As I sit here typing, I’m also filtering through the many artist submissions/recommendations/CDs that are begging for my attention. Not necessarily because they are good, but because they have been sitting here for some time… And it’s been a while since I’ve thoroughly gone through them, so the pile is rather hefty.

It’s not that being in this situation is foreign territory for me, as I usually have at least fifty or so discs on my desk and countless artists waiting for me to evaluate digitally. I can’t even recall a time in the past seven years that this hasn’t been the case. So I simply start attacking the pile, giving the ones that grab my attention the first dibs on my listening time (though if it is a major release that I need to review, then obviously release date will be the deciding factor).

I must admit though, it can be frustrating how some of these artists really don’t look like they WANT to be discovered or listened to. Instead of commanding my attention and striving for professionalism, it feels like these artists are either apathetic or think they are the hottest new thing and is giving me the privilege to let me listen to their music. Easy there hot shot, I get it.

So let’s assume you are an aspiring musician and you want to get noticed. The entertainment industry is a cut throat field that truly revolves more around who you know than what you know. But even if you had a contact or two to abuse, unless you get off your backside and not rely on others, you too could very well end up chasing the paparazzi with umbrellas shortly after shaving your head. How’s that for a mental image? That being said, labels are now looking heavily for artists who can show they know how to hustle and make a name for themselves on their own first, so it is less work for their company once you are signed.

Now keep in mind that if the aforementioned industry insiders are good enough, they will be able to detect potential talent and whether you are worth their time within seconds of pressing the play button. So how do you get the attention of the talent scouts and media? Well, I’m going to try to give you a few pointers that should hopefully help in the process. If everyone would follow these simple rules, I would already have a lot of the music I have to go through daily filtered out. Keep in mind these aren’t all of the rules though, just a few of many…

1. Make it professional, both inside and out. You’d think this would be common sense, but unfortunately it isn’t. When you are making your CD, spend the extra bucks and get professional production qualities that can be compared to those found on record labels. Don’t make it sound like your roommate made it on his crappy computer that was lying around and/or with free recording software. In this day and age, studio setups are much, much cheaper than they used to be and you should be able to find a producer that can pull off some magical things for a relatively inexpensive price. Also, make sure the actual packaging of your product is professional and doesn’t look like it was done by Grandma on her Apple II.

2. Have a press kit? Make it different. Everyone sends it in a folder that will hold the standard 8″X11″ sheets inside with a bio, fact sheet, and so on. Needless to say, when you have a stack of them sitting there on the “to do” pile, they all look the same. Spend the extra couple bucks to make it unique so it jumps out at us from the stack. Change it to an unconventional size, make the colors bright (but tasteful), throw in some extra swag… Do whatever it takes to just make it jump.

3. Communication: you have spell check, so you better use it. When making communication to a member of the press or a scout, please refer back to grade school grammar rules. If you are trying to sell yourself or if you have finally found someone who will listen to your music, use common sense. Don’t use any sort of abbreviations (thx, u, y, tho, etc.) and use proper grammar/punctuation/capitalization. If you look sloppy and lazy in your communication, it leaves a bad first impression. If I get initial e-mails like this, I’m already turned off. Every e-mail client and word processor has a spell checker, so there is NO excuse to not have it look like business correspondence. No lingo or gang signs either, please.

4. Communication: you get what you pay for. If you are going to be professional, get your own e-mail (and preferably not a free one such as hotmail or gmail; that just looks bad). In both my scouting and journalist positions, I’ve had managers send me an e-mail initially to which I would reply. But then suddenly when they reply back to me, the sender has a different name in the “From” field (sometimes even someone of the opposite sex) and still sign it with their name at the bottom of the e-mail. This is confusing and lacks any sort of professionalism. It’s too bad when the artist they are representing happens to be a promising talent, because it still taints their image. Don’t use e-mail forwarding (especially to a shared e-mail account), just get a real address. It’s cheap.

5. I know sliced bread has nothing on you, but calm down. Sure, you need to be somewhat convincing and forceful in your presentation, but stay humble about it. If you don’t shove it down our throats that you could rock those four British guys from the sixties’ world, we’ll appreciate you more. Don’t go over the top in selling yourself, just list your accomplishments/bio and let the listener decide. If you try too hard, it’ll show painfully. And trust me, way too many artists go overboard in selling themselves that it usually isn’t even close to being accurate anymore. Have someone else look over your promotional content just to make sure.

6. If you’re finding yourself comfortable, you aren’t working hard enough. Remember, scouts are looking for artists who can establish a following and accolades on their own. So work, work and work some more. Play tons of shows, stay late to hang out with the fans to win their adoration, build a great looking website, promote yourselves online by signing up on the popular social websites, and don’t give up. Again, just don’t go excessively overboard in the online promoting or it’ll feel more like spam to users. You’re trying to earn their respect as well as their ears.

7. If you network, they will come. Even with all of these other points, you still need to make that initial contact with key individuals to get noticed. As I stated earlier, this is a business where it’s more about who you know than what you know. Networking is one of your most valuable tools in any business. So get out to industry events, make your name known, become best friends with those lower in the food chain at labels and rub shoulders with absolutely everyone. Don’t just assume those who make the big decisions are in suits, as they could be the guy in the back with the ripped jeans. Just make sure you complete the other steps about being professional and having a professional product first so the networking goes smoother. The last thing the insiders want is a disc and package in their hands that looks like it was made in your basement. Otherwise, if you’ve got the goods, be fearless. The worst you can get is a “no.” Business cards are very handy (and inexpensive) too.

