DAY - 331

Hope you made it through the storm with minimal or no damage.  To tell you the truth, we didn't even loose electricity...thank God.  Apparently some areas are out til Monday!  On account of EVERYTHING being cancelled and/or shut down due to "Sandy", I had a bunch of free time today to do some legwork.  Free time, what a concept!  Haven't had that in so long I forgot what it feels like...it's a beautiful thing.

As I was saying... I had a chance to do some research today and found contact info for Brooke Arrington.  Brooke happens to be the Creative Director at one of the most successful music publishers in not only Nashville but the US.  Big Yellow Dog Music.  I know I had mentioned them once or twice throughout the blog, but I wasn't able to find direct contact info/name until today.  I emailed Brooke with the intention of getting a chance to write with someone on the Big Yellow Dog team.  I sent her some info and links to my stuff.  We'll see if I get a bite.

Also, I was going through the newest "Pop" listings on Taxi.com and found one that "Bass Drum" fits the bill perfectly.  We'll see if they think so as well.  Here's what the listing said...

SUCCESSFUL MUSIC PUBLISHER needs POP SONGS for SUPER HOT FEMALE ARTIST working with a GRAMMY-WINNING PRODUCER. The Artist is heading into the studio very soon and needs a HIT SONG to record ASAP!
 QUOTING THE SOURCE: "We're looking for HARD and SEXY songs a la Pussy Cat Dolls, 'Single Ladies' by Beyoncé, 'S&M' by Rihanna..."
 Songs should be UPTEMPO with an UPBEAT, CONFIDENT and SEXY vibe.  PLAYFUL, LIVELY and ENERGETIC songs will work best here. FEMALE vocals only. Harmonies are a plus, but not essential. Your song MUST have a great CHORUS to be a true hit.

DAY - 330

Fantastic weekend!  Thank you for all the birthday wishes!  I had an amazing birthday weekend.  My lovely fiance, Susan and family went over the top making it a b-day to remember.  Also, had an incredible show on Friday night performing with the Liv Devine Band, Bronze Radio Return and Darlingside at World Cafe Live in Philadelphia.  It was great to see all of you who came out!  Here's some highlights including a video of a brand new song called "All I Need Is A Memory" brought to you by Josh Moshen from the World Cafe's balcony!

Live Video from World Cafe: http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10151517170114498

Me with the Liv Devine Band

           

Bronze Radio Return

Batten the hatches and stay safe ladies and gentlemen.  Obviously not much potential for networking today.   I did however find an awesome listing on taxi.com.  I submitted the latest song I wrote with Scot Sax (the one I've been trying to get to Avril Lavigne)

CONTEMPORARY POP/POP ROCK SONGS with FEMALE VOCALS in the style of P!nk, Avril Lavigne, The Veronicas, etc., needed by an A&R Exec at a Major Label for an ICONIC ARTIST! They're looking for MID to UPTEMPO songs that have a FEEL-GOOD vibe, combining electro elements with Pop Rock guitar riffs, similar to the style of the referenced artists. Songs MUST have OUTSTANDING CHORUSES with ENGAGING hooks and lyrical concepts.

DAY - 329

World Cafe Live tonight!  Performing with Liv Devine and Bronze Radio Return.  Nice little pre- birthday show.  That's right, this Sunday is my bday.  Crazy how fast this year flew by!   If you're around Philadelphia come hang and grab a drink!    www.worldcafelive.com


Today I reached out to Steve Rivers and Morgan Tobias.  Steve and Morgan are two very talented songwriter/artists I met on this last Nashville trip.  They're both on the up and up and have some cool things going on so I wanted to drop a line to stay in touch and potential set up a writing session next time I'm in town.

That's about it for today... time to start getting ready for the show.  Have a great weekend!

DAY - 328

More craziness!  I'm getting frustrated that life happens to be SO busy during the last stretch of this blogging adventure. Making it REALLY hard to be effective this week. I did however, hear back from publishers, Shane Barrett and Natalie Harker (refer to last couple days) so that's refreshing.  Follow ups were worth it, now it's all about keeping the contacts alive and working!  Besides responding back,   I didn't get much done today except for scouring through the listings on Taxi.com.  I found this one I thought sounded pretty promising and submitted a couple songs to it.  Tomorrow I'm hoping to have some decent networking time before the show at World Cafe Live!  Here's how the listing read...

