via Instagram http://instagram.com/p/iOwgvUl3Ox/
Sunday, December 22, 2013
Friday, December 20, 2013
1000 Super amazing thank yous to my 1 in a million dad. Best Christmas present ever. I love you pops. @martinguitar I'm looking forward to the songs we will write together.
via Instagram http://instagram.com/p/iKV2u9F3F_/
Tuesday, December 17, 2013
Happy Holidays, friends (+ a lot of news) - #HappyTuesday no. 1
happy holidays, friends.
can you believe it's really tinsel time already? seems like Santa is coming sooner and sooner each year...
i want to thank you for following me on this musical journey through the ups and downs, and keeping in touch for the future.
i felt it was time to reach out to you, since i've had a chance to chill and regroup after a whirl-wind-life-changing fall. yes, it's true, i am an expecting father. Shonna and i are absolutely excited and thrilled and scared and hopeful and everything else you can expect first time parents-to-be, to be. DUE DATE = April 9.
i felt it was time to reach out to you, since i've had a chance to chill and regroup after a whirl-wind-life-changing fall. yes, it's true, i am an expecting father. Shonna and i are absolutely excited and thrilled and scared and hopeful and everything else you can expect first time parents-to-be, to be. DUE DATE = April 9.
and yes, we have rearranged my relationship with Windsor Oaks Band, at least for the time being. if the stars align and our paths converge again, i will not hesitate to jump back in and help Shane and Alex out the best i can. they are, after all, two of my closest friends that i have ever had the pleasure to know.
i will continue to write songs and make music, no doubt. i've been attending some songwriting workshops in Nashville, meeting industry people, stepping up my writing game. over the next month i will send you some new songs asking you for honest feedback on which ones i should record for a pre-baby EP release.
i've been busy. work work work. i have jumped on board with marketing/sales positions for two locally grown companies. one is a pretty NC-famous t-shirt and novelty apparel company called House of Swank, and the other is a totally organic/local/brand-new restaurant called Patrick Jane's Gourmet Pizza Bar in Cary, NC. additionally, i have also stepped up to the plate to help out Deep South Entertainment as an intern, helping the management company with some of their booking and promotions.
again, HAPPY HOLIDAYS, safe travels, and i'll catch you on the flip side somewhere sometime soon. i'll leave you with one of the brand new songs I was telling you about. it's a YouTube clip from my last trip to Music City: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X5fFnuRUQxs
sending a million smiles,
Brandon Scott McLean
PS: FREE Christmas music!
here's a link to bandcamp, where you can stream my 2011 Christmas collection featuring my friend Andrew (fellow Ithaca-grad) in NY: http://brandonscottmclean.bandcamp.com/album/1-1-christmas
the music is available to stream completely free. you can also buy the whole thing for $4.50 and 100% of the money goes to the newly re-vamped ANGEL DOLPHIN SCHOLARSHIP. it's a scholarship my friend Wendie and i started in memory of my sister, and we've just opened up the eligibility requirements a little bit to help more students afford top-quality educations in music and arts.
twitter = @BrandonSMcLean#happytuesday
Tuesday, December 10, 2013
Alright humans. Three guesses as to what the question was in this category. "Name one thing that...." #familyfeud
via Instagram http://instagram.com/p/hxElpTl3Cq/
Monday, November 11, 2013
I like silly love songs just as much as Paul McCartney...
"Some People Wanna Fill The World With Silly Love Songs...And What's Wrong With That?"
-Paul McCartney
I've been writing a lot of music lately. Sometimes my songwriting comes out in chunks of similar-styles and themes. Lately it's been a lot of songs about love and friendship. When I was at the Bluebird Cafe in Nashville last week, I went to their open mic they have every Monday. Seemed a lot of people before me were in the mood to play kind of melancholy and deep stuff. I took my turn as an opportunity to try to lighten the mood in there. I think it worked. Tell me what you think!
"I Just Want to Make You Mine" by me:
Adios!
Sunday, October 27, 2013
ObamaCare TV Advertisement Scares and Confuses Some, Sources Say...