8. Follow up with your contacts. To say scouts and journalists get a ton of e-mail is an understatement. I get tons of e-mails and phone calls from all levels of seniority in the industry with various pitches or offering potential talent. So if you don’t get a reply right away, try again. It may not be that they are blowing you off; it’s just that you may have been accidentally and genuinely lost in the shuffle. At the same time, don’t hound them too much either, or you’ll be too forceful and that will be a turn off. Find the right balance in your follow ups.

So there you have it… Just some simple tips to get you started. Again, there are lots of dos and don’ts, so think things through before you act. But these are some pointers to help you get started and will definitely make the other person’s job much easier and less stressful. If you follow these rules, you will already start on the right foot.

Any other suggestions, questions or comments? Comment below or shoot me an e-mail: josh[at]joshmcconnell.net

So I’m a big fan of Twitter… Always have and probably always will. Well, or at least until something cooler comes along. You know how it goes. Sure, they could tweak a couple things to make it flawless in my eyes (such as choosing the option to have only @replies sent to my mobile phone. Hint hint, developers), but it’s still a fantastic website.

That being said, I will give you five good reasons why you should join the Twitter world. They will be so convincing, you will want to sign up immediately after reading this entry. Or something like that.

1. Because I’m A Member
Come on, let’s be honest. I could stop the list right here and you would have more than enough reason to sign up for Twitter. What? No? Okay, okay, I’ll give you some more…

2. All The Cool People Are (Finally) Doing It
I’ve had a Twitter account since, well, pretty much when it launched years ago. This was long before it moved to the mainstream internet scene and actually became cool. But when looking at my first reason on this list, apparently me having an account doesn’t cause a mass sign up. Who would have thought? So when Twitter played an integral role in the music festival SxSW a year ago, it caught the attention of big players and got the ball rolling. Now you can find members of your favorite bands, politicians, journalists, TV personalities and more signing up and telling you what they are up to. Sites also use it to share updates such as news stories or the weather. I can actually tell someone about Twitter without getting odd looks because the other person knows what I’m talking about. Fancy that!

3. It’s A Cool Concept
“What are you doing?” is the question that Twitter asks you to answer in 140 characters or less. Through a web browser, AIM, text messaging, countless applications for your computer (or even your Blackberry/iPhone), you can update to tell the world exactly what you are doing. Are you at a concert and the band is playing a classic anthem? Did you see a celebrity sighting at SoHo while shopping? Did you experience/see some sort of natural disaster and want to tell the world even before the media picks up on it? It can all be done in seconds. You can also use sites such as TwitPic.com to upload pictures from your mobile phone (or computer) and have it update on your Twitter account automatically. I love TwitPic.

4. It’s Not Just A One Way Conversation
Let’s be honest: not many people use Twitter primarily for one way conversations. Thanks to the reply feature, you can reply to someone’s entry and they can reply right back to you. You can also send direct messages if you want to keep it all confidential. It really is a community and helps you to get to know new people. And, again, it is all within 140 characters or less.

5. Someone Has To Go First
So maybe you don’t know anyone personally who has a Twitter account. When I first started, it took months (and months) until someone I actually knew hopped on board. But it takes someone to sign up first in your social circle to get the ball rolling before others join. Why can’t it be you? Plus, now with Twitter gaining popularity, there is more than just strangers you can have a conversation with in the beginning (like when I first joined). You have the aforementioned personalities who are all signing up and using it frequently, so you won’t feel so alone. And just think, you can brag to everyone saying you were the first in your social circle to join. I know I like bragging about being one of the first to sign up, period. It makes me all warm and fuzzy inside… I suppose that makes me a geek, doesn’t it? Dang.

So there you have it… Five great reasons as to why you should join Twitter (if you already are a member, feel free to comment and add some more reasons of your own). Sign up and follow me already! Send me a message and we’ll chat it up via tweets (that’s what Twitter calls their entries, by the way). Again, don’t worry if you feel alone, your friends will follow soon enough.

Okay, as promised, here is my rundown of various singles currently on the radio today. It’s been a while since I did the last one, so obviously I won’t cover all of the songs that have hit the airwaves since then.

How does it work? I just start listing off random songs on the radio in no particular order, then say a short opinion of the song. Sort of like a bunch of Tweets (side note: join Twitter already and add me as a friend!). Some will be longer, some will be shorter… That’s just the way it goes…

Let’s begin! Click the link…

Read the rest…

Sorry for not posting the second part yesterday. I literally spent the entire day captioning all of my pictures that I uploaded to Flickr. So if you had seen something before and wondered what or where it was, check it out again as it will have a caption:
http://flickr.com/photos/joshmcconnell/collections/72157600126982731/

Now on to the highlights…

Favorite Events of GMA Week 2007
Though there were a lot of events to attend throughout the week, there are were a couple that stick out as I think back to GMA. The first of which was definitely my favorite, but the second was a ton of fun as well…

- Monday night dinner
On the Monday night, a publicist took Brent, Chris and I out to dinner. I don’t want to say his name in case he doesn’t want it up here, but we all had a great time. Though there was a bit of shop talk, we mostly talked about everything else on the planet. Favorite mediums of entertainment (movies, tv shows, music, etc.), our backgrounds, and more. It was just a very relaxed and fun time. Brent and Chris also got him to crack some Canadian jokes, the second of which was actually really good. Ha. I hope he had as much fun as the three of us did.

