http://www.mynewsletterbuilder.com/email/newsletter/1410384995

In it I announce tour dates and workshops for The Songwriter & Social Media Tour, plus a video to an old song, redone, Wait For Me. I’ve included the YouTube videos to that song and 2 others I recorded below.

Live Video Streaming

I also announced 2 live-streaming videos I’ll be doing. One is Tip-Stream – Tuesday and Thursdays. Technology, Strategy, Tools and Q & A for musicians.
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/thesongwriteronline

And Song-Stream – where I will perform 2 songs and discuss songwriting and whatever else you might want to know about:
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/matthewmoranmusic

YouTube Songs

Wait For Me: a song written in 1986 or 1987. Recently redone.

American Dream: a song from 2009, Girls, Songs, and Other Delusions

Everyday Lies: a song we are recording for the new CD.

Enjoy, send to others, and leave me a comment.

Thanks.

I really want a new video camera. The external mic on mine – as with many camcorders – filters audio based on the most prominent noise. So.. conversations closer to the camera can filter out louder noises further away and more distinct sounds – like my lead guitarist’s tones – jump out more clearly.

The Band:
Tom Galella – Drums
Leif Pedersen – Bass
Jack Hale – Lead Guitar
(Jack’s first time to play any of my songs was Wednesday, 2 day prior)
Matt Moran – Rhythm Guitar, Vocals

Dangerous Girl

She’s a Little Bit of Everything

I, in turn contacted the band and said let’s do it. We are planning on STREAMING IT LIVE as well.

We had rehearsed the weekend prior and I had gotten together earlier that day with two of the guys to cover some of the songs. Our first performance is supposed to be June 11th but I felt, “no time like the present!” and decided whether we just did 3 songs – or a couple more, I want the band to make an appearance.

We rehearsed Wednesday, picking 6 songs that were “close”. They played well. We added a 7th – and here we go!

songwriter promo postcard

(my quickie postcard for email)

Where to see the show:

View Larger Map

Hope to see you there or online…

I also showcase a new song, “Running”. See below.

As explained in the newsletter, Running, was inspired by The Zac Brown Band’s song, Highway 20 Ride – about a divorced father visiting his son (child).

I recorded in on my PC camera yesterday for Youtube. Enjoy!

Running
Copyright (c) 2010 – Matthew Moran

VERSE 1
I pick her up early Friday morning
Begging for a little extra time
I’m battling the guilt, time and the schedule
And praying about the impact on her life
She’s pays for my mistakes with smile
And she pays me back with tender-lovin’ grace
Not what she deserves, not what she asked for
My selfish tears fall as I drive away
(Chorus)

CHORUS
Sometimes I feel I’m running in circles
Sometimes I feel I’m just running down the line
But when this life and living leaves me longing for more
I know that I’m just running out of time

VERSE 2
Once upon a time I played the hero
Once upon a time I lost my way
And once upon a time I was so certain
Now I’m certain I know so much less today
I can’t redeem those calendars discarded
I can’t pull back the time that’s passed me by
And memories are sweet but their just memories
It’s making them that makes us come to life
(Chorus)

Of special note: If you can help with a house concert in San Francisco on April 2nd, let me know. See the newsletter for more details.

It has been a wild couple of months. I’m not complaining.. just saying.
I am looking forward to the few scheduled shows coming up and getting back to recording.

One thing I’ve tried to internalize is that momentum can be established quickly by better monitor and control of your schedule.

This past month, with several projects hitting at once, I found that it eased my mind to put away all my recording gear. The fact is, having it available was a constant reminder that I wasn’t getting to it – and would not be able to dedicate the time to focus on it for awhile.

The schedule is still a bit hectic but we have created some space (both physically and time-wise) to re-initiate the recording project.

Additionally, I have started interviewing/auditioning band-members. I’ll be looking to perform with a full-band or some accompaniment by March 27th – the Oak Park Farmer’s Market gig.

Look for a new “behind the song” post soon. All about songs and lyrics and how they came about.

~ Matt

If you know of songwriters or the music interested in Las Vegas, let them know…

SONGWRITER PERFORMS AND TEACHES PERFORMERS HOW TO USE SOCIAL MEDIA TO LAUNCH CAREERS, DREAMS

LAS VEGAS, NV – Songwriter Matthew Moran used his expertise as a published author, social media expert and marketing consultant to launch a second career and now is leading workshops to teach other performers to do the same.

http://www.prlog.org/10485434-songwriter-performs-and-teaches-performers-how-to-use-social-media-to-launch-careers-dreams.html

But alas, it is not without its challenges. Beyond the fact that we are competing with things like Wireless Internet at venues and just traffic on the Internet, here is what we’ve run into in the past month.

I’ve also included 2 lessons learned!

LiveStream.com
I love their Procaster desktop application… it allows me or my “producer” – the person who is on the chat during the performance, to switch between the camera and my desktop. For songwriter performances, this is really not that important but for workshops is wildly helpful!!

The problem is that the chat interface for livestream is painfully small. Seriously, some people are over 25 years old. I contacted livestream but was told there are no plans to change that or make the font-size adjustable.

UStream.tv
This service seemed the most stable and the interface the most mature. However, this weekend and into today, I am frustrated with them. Here is why:

I created two shows – one is a test account and is private. The other is my regular channel. Starting this weekend, the regular channel would not broadcast. I visited the live help, which is nice – but was told to post on the forums. I signed up for the forums but never received a confirmation email – so I could not post my question.

Since then, I’ve requested another confirmation email three times. Are they sick of me yet?

Others are complaining of the inability to broadcast as well. Unfortunately, there is nothing to indicate this problem is “known” by UStream. I would love for them (and anyone running a similar service) to prominently on their home page have a “System Status” message, so we could at least know that they know there is an issue.

I sent an email to their support team but there is, unfortunately, a 24-48 hour response time.

We were able to switch to the test account and broadcast but because I have it setup as private, no one could chat. I did not catch this until after my performance.

IMPORTANT LESSON
I am very thankful that I made the link to my live performance a link to a page on my website. This way, whether I use UStream, LiveStream, or one of the other services available, becomes less important. I can adjust the embedded video on my site or change the external link there on my page.

Also, create two shows for yourself on each service but do so at different times. Meaning, create a show and then a couple weeks later, create another one. I could be wrong – but I believe my two shows on UStream use different media servers. One is not working or has a problem, the other is fine. Having the two shows allowed me to quickly change my stream location for the page on my site.

The show must go on!

I’ll be playing at 8:45PM

Priscilla’s is located at:

4150 Riverside Drive, Suite #A
Burbank, California 91505 (map)

Sorry about the late notice but I just found out myself.

I’ve played Priscilla’s before. Very cool spot. If you get the chance, come on out.