On The Mend - Now Avaiable

Ok. So. I guess I need to tell everyone that the CD is out!

Go to: www.treyrollins.com, to get a special pre-release special. Buy a T-shirt and get a free CD and digital download.

Hope you enjoy.

Also, find me on Facebook and become a fan, if you're a fan of the music!

Lastly. This blog will soon be moving to my new website sometime in Dec/Jan.

It's then that I hope to be consistent in providing updates and such.

Love and Peace

Back in Action

Sorry for the delay in posting!

The end of summer got to me. But now that 'life' is back in action, I'll be posting more frequently.

The record is coming along. Even though I was hoping for an August release, September was probably more realistic anyway.

Mixing is almost finished! We have gone through one round of mixing on 6 of the 8 songs, and after some minor tweeks, all the songs will be ready for mastering around Sept 12th. My Birthday!!!

I'll keep you posted. And more consistently!

Twitter & Music

I am Twitter and so can You.

Here's a cool way to use Twitter. Giving people an inside track on new music is always a plus!

Free Chains

A friend of mine has started a non-profit that helps fight child sex trafficking. Something I'm very passionate about!

Check out what they are doing to make this world a better place, here.

And get involved! We can all do a small part to make a big difference.

Summer Keeps On

I love Summer. The days are longer, which means we have tons more day light! And more daylight just makes me happy.

I leave again for Nashville Wed to work some more on the record. It's getting closer to being finished, but there's just a little more stuff I need to do to get it where I want it.

Unlimited Dowloads

Norway is introducing a new subscription plan for mobile downloads.

"NetCom, the Norwegian unit of Swedish telecom giant Telia Sonera, is planning to steal Nokia's thunder with NetCom FreeMusic, a three-month trial to offer free unlimited mobile-music downloads. [The offer] is a three-month pilot that gives subscribers access to a catalog of 50,000 tracks from Universal Music Group International. The project involves a selection of handsets from several mobile manufacturers. Each device will come accompany a voucher with a text number that will direct users to a mobile Internet site. Once they log in, customers can download as many of the participating tracks as they want. And they can keep the tracks indefinitely. But the downloaded music will be locked to the handset and cannot be transferred to another phone or PC. At the end of the three months, NetCom (one of Apple iPhone's distributors in Scandinavia) will examine consumers' response to the trial to determine how to proceed on a commercial basis."

Some people thing this is the future of music.

I think an internet radio model should be developed that takes the burden of payment off the consumer and places it on advertising. Much like conventional radio does today.

Love Me Some Statistics

Go here to see some stats on the culture of music in Great Britian.

Pretty straight up stats, but when you read into them a little it's really great stuff.

Though the Music Industry has been searching for answers to the digital age for some time, that doesn't mean that people are still not interested in music. It's quite the opposite. People are more in love with music today than ever.

The opportunity for us to find music that inspires us and connects with our lives is greater than ever.

On another note, people are spending more money to see live shows than they are on purchasing music. That's great!

AND. The CD is not dead. People still love getting a CD and looking through the artwork, pics, and lyrics of an album.

More Photos

Find more photos of the studio and the recording here.

The Ups and Downs of Making a Record

Making this record has been a great experience so far. I couldn't have asked for anything to go more smoothly. But, I am getting anxious for the project to be finished so that I can start sharing with you the experience of my songs, how they've affected me, and hopefully, how they will impact you.

After getting back from Nashville yesterday, I am glad to see the album taking shape. And, I also heard some things that needed to be added. Hopefully, I will be going back up to Nashville next week to get some more recording accomplished so that I can stay on track for having everything completed in July!

Record is Coming Along

I head back out to Nashville this week to give some feedback on the mixing of the record. Jason is spending this week making some minor tweeks to the recordings so we can start mixing and keep things moving along.

The mixing should be finished by the middle of the week after next (Does that make sense?).

Then it's off to mastering and then CD duplication.

The closer I get to seeing this complete, the more excited I become.

Can't wait to share it with you!

The Future

There are so many options to get people your music.

I want to be able to do this. Wouldn't it be cool to have people performing your music all over the world from within their own living rooms?

Del.i.cio.us Links

NoiseTrade - Interesting
Artists House - Great video's on the Music Industry
IGigYou - A little weird

Imeem

Have you heard of it. Well, it's now the #1 music-streaming website in the world.

