Ask any band “What was the best and worst gig you ever played” and I am willing to bet that the gig they enjoyed the most involved them getting little or no money to play.  And if you ask them about their least favorite performance they have ever played, they probably got paid a ridiculous amount of money.

This is why bands demand so much to play weddings, birthday parties and corporate events.  These are usually in non-traditional venues / ballrooms with below average sound systems and most of the people in attendance are not there to hear a concert.  Bands usually have to be talked into doing these kind of shows for some other reason than the money, however, most of the time, it’s just for the money.

It is also why bands make the least amount of money playing in clubs.  The stage and sound are right and everyone in attendance is there to immerse themselves in the bands music.  For the artist, it is a pure environment with people who have “opted-in” for a musical exchange.

Why?  They are “Artists” and the truth is they are not looking to necessarily fill their wallets but to guarantee that they can continue to be an artist forever without worrying about having to borrow money from friends or family to pay the bills.  Yes…most would do it for free if they could. An artist does it because they want to inspire and be inspired.

I see “Artists” in all walks of life.  Most doctors are doctors because they want to help people.  And the same goes for teachers and all other kinds of work.  Maybe being an artist is as simple as identifying a craft that you can throw yourself into because you respect the craft and draw inspiration from practicing it?

When are you being an “artist” in your day?

For me, I am an artist when I embrace the challenge of creating “moments” for our team and the guests who give Sixthman a chance to host their vacation.  I love it and would do it for free.  In fact, I have done it for free a few times and loved every second of it.

Andy

Isn’t it amazing how much of an impact music makes on our brain?

Like the sense of smell, I think our sense of hearing is most directly dialed in to our thoughts, feelings and memories. When I was little I received “Free To Be You And Me” as a gift. I listened to that record up and down, front to back and side to side for years! When I got re-introduced to it several years ago, I instantly remembered the songs, the melodies and even some of the lyrics.

This morning I sang along quite joyfully to “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer” as I listened to the radio on my way to work. Obviously I learned that song as a little kid, I don’t hear it very often, but when I do, lookout! It’s sing-along city!!! “Midnight Rider” by The Allman Brothers reminds me of being at Grateful Dead shows in northern California. Not just being at the show, but specifically at halftime during those shows at Shoreline Amphitheater, circa 1991, checking out the scene in between sets.

Music makes us laugh, makes us cry, helps us relax or inspires us to boogie down.

What would we do without it?

-Carla

During the summer of 1992, I rushed to the local music studio in Gainesville, Fl to drop off my band’s submission to be included on a regional compilation cd.  Only 10 songs were going to be chosen by a panel of judges and we were very confident.

While I was completing the paperwork, I could hear someone recording a song in the studio and I was hypnotized.  It was Ken Block laying down the vocals on ” All For You”.  I remember heading back to the band house where our lead singer, Jett Beres who is now in Sister Hazel, was practicing.  I told him and the other guys that I felt like we had a chance at one of nine slots because the song Ken was recording was awesome and would certainly get selected.  Well, “All For You” was on the compilation and we did not make it.  It took 5 years for “All For You” to become a #1 Hit Song.  Why so long?

It can take years for a hit song to make it’s way to the mainstream.  It has to be written, recorded, played many times live, fans have to rally around it, the industry has to give it a shot and listeners have to validate it with requests and sales of the single and/or album.  There is often a lot of time and barriers along the way.

Over the last 15 years, I can remember some other instances where this occurred.

Matchbox 20 (formerly Tabitha’s Secret) used to perform at the club I booked concerts for in 1994 and they closed every show with a song called “3AM”.  Rob Thomas wore sweat pants and rarely faced the audience but he always had great songs and a great voice.  We all knew 3AM was a hit and it was cool to see it go to the top of the radio charts in 1998.

In 1995, I had opened a club in Tallahassee called “Floyd’s Music Store” to promote original music and a local band called CREED used to play on Wednesday nights for $100 and a case of beer.  They sent me their demo and it had the first 6 songs of their debut album “My Own Prison” on it.  I did not get it at first so I left it in my CD player for a week and got hooked.  Just 2 years later, “My Own Prison” was a #1 Rock Hit and the band went on to sell millions of albums.  On the bands first tour, Scott Stapp found out he was going to be a dad and within a week wrote “Arms Wide Open” and performed it live for the first time at the Hard Rock in Atlanta in the summer of 1997.  I remember him reading the lyrics from a notebook on stage and thinking this was going to be a huge song.  The original lyrics were written for the arrival of a girl and then he changed them once he found out it was actually a boy.

