performed almost 1,000 shows and are better than they ever been.

9-They demonstrate genuine appreciation for their fans.

10-They can motivate you to jump on the treadmill on Thanksgiving morning.

And lastly, the music industry is built on bands like this.  Young bands want to be them and successful bands respect them.  For us, they are the essence of what our business is about.  So thanks to Stephen Kellogg and the Sixers for doing what you do.  You have our support and we can’t wait to see you on The Rock Boat & Cayamo.

What songs should you start with?  Blue Jean, See You Later, See You Soon, Flower in the Rain, Shady Esperanto and the Yong Hearts….Itunes will show the way from there.

If this blog has peaked your interest and you want a closer look, email me and I will get you tickets to a show so you can begin on the same journey that roped me in.

Andy

PS-The ticket offer is only for people who have not seen Stephen before.  Be honest, Santa is still making his list……

Happy Thanksgiving everybody!  Check out our latest video on Sixthman TV – The Black Friday Sale:

Sixthman TV – The Black Friday Sale

Have a great weekend everybody!

-Steve

It’s here to stay. Face the facts people; the world is becoming increasingly paperless and electronic. I’m willing to bet that by the time I’m 40, keeping any kind of paper document is going to be totally obsolete.  The only reason I have a checkbook is to give my roommate rent checks- everything else is done online. My calendar is online, and don’t try to mail me anything. I only check it near my birthday & Christmas.  Gone are the days when a person would call up a business and request information be sent to their house, or even for directions. We simply hop online, get a map (or use our GPSs) and find out everything we need to know in a matter of minutes.

We strive to make our websites as attractive and easy to use as possible. With the help of Matchstic, we create new artwork for each event every year to keep the look fresh and interesting. We are constantly working on ways to make the booking experience easier, and the information easily accessible. We’re thinking of ways to make the websites better for our next round of cruises AS WE SPEAK.

What do you look for in a website? How do you think we could improve our event websites?

It’s always a little difficult explaining what I do to people who have never cruised with us before.  It’s actually been especially perplexing to my family, who really only see me at holidays and on special occasions and I think probably still view me as a that ten year old girl in pigtails.

Well this past weekend I headed home for my little brother’s wedding.  I knew he had wanted me to direct the wedding, which to me consisted of me telling the bridesmaids and groomsmen where to stand and when…little did I know that when I drove up to my house on I would walk into a little slice of chaos.  There was most definitely a vague idea of what was supposed to happen over the next four days, but no real plan of attack.  Everyone involved seemed to be in a bit of a tizzy.  Luckily, I thought to myself, “Reigning in little slices of chaos?  Yeah I can do that.”

So I sat about organizing things and finding helpers along the way…my production assistant’s being mainly my mom, dad and husband…and we pulled off a very lovely wedding.  There were still a few mishaps – the slideshow wouldn’t work even though it had been fine just two ours earlier, the reception hall fibbed a little about how many people could fit in to the room, etc, etc – but being used to fixing things on the fly, we were able to present what looked like a pretty well oiled “machine.”  And in the end everyone from the photographer to my great aunts were asking “Do you do this for a living? Because you’re very good at it.”

“I kind of do this for a living. Yes.”

So….while in the end I’m still not sure I was successful in explaining what I actually do, at least my family knows that if there is ever a family event that needs to be led, I can be called on.  And I think for the first time, maybe I was seen as an adult and a leader by folks who only knew me as cousin Jill.  So thanks, Sixthman.  For giving me the tools needed to give my brother a day to remember and gain a little piece of respect I didn’t have before. If I can handle 200 members of my crazy family and impress them – 2000 rabid Skynyrd fans is nothing.

Jill Mac

My wife and I had the opportunity to sail on the new Royal Caribbean ship “Oasis of the Seas” this weekend.  All I could think the entire time was that this was a “Game Changer” for the cruise industry.  An industry born in the last 40 years after the introduction of the commercial airliner removed the demand for transatlantic transportation via cruise ship and offering Caribbean vacations became the best alternative for ship owners.