Finding Yourself

I read this blog post this morning and it reminded me of some things I'd been processing through as of late.

I wrote this down in a journal that I keep ideas in a few weeks back.

"If it is true that people are attracted to a strong stand i.e. Method, then, what stand am I going to take? What comes out of me naturally that I want to be known for? What is my mission?"

(check out this inspirational video from the Method founder, Eric Ryan)

Here's a few examples of some other artists I found.

"I am a creature of community, inspired to write sing along pop songs." Mat Keraney

In this article, Coldplay's, Chris Martin says, "[Coldplay] is still obsessed with making songs that can be sung to the rafters."

In both cases, each artist's songs are inspired by a singular mission. So, no matter what they write about, there is an inner working of passion that produces the sounds that come out of them.

Regardless of whether you're a musician, painter, accountant, or engineer, I think it's important for us all to know the mark we want to leave on the world. In everything you do, what do you want people to experience? To receive? To believe? To gain?

I have an idea of what that is for me, but I'm not finished with my thoughts on it. I'll let you know when I get it.

Pics from our Trip to NYC

This past weekend, I was up in New York for my brothers birthday. While I was there I was able to get caught up on some shopping, a Yankees game, and some down time in Central Park.

Here's me waiting for the subway (which we did a lot of), my brother's apartment (it's a grand total of 96 square feet. wow.), Krisitn and I at Central Park, at the Yankees game, over to a Mexican restaurant in Chelsea (that's right), and then to a roof top bar for drinks across from the Empire State Bldg (super cool!).

Our Trip to NYC

So. I've decided that I want a flat in NYC. Anyone want to go in on one with me?

This weekend was my brother's birthday, and Kristin and I made the trip up to NYC to celebrate with him.

After some great shopping and a Broadway Show (HairSpray), we're heading back to Greenville tomorrow.

I'll get some pics up of the trip when we get back.

The New Music Business

Some cool ideas here.

Making Your Passion Your Profession

I was digging through some of my del.i.cio.us links and found this great article. In it is a 4 step process on how to harness your passion and turn it into a profession.

The Four-Step Process

* The dream develops a passion.
* The passion develops a plan.
* The plan determines the action.
* The action helps us to dream better.

I'd like to add a step. The first step is to have a dream. Sometimes this is the hardest thing for people. I know for me, the difficult thing is being able to scale down my dreams into something tangible that I can start working on immediately (without 1 million).

Unconsciously, I've been following this process with my music. The dream: To make a living doing what I love; Music. The passion: Giving life to the sounds and emotions inside me. The plan: Produce something tangible for others to experience.

I'm still working on 'The Plan', and hope to be in 'Action' soon.

Word of Mouth

Presumably, it's the gold mine of marketing. It's something I've thought about a lot over the past year working for a company that specializes in creating 'fans' for their clients.

It's an interesting topic for musicians as well. How do you get people so excited about your music that they not only become a fan, but they are willing to go to bat for you. Willing to go out of their way to spread the word about you and your music.

I believe unique experiences play a big part in this. John Moore threw up a cool quote on his blog from Hugh MacLeod.

"Word of mouth is not created, it is co-created. People will only spread your virus if there's something in it for them."

True, we're all looking for 'what's in it for us', but I think even more powerful is the idea of relationships, the co-creating. How can I involve my fans in the process? Let them be a part of the experience? Give them the tools to let them create the experiences that touch their friends?

I've been thinking through this as I look to choose one of my songs as the single. Once the record is complete, I'd love to get feedback from people, as to which song they love the most. Which one moved them enough to share with others?

Being a Smart Artist

There are a lot of amazing musicians and recording artists in the world. A lot of them are even better than some of the recording artists you hear everyday on the radio. So. In my mind, making it in the music industry goes much further than just being a good musician. Sure, connection help. Really help. But there are some practical things we can all do to help move our music careers along.

James Lee Stanley makes a great point in this article. His basic point. Have a plan. For a lot of musicians, it's easy to write, sing, and play. But when it comes to thinking business, having a plan, and thinking strategically, well. That's hard.

My thought, is to surround yourself with the type of people that will help you fill the weakness in your life.

The one thing that made the recording go so well last week was the fact that I surrounded myself with people who are more talented than myself. And that can only make me better.

The same goes for thinking about your music as a career. Thinking through the business side of the music industry.

Take the time to think. Make a plan.