- Opry Mills
Though it wasn’t technically part of GMA, this is the other “event” that sticks out in my mind when thinking back over the week. Brent, Chris, and I went to the Opry Mills mall next to the Opry House to just hang and chill out. Another friend, Katy, also met up with us and hung out for a bit. It was just an all around relaxing time, filled with the weeklong running jokes and their attempts at Canadian zingers. Then we went to the Doves immediately afterwards to begin our fun-filled coverage.

Favorite Interviews of GMA
I interviewed fifteen artists/bands over the course of two days at GMA. Pretty much all of them were fun and had their own moments, but I’d say a few definitely stuck out from the rest in this category. I’ll list the top five since it’s an easy number (ha) and I’ll list them in alphabetical order to be fair.

Those that didn’t make the list certainly weren’t bad by any means. I enjoyed them all. It’s just that these ones are probably the best of the best…

It should be noted that one of the things I hope artists/bands realize after they meet me is that I’m not just doing this for a “story.” I’m not even sure if journalism is what I want to do when push comes to shove. I want to help them out, make friends, and just have some fun with it too. When that recorder stops taping I consider everything else said to me off the record, so they don’t have to worry about whether or not I’ll print something they don’t want printed. I’m not one of those guys who will quickly scribble something down after talking to them in the hall, so I can go home and publish it for the world to see. They can relax before or after the interview, or even if we run into each other elsewhere. I’m not out to share secrets and can be trusted. ha. I think most of these artists caught on to that, which helped make them more memorable.

- The Afters
These guys were really down to earth and fun… We seemed to get along great and joked around a bit during the interview, which is always way better than those by-the-book interviews. They also stayed at the same hotel as us, so we ran into them a few times and continued a few conversations.

I have a feeling they’re going to do quite well with their next release as it sounds like it’s going to be getting a solid mainstream push. I look forward to meeting them again and wish them the best.

- Chris Rice
Here is another artist that was very down to earth. We had a great conversation about the mainstream industry vs the Christian industry and the purposes that the latter serve (if any). He seems to be quite knowledgeable on the industry and I wish him great success in the general market too.

We also talked about different online networking tools and ways that bands can interact with their fans more. The internet has made it very easy for bands to do so now. Chris is a very nice and easily approachable guy who knows what he’s doing…

- Jessie Daniels
This interview took place in the middle of the second day of interviews after I had already completed a ton of them. So far most of them were pretty straight forward and my questions were answered, but that’s about it. But Jessie and I talked a bit before and after the interview about random things, she ordered her lunch while I was there, and there were just a number of other factors that made it feel like a very relaxed interview. It seemed more like we were just hanging out and having a conversation than a formal interview. It was a nice break from the routine since things didn’t feel scripted. Hopefully we’ll get the chance to talk again, in an interview or not.

Plus it was held on the top floor of The Hilton. That was such a cool hotel… I only had two interviews there, but I loved going inside every time for other things.

- Kevin Max
It was great to finally meet Kevin in person. He’s always very opinionated which makes for a great interview. Last time we spoke, I tried my best to stay away from any dc Talk questions… But this time I asked if I could drill him a bit on one or two. He said yes and gave a bit more insight into the dismemberment of the group. It should also be noted that he did a fun showcase at BB King’s on the Monday night.

- Manic Drive
What can I say? Whenever Manic Drive and I get together, all rules are thrown out the window. We just have a ton of fun and get sidetracked very easily, yet we still pull out an interesting interview. It’s always great to run into these guys. We go way, way back.

So there you have it, my highlights of GMA Week 2007. Lots of fun was had, new friends were made, and there were just so many memorable moments that I could probably keep listing them off for pages. But these are the ones that I think back to instantly when reliving GMA Week 2007.

Thanks for following me during my trip to Nashville. The thousands of you have easily surpassed my previous monthly averages and helped prove the work wasn’t in vein. Ha. I look forward to attending again next year when we’ll do it all again. And no, that wasn’t supposed to rhyme…

Keep an eye out for some final Nashville tidbits, such as videos, trickling onto the blog in the next few days. I didn’t get the chance to take many, but I did take a few as I walked the streets and buildings.

I also have my commentary from the Dove Awards up on Renown Magazine soon. I’ll let you guys know over here when it goes up.

So GMA Week 2007 has come to a close. It was a busy week to be sure with very little sleep, but it was still a ton of fun. I’m really glad I went down. I flew for the first time since I was three, I lived in downtown Nashville for a few days, I met up with some old friends and made some new ones, I had both fun and interesting interviews, I could put faces to those I have been working with for years, and the list could go on. It truly was a great experience.

Here is a list of my thoughts on the place, the week itself, and the Dove Awards. Tomorrow I will post my favorites of the week, so look out for that.

Nashville
First of all, there’s the city. From what I had experienced in Nashville, I really loved what I saw. The city was quite beautiful and the people were all genuinely nice, with the exception of one of the McDonalds employees who was sort of emotionless. I was honestly expecting cowboy city, but I only saw a massive amount of them on Sunday night. Ha. During the week it was mostly suits and (I’m assuming) tourists walking around aside from those attending GMA.

The few venues I attended for showcases and what not were pretty cool too. I really liked BB Kings, even if the sound was pretty rough…

The architecture on some of the buildings was quite impressive. Then with all of the trees and landscapes, it helped add to the overall homey nature. It really felt like a small town.

