#mtsumusic

[lilli--english]

Audio Boo Assignment: Interview with Sam English

Audio Interview with Sam English

[lilli--english]

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.