For those of you who haven’t heard about this new ship, it is heralded as the largest cruise ship ever built accommodating over 6,000 passengers and 2,000 staff.  I know what you are thinking, hmmmm…..standing in line with 6,000 people to get on the ship, eat your meals, go to shows and get off the ship sounds great.  I am with you and am not interested in being a part of any “most people in one line” competitions.

Royal Caribbean must have known that this would be a concern because they have developed some of the most innovative technology and ship design to make your experience of getting around without waiting in lines better than the other 20 ships I have sailed on that accommodate half the amount of people.

We were in our cabin 15 minutes after we got dropped off at the port and did not wait in one line.  Onboard, they had touch screen tv’s outside every elevator that told you what was going on throughout the ship and how to get there.  There were 7 neighborhoods on the ship to explore & restaurants everywhere you turned that never felt crowded.  And when we left the ship Sunday morning, we were off in 8 minutes without waiting in any lines.

Why is it a “Game Changer”?  Because it is the first ship to ever be the “Destination” as opposed to being a vessel to take you to “Destinations”.  One could spend an entire week on this ship and still not experience it all and if it never stopped at a port, it would be just fine.

In my opinion, there are now only two types of cruises….Oasis of the Seas and every other cruise ship.  I can’t wait to see how the industry responds to this innovation.  It will change the game of cruising for the future.

Are we going to charter it?  Not at this time.  We would have to merge several of our cruises into one and I am not sure how the communities we serve would feel about that.  Maybe one day……

Andy

I have to confess: I’ve never had any desire to go on a cruise. Don’t get me wrong I love to travel. I love exploring new places, and being imprisoned on a ship, even such a large one, with hundreds of miles of water separating me from those new places seemed somehow sacrilege. So, when I learned that I would be part of the crew for the Elvis cruise I had, at best, mixed feelings.

Wow, was I thinking about it the wrong way! For Elvis fans this must have been paradise. They weren’t on a trip to explore exotic locations, they were there to explore all there is about Elvis Presley. To get up close and personal with the TCB Band, to hear fascinating stories from Elvis’s close friend and jeweler, Lowell Hays, or his photographer Al Wertheimer. They were there to hear the many amazing tribute artists sing the songs they love… to feel just a little bit closer to the King himself.

My second confession is that I’ve never been an Elvis fan, but I have to say I have much more respect for his music and larger than life personality than I thought possible. He had a style that to this day was his own and his influence on music is immeasurable. I’ll be adding more of his music to my library… and in private, some of his dance moves.

Above all, this cruise helped me understand what it is we are doing at Sixthman when we aren’t at sea. It was amazing to see the fruition of all the hard work that the Sixthman Elvis team put into the past year. And the wonderful response of our guests makes it all worthwhile.

Alright guys, for those of you (myself included) who didn’t go on The Elvis Cruise 2009, here is a video recap of what you missed:

Elvis Cruise Recap Video – Sixthman TV

This video was filmed and edited by Cole Cassel.  No video next Friday, as we’ll all be home for Thanksgiving Break!  Take care, and have a great weekend

-Steve

A few years back, I was flying from Boston to San Diego, and decided to spend 5 bucks to watch a film called Once on the little tiny screen on the back of the seat in front of me (thank you Jet Blue).

I had heard great things about the indie film, and knew it had something to do with an Irish musician – good enough for me.  For the next 95 minutes, I sat entranced in  my seat, watching one of the best movies I’ve seen in a LONG time; by the end of the film my eyes had misted up and I did everything I could to hold back the waterworks (a good thing, because I was sandwiched between two huge dudes).  After landing, I immediately told everybody I knew about the movie, downloaded the soundtrack, and waited patiently for the DVD release a few months later.

Since purchasing that DVD, I’ve probably watched the movie two dozen times, passed it along to everybody here at Sixthman (I think Andy has it now), and actually cheered when Glen and Marketa (the two actors from the film) won the Academy Award in 2008 for “Best Original Song.”  You could tell in their acceptance speeches that they were truly genuine people, happy to be alive and making music, and so thrilled to be there.  You couldn’t help but cheer for them!  Here’s a link to the song that won the award, with scenes from the movie. If you haven’t seen Once yet, please go rent it/buy it/Netflix it, whatever you have to do.  Trust me.