Honestly, if I good job came up and I was able to work out the whole working in the States thing, I think I’d actually consider the relocation. But who knows what the future has in store.

GMA Week 2007
As previously mentioned, the week itself was crazy. I was constantly running around, consuming lots of water, and sweating due to the warmer temperatures. My back got a little sore from carrying the heavy backpack everywhere, but it was worth it. It was fun to walk around the Renaissance and Hilton Hotels, both of which are quite amazing to look at inside and out. I was especially impressed with the Hilton and its lobby.

It was also fun to run into people I knew from the Ontario music scene. It helped make the event a little more familiar…

Another cool aspect of the week was seeing how many people were familiar with me and the site. I was expecting to do a fair bit of self promotion down there, but pretty much every one at labels, management, companies, and even the artists themselves knew myself and the site. I really appreciate everyone’s support.

Of course, I have to mention that the best part of all was finally seeing my longtime friends Brenten Gilbert and Chris Unthank in person. I also got the chance to meet and hangout with Robin Parish, someone who I’ve communicated with a few times online over the years.

The Dove Awards
One of the places that a lot of people asked if I was going to see is the Grand Ole Opry House. Well, I did end up seeing it… Sort of. We had to walk way around the back of the building into the media room which was situated backstage. I never actually saw the inside of the auditorium or main lobby. But that’s okay, it was still fun.

The night was long though. We got there are 4 pm and left at midnight… Eight hours! Chris, Brent and I all sat at a table together though and kept things interesting with our amusing commentary and quick-witted comments. They made it a lot of fun and the time passed by rather quickly. Though I don’t agree with a number of winners as there are some artists who should have taken home a trophy or two, there’s not much you can do about it other than have some fun with it.

I also got to say hi to some of the people I met that week one last time before flying back home the next day. It’s too bad I can’t seem them more often.

I was trying to get this finished for posting much earlier, but I’ve been distracted off and on with installing Windows Vista onto my laptop. Part two is almost finished, but I am really tired so I’m finishing it tomorrow.

So check back here tomorrow for a list of my favorite events and interviews of GMA Week 2007 to wrap up my coverage.

I’m back home. I actually got back at about 6:45 PM but I relaxed, ate, and didn’t do much computer stuff. Now I just finished uploading pictures from yesterday and today in Nashville, including backstage at the Dove Awards. Here they are…

Yesterday’s events (day four):
http://flickr.com/photos/joshmcconnell/sets/72157600136000760/

The Dove Awards:
http://flickr.com/photos/joshmcconnell/sets/72157600136284602/

Today’s trip home:
http://flickr.com/photos/joshmcconnell/sets/72157600136347103/

I’m going to post one more final post about my trip to Nashville tomorrow to finish up the coverage. It’ll just be me giving my final thoughts on the week, the city, and the events. But first, I’ll give you a journal of my traveling journeys today…

Read the rest…

NOTE: Sorry about Twitter not updating this afternoon and evening. I guess their text messaging went down or something. How annoying… Also pictures from today and tomorrow (the trip home) will probably be uploaded tomorrow night or something when I get back to Ontario. I need to get to bed asap tonight.

So let’s see, what did we do today? Brent and I went to have breakfast first of all. It was good. I ate four cinnamon buns and a yogurt. We bumped into a couple of the members of The Afters since they are staying in our hotel, so Brent and I chatted with them briefly as we both have met them before multiple times.

After Breakfast, we went back to the hotel room and picked up some things, we headed back over to the Renaissance since Brent had a few interviews left to do this morning. So we went to the press room for a second and Chris was there finishing up some publicity work with one of his clients. Brent shortly ran to his interviews, so Chris and I sat and talked in the lunch room for about an hour. A couple of friends and acquaintances came into the room including Neal Morse as well, but we mostly just chatted with each other. We then decided to walk around the Convention Center for half an hour. I then walked back to the hotel to finish packing a few things, then I crossed the street and mailed my guitar that I won back home.

After that, I went back to the hotel room where Brent and Chris were now waiting so we could all head over to the mall. We grabbed some food at T.G.I. Fridays where a friend from years ago, Katy, came and hung out with us for a bit. She is going to a school in Nashville and it was great to see her after knowing her for so long.

Brent, Chris, and I met with Chris’ sister and her two friends in the parking lot, then headed across the street to the Opry House for the Dove Awards pre-show. We got there at 4pm, an hour and a half before the pre-show started. The six of us got good seats with power plugs for our laptops. Chris, Brent, and I are sitting at one table each with our own laptops plugged in, then sitting directly behind us are Chris’ sister and friends. We were easily the two loudest tables backstage. Ha. We were just having a blast with our own commentary, inside jokes, and just all around fun conversations… We had a great time… I did a running commentary of the entire night and that will go up sometime later on.

There wasn’t a break for us backstage in between the pre-show and the actual awards show. It was brutal… We got there at 4 pm and it went until 12:15 am. And let me tell you, that eight hours is a very long time for me to stay still. Mind you, I got up to the washroom a couple of times and stood for twenty minutes or so just for a break. But even then, it was brutal. It was good to have Chris and Brent with me to keep things interesting and fun. We actually had the guy in front of us shake our heads afterwards saying we made the night for him and that we said everything he was thinking. Ha.

