B&R Music Podcast 26: Streaming Royalties 101 with Charles Alexander

The one and only Charles Alexander joined us to talk us through how artists get paid through streaming, how to use streaming and other tools to grow your fan base, and what the Music Modernization Act means for artists and songwriters when it takes effect this year. Charles is the founder of label services and music marketing companies, Systemic and Outside The Box Music. He’s been an in-demand speaker at events and conferences like South by Southwest, Music Biz, CD Baby DIY and the Americana Music Festival and an adjunct professor at MTSU in its recording industry program. With a resume like that, it’s no wonder he was able to give us so much great info on this episode, and we were thrilled and honored to have him on. A LOT of great nuggets of wisdom in this one!

Charles was an absolute joy to talk to. In addition to all the great info he gave us about the mechanics of streaming royalties, he also used his experience in artist management and music marketing to explain the mindset that bands should have on how to build their audience and how to use streaming to their advantage.

Playlists are not a marketing plan. A marketing plan is a marketing plan. Listen to this episode and learn how to actually position yourself to build your audience once you get people to check out your music.

B&R Music Podcast 25: Hey Jubal, Beer Me That Vinyl!

Current New Mexico volunteer fireman and frontman of the band Jubal, Taylor Kress joins us to talk about their newly pressed special edition burgundy 180g vinyl for their album 'County Ball.' It's the very first record on our very own Beer Me That Vinyl label! We talk a lot about the album, what the band has been up to this year, what it's like having band members living in different states, and of course, Taylor's chickens.

Pick up your copy of County Ball here: Born & Raised Store

Recording this episode was a ton of fun. It was friends catching up. You can tell while listening that at times, we totally forgot that it was an interview with the purpose of promoting a record, and we can live with that. It may make it more fun to listen to, but for those who were more interested in just hearing about County Ball than about Taylor’s new highway patrolman mustache, we try to offset that by inserting more audio clips from the album.

B&R Music Podcast 24: Spotify Wrapped And The Business of Streaming

It’s that time of year again. Millions of Spotify users are showing their friends the year-end review of their own listening habits in well-designed sharable snippets. In this episode, we’ll talk about the power of a word-of-mouth generating marketing tool like Spotify Wrapped. As all of those stories are being shared, this is also the time of year in which many like to remind people that Spotify’s payment structure for artists is not great. The second half of this episode digs into why that is and what, if anything, can artists be doing to work toward changing it.

Also on this episode, Garrett and Kent talk a little about their own Spotify Wrapped(s) for 2020 and how playing in a nostalgia-based cover band completely wrecked their playlists.

photo by fletcher burkhardt

B&R Music Podcast 23: Dolly Parton Is The Best Of Us

In an increasingly divided and polarized country, public figures who are nearly universally loved are an increasingly rare thing. Is it her philanthropy? Is it her angelic singing voice? Is it her down-to-earth personality? Many have posited that it's her natural aversion to 'getting political', but is that even the case? On this episode we discuss what's to love about Dolly, and trust us there is a lot. We also chronicle Dolly using her voice on political issues and lay out how she's able to do so without alienating significant chunks of her fan base. It may just be that she's a more skilled politician than anyone who holds public office...

On the heels of the news that Dolly donated a million dollars to Vanderbilt University that directly funded research projects that led to the Moderna COVID vaccine, Parton praise is all over the place. Dolly being lauded for her good will is a pretty common occurrence, whether it’s for raising money for the Gatlinburg wild fire relief, her Imagination Library organization, or any number of philanthropic initiatives.

That walking the walk gives her credibility when she uses her voice on social issues. There’s a prevailing notion that Dolly Parton is an apolitical figure, partly fueled by Parton herself. However, she has a history of being outspoken on several topics that career politicians need to lean on polls and focus groups for their market-tested messaging. She may never endorse a specific candidate or weigh in on the hotly contested topic of the day, and she’s certainly not going to spend time on Twitter arguing with handles like @jeff9029382347 about conspiracy theories. Although, she does know how to use her platform to fight for equality. That is what we wanted to examine on this podcast. How does a music icon, a country music icon at that, navigate these things and remain a beloved figure from people of all ideologies.

B&R Music Podcast 22: Imagining The Return of Live Music

In this episode of the B&R Music Podcast, we talk about what the live music landscape looks like going into 2021. How long will it be until things are fully back to normal? Will there ever be such a thing as fully back to normal? What will the transition period of integrating shows back into our lives look like? How tenable are all the alternative concert ideas that we've seen in 2020 in a post-COVID world? We'll answer all these questions and more with as much optimism as possible!