Then in the summer of 2004, I was invited to be a judge for a “Battle for the Bands” in Birmingham, Al and the first act to perform was “Zac Brown”.  He played “Whatever it Is” and “Chicken Fried” which were #1 Hits in 2009.  I remember getting up from the “Judges Table” after Zac played and telling the other judges to come find me in the bar if any other band got even close to what we just saw by Zac.  He went on to win the contest that night and won a slot to perform on The Rock Boat that fall.

So, in my experience, it takes between 3-5 years for a song to go from the stage to MTV, CMT or VH1.  In the meantime, the band just rides the wave of support from fans and it’s gut feelings until that time arrives.

I bet we all have a story where we stumbled upon a band playing a new song that has gone on to become a hit in front of no one in a small club.  Let’s hear them.

Andy

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

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

Dear band,

As you sit backstage preparing the set list, we are out in the audience excited to see a great show and there are a few things we want to share with you before the curtain comes up.

We aren’t here because we had nothing else to do tonight.  We bought the tickets as soon as we heard you were coming to town and have been listening to your music even more since then to get ready for tonight.

Our hope is that you will take this opportunity to make us fans for life by showing us that you realize this is a “moment of truth” in our relationship where we will either leave here tonight a “champion” for your band willing to pay more the next time you come to town and bring our friends or go home feeling like we wasted our time and money.

We will be looking for the following things as we make our decision.

Are you excited to be here or is it obvious you can’t wait to get back on the bus?

Are you giving it your all or phoning it in?

Are you functioning as a true unit or do you each stay in your own area and refuse to interact with each other on stage?

Will you have the courage to try new things in your set, even if you stumble and get back up, or will you play it safe?

Are you genuine between songs with your banter or is it the same story each night?

Did you prepare your parts and blow us away with your performance or did you have to rely on hard drives, loops, backing tracks and fancy lights?

Every show is an opportunity to build momentum for your career and we hope that our decision to spend our time and money tonight will inspire you to push yourselves.  If you do, you will be one step closer to Madison Square Garden and the cover of The Rolling Stone.

Andy

One of my favorite things about working at Sixthman is whenever we get to announce news that I know is going to make people happy. Contrary to popular belief, I like making people happy. If you’ve ever called our office and tried to pry information out of me about who we are going to announce on an event next (you know who you are), you may not believe me. Yesterday’s announcement of Uncle Kracker joining us on the Kid Rock cruise had me nearly giddy. Sometimes, I don’t know who we’re going to announce until literally a few minutes before you do, but I’d known about Uncle Kracker for a few weeks and not being able to tell anyone yet was killing me.

This past September a guy from Detroit known by most of the world as Kid Rock helped make Sixthman history by headlining the first cruise in our nearly10 years as a company to not only sell out in it’s first year as an event, but to do so in less than 2 weeks. Don’t let the name fool you, our office was doing anything but “Chillin the Most” for two weeks straight as the phone lines and website hits exploded and launched the little call center nook of the Sixthman loft into organized mayhem.

Did I mention that all of this happened before we added even one other artist to the bill? Headed into my third cruise season, I’ve grown relatively confident in guiding guests into which cabins work for them, what to expect on board, and even what to expect from most artists. I can also confidently say that although Kid Rock has been on my radar since my MTV watching days in the late 90’s and even more recently as his tour with Skynyrd has lead to multiple conversations with Simple Man guests about how amazing his live shows are, I was still completely in the dark about what to expect when we announced the Kid Rock Cruise. I wasn’t necessarily surprised at the fan response, I just didn’t know what to anticipate either way.

As we continue to launch new cruise events, we do our research into who we think will want to go on this new cruise. Who are the die-hard fans, the ones who will jump on board without thinking twice? Who are the secondary fans, usually the largest group, the guests we have to work a little harder at convincing? As we head outside our comfort zones as a company, one thing I’ve learned no matter how much research we do before the day a new website goes live is that no amount of research will ever tell us exactly what to expect.

One thing I do expect now is to have the time of my life watching a whole new group of Sixthman cruisers have the time of their lives this April.

See you on the flip side,

Joy