MUSIC SUPERVISOR for a HIT NETWORK TV SERIES needs COUNTRY/POP CROSSOVER SONGS a la Taylor Swift, Lady Antebellum, Keith Urban, Jana Kramer, Carrie Underwood, The Band Perry, Rascal Flatts, David Nail, and Eli Young Band. They're looking for great songs in all tempos with a CURRENT sound. As always, we're looking for top-notch vocal and instrumental performances. MALE and FEMALE vocals are BOTH welcome. 

DAY - 326+327

Yesterday was a whirlwind of obligations and "To Do" lists and today isn't much different.  So many important personal life things to take care of as well as stuff for school it's overwhelming.  Barely any room for networking let alone blogging!  So in advance, apologies for my brevity.

BIG show coming up this Friday evening!  Liv Devine Band featuring Michael August (that's me!) is playing an awesome show this Friday at Philadelphia's premier music venue, World Cafe Live.  We will be playing the downstair's main-stage and sharing the bill with our good friends, the amazingly talented and super fun, Bronze Radio Return!  If you live in or around Philly, DON"T miss this show.  I promise you'll love it...or your money back ;)   http://tickets.worldcafelive.com/eventperformances.asp?evt=3467 for tix in advance...and I recommend buying in advance... first off, they're cheaper and secondly they're selling fast...last time it was SOLD OUT before doors even opened!

The very small amounts of time I've had yesterday and today were spent answering and following up emails from my Nashville trip.  Speaking with co-writers about songs we've written and speaking to new co-writers about new sessions.  Publisher/songplugger, Shane Barrett has been so gracious to hook me up with yet another writer.  Planning the sessions are the tough part...so much to do so little time...such is life.

DAY - 325

Just got back late last night and was welcomed by a Psychology of Teaching Music mid-term at 8am.  Nothing like a little 80 question multiple choice / 2 essay exam to bring you back to reality.  Did most of my studying while half sleeping on the plane which hopefully my grade does not reflect.  

After classes and tall cup of coffee it was off to teaching. (Where I am presently)  Just had about an hour break and decided to start sending out follow up emails.  I wrote to Natalie Harker, Shane Barrett and a whole slew of new songwriters I met/worked with during the trip.

On a side note, I usually am not able to network on the weekends because no one is in the office. However, in Nashville it's a different story.  On Saturday night, Sue and I met up with my Canadian co-writer, Kirk Penney for a house show that he invited us to.  That's right, a house show!  The event was held in Wanda and Terry's beautiful living room in Franklin, TN.  They've started a organization  called, "It's All About Z Music" www.itsallaboutzmusic.com  in which they host writer's nights at least once a month, sometimes even more.  Not only was it a beautiful evening/event, but I met a couple really talented songwriters that I'm going to end up writing with next time I'm in town.  Random but awesome...only in Nashville.

DAY - 323 + 324

Man...what a great couple of days!  Let's see, where did I leave off...oh yeah... meeting at Cal IV music publishing!! Ok, so yesterday I met with Cal IV creative director, Natalie Harker.  The meeting went fantastic!  The only way it could have gone better was if they signed me right on the spot.   We started by chatting for awhile about my goals as a songwriter/artist, basically gave her my life story, swapped stories about how we got into music, I played a song live and then we chatted some more about Cal IV.  Overall, the meeting lasted over an hour!  I can honestly say that Cal IV had a GREAT vibe.  The place was super laid back, and had an undeniably cozy, homey and creative atmosphere in which everyone seemed to not only be working, but truly LOVING what they do....songwriters and industry folks alike.  It was like looking in on an awesome party and wanting to be invited :)   It was apparent in the hour plus meeting that Natalie is really talented at what she does and needless to say, I will be staying in touch to see where it goes!  Fingers crossed...I like parties.

After the meeting I had a fantastic writing session with the young, and very talented Megan Redmond.  Megan is a 16 year-old singing/songwriting sensation and people in town are talking.   The writing session was organized by music publisher/song-plugger, Shane Barrett.  Shane thought it'd be a good collaboration and I have to say, he was right.  I can't say enough about our writing session.  We spent about 4 hours and came out with a fully written, kick-ass, pop song that'll have you singing in your sleep.  Can't wait to tie up any loose ends and demo this one!