We ended up not going to Rocketown for the after show because it was so late already, it was raining, and we’d have to walk ten blocks. Plus we need to get up early, so that’s just too much to take in. ha. So I didn’t get to go to Rocketown, which I really wanted to check out. But oh well, next time. I definitely plan on going to Nashville again, if not for GMA Week next year than just some other time to hang out. I really enjoyed the city. More on that later.

Now we’re back at the hotel, pretty much packed everything and are ready to sleep for the early rise and trip tomorrow. We’ll get up early to grab some breakfast, make sure we have everything, then take a cab to the airport. We’ll say our goodbyes, shed a tear (ha), and hop on our own planes. It stinks Brent, Chris (who I already said goodbye to tonight since I won’t see him tomorrow), and I can’t see each other more often. But we talk all of the time online and act the same way with each other online as we do offline, so it’s like we hang out all of the time. I thought that was really cool when we met each other in person…

Anyway, I’m out. It’s bed time. Tomorrow it is the final day of my trip/coverage: the trip home. Stay tuned.

So I slept in a little bit this morning, which was nice. I got up at about 7:45 am, I think. Brent really slept in though, but maybe that’s just because Americans have less energy than Canadians. I don’t know. I’m just waiting for him to get ready so we can go downstairs and have some breakfast. I hope it’s still running… I think we have another forty minutes, but I’m not sure. If not, then he better order pizza this time or something.

He has some sort of interview at 9:30 I think. Or maybe it’s 10:30. I don’t know. Either way, he has a bit more work to do this morning, whereas I don’t. I’m going to do my final rounds around the convention center and Renaissance Hotel today since I probably won’t get to again. Then I’m going to check out the mail place to make sure I can mail the guitar, as I said last night. You know, I can never spell “Renaissance” right… Thank goodness for spell check.

The main reason I’m posting is to let you know I sorted the pictures by day now for GMA Week. If you want, you can go to its collection page (click here) and it’ll list the different days. Or here are the direct links:
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3

Now all of the pictures are showing properly in the preview page, so that’s good…

It’s 9:04 am now… I think we may be going soon. So I’ll talk with you later. I’ll try to get one more entry in before we take off to the mall at about 1:00pm, because otherwise you might not hear from me until tonight or tomorrow since we are going directly to the Dove pre-show and Dove Awards from there.

Pictures from today are now up in the Flickr gallery. In case you were wondering, captions ARE coming… But I think I’ll do that after the week is over, as I barely have enough time as it is. So if you are wondering about one in particular, ask in a comment/e-mail or keep checking back to see when the captions go up. I’ll mention it here. For now, here’s the photo gallery with the new pics:
http://flickr.com/photos/joshmcconnell/sets/72157600127080374/

By the way, that preview page doesn’t show all of the pics though. If you want to see them all, I’d start at the latest one and work your way back or something… I think I may just create separate folders for each of the days so you can see them all in the preview page, but maybe that’s a tomorrow job.

So my final batch of interviews all went well. I had a lot of fun doing them. The final interview for me at GMA Week (at least as of right now) was, of course, Manic Drive. Just as you would expect, we had a very civilized and thought provoking discussion… Or maybe not. We get sidetracked very easily. ha. But we still talked about some new things as well, so it had its element of seriousness…

After the interview, the three of us went up to some special VIP suite on the top floor of the Renaissance Hotel. It was awesome.. A little food buffet, free drinks, a member of staff to get you the drinks and keep the food coming, a big screen tv, and (most importantly) a wall made of glass for an amazing view of the city. I posted pictures of the view in the Flickr gallery. It was great to hang out with the guys again, but then we had to go on our own ways…

I decided to head back to the hotel and relax. So I came back at about 6:50 pm and began doing some work on the computer. I was really hungry though, so I ordered pizza for delivery. It took almost forty-five minutes! Yikes. It was really good though… I ate three quarters of it. ha. Then Brent finally came back from his nighttime festivities at about 7:50 pm, just after the pizza arrived. We hung out here and talked, watched some TV, etc. until about 10 pm when we went to a late night Centricity Records showcase. It went until about 11:45 where Downhere closed the show. They did an awesome job… Such a great band…

Now we’re once again finishing the night by updating our various websites and pages. But man, am I feeling the lack of sleep now… It hit me during the second last band at the showcase. I can’t wait to sleep in a bit tomorrow since we don’t have anything planned early. Except I think the breakfast is served until 9:30, so I guess we’ll have to make it for that. ha. Other than that, I’m not sure what I’m doing tomorrow morning. I’ll probably wander a bit one last time. Then I think I’m going to try to figure out shipping the little guitar I won back home. I think I should be able to fit everything else in my bags, which is excellent.

Hmm.. I think I’ve figured out where some of the GMA Week pictures went. It seems it isn’t uploading them all at once, which is odd. So now I know what to look for to tell me if it uploaded all pictures or not from now on. That was really weird though…

Anyway, once again I am off to bed. I’m really tired. Goodnight all.

It’s funny, for a guy who is running on about four hours of sleep right now, I’m really not that tired. My legs are a little sore though. I’m sure I’ll be feeling the tiredness tonight, especially since we are probably going to a late night showcase (starts at 9:30 pm). We’ll see.

Man, Brent has three bottles of Coke sitting by the window all in a row. I wonder if he’s even going to drink them… I just drink much needed (and appreciated when given to me) water everywhere.