Fast forward a few years: Glen and Marketa (known together as The Swell Season) are now superstars in the folk world.  They’ve played all over the country, just released their second album, and are currently on a massive tour.  After winning an Academy Award and getting all kinds of incredible press, you think they might have changed…maybe just a little bit.

Nope.

A few weeks back, Dustin (a big fan of the Swell Season too) over at Matchstic passed along a link from a fantastic music blog.  Apparently before one of the more recent Swell Season performances, Glen came out into the street and recreated my favorite scene from the movie.  He plays it with such passion and fire that it’s literally impossible for you to not get chills down your spine once the bellowing chorus kicks in:

Glen Hansard – Say it To Me Now

It got me thinking: here is a guy who could coast through each performance, get back on his tour bus, and then move onto the next show and collect another massive paycheck.  Instead, he decided to stand in a parking lot and perform a song for all the fans waiting to get into the show.  I guarantee everybody in that line will never forget these three minutes.  I’d go as far to say that those three minutes probably meant more to these people than the incredible performance that happened later on that evening.

It’s the extra mile. I know Andy discussed in a previous blog entry, but I just can’t help but reiterate his viewpoint when I hear stories about guys and girls who do something special for their fans just for the hell of it.  It makes me smile from ear to ear.  I’ve been fortunate enough to witness some amazing musicians go out of their way on our cruises to give everybody that “holy ****” moment: Brandi Carlile hopping on a piano for hours after playing a full set on Cayamo, John Mayer playing DJ all night on the Mayercraft Carrier 2, and Ed Robertson of the Barenaked Ladies just sitting in the hallway to play guitar with a few guests like it was nothing.  It’s amazing what a few unexpected minutes (or hours) can mean to somebody.

When was your last “holy ****” moment, and how many people did you tell?

-Steve

So, I’ve been thinking about this whole Facebook thing.

First of all I find it so incredibly AMAZING that something has been created that is enabling me to re-connect with people that I never thought I would ever talk to again. There have been people from grammar school, high school, college, rock and roll and the film business. The connections from college have the most impact. I met so many people! Friends, friends of friends, friends of friend’s high school friends! You get the picture. And some of those people I really connected with. In those moments of hanging out, running around the city and going to see bands, I met some outstanding individuals who intrigued and inspired me.

And then, graduation.

You go your separate ways, off on your own adventures of life. Some folks are good at staying in touch. Some just wander away. And the years go by. And these people pop in to your mind and you think about where they might be and want they are doing and how their life turned out, 20 years later. Before it would have to be left at that, just a thought. But then, along came Facebook! And the next thing you know, its Re-connect City! It’s a little mind blowing, not to mention overwhelming at times. But how lucky are we? We have this awesome tool to go find our past. I wonder if the Facebook inventors really thought it would turn out this way? I wonder if they realize the impact they have made on human connectivity?

-Carla

Another Sixthman event is in the books!

I wasn’t on the Elvis Cruise this year, but from what I’ve read in our blogs, read on our message boards, and read through the surveys, it looks like we did a pretty decent job of paying tribute to the King.  For those of you who got off the cruise yesterday and have to go back to work today (boo), hopefully today’s recap will get through the day.

Here are links to all the blogs written by the Sixthman staff while out at sea.  The posts are listed from newest (Andy’s) to oldest (Lauren’s).

• Andy: Something About those Blue Shirts
• April: So, I was Left Behind
• Becki: Elvis Revered
• Melissa: Message in a Bottle
• Lisa: Half Time
• Kappy: Hi My Name is Kappy and I’m “Helpy to Hap You”
• Barb: Elvis is Alive!
• Lauren: Boarding Days Never Get Shorter, But They Do Get Easier

You might be wondering what happened to the rest of the company when you were all out at sea enjoying yourselves.  Well, wonder no more:

Sixthman TV – What About Us?

Thanks to all that came out for the Elvis Cruise, we hope you had an amazing vacation.  Feel free to post your experiences and stories in the comments.  Sixthman team members, that means you too!  I need to know what I missed.

Hey Rock Boat….you’re next.

-Steve

photo from: Will Byington