punk music

“Band A” is on the radio! I am managing “Band A” for one year, interviewing a bunch on experts in the video series “4 Questions in 5 Minutes,” and then using the best advice to promote “Band A.”
So last week I followed some advice and sent out the lead single from “Band A” to 20 college radio stations. I didn’t expect much.
But on Monday I got an email from KPSU in Portland saying: “We’d be down to add this single! Are the lyrics FCC friendly? If so, throw an mp3 over to me and I’ll add the track to our rotation this week. Let me know if you have any questions!”
No sh*t. “Band A” is in rotation in Portland. Fawkkkk.
You don’t know this about me, but I’m a bit of a d*ckhead. (Probably Derek Allen and Derek Frye know this about me.) I’m relentless. If you open the door even a little bit – I will shove it open. The fact is that I didn’t believe you could just send your songs to radio stations and someone would listen and pick it up. So I’m going back to those other 19 college radio stations and letting them know that KPSU has “Band A” on rotation, and I’m adding 10 more college radio stations, and I’m going to tell the local radio stations around here, and I’m going to tell those breweries who pay $200 a show, and I’m going to tell the underground music clubs in Greenville, Charlotte, and Johnson City. Give me and inch and I’ll take a mile.

I’m in the business of band management. I have one-year to move “Band A” onto a label, get them on the festival circuit, invited by KEXP to play live at their studio… Hey I’m not the smartest, but I pay attention and follow trends through Holy Crap Records and the The Asheville Rock Collective. What are the best local bands doing to take those first steps to recognition and infamy? Godless America Records puts out an annual mix-tape of the best songs/bands submitted to them during the year. Tongues of Fire is on their mix-tape. Bubble Boys are on their mix-tape. It’s how we find a bunch of bands for the Holy Crap Records Podcast – by listening to this excellent curated mix-tape. So I have to get “Band A” onto one of those mix-tapes. And I totally had to interview Jordan Duttinger for the “4 Questions in 5 Minutes” section. I fucking love hanging out with someone smarter than me. Like Sean from BURGER RECORDS, Jordan started Godless America Records because no one was representing and promoting underground music. Godless America Records is basically Jordan – and finding the sustainable model of putting out great mix-tapes and releasing bands on cassette is what works for him. Yeah, I will be submitting “Band A” to Godless America Records, but I’ll use my second email and see actually what Jordan thinks of the band. Thank you Jordan.

In other management news. F*ck. I busted my ass. I sent of “Band A’s” latest release to 20 college radio stations. I figured out the emails and the DJs most likely to play this type of music. I did it right. F*ck. Let’s see what happens.

This is the email I sent:

Thank you for being a champion of indie and underground music. I am the manager for “Band A,” an Asheville-based new wave / garage rock band. I am sharing their lead single from their latest release for your consideration.

“Band A” have been around for 6 years in the Asheville indie/underground scene. They were voted the number 1 punk band by Mountain X-Press in 2015. (And then Mountain Xpress stopped that category – who knows why? ) Their sound has evolved from raw garage punk to that indie new wave sound of bands like Blondie, Talking Heads, and B-52s. These songs are a catchy ear worm in your brain. “Band A” are recreating and updating the 80s sound like The Strokes with “You Only Live Once” and Sharon Van Etten with “Comeback Kid.”

Please enjoy “Band A” – “Song A”: ***********************

JP Kennedy
Band Management

Tag Archive for: punk music

Experiment: Band Management: Blog 10: On the Radio

Experiment: Band Management: Blog 8: Jordan Duttinger, Godless America Records

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