Anyway, so the day began with Brent and I heading over to the Nashville Convention Center for the Provident Media Blitz after grabbing a couple of things from our hotel’s breakfast buffet. It was in the lowest level in a large room with concrete flooring. In one corner were chairs and tables set up with a mini buffet of some breakfast goodies. I only grabbed a bottle of water. I’ve been living off of bottled water this week.

Aside from the public corner that you walk into after signing in for the media blitz, there is a huge section curtained off. Inside that big section are a ton of little mini sections with a table and chairs. That is where the artists/bands were. It was actually kind of cool… You would look around and just see all of these black curtains with names of bands on them. Behind each of those curtains were the members. It was pretty massive. Of course, when they weren’t doing any interviews the bands would come out and join us in the public area too and mingle.

So originally I was supposed to do an interview at 8:30 am with Brian Littrell (Backstreet Boys). I guess he couldn’t make it though because he had to prepare for the Dove Awards tomorrow night… That’s too bad. Apparently they sent me an e-mail, but I never received it. That’s okay though, it happens. We’re going to try to do something at the Doves tomorrow night…

That being said, I did three interviews back to back from 9 to 10:30 am. They all seemed to go well, in my opinion. In between interviews, Brent and I would let each other know how our interviews went, joke a bit (his usually being Canadian jokes, of course), and then went on and did our thing. He then went off to do some more interview while I had a bit of a break before my next inteview over at The Hilton. So I wandered the streets of Nashville a bit, took some pictures, and mingled in the buildings while killing time. I then went to the press room to charge my camera’s batteries and do some work on he laptop as I waited for my interview with Jessie Daniels over at the Hilton. The batteries charged fairly quickly, then I had to run quickly to the other building a few blocks a way. Boy, while it’s overcast today, it’s still really humid. I keep sweating. ha.

The Jessie Daniels interview went well… Very laidback and fun. Hopefully she enjoyed it too… At all of my interviews I have been handing out pencils that say Canada on them. They seem to be a hit. My Xbox 360 has been a topic of discussion multiple times too… ha.

So then I went for a walk and got some McDonalds for lunch again and brought it back to the hotel, where I am situated right now. I was really hot and sweating, but now I am kind of cold from the air conditioning. ha.

I think Brent is finishing up lunch somewhere with someone. No, wait, he’s at a Word media blitz thing… Then Chris is doing work for his publicity company for the afternoon. I’ll probably go see him in between my interviews. I have a bunch from 2:30 to 5:30 now, with one or two breaks in between.

I’m going to catch up on reading some web stuff and relax a bit before I leave soon… So I’ll post again tonight. Looks like we may be going to a late night showcase too…

Wow, there are a lot of you guys reading the content… Especially the photo gallery. Thanks for the interest. Just to let you know, I added a ton of pictures from today (day two) in the GMA Folder. Check them out:
http://flickr.com/photos/joshmcconnell/sets/72157600127070342/

It’s 1:10 am. Brent and I are back in the hotel room on our laptops, barely saying a word to each other unless we have some sort of witty commentary to late night talk shows and sports. We’re busy updating our sites as fast as possible so we can have a lovely thing called sleep… Something we need more so tonight since we’re getting up an hour earlier than today. But somehow I doubt we’ll get any extra.

Tonight was an interesting evening. We went off to the EMI showcase originally and even got to ride in a fancy bus shuttle, but when we got there the lineup was huge and since it was a 21+ you needed photo ID. Something most of the people on the bus left at their hotel room… That was just a silly setup altogether. It should have been at a different venue, especially since it wasn’t advertised anywhere about the age limit. So Brent, Chris, and I all decided to hop back on the comfy bus and continue our conversation (and their Canadian jokes. sheesh). Once we got back to the Renaissance Hotel, Chris decided to go to another showcase to see if he won an iPhone. They figure if a Canadian can win a prize pack, surely Chris could win something. ha.

So Brent and I walked a number of blocks in Downtown Nashville to BB Kings… What a cool venue/club. Downstairs was a showcase brought to you by the great group of publicity gals, The Media Collective. Or at least it was their artists so I’m assuming they were helping put it on. It mostly consisted of modern/pop/alternative acts, so there were a number of teens around. There were two tweens in particular who were a pain in the butt as they felt like running around and playing tag. They seemed a little old for that. Anyway, we pretty much just saw The Afters, who did a great job…

Upstairs, the Nashville Publicity Group hosted their own show with their artists (albeit, not as well known groups). We went upstairs at 10pm for the main attraction. For those that don’t know, usually showcases consist of multiple artists playing no more than 30 minutes each… But the promoter talked Kevin Max into headlining the upstairs festivities by playing a full one hour set. I wasn’t complaining. Brent and I watched the first chunk with a good friend of mine from Ontario (Michael from Manic Drive) and a radio DJ from the area, then the group split and Brent and I sat down for the rest of the show. It was fun, but didn’t end until 11:40 pm.

After the event, we walked back to the hotel. First we walked an extra couple of blocks to a gas station to hopefully pick up a bulk package of water and soda, only to find the 24 hour gas station closed. Yeah, we didn’t think it made sense either. So we walked back to the hotel and got drinks once again from the vending machine… Except Brent got two Cokes when he pressed the button, plus it spit his money back out. That’s his prize winnings for the week. ha.

