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Island Wren

Well first off I would just like to start out with this video. This is something that I have comprised throughout the past few weeks of this band. From bar shows, to house shows, and even the TV spot they had on MT10.

It has been really fun getting to know and hanging out with this new, young band. Island Wren consist of Camille Faulkner playing the fiddle and background vocals, the Godley twins, Chris and Ben, playing the mandolin and the guitar and both adding in on the vocals, Parker Deal who plays the bass and Cole Maness who plays the drums. They have been together as a band for about 4 years and Parker joined little over a year ago. They are folk band that in my opinion sometimes has a small touch of a country sound. The fiddle really adds to the country sound which isn't necessarily a bad thing, being an upcoming band this close to Nashville. They have recently put out there EP called Fountain on March 4th which showcases seven songs. They held an EP release party this same day where they played all of their songs and they had a lot of people come through to support them. My favorite song on the EP is “Hand It To You," which I used for the video above. It is the most upbeat song on their EP which is why I like it the most and is the most "folksy." “Island Wren’s music is a really beautiful mixture of folk and occasional hints of bluegrass. Their music ranges from very happy upbeat song to slow songs that have deeper meaning. They are each multitalented individuals,” says Ashley Clark who is a close friend of the entire band.

One week I was able to sit down with Island Wren and talk to them a little about their new EP, Fountains, that was released in March and what they hope to start doing now since they have this new EP and some of them will be graduating from Mtsu.

listen to ‘An interview with Island Wren’ on Audioboo

There was such a struggle trying to get this interview. I had gone to one of their shows in Nashville and asked if I could interview them where they happily said yes, but who wants to interview in a crowded bar? And that's when it starts raining. So what else to do then run to the nearest coffee shop and do the interview there. We were pretty much all soaking wet and dripping on the floor but the talk was good and we ended up having a good time enjoying a few chi teas.

Afterwards we went back to the venue and I watched them play their set. This was about the third time I have seen them live and they could work on their stage presence a little but they play their instruments well. But if they continue to grow together as a band, I would work on stage presence but I think that is a problem that most bands have when just starting out. They are most worried about playing the music well than how good they look playing it which is understandable. So I think as they grow more so will their presence and they will be able to put on a more exciting show. “I definitely think our stage presence will grow more as we develop. It’s just something comes with time and experience,” Said Parker Deal, the bands bassist.

This group is over all great to be around. They are funny, creative, intelligent, hardworking, and passionate. You can see their antics in some of their vines and Instagram videos. They are really passionate in what they do and you can tell this through their activeness on social media. Their twitter and also Instagram are always being updated whenever they have a new show or just something they would like to share.

I have high hopes for this little folk band as they continue to grow in their music knowledge and their careers. It was fun getting to hang around them these past few weeks learning more about them. They’re all real good hearted people and amazingly talented musicians.

#island wren #mtsu music #mtsurim

Proposal

My proposal is Island Wren. They are a folkish band who are all MTSU students, some graduating this spring. They are all RIM/music majors. I plan on doing a video of some sorts. Something a little different. And then I plan on doing an audio boo as well. I plan on writing as a true blog post.

#i didnt know we had to actually post our proposal!#because we went over it in class #sorry sorry sorry!

uafairbanks

Matt and Kim in Fairbanks tonight! [x]

shivasha

Really Random Mix but Highly Recommend

Vinyl Thief and their social media use

For this assignment I thought why not just stick with what I have been working on; Vinyl Thief. That local Nashville band with the...not so Nashville sound.

They use a handful of social media sites including Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Vine, and they have their own website. (They also have their stuff on iTunes and Spotify but those aren't really social media sites/apps.)

Let's just go ahead and start off with Instagram.

They make sure to post anytime something big is going with them. Anytime there is a new interview or acoustic set available to watch, they will post a shot of it and explain what it is and where it can be found. They do a good job with hashtags as well. They certainly don't over lode it, but they use the right ones. If there is a post about SXSW they will use the hashtag #sxsw or if they are playing at Pianos in New York #pianos. They have also done a good job using their own hashtag enough #vinyltheif that other people have used it to and there are a nice amount of photos on that tag.

The only thing I would say is there is a bit of an inconsistency when posting. Sometimes they post once a week or they will post two or three times a week or maybe only once in a two week period. I feel if you want a lot of attention and make people notice you, you have to be active. They are plenty active and I'm not saying to post every other day because that would ultimately drive away fans, but to just be more consistent.

They also post a good amount of videos. Mostly silly and fun but they also throw in music video teasers and concert snippets. For their newest music video, they released three little "sneak peaks" of it exclusively for their Instagram followers leading up to the day it was actually released.

Now for Facebook.

Everyone is on Facebook and they are no different.

I think their Facebook is a great place for anyone wanting to find out more about them. They are constantly posting here linking to articles they've been in, or video interviews they have done. Also, they do a very good job of letting everyone know where they are and where they will be next.

There are also links to click on that take you straight to their website, music, Instagram, and even free music for you to look at. And of course they have links everywhere about their new EP that just came out and it has been all over the page since it came out.

Now for Twitter.

This is the best social media outlet they use hands down. You will never catch a day when these guys aren't tweeting about something. Whilst in SXSW they tweeted every day multiple times. They tweeted about the ride there, who they saw, who they talked to, where and when they were playing, posted pictures, and they even live tweeted their ride home using the tag #RoadToHomeLiveTweet which was actually pretty funny.

But they retweet what they feel needs to be retweeted, whether it's about them or something else going on in the music industry. They tweet back at people who will mention them which is cool because most people don't do that. But they thank people when the find out something was said about them, etc. I don't think there is anything wrong with the way they are using their Twtter.