We actually had to record this episode twice. The first attempt was a real bummer. In what was supposed to be a fun exercise of getting in the headspace of imagining a world where live music is coming back, we only made ourselves sad at how bleak everything looked. BUT! After that sad-boy mope fest, we took some time off, and by the time we regrouped to give it another attempt we got a few pieces of big news that could potentially have some real cause for optimism!

This is also the first episode in which we’ve taken listener comments and questions to help lead the discussion, and we got some great input. Thanks to everyone who took the time to give a thoughtful response.

B&R Music Podcast 21: Brian Christopher Clay - Bringing Jazz To The Cradle Of Country Music

Jazz? Jazz. Here? In East Tennessee?? If you didn’t have a keen ear, or if you just haven’t been out and about to see live music in a long time (like just about all of us) it could be easy to miss that we have some incredible jazz players right here in Knoxville. One such player and a great facilitator of the jazz scene is Brian Christopher Clay. We had the honor of talking to him and getting to know his backstory, and it did not disappoint.

The one and only Brian Clay joins the B&R Pod to talk about something we very rarely get the chance to talk about: Jazz. But more importantly we get to know Brian as he shares stories from his life and career in music that's taken him from Atlanta to (briefly) the midwest, and then right here to Knoxville. We also get some insight to how he used his Jazzspirations brand to help foster a vibrant Jazz scene right smack in the cradle of country music.

B&R Music Podcast 20: Thrift Store Cowboys - Beer Me That Vinyl

This month’s Beer Me That Vinyl record is an absolute beauty. 12" vinyl copy of the 10th anniversary edition of Thrift Store Cowboys’ Lay Low While Crawling or Creeping. The cover is a letterpresse by the band. Only 50 copies were pressed. The songs, carefully and masterfully produced by Craig Schumacher (Calexico, Iron & Wine) are earthy, gritty, and poetic and have a surprising delicacy and intricacy with catchy refrains/

This album features Colt Miller, Amanda Shires, Todd Pertll, Daniel Fluitt, Clint Miller & Kris Killingsworth.

We were fortunate enough to get Daniel and Kris (aka Tugboat) on the podcast to talk about the music on and the making of this record, their growth as a band over the years, and all about Lubbock, where the band got its start.

Lubbock, TX is evidently a place that is unlike anywhere else in the country, and Dan and Tugboat from Thrift Store Cowboys have the stories to prove it. On 'Lay Low While Crawling or Creeping' Thrift Store set out to score the soundtrack of West Texas, and the result of that was in incredible record and a bag full of amazing behind-the-scenes stories from the making of it. We get into allll of that and more on this podcast, and had a blast doing it. We're pairing this super cool 10th anniversary edition of the album pressed on sleek red vinyl with the Bed of Nails from Hi-Wire Brewing. So put on yer boots, enjoy this podcast, and pick yourself up a copy!

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B&R Music Podcast 17: Building A Fanbase and a Little Songwriting Talk with Erick Baker

How do you go from playing gigs at bars a couple days a week to selling out theaters? Spoiler alert: the answer is hard work, having great songs, and getting your music in front of audiences... a lot. But the good news is, it doesn't have to seem scary or daunting. Erick Baker joined us to talk about how he got there and the lessons he learned along the way, and there are so many great pieces of wisdom in this conversation for musicians at every level!

This was such a great episode, and we’re so excited for everyone to hear it. It’s packed with wisdom from a guy who has a few decades of experience in the music industry. Erick took us through his progression from his early days of playing bars on the strip to getting bigger and bigger opportunities (like opening for John Legend!!!) to touring with legends (other than John lol) to packing his own headlining concerts. And what’s great about it is that it wasn’t through any gimmicks, industry hacks, or secret sauces; just putting in the time writing good songs, connecting with audiences, and making the most of opportunities when they came his way.

If you want to check out more of Erick Baker, you can hear and purchase his music, including his new record Morning Light, on his website.

B&R Music Podcast 16: Beer Me That Vinyl with Aaron and Zach from Abridged Beer Company

On the part 2 of this month's Beer Me That Vinyl, Garrett and Zack Roskop of Knox Brew Tours sat down with Aaron Freeman and Zach Young from Abridged Beer Company to talk about their beer, music, and a whole lot more!

On part one of this month’s BMTV, we talked to Guy Marshall about their album The Love We’ve Made Together and Otherwise. The beer that we’ve paired with that record is Abridged’s Lady Danger Dolly Pop. Lady Danger is part of a series of fruited sour goses, and unfortunately, that one is already gone. BUT whenever you decide to venture to Abridged there will be a different version of the Dolly Pop available, and they’re all incredibly vivid fruited sour goses that are bursting with flavor. We highly highly recommend picking up a pint or a crowler of whichever Dolly Pop is on tap at Abridged, because they’re all superb.