It was certainly a long day, but I had a great time… Again, familiar faces are everywhere and you can’t help but bump into them. I am running into friends like Manic Drive, Carried Away, and Francois from Hello Kelly (all of which are from Ontario and we go way back). Then there are a number of people from the Ontario music scene down here as well that I recognize and chat with a bit…

Artists/bands are everywhere too. Today I bumped into and/or talked with artists like Pillar, Jeff Deyo, Michael W. Smith, Phil Joel, Rebecca St. James, Casting Crowns, Group 1 Crew, and the list could keep going… It’s especially fun running into those artists whom I have interviewed in the past and can catch up to see how they are doing.

Chris saw Little Richard at the Hilton Hotel earlier today. That’s his claim to fame. ha. Whereas I rode up the elevator with the President. Well, okay, so it was John Morgan, a popular President Bush impersonator who likes wandering the buildings. He was making fun of my shirt. Yeah, it was a pretty awkward conversation. To be fair, he looks pretty much identical to Bush…

Okay, well, I should head to bed. The largest, jam-packed schedule is tomorrow, so I should get to bed. I have to get up really early… And it’s 1:45 am. I only have to get up at, what, 6? 6:30? Eek.

Talk with you tomorrow.

Well, Brent and I are here at the hotel and we missed the first shuttle to the EMI showcase. So we’re leaving in a couple of minutes to make the next shuttle a 8:15pm. Chris is at a World Vision showcase until we arrive…

We just got back from having dinner with a fairly new publicist (though the company he works for has been around for some time)… The four of us had a great time. We just talked about any thing and everything… Music, movies, tv shows, technology, sports, our history… Great time. Brent and Chris even got him to finally make a Canadian joke at me, since they do it continually. Thanks guys. I feel loved.

I hope the publicist had a good time too. I think he did. We’ll probably run into him at the showcase tonight…

I’ve been running into Robin Parrish from Infuze continually. It seems like you run into the same people numerous times over the course of the week, but I think I saw him three or four times today in passing. He’s working hard on content over at Infuze Magazine. We’ve talked occasionally over e-mail in the past, but it’s been good to formally meet.

The shuttle leaves in fifteen minutes and it’s probably a ten minute walk to the pick up point. Time to run… Keep the feedback coming. I’ve been getting a good response. You are allowed to comment though.

So it’s 1:50 pm CDT here in Nashville… Today was the first of my interviews. They went well… I spoke with four different artists. Up and coming act Family Force 5 were hilarious and a ton of fun… American Idol’s Mandisa was really sweet… Eb+Flo’s Chris Rice was just a great conversation that I enjoyed a lot. I don’t want to give too much away on any of them yet, so stay tuned for the interviews.

The day started with Brent and I having breakfast at about 8 AM… We then went off to do our own interviews. Which, by the way, you can follow his live coverage at his website. Here’s a link:
http://www.trudatmusic.com/raw/

Anyway, I realized I forgot something for the Family Force 5 interview, so I had to run back to the hotel first. I was sweating buckets as it was still sunny out. It’s raining now, of course…

After Family Force 5, I wandered back to the other location for my next two interviews. Again, they went well, despite me getting lost on a floor… Seriously, why do they all have to look the same? ha.

I went to the exhibits next and they were all pretty boring, so that was pretty short lived. I grabbed some McDonalds, went back to the hotel room, and now I’m updating this.

I’ve been running into a lot of familiar faces down here. Either some people from back home, people I sort of know online, or just various artists that I recognize. They are everywhere. It’s pretty fun. It seems a lot of people have heard of Renown Magazine too, which is awesome to see. I’ve had a number of people want to meet me or when they hear the name of the magazine they’ll know what I’m talking about. Both industry people and artists alike. It’s pretty cool…

I have to run for now… I was going to upload some pics, but there isn’t any time. I’ll update more later tonight with how the rest of the day goes and with a big batch of pictures.

And no, I’m not proof reading these entries. Excuse any spelling mistakes. ha. Maybe I’ll quickly proof the current ones tonight too, it depends on how late the showcases go until.

Well, off into the heart of the week again… Lunch is officially over. Keep following Twitter!

Well, today was an interesting day. It was a lot more laid back and getting familiar with my surroundings and the locations of buildings so I know where I am going for my two busy days (Monday and Tuesday). I think I’ll be okay. ha.

As I am typing this, I am sitting in our hotel room in downtown Nashville, Tennessee. It is 12:30 AM CST now, so technically I guess it is Monday. We won’t get into specifics…

The road here was an interesting one. First of all, I hope you were following Twitter today. If not, you can read my commentary at my profile. I’ve been updating all day, even from the airports… But I’m getting sidetracked as I was talking about my journey. I left the house at 7:30 AM and got to the airport at about 9:00 AM… After a super quick check in, I was off to customs. I cleared customs easily, then had to kill time until it was time to board…

The first flight was fun. It was weird at first since I wasn’t used to flying. It felt a lot like a roller coaster, especially at the first initial thrust as you begin to take speed down the runway for take off. On the first flight from Toronto to Chicago I had a nice, fifty-something year old lady with some sort of accent headed to Memphis. The plane was a little tight, but not too bad… We actually landed early, which was awesome because that meant I could make my connecting flight. It ends up it was delayed fifteen minutes, which was even better.

Finding the gate in Chicago was super easy. No problems. Once we boarded (late), I realized this flight wouldn’t be as comfortable. The plane was smaller all around, so you were that much closer to the person next to you. For me, I had a nice enough gentlemen beside me who was going back home to Miami from a flooring and tile tradeshow. He was probably in his forties and had an accent too, but he had a gas problem. Eek.