Woke up bright an early this morning for a writing session with Fred Knobloch.  Kind of a random day, but really fun.  We spent about 2 hours tweaking lines to the song we had finished on Wednesday, then hopped in the car and met up with Fred's friend, hit songwriter, Thom Schuyler.  We met Thom at a local church and from there hopped into a food truck, drove to a homeless shelter and handed out gourmet cooked meals to local folks in need.  It was amazing.  It's called the Nashville Food Project and they do it every 3rd Friday of the month.  The people we're so excited and appreciative.

Now I'm chilling out at the local Starbuck's killing time.  My fiance Sue is in flight as we speak and I'm waiting to pick her up at the airport.  From there, we're heading straight over to the famous Bluebird Cafe where hit writer's, Tony Arata, Thom Schuyler and J Fred Knobloch are performing one of their wildly popular "writer's in the round"!   Should be a great night...not to mention, Fred comped us tickets and great seats!  AND... just so happens,  one of my co-writers, Canadian songwriter, Kirk Penney is in town  as well and will be meeting us at the show tonight!  

What an awesome trip so far.  If anything else happens this weekend I'll keep you posted on Monday.  Have a great weekend.  Cheers!!

DAY 321+322

Apologies for the delay!   Other than going to class and teaching I spent all free time on Tuesday getting ready for the trip.  Making last minute calls, sending last minute emails, crossing my t's and dotting my i's.  

Flew into Nashville at 11:30am EST and arrived 12:23pm CST.  Not bad at all.  Hats off to Southwest for being the smoothest, friendliest, airline I've flown to date.  As soon as I got off the flight, I hopped into a rental and drove to J Fred Knobloch's studio.  Fred and I worked all day/night finishing up a song we've been working on and game planning some meeting tactics and pitching ideas.  Great day!  Checked into my lovely room at the Holiday Inn (which my fiance Susan so graciously priceline booked for me) around 1am and crashed.

I'm in Starbucks on West End Ave at the moment awaiting my meeting with Cal IV Entertainment.  First official meeting with a top notch publishing company!!  After that, it's off to a writing session with rising country star Megan Redmond.  Wish me luck!  

Stay tuned more to come!

DAY - 320

For the first time, I'm REALLY starting to feel the strain of having too many things on my plate.  I started this Fall semester off ready and raring to go, but it's honestly catching up to me.  Maybe it's just all the rainy weather, but I'm starting to feel the stress of teaching one too many lessons, attending one too many classes, writing one too many songs, playing one too many gigs, sending one too many emails, etc, ect, etc...I can truly say that I now understand the expression, "don't spread yourself too thin".   This morning I caught myself walking around in a daze, making "to do" lists and forgetting what I had "to do" as I'm writing the list!  I don't mean to complain.  I mean... EVERYONE is busy... I'm not trying to play that card.  I think I just need to vent.  Wow, I'm already feeling a little better.  My apologies for unloading on you.  Thanks for listening. :)  

But, that's not why we're here!  Let's down to business.  I spent the last hour sending emails confirming everything that will be going on in Nashville this week.  I'm getting really excited for this trip.  It's honestly going to be the most power-packed 5 days in Music City to date.  So far, I've got 4 writing sessions, 3 meetings, a couple shows and a weekend of wedding planning.  Getting it done baby!   Even though it's going to be a packed 5 days, I'm looking forward to not only the change of scenery, but the change in routine.  Should be a refreshing week.  I promise not to leave out any details so stay tuned.  Cheers!  

DAY - 319

Another one-two punch kinda morning.  In the spirit of it being crunch time, I reached out to 2 new people today.

The first of which is successful NY/NJ songwriter, Jon D'Agostino.  Just got an email this morning from Nashville publisher, Shane Barrett letting me know that he thought it'd be a great idea to hook up with Jon for a writing session.  Jon is another writer that works with Shane (like Jane Bach and Megan Redmond whom I'll be meeting with next week) I got the chance to check out Jon's stuff and it's fantastic.  His style is indeed similar to mine so I think it'd be a cool session.  I reached out to Jon this morning introducing myself and seeing if he'd be interested in getting together.

The second person I contacted today was Stuart Dill from Octogan Entertainment. (refer to day 316)  Turns out Stuart no longer works for Sanctuary.  He is now heading up the Nashville branch of Octogan, a sports and entertainment company.  I got an email from family friend, Peter who said he had reached out to him to let him know about me and that I should drop a line as well... so I did.

That's all for today.  Now it's time to do some practicing.  TGIF!  Have a great weekend!