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The official June Record + Beer of The Month. @guy_marshall’s ‘The Love We’ve Made Together and Otherwise’ + @abridgedbeer Lady Danger Dollypop Sour fruited Gose. Absolutely killer combo and you can grab it on our website. Podcast with the artist and brewer coming soon! 🍻 #beermethatvinyl

A post shared by Beer Me That Vinyl (@beermethatvinyl) on May 27, 2020 at 9:19am PDT

B&R Music Podcast 15: Beer Me That Vinyl with Guy Marshall

Adam and Sarrenna McNulty of Guy Marshall joined us to talk about their latest record 'The Love We've Made Together And Otherwise', and what a conversation it was! We go deeeeep on this one and were treated to great stories and insights behind the songwriting, production, and album art for the album. Touching on topics like love, religion, personal introspection, and so many other aspects that color the creation of this record, we now have a greatly strengthened appreciation for it. While listening to this episode, if you've already heard, you'll love it more. If you haven't, you'll want to listen immediately.

This month, the bundle comes with a copy of the album and an option to add a gift card to the brewery where you can pick up the Lady Danger Dollypop at your leisure. Records and gift cards will be mailed to you.

“The harmonies by the couple bring to mind another tumultuous duo: Gram Parsons and Emmylou Harris, and the exquisite dance their voices do is just as gorgeous. Backed by longtime guitarist Eric Griffin, who helped the couple establish the band in the beginning, along with rhythm section Travis Bigwood and Zach Gilleran (as well as guitarist Joshua Manis), the pair has built a country record that’s both mournful and beguiling. With steel guitar and loping rhythms, the band (along with producer Will Carter) paints deepwoods backdrops against which the lyrics resonate with all of the sorrow and breathtaking beauty of a loon’s cry across a midnight lake.”

— Steve Wildsmith of The Daily Times .

We’re doing something new starting with this month’s beer and vinyl pairing. We’re splitting up the podcasts in to two separate episode. On this one we only talk to Guy Marshall about the album. On the next one, we’ll talk to Aaron Freeman of Abridged to allow enough time to talk more about their beer and more about music. That one will be up soon, so be on the lookout!

B&R Music Podcast 14 - Getting Started With Vinyl with Garreth Spinn

Garreth Spinn joins us to talk about things you need to know when getting into vinyl collecting like setting up your turntable, cleaning and maintaining records, different ways to categorize, crate digging, etc.. Also, we get on a few tangents of general music nerdery like music docs, band beefs, and more. It's a super fun episode whether you're a vinyl person or not.

If you want to add some great local records to your collection, you can check out our growing selection from Knoxville artists on the Born & Raised Store.

B&R Music Podcast 13 - Talent Buying With Rebecca Neely of AC Entertainment

Rebecca Neely of AC Entertainment / Live Nation jumps on the podcast to talk about booking talent for The Mill & Mine, The Signal in Chattanooga, and The Orange Peel in Asheville. She shares some of her process and her successes, and we do a little reminiscing on the growth of live music in Knoxville through the 90s and 2000s.

We had a blast starting this episode by strolling down memory lane of Knoxville’s live music scene, talking about things like Sundown in the City. We wanted to add a few videos from old Sundowns for nostalgia purposes. Good times, man.

Talent buying can be an exciting gig in the music industry. There’s an art and a science behind it with an element of curation that requires an ear to the ground while also keeping an eye on what the available data is saying. The club level is especially interesting, because the possibility of booking an act on the cusp of megastardom is always present. Rebecca had some great stories in this episode including booking Lizzo in a Nashville club just before she started headlining festivals and packing arenas.

B&R Music Podcast 12: Beer With Zack Roskop Returns!

Beer with Zack returns for its third installment on the Born & Raised Music Podcast! We love talking to Zack about any and all of his questions about the music industry. Sharing an office with Knox Brew Tours, this series started from all of the conversations that we’ve had with him from our desks nerding out about the stuff behind the scenes of all the concerts, festivals, and records we all love.

On this episode, Zack asks us about hospitality and tech riders, publishing rights, and the growing trend of locking up cell phones at concerts. Feel free to send in your own questions about any and all things music at info@bornandraisedknox.com and we’ll cover it on the next Beer with Zack episode.

We also talked a bit about the super quirky Born & Raised / Knox Brew Tours collaboration called The Celebration Bus where we load up the bus with a PA system and bring the party to people’s front yards for birthdays, graduations, and anything else worth celebrating. You can learn more at KnoxBrewTours.com/celebrationbus.