So I landed fine and found my luggage. I then went to use the bathroom and bumped into KJ-52. I guess he was on the same flight as Brent (from TRu.dAT-music and my roommate), who I met coming out. We then waited for Chris (WorldofCM) to pick us up, but he was half an hour late. ha. That’s okay though, because we had a blast just hanging out for the whole afternoon and evening…

First we checked into the hotel and got our room. It wasn’t quite ready yet, smelt a bit like smoke and beer, but that’s okay. The lady quickly finished it and we dumped our stuff off. Then we went to White Castle for some food, a place I had never been before since we don’t have them in Canada. After that, we checked in for GMA Week and got our badges and bags full of swag. I got TONS of swag for my first day, which is crazy. I haven’t even gone to the convention center yet…

During the short time we were in the building getting our passes, we ran into Robin Parrish from Infuze Magazine plus various band members… Sanctus Real, Phil Joel (a former Newsboy), etc. But we were in a hurry to an event…

Next we wandered over to the GlobalCafe for a New Media networking event, hosted by Word Records. It was not too bad. We mostly used the time to talk with the label though and not other members of the press. ha. Robin Parrish ended up going there too, so he sat with us at our table. We had a fun time… They showed music videos on television and projector screens. They also put up famous YouTube videos, which were terrible on the projector. ha. I ended up winning a big grand prize pack which includes a number of autographed CDs, a fold up Word lawn chair, autographed guitar, iPod Shuffle, t-shirt, etc. Weird. Now I need to figure out how to bring them home…

After that we (Brent, Chris, and I) went to the Hard Rock Cafe and had supper. Great atmosphere, but the food was super small. I got more at White Castle for half the price… I also noticed from walking in downtown Nashville that people love their cowboy hats and Elvis. I wonder if I should break it to them that he’s dead?

We dropped my prizes off at the Hotel, then went off to a couple of showcases. I got a call from a friend/publicist, so instead of going to a showcase I joined him and a new artist he’s working on at his hotel room and chatted for a bit. Then we went to the songwriters showcase where I bumped into a few people, such as a contestant from this year’s American Idol (again, glad you could make it, man. You know who you are).

And that brings us to now… In the hotel room at 12:50 am. I’m heading to bed as it is an early morning tomorrow (though not as early as Tuesday). Again, today was more of a laidback day as I am getting situated. Tomorrow will start with me updating the blog more often in the day in terms of coverage, plus I have interviews starting at 9am until 5 pm. Yikes. So keep watching Twitter to see my updates!

Head over to my Flickr account too. I uploaded a TON of pictures from today… 90 of them to be exact.

Talk with you tomorrow.

Pictures (I’ll add captions later, I’m too tired right now. ha):
http://flickr.com/photos/joshmcconnell/sets/72157600126958927/

Twitter (real time blog):
http://www.twitter.com/mcconnell

Sample Snapshot:

I think I know why I am so fascinated by networking sites and projects that revolve around staying connected. I’m a big fan of transparency with people. I enjoy having that sense of knowing the person is real and tangible, someone you could contact and find they are exactly the same as what you read. What you see is what you get. No strings attached and no need for fancy writing or false publicity hype. You can hear or see things straight from the source, taking a walk in their shoes.

This is why I could spend hours on blogs, Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, MySpace, and so on. Whether it is people I know in person, over the internet, or perhaps just through television or music — if they have a personal profile on these sites, I can get to know them and see life through their eyes. And I love that…in a completely non-stalkerish sort of way. ha. I just love meeting new people and getting to know them. Plus if you happen to meet these people in person or shoot them an e-mail, you already know what to expect because there isn’t some fake facade that you might find through other mediums (depending on the person and their job).

This has always been what I’ve tried to achieve through my website and various profiles on sites around the internet. I’ve always strived to have a level of transparency so what you see really is what you get. And I suppose that is why I have been so intrigued by these various networking websites over the years. They are new ways for me to communicate myself to other people online so they can get to know me and make our relationship more personable.

I really don’t want to be just another name in cyberspace. And now, thanks to the various sites, look at what I can get across:

- This blog lets me speak my mind and tell you what I’m up to. It also allows me to share with you various things I find throughout the web.
- Twitter lets me share with you what I am doing up to the minute/hour, every day.
- Flickr lets you see what I have seen through photos.
- Networking sites like MySpace and Facebook allow us to communicate quicker and easier while allows us to meet each other’s friends in the process.

With the exception of Flickr, which I pay $30 a year for unlimited everything (well worth the upgrade from the very limited free version), all of these sites are completely free. And with them at my disposal, plus a few others that I am currently considering trying, anyone who has interest can see what I’m like as a person with no strings attached. Of course, whether they like it or not is a different story altogether. ha. That being said, I can also get to know others in the same fashion. It’s awesome. It’s like we are all connected and now anyone can have their own personable presence online should they choose to.

Anyway, that’s my rambling for now. Hopefully it gives you an idea as to why I keep experimenting with these new sites and love trying them out. Sure, I love playing with them, but it is also so you guys can learn more about about the guy behind the screen. There are literally thousands of you who read this site and I hope these new tools give you some extra content to have fun with.

Rock on.

P.S. I uploaded pictures from the U2 concert I attended in 2005 on my Flickr profile. It was an amazing show and we had great seats. Check them out and comment away. Here are a few teaser pics: