Music For Freedom

The new band! First rehearsal

27 April 2010 by anderseriksson

Today we met and rehearsed for the first time. I am talking about Jens (drums, percussion who played on my record, and Jan (steel guitar, who also played on my record), and Magnus (electric bass, who I met for the first time). We had a good time together playing a few covers (No woman no cry, I shall be released, Oh Cumberland) and some of my songs (One Body, The Chinese Way, Angelica). It sounded really nice. Next step for me is to get some gigs, so watch out!

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Music Success In Nine Weeks – Week 1: Goals

24 April 2010 by anderseriksson

I think this book I am reading now by Ariel Hyatt (Music Success In Nine Weeks) will make my music promotion more structured. I have heard and read about many of her ideas before on her blog and video blog, but now it’s divided into nine weeks and that suits me fine.

I have never in my life been setting up goals but in week 1 of this promotion project I will do that. I have been thinking for a while and here are my goals right now for the near future:

Perform at least twice a month
Blog, read blogs, comment on other blogs 1 hour per day
Practice on my electric guitar 30 minutes per day (working days) and 3 hours per weekend
Increase my fanbase (mailing list and facebook) with 5 people per week
Buy and study Tom Jackson DVD
Complete one song per week

The last one may be hard, but I have a few ideas that need to be taken care of.

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Music Success In Nine Weeks – Week 1: Focus areas

19 April 2010 by anderseriksson

Now I am reading Music Success In Nine Weeks by Ariel Hyatt.

So this week is the first one and June 2o I will be done and reached success! (whatever that means)

Today I defined some focus areas:

Branding – I may design a new logo with another font, and also a web-banner.
Marketing – I may place a banner on some websites
Videos – I hope to make two videos (They Can’t Make Me Waver and Getting Closer) during the spring and spread them on Youtube, Vimeo, local TV, etc.
Online social media strategy – Blog more and read others blogs. I want to record simple cover videos and spread on Youtube, tweet more, get more Facebook fans
Gigs – Get gigs in Goteborg and nearby cities on cafés, festivals, pubs etc. I could play alone, but I will probably be playing with other musicians,
Practice – I need to practice more on my electric guitar, and I will also read a book I bought about songwriting to improve that craft (101 Songwritings Wrong And How To Right Them)
Songs – Make songs out of some ideas I already have, and make demos of them
Get more fans – Give offers, get more traffic to the websites, give out flyers, get more gigs
Selling CD’s/downloads – 10 per month and 10 per gig
Improve stage performance – get more experience, buy Tom Jackson DVD, etc

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My equipment : Electric piano

18 April 2010 by anderseriksson

I want to present my instruments and my other equipment. This is my Yamaha PL 120. I bought it in 2002. I write one kind of songs on the piano and other kind of songs on the guitar.

I find the piano the most complete instrument, because it’s so logical, och you can in fact get notes with the help of all of your fingers. I like my piano a lot, I usually use the electric and acoustic piano sounds.

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I am back!

17 April 2010 by anderseriksson

20100417_Anders_001_blog, originally uploaded by Music For Freedom.

It’s been a while. I have been focusing in the arrangement of Shen Yun Performing Arts wonderful dance show with traditional Chinese culture that has been touring in Sweden, Norway and Denmark recently. See their website; http://ShenYunPerformingArts.org

Anyway, it’s been great, but now I will again focus more on my music.

I have now a Flickr account so hopefully it will be easier to share photos, and I will then need to take more photos as well!

I will soon have first rehearsal with some musicians, and also another collaboration with a female singer. I will let you know more when things are settled.

The photo is from my balcony by the way. See you soon!

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Holly Williams concert in Goteborg, Sweden – So sweet!

14 February 2010 by anderseriksson

Holly Williams, singer and songwriter from Nashville, USA, visited Goteborg, Sweden on her European Tour on Saturday evening. She’s starting to become a bit famous also outside of US and has released two albums: ”The Ones We Never Knew” (2004) and “Here With Me” (2009). She told the audience during the concert that they unfortunately brought too few CDs with them to Europe, so they all sold out earlier during the tour!

By her side on the tour and on stage occasionally is her husband Chris Coleman who plays acoustic guitar, harmonica and sings harmony vocals. They seem to make a harmonious couple and the love sparkles between them in the duet ”A love I think will last”.

Holly Williams grandfather was THE famous country legend Hank Williams, and it seems like her song writing skills are somehow inherited. The songs are simple and straightforward – the way it should be in this country rock genre. And I don’t miss the band on stage because the couple have so sweet and warm personalities, and it makes it more like a familiar jam than a concert. Besides, it’s easier to focus on her lyrics when it’s only her and her instrument.

Holly has always something to say about her songs, and she speaks very openly about what inspired her to write them. She tells us for instance about a car accident that made her sister more or less handicapped. She sings about that trauma in the song ”Without Jesus Here With Me”. She was in the car and she tells us that it was a miracle that they survived.

After one hour of songs from her two albums and a Bob Dylan cover, she and Chris are leaving the stage, but comes back for a last song: ”I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry” by her grandfather Hank Williams. Very touching.

Anders Eriksson is a singer and songwriter from Sweden and writes music reviews for Epoch Times and on his blog MusicForFreedom.net.