Vine:

They have a vine but don't post on it as often as the bigger social media sites. But the vines they do have are quite entertaining. They have clips from music video shoots, them being silly, and of them hanging out in the cities they play in

But I wouldn't really say that they need to post more on vine. They can post videos, longer videos on Instagram. I feel like vine is just a fun little thing for them to do.

YouTube:

Now there YouTube account is a lacking...a bit. There are only 7 videos on there and more than half of them are just their songs with a picture of their EP artwork. I know they haven't done many music videos, but I'm sure they can think of something fun a creative to upload onto the site. With YouTube growing so much, especially in teens and young adults, I think it's extremely important for new bands/artists to have an active YouTube account.

And then of course they have their own website where you can find all of the stuff that I have talked about plus more. They have their tour dates here, any extra news, where to buy their music, where to listen, and most importantly how to contact them.

I think they are doing a pretty nice job when it comes to social media, There are some aspects that they could do better in but as a band just starting out I think they are on the right track. And just to mention, al of the things they post is posted by themselves, they don't have anyone controlling or posting for them.

#MUSICANDMEDIA

Audio Boo Assignment: Interview with Sam English

Audio Interview with Sam English

#mtsumusic #MUSICANDMEDIA

Music Recources

When It comes to social media how find out about music I pretty much just use Twitter. I don't think Instgram shares that much information about music. It's not able to provide links for you to follow and it's not really great for posting a picture and then writing a huge paragraph below it trying to explain it.

With Twitter it's much easier to explain something and give a link and also maybe even provide a video. I follow mostly bands to find out when and where they are playing next and when new albums or singles will be out. I also follow a few labels such as Sony, Warner Bros., and Roc-A-Fella Records to know what new artists to listen to and who they've recently discovered.

Digging through Twitter I have found a few more musical accounts to follow. One being Steele Sync who posts about new quality indie bands and artists they find. Also going along the Indie path, since it is my favorite genre, I found Indie Minded who posts about all things indie. They always post new songs by different artists and bands. @IndieMinded https://twitter.com/IndieMnded

@SteeleSync https://twitter.com/SteeleSync

Also I found The Music Slut and yes, it's exactly how it sounds. It's run by a girl who literally eats, breathes, and sleeps music. She covers music news, reviews, new artists and is involved with Music Mondays.

@TheMusicSlut https://twitter.com/TheMusicSlut

The last Twitter account I found is called GRAMMY U. It's a community of college students who are pursuing careers in the music industry. They frequently engage with their followers asking them questions such as "What concert are they looking forward to?" "What are some of your favorite music blogs or music websites?" Which is the greatest way to find out what people are actually listening to and what's the most popular at the time.

@GRAMMYU https://twitter.com/GRAMMYU

Unfortunately for us, it's not very easy to come across sources for news on the RIM program at MTSU besides the curriculum for it. Now there is a page dedicated to RIM news, too bad it hasn't been updated in about a year. I would suggest the best way to find out about what is actually going on in the RIM program is to talk to classmates. A lot of students in our class are in the RIM program and if anyone has information about what's going on, it has to be them. Also any RIM faculty would have answers as well. From what I have heard through discussions in class, the RIM students would be our best bet for finding out the news.

As far as places to find nice live music here in the Nashville/Murfreesboro area, there are quite a few venues to choose from.

Here in Murfreesboro there are two different places where I have gone to see student perform. One of those places is Main St. Live. It's a fairly small place but it does have a bar to quench your thirst.

Photo Credit: Main St. Live. Murfreesboro Facebook.

Another place that I know of and have gone to quite a few times is Bonhoeffers. It's more of mellow type place that showcases more singer/songwriters than anything. It is a free weekly concert (and also a cafe) put on by The Church at Cross Point located on Dill Lane. It lets any local artists to perform when they want to and as many times as they want. More than anything, I've seen MTSU students showing off their skills here.

Photo Credit: Bonhoeffer's Facebook.

Stephen Grodan & Friends perform in front of a nice crowd at the cafe on an October night.

As far as Nashville goes, the list of places to hear music is practically endless. There's Mercy Lounge, Exit/In, Marathon Music Works, The Rutledge, The End, Hard Rock Cafe, The Tin Roof, 12th and Porter, Soulshine Pizza, and that's only counting the ones that I have been to.

Most of these places are known for showcasing small and upcoming artists in the Nashville and surrounding areas.

The Exit/In is a place that I have been to countless times. It's nice, clean, and just big enough to enjoy yourself.

Photo Credit: Lilli English

Ra Ra Riot performing songs from their newest album "Beta Love" at the Exit/In in Nashville in September.

Marathon Music works is a much larger, more advance venue for more of the big named kind of artists.

Photo Credit: Lilli English

Lead singer, Alex Trimble of Two Door Cinema club, opens the show at Marathon Music works in November of last year.

Using hashtgas on Twitter would be the ideal way to promote any new artists coming out of the RIM program who would want to be recognized. I would more than likely use the hashtag #mtsumusic when posting on Instagram or Twitter or also even here on Tumblr. I tried to use that for a hashtag when searching for any news but there wasn't much there. I know I am not the only one looking for MTSU music. And to even narrow the search more would be #mtsuRIM to strictly search for things containing just the students of the RIM program.

Posting frequently and using the correct hashtags is the best way to promote the stuff coming out of the RIM program. Also tweeting to these Twitter accounts that support or check out new singer/songwriter artists hoping that they notice or someone else might see helping to promote a little bit more.

#musicandmedia #mtsuRIM #mtsumusic