DAY - 317 + 318

I'm noticing a trend here... seems as though Wednesday are extra hard to get time in to blog.  I've had to postpone 3 weeks in a row now.  My apologies.  No slacking on the networking front though!   Here's what's been going on...

DAY - 317
Today I came up with a cool idea (at least I think it's cool) If you've been following, you'll remember that we (Sweet Angeline and Jason Blume) were working on lyric edits for "20/20" to potentially give it a younger, fresher vibe, that will in turn give us more pitching options.  Well, not only did we have demo singer, Paul Scott re-sing this new version, but I also sang another version to give it a younger, popp-ier vibe.  My idea came to me yesterday when I realized that Lady Antebellum is looking for songs for a new record.  I thought, "man...20/20 would be a SMASH for them!"  So... I asked Sweet Angeline co-writer, Liv Devine if she wanted to sing some female background harmonies to make the pitch to Lady A even a stronger sell! Since Lady A is a guy/girl vocal group I figured this might give it a nice edge.  Long story short,  J Fred Knobloch happens to know Paul Worley, Lady A's producer, and I called Fred to ask for an assist with the pitch.  Needless to say,  Fred being the amazing man that he is, agreed to help make the pitch.  So there you have it.  Recording Liv's vocals on Tuesday and making the pitch to Lady A next week (hopefully while I'm in town!) Let's keep the fingers crossed it happens!

DAY - 318 
Today I sent an email out to hit songwriter and publisher, Derek George from Wide Open Music Group.  I had contacted Derek earlier in the blog, but never had his personal email address.  Yesterday, while I was doing some research I stumbled across his actual email address and decided to send an email over today.   Crazy how small Nashville actually is...after sending the email out around 11am I had a phone call with J Fred and it turns out J Fred Knobloch works with Derek on the regular!

Speaking of J Fred Knobloch....did anyone catch the series premier of "Nashville"??  If you were paying close attention to the Bluebird Cafe scene...that was actually J Fred playing!!  Amazing!

DAY - 316

What's with this weather!?  Give me some nice, crisp, fall air, with the smell of burning firewood...not this freezing, rainy crap.  Everyone around me is getting sick... friends, students, classmates...loading up    this week on the Emergen-C.  Anyway...

In the spirit of kicking it up a notch (refer to yesterday) I doubled up on contacts today.  I started off the morning by sending an email out to Alex Heddle, creative manager of Tom-Leis Music, a publishing company in Nashville.  I reached out to Alex the same way I've been reaching out to every other creative director...a simple email, introducing myself, explaining my goals and including a link to my stuff.  We'll see if I get a bite on this one.

The second contact was a little more random.  I happened to run into a good friend of the family on Saturday night while I was out grabbing some drinks with my Uncle.  After we got to talking a little bit, catching up and what not, I started telling him about my pursuit in songwriting and plans to move to Nashville.  Well, it just so happens he "knows a guy" (yeah yeah, everyone knows a guy)....but this "guy" happens to be legit.  Stuart Dill is his name and he is the president of Sanctuary Management in Nashville.  Sanctuary manages acts such as Fleetwood Mac, Lonestar, Steve Azar, Velvet Revolver, etc.  Not only is Stuart the President of the Nashville chapter, but he is a long-time industry veteran!  Long story short, Peter (friend of the fam) told me to email him some info and he will forward to Stuart and call to make the introduction!  So needless to say, I sent over an email today.  Let's hope for the best! Fingers crossed there'll be more to come on this.  Cheers!

DAY - 315

Just started teaching lessons for the day,  but I was able to snag some free time in between to get some stuff done.   Today I reached out to Penny Everhard, writer/publisher relations at BMI.  I am an ASCAP writer so why would I reach out to a BMI rep, you ask?  Well, after doing some research I found out that Penny not only used to work for a Nashville publisher called Love Monkey Music, but she also does some independent publishing work.  From the looks of it, besides being a talented publisher and music industry pro, Penny is very immersed and connected in the Nashville scene.  I've also heard she has a great ear for fresh music.  Long story short, I figured it was worth trying to connect.   I sent her an email merely introducing myself and asking if she'd be up for listening to some of my stuff.  We shall see.

At this stage of the game, I'm on day 315, only 50 days to go.  If you haven't noticed already, I've been been focusing strongly on the Nashville scene.  I'm going down next Wednesday so I want to make it as impactful of a trip as possible.   Yes, I've been going full steam for the past 315 days, but I'm gonna find a way to go even harder these last 50 days.  I feel so close I can taste it,  yet seemingly so far away.    If you know ANYONE you think I should reach out to, don't hesitate to email me.  Cheers!

mynameisaugust@yahoo.com

DAY - 314

Approaching the end of another hard week.  Brain is fried, body is tired...thank God for Emergen-C.

Today I sent an email to hit producer Rob Chiarelli.  I sent him "20/20" in case he was working with or going to be working with any pop country artists.  A lot of times I hear about an artist cutting a song because it came from the producer.  A lot of songwriters and publishers reach right out to the producer because they tend to have a lot of say about the record.  I know Rob has worked with artists like Leann Rimes in the past, so I figured it might be a good idea to send it over and stay on the radar.

I did a bunch of research on contacts for next week.  I was able to dig up some cool names and emails.  Also, I should have a couple new songs to release by next week so stay tuned!

Have a great weekend.  Cheers!

DAY - 312 + 313

busywork:-(n) bus·y·work ; bize-wûrk': Activity, such as schoolwork or office work, meant to take up time but not necessarily yield productive results.

....that defines the majority of my day yesterday... apologies for the delay on this post...

DAY - 313
Today was yet another crazy busy day!  Got together in the A.M. with Sweet Angeline co-writer, Liv Devine and Nashville hit songwriter, J Fred Knobloch via Skype.  We had another great session.  Whittling away at the new song idea we started last week.  It's a beautiful country ballad with some very cool and different chord and melody choices.  Looking forward to finishing this one and making it truly special.

Yesterday, I also heard back from Allie at Manic Monkee Music. (refer to day 296)  She said she LOVED "Start of Something Good" and is keeping it on file for future use.  Nice!!  I wrote back and sent her a link to my catalog letting her know that if she's interested she can take a listen to more.    Hopefully this turns into a placement for TV/Film!

DAY - 314
After finishing up an 8:30am class I shot over to producer, Chris Zurzolo's studio today.  From there we drove over to his partner Paul Simeone's studio to do some more filming for the documentary.   I'll tell you what...it's a blast!  I always knew Chris was a fantastic audio engineer and producer but Chris and Paul do some unbelievable work when it comes to video production.  The look, feel and flow of this documentary style piece is really coming together and it's amazing.  Can't wait for you to see it!

Today I reached out to songwriter and A&R rep for Roots Three Music Publishing, Denny Carr.  I stumbled across Denny after doing some more research on Nashville publishing companies.  Roots Three is actually a subsidiary of the larger Ole Publishing.  I sent Denny an email introducing myself and giving him a link to my catalog.  We'll see if he digs.

DAY - 311

Power-packed day of music.  Kick started the day with a recording with co-writer Eric Schwank.  Eric and I got together to start recording solid work tape demos for the 4 songs we're going be recording professionally in Nashville.  We ironed out all the details and got a lot finished today.  These 4 songs are really strong.  Eric and I have been writing together for roughly 8 years now and it still amazes me how talented of a writer he really is.   It's very cool to look back over the past 8 years and see how far we've come and know that we still LOVE working together!  Can't wait for you to hear our new songs!

Got a chance to pop into Panera Bread for a quick bite and some networking time. (Black Bean soup is killer!) Today I reached out to Art House Music Publishing in LA.  I pitched them the song that Scot Sax and I wrote.  They seem to be a fantastic publishing company (Owned by mega hit writer and former American Idol judge, Kara Dioguardi)  and I'd love to spark some interest.  Thought this song would be a good start.  We shall see.

Alright, off to teaching a couple guitar lessons then back to Philly for a late night recording session with producer, Chris Zurzolo.  See you tomorrow!

DAY - 310

Today I reached out to Barbara Sedun at EMI Music Publishing Canada regarding pitching a song to Avril Lavigne.  (The latest song I wrote with Scot Sax)  Barbara Sedun is the Senior Vice President of EMI Music Publishing Canada.   She's been in the music publishing biz for a while and is a key player in Canada, working hand in hand with artists and songwriters who cross over into the states as well.

Knowing that Avril Lavigne was originally a Canadian artist,  I figured I'd reach out to Barbara on the off chance that she might have worked with Avril or someone from Avril's camp in the past and might have a first degree connection.   I sent Barbara an mp3 of the song and the lyric sheet to see if she agrees that it would be a GREAT pitch for Miss Lavigne.  Hoping she digs it.  We'll see!