I don't know enough yet about all the ObamaCare thing going on and quite frankly I have been putting it off because I'm scared to know the truth. Knowing what I know about graphic design, audio and video production, and advertising scares/confuses me even more. I don't watch a lot of TV but I happened to be watching Saturday Night Live tonight. In the middle of the Edward Norton hilarious-ness, on came a commercial for healthcare.gov. It could be argued that the healthcare.gov commercial was terribly underfunded and rushed. I could hear the pops of the voice-over actors's P's, the swirly logo was sub-par and pixelated, and the overall vibe and tone left me feeling dirty. It looks and sounds like a high school video project. It's clear they cut some corners on the TV spot, which brings up a lot of questions and conundrums. Should I be scared since I know our government probably spent $450 on the commercial and it's just an indicator of just how shabby the health care system is and will be? OR...should I be grateful that they're not spending/wasting a hell of a lot of money in advertising to mandatory customers? (I know guys who would charge upwards of $20,000 for a 30 second masterpiece) OR...
Peace.
Wednesday, October 23, 2013
Tuesday, October 15, 2013
Thursday, October 10, 2013
How to make a Band Website: Wordpress vs. Bandzoogle #just1musician
One day while going down the YouTube and Google rabbithole (probably started with a search or link or article about songwriting or music marketing or something), I stumbled onto a post by someone who was a strong advocate for Wordpress, and smashing Bandzoogle into the dirt. I won't feed into their negativity by linking to them...
But it got me thinking. And then coincidentally, recently someone starting up a new band asked me what I'd recommend about setting up a band website. As a person who has tried several platforms for various reasons and businesses (PHP, Drupal, Wordpress, Myspace, Google Checkout, Bandzoogle...) I do feel like I have a worthwhile answer for anybody asking the question about what to do about making yourself a band website.
When Cougar Magnum dissolved (not just for having a stupid band name) and I went solo with the bedroom-recorded self-produced pile of demos released as "First Kisses," I did try Wordpress for almost 2 years. And just the thought of going back to it makes me cringe. I do know that as far as build-a-site platforms go, WP is by far one of the easiest. For a musician/band, it was "at least 80%" more of a pain in the butt than Bandzoogle which I currently use to this day. When we reformed in 2010 as Windsor Oaks Band, we moved virtually all the posts, pictures, videos, everything over to Bandzoogle in a matter of a couple hours. With WordPress, every single little square and window and widget on your site is its own app, which you have to download and install and configure independently. Bandzoogle is basically an instant-WYSIWYG. (What you see is what you get.)
Sure, WP is free and open source, but then you have to keep an eye on your domain name, and worry about hosting, SSL Certificates (security), and developers updating their widgets (which can cause your stuff to break on your site with no notice until you get the old "something's wrong with your site" email from a random stranger who may have been interested in your band but now is turned off because your site wouldn't load correctly or was (a bunch of lorem ipsum) and now you look like a bunch of amateurs).
In my experience of talking to other musicians and web-guys, the people that love WordPress--and for good reason, some WP sites are totally badass and blow anything Bandzoogle could offer out of the water--consistently underestimate how much actual techy-cody-backend-system-awareness it takes to make a WP site work. For someone well-versed in the language and know-how of HTML, Java, Flash, XML and stuff, yes, WordPress is child's play. But trying to be a successful musician is a way different mindset than wanting to be awesome at building websites.
The tipping point: email marketing. While Bandzoogle's email marketing system is not perfect and could use some tweaks, it's still included its your monthly payment. And now that our list is nearing 3,000 subscribers, that would be an additional $20-$50 per month to factor in to with the hosting and domain and everything else you gotta pay for to maintain a "free" Wordpress site. I've been in this a long time, and tried other platforms in addition to WP. And for the $240 per year it has cost us to have a virtually flawless and absolutely professional looking site, Bandzoogle just makes since for us. Although there is no Autoresponder feature, the ability to spam-less-ly send literally thousands of emails at once is a very valuable thing. AND ONE MORE THING. If you're coming from a pre-existing email client like Constant Contact, iContact, AWeber (another potential nightmare for someone that wants to spend more time writing songs than dealing with computer screens), or even ReverbNation...Bandzoogle does not make your contacts jump through any additional hoops, quarantine them, or make them click a link in their email box to be a part of the list. And that last thing I would like to talk about a little more: most email clients make a new user click an email in their box to confirm their presence on your list. Since performing musicians get most of their mailing list subscribers at live gigs on paper and input them later (sometimes weeks later, if you have a regular job or are on tour or something) that extra "confirm" hoop can really put a damper on the numbers that actually end up as a subscriber.
Why the email list is more important than Facebook and Twitter combined: well, that deserves its own post in the future. But for now do some research and check out Dave Rose's book "All I Know About the Music Business I Learned from My Cousin Rick" or John Oszajca's Music Marketing Manifesto and let them convince you about why you and your bandmates should set some kind of goal every single gig you play for number of emails grabbed from the room you just played. Say 3. From now on, make it a band rule that you only get your "free" beer after you collect 3 email addresses. If you have 3 people in your band that's 9 emails per gig. If one of you is an overachiever, that's 10 emails per gig. At only 1 gig per week that's like 500 emails a year. After 4 years of being a band that's 2000+ emails, which is beginning to look like a successful business's email list. And hopefully after performing for 4 years you are tight enough and your songs are getting good enough that your music actually moves people and your list will grow organically.
+Why Email is more important than Facebook and Twitter
+How to get people to sign up on your mailing list
Anyway, I want to reiterate that I don't hate WordPress. In fact, I think it's probably a more superior invention and all-in-all a completely different animal than Bandzoogle. But for an aspiring musician who has to keep their eye on the big picture (cost vs. time vs. expectations vs. results), I would undoubtedly recommend Bandzoogle. And in all fairness I want to say that I'm currently exploring Google's blogger (hence these posts) / free site options and their capabilities so that I can switch to MailChimp or something and spend the "about-$20 per month" to get an Autoresponder system for my email list. I will let you know how that goes. My biggest fear, which I haven't investigated yet, is the possibility of the "confirm" hoop if and when I switch over.
But it got me thinking. And then coincidentally, recently someone starting up a new band asked me what I'd recommend about setting up a band website. As a person who has tried several platforms for various reasons and businesses (PHP, Drupal, Wordpress, Myspace, Google Checkout, Bandzoogle...) I do feel like I have a worthwhile answer for anybody asking the question about what to do about making yourself a band website.
When Cougar Magnum dissolved (not just for having a stupid band name) and I went solo with the bedroom-recorded self-produced pile of demos released as "First Kisses," I did try Wordpress for almost 2 years. And just the thought of going back to it makes me cringe. I do know that as far as build-a-site platforms go, WP is by far one of the easiest. For a musician/band, it was "at least 80%" more of a pain in the butt than Bandzoogle which I currently use to this day. When we reformed in 2010 as Windsor Oaks Band, we moved virtually all the posts, pictures, videos, everything over to Bandzoogle in a matter of a couple hours. With WordPress, every single little square and window and widget on your site is its own app, which you have to download and install and configure independently. Bandzoogle is basically an instant-WYSIWYG. (What you see is what you get.)
Sure, WP is free and open source, but then you have to keep an eye on your domain name, and worry about hosting, SSL Certificates (security), and developers updating their widgets (which can cause your stuff to break on your site with no notice until you get the old "something's wrong with your site" email from a random stranger who may have been interested in your band but now is turned off because your site wouldn't load correctly or was (a bunch of lorem ipsum) and now you look like a bunch of amateurs).
In my experience of talking to other musicians and web-guys, the people that love WordPress--and for good reason, some WP sites are totally badass and blow anything Bandzoogle could offer out of the water--consistently underestimate how much actual techy-cody-backend-system-
The tipping point: email marketing. While Bandzoogle's email marketing system is not perfect and could use some tweaks, it's still included its your monthly payment. And now that our list is nearing 3,000 subscribers, that would be an additional $20-$50 per month to factor in to with the hosting and domain and everything else you gotta pay for to maintain a "free" Wordpress site. I've been in this a long time, and tried other platforms in addition to WP. And for the $240 per year it has cost us to have a virtually flawless and absolutely professional looking site, Bandzoogle just makes since for us. Although there is no Autoresponder feature, the ability to spam-less-ly send literally thousands of emails at once is a very valuable thing. AND ONE MORE THING. If you're coming from a pre-existing email client like Constant Contact, iContact, AWeber (another potential nightmare for someone that wants to spend more time writing songs than dealing with computer screens), or even ReverbNation...Bandzoogle does not make your contacts jump through any additional hoops, quarantine them, or make them click a link in their email box to be a part of the list. And that last thing I would like to talk about a little more: most email clients make a new user click an email in their box to confirm their presence on your list. Since performing musicians get most of their mailing list subscribers at live gigs on paper and input them later (sometimes weeks later, if you have a regular job or are on tour or something) that extra "confirm" hoop can really put a damper on the numbers that actually end up as a subscriber.
Why the email list is more important than Facebook and Twitter combined: well, that deserves its own post in the future. But for now do some research and check out Dave Rose's book "All I Know About the Music Business I Learned from My Cousin Rick" or John Oszajca's Music Marketing Manifesto and let them convince you about why you and your bandmates should set some kind of goal every single gig you play for number of emails grabbed from the room you just played. Say 3. From now on, make it a band rule that you only get your "free" beer after you collect 3 email addresses. If you have 3 people in your band that's 9 emails per gig. If one of you is an overachiever, that's 10 emails per gig. At only 1 gig per week that's like 500 emails a year. After 4 years of being a band that's 2000+ emails, which is beginning to look like a successful business's email list. And hopefully after performing for 4 years you are tight enough and your songs are getting good enough that your music actually moves people and your list will grow organically.
+Why Email is more important than Facebook and Twitter
+How to get people to sign up on your mailing list
Anyway, I want to reiterate that I don't hate WordPress. In fact, I think it's probably a more superior invention and all-in-all a completely different animal than Bandzoogle. But for an aspiring musician who has to keep their eye on the big picture (cost vs. time vs. expectations vs. results), I would undoubtedly recommend Bandzoogle. And in all fairness I want to say that I'm currently exploring Google's blogger (hence these posts) / free site options and their capabilities so that I can switch to MailChimp or something and spend the "about-$20 per month" to get an Autoresponder system for my email list. I will let you know how that goes. My biggest fear, which I haven't investigated yet, is the possibility of the "confirm" hoop if and when I switch over.
Monday, October 7, 2013
Did mom poop? Mom did. #palindromes are awesome
I love a good palindrome. "What's a palindrome?" you ask? Well, let's consult Wikipedia: "...a word, phrase, number, or other sequence...whose meaning may be interpreted the same way in either forward or reverse direction...was coined from the Greek roots palin (πάλιν; "again") and dromos (δρóμος; "way, direction") by the English writer Ben Jonson in the 17th century. The Greek phrase to describe the phenomenon ...crab inscription...alluding to the movement of crabs, such as an inscription that may be read backwards." ...Blah blah blah blah....anyway...it's a word or number that is the same forward and backward. There's so many little easy ones that you can learn beginning in like 2nd grade....mom.....dad.....boob.....racecar....
some I have found, look like made-up words:
tattarrattat
detartrated
Rotavator
redivider
Malayalam,
aibohphobia - (The irrational fear of palindromes...hehehe)
some palindromes are just short numbers or words:
2002
radar
One time in 2011 when I was on tour with the Windsor Oaks Band, I looked over and saw Ryan, deeper in thought than I have ever seen him before. And I was like, "Dude, are you OK?" and he calmly looked up and slowly said to me "Strap Race Nude Dune Car Parts." I thought he was going delirious from too much road time, but he followed up by explaining that sometimes he likes to sit there in silence and develop new palindromes.
Since then, I have had a keen ear for recognizing palindromes and I've been compiling a list of awesome palindromes:
Strap race nude dune car parts.
Gun So Snug. -Ryan's favorite
Did mom poop? Mom did.
Mr. Owl ate my metal worm.
Madam, I'm Adam. (and then.... Madam, in Eden, I'm Adam.)
Poor Dan is in a droop.
Able was I ere I saw Elba
A man a plan a canal panama
No "x" in "Nixon."
Amore, Roma
Step on no pets.
Are we not drawn onward, we few, drawn onward to new era?
Revel on no lever.
Gun So Snug. -Ryan's favorite
Did mom poop? Mom did.
Mr. Owl ate my metal worm.
Madam, I'm Adam. (and then.... Madam, in Eden, I'm Adam.)
Poor Dan is in a droop.
Able was I ere I saw Elba
A man a plan a canal panama
No "x" in "Nixon."
Amore, Roma
Step on no pets.
Are we not drawn onward, we few, drawn onward to new era?
Revel on no lever.
some I have found, look like made-up words:
tattarrattat
detartrated
Rotavator
redivider
Malayalam,
aibohphobia - (The irrational fear of palindromes...hehehe)
some palindromes are just short numbers or words:
2002
radar
rotor
civic
mum
noon
noon
toot
sees
deed
Tit
Tot
Stats
Solos
Some involve brand names!
Lonely Tylenol
Xanax
Some people's names are palindromes!
Hannah
Eve
Anna
Elle
Viv
Lil
Otto
Bob
Nan
Odo - (my Confirmation name (weird and archaic, I know), taken from St. Odo of Cluny)
This is the Ryan fellow, by the way (the guy who introduced me to the wonderful world of adult-level palindromes):
Tot
Stats
Solos
Some involve brand names!
Lonely Tylenol
Xanax
Some people's names are palindromes!
Hannah
Eve
Anna
Elle
Viv
Lil
Otto
Bob
Nan
Odo - (my Confirmation name (weird and archaic, I know), taken from St. Odo of Cluny)
The topic of palindromes has come up a few times in conversations since then. And usually it's in a bar late in the evening. So I don't totally remember all of the cool palindromes people have told me over the last few years. If you have any more palindromes, short, long, one-word, paragraph-length, PLEASE please post them in the comments. I am addicted to palindromes.
There's also a really cool list of palindromes here: http://voices.yahoo.com/50-palindromes-list-palindrome-words-sentences-2349273.html - and some of them on this post appear in that list too. Here's an awesome one from a comment in that post:
Anne, I vote more cars race Rome to Vienna
(Someday I will attempt to write an entire song that is a palindrome. That day is not today.)
Wednesday, September 18, 2013
Searching for ideas for new music video... #musicvideos
Every good music video needs a great story.
A few months ago i was at a pet store with my friend Corinne and we came across this mouse. He was so happy to live his life running on a wheel.
meet Skippy the Mouse: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1AHWCC5_IQ
Skippy kind of reminded me of people. All of us in this strange place together running this way and that, trying, striving, some getting further than others, some people seeming to get no where.
The only idea I can think of is filming people moving right to left, just like Skippy. Except, humans use buses and cars and bicycles and motorcycles. So today my friend Mark and I are venturing to downtown Raleigh to film some things and people moving from left to right. I do have footage of Skippy and another mouse joining him on the wheel. So that could be a story idea right there...a second character.
but I am at a loss for what the NUT of the music video should be all about. like the main story. the idea. I have no real character ideas, or plan for a story....maybe some footage of me singing the chorus, or not, I don't know. I do know I want Skippy and people going about their lives in cars and buses and bikes and stuff.
The song!
https://soundcloud.com/brandonscottmclean/the-white-lies-you-tell
Do you have any ideas? Send them my way in the comments or on facebook or twitter or wherever...
PS
Corrine also sang all over this song. and a lot of other people who I will list in the credits later..
A few months ago i was at a pet store with my friend Corinne and we came across this mouse. He was so happy to live his life running on a wheel.
meet Skippy the Mouse: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1AHWCC5_IQ
Skippy kind of reminded me of people. All of us in this strange place together running this way and that, trying, striving, some getting further than others, some people seeming to get no where.
The only idea I can think of is filming people moving right to left, just like Skippy. Except, humans use buses and cars and bicycles and motorcycles. So today my friend Mark and I are venturing to downtown Raleigh to film some things and people moving from left to right. I do have footage of Skippy and another mouse joining him on the wheel. So that could be a story idea right there...a second character.
but I am at a loss for what the NUT of the music video should be all about. like the main story. the idea. I have no real character ideas, or plan for a story....maybe some footage of me singing the chorus, or not, I don't know. I do know I want Skippy and people going about their lives in cars and buses and bikes and stuff.
The song!
https://soundcloud.com/brandonscottmclean/the-white-lies-you-tell
Do you have any ideas? Send them my way in the comments or on facebook or twitter or wherever...
PS
Corrine also sang all over this song. and a lot of other people who I will list in the credits later..
Monday, September 16, 2013
Primal Blueprint 21 Day Challenge Starts Today...Are you in? #fitness
...I've been in for 2 years. Yesterday was my 2 year anniversary. Come join me...
Learn more at Mark’s Daily Apple
Learn more at Mark’s Daily Apple
Thursday, September 5, 2013
Hopscotch 2013 is here!
1) Hopscotch is here!
Unless you live under the proverbial rock, you know that Hopscotch is this weekend in beautiful downton Raleigh! It's the state's largest multi-venue festival. It's amazing. We're playing early on in the fest: Thursday night at 10p at London Bridge sponsored by Jaegermeister.
.JPG "#WindsorHop2013")
2) Our show last week at the Pour House in Raleigh was absolutely awesome. Huge thanks to the Pour House, New Sweat, Motley Tones, as well as our friend Michael Thomas who came up and sang a song with us. But a double extra thanks to all the people who came out and shared the evening with us! You can watch the re-run of the live broadcast here.
3) Our video contest is now over, and we are proud to announce that we will release the videos to the public very soon. We will interview the grand prize winner, NOLAN MOLT (from Kennewick, Washington) LIVE on BreakTime 1X15 on September 15.
What's Next in Windsor Land:
#WindsorHop2013: (photo contest all weekend)
--Thursday Sept 5 - London Bridge Pub - 10pm [sponsored by Jaegermeister]
--Friday Sept 6 - Sullivan's Steakhouse - 7pm
--Saturday Sept 7 - Woody's @ City Market - 10pm
Sending a smile,
Brandon from Windsor Oaks
<WOB is powered by House of Swank clothing company, who produces the raddest NC-themed shirts and swag on the planet, period.>
Unless you live under the proverbial rock, you know that Hopscotch is this weekend in beautiful downton Raleigh! It's the state's largest multi-venue festival. It's amazing. We're playing early on in the fest: Thursday night at 10p at London Bridge sponsored by Jaegermeister.
...but we decided to have some fun all the way through the weekend...we are announcing the WOB Hopscotch 2013 Photo Contest!!! Share your awesome 2013 Hopscotch memories for you chance to win the Ultimate WindsorHop Prize Pack! Prizes include WOB swag, House of Swank stuff, local gift certificates, and beer! (Full details on our site at: http://thewindsoroaksband.com/windsorhop2013-photo-contest, but basically take a cool Hopscotch pic, Instagram it, and use #WindsorHop2013 and @WindsorOaksBand)
2) Our show last week at the Pour House in Raleigh was absolutely awesome. Huge thanks to the Pour House, New Sweat, Motley Tones, as well as our friend Michael Thomas who came up and sang a song with us. But a double extra thanks to all the people who came out and shared the evening with us! You can watch the re-run of the live broadcast here.
3) Our video contest is now over, and we are proud to announce that we will release the videos to the public very soon. We will interview the grand prize winner, NOLAN MOLT (from Kennewick, Washington) LIVE on BreakTime 1X15 on September 15.
What's Next in Windsor Land:
#WindsorHop2013: (photo contest all weekend)
--Thursday Sept 5 - London Bridge Pub - 10pm [sponsored by Jaegermeister]
--Friday Sept 6 - Sullivan's Steakhouse - 7pm
--Saturday Sept 7 - Woody's @ City Market - 10pm
Sending a smile,
Brandon from Windsor Oaks
<WOB is powered by House of Swank clothing company, who produces the raddest NC-themed shirts and swag on the planet, period.>
Thursday, August 15, 2013
live online with my mom? + video contest update + old school pic
Hello and Happy Thursday,
Great news! My mom is in Raleigh, visiting me from Rhode Island :)
We're gonna do all kinda of North Carolina touristy stuff, including 3 days on the coast. If you have any suggestions, please send them our way by responding to this email or tweeting to us@WindsorOaksBand.
As we near the end of our video contest, we are starting to see the entries trickle in. There's at least two music videos up there now, and you can go and vote for your favorite by going to the contest page on Facebook. People have until August 18th to get their videos in. When you get to the fb page, scroll down a little bit and hit "View Entries." (Interestingly, both entries are for our song "One in a City," which is included in this email free)
Today is August 15, so that means I will go live on Ustream for BreakTime 1X15 in just about an hour at 1:15pm EST. Since my mom is here, it'll probably be a pretty short broadcast so we can get back to exploring Raleigh and stuff. Tune in here. (And if you're reading this after 1:15, the broadcasts are always there for later viewing at the same link): http://www.ustream.tv/channel/breaktime-1x15
Sending a smile,
Brandon and the Windsor Oaks Band
August in WindsorLand:
Live on Ustream today at 1:15pm EST - http://www.ustream.tv/channel/breaktime-1x15
Sat, Aug 17 - Private Party @ Carolina Beach (email for details if you wanna come...)
Wednesdays in August - Sullivan's - Acoustic - 7pm
Saturday, August 24 - FREE Windsor Car Wash!!
Friday, August 30 - POUR HOUSE in Raleigh - full band w/ Motley Tones and New Sweat (don't miss this one!)
fb event: http://www.facebook.com/events/260669410742559/
PS
Old-School Pic of the Week!
This pic is from February of 2009, from propbably last one of the "Cougar Magnum" shows before we grew up and changed our name. Garrett and Heather! Now they are engaged 4 years later! and they want us to play at their wedding! yippeeeee! congrats Garrett and Heather.
Great news! My mom is in Raleigh, visiting me from Rhode Island :)
We're gonna do all kinda of North Carolina touristy stuff, including 3 days on the coast. If you have any suggestions, please send them our way by responding to this email or tweeting to us@WindsorOaksBand.
As we near the end of our video contest, we are starting to see the entries trickle in. There's at least two music videos up there now, and you can go and vote for your favorite by going to the contest page on Facebook. People have until August 18th to get their videos in. When you get to the fb page, scroll down a little bit and hit "View Entries." (Interestingly, both entries are for our song "One in a City," which is included in this email free)
Today is August 15, so that means I will go live on Ustream for BreakTime 1X15 in just about an hour at 1:15pm EST. Since my mom is here, it'll probably be a pretty short broadcast so we can get back to exploring Raleigh and stuff. Tune in here. (And if you're reading this after 1:15, the broadcasts are always there for later viewing at the same link): http://www.ustream.tv/channel/breaktime-1x15
Sending a smile,
Brandon and the Windsor Oaks Band
August in WindsorLand:
Live on Ustream today at 1:15pm EST - http://www.ustream.tv/channel/breaktime-1x15
Sat, Aug 17 - Private Party @ Carolina Beach (email for details if you wanna come...)
Wednesdays in August - Sullivan's - Acoustic - 7pm
Saturday, August 24 - FREE Windsor Car Wash!!
Friday, August 30 - POUR HOUSE in Raleigh - full band w/ Motley Tones and New Sweat (don't miss this one!)
fb event: http://www.facebook.com/events/260669410742559/
PS
Old-School Pic of the Week!
This pic is from February of 2009, from propbably last one of the "Cougar Magnum" shows before we grew up and changed our name. Garrett and Heather! Now they are engaged 4 years later! and they want us to play at their wedding! yippeeeee! congrats Garrett and Heather.
Friday, August 9, 2013
Top 3 Reasons to Kiss a Pirate Today! + Old School Photo of the Week
[Guest post from Shane Smith...]
Greetings!
Perhaps you are wondering why in the world the band and I are so obsessed with pirates these days. None of us are from Pittsburgh and none of us are eagerly anticipating the release of the next Pirates of the Caribbean movie. (What are they at like the 10th one or something??? Who knows.) It's just that we are stoked that our next big rock show is going to be Pirate Night! August 30th at the Pour House to be exact.
In anticipation of the big night, I've been doing a lot of extra yoga to improve my balance and stability. I'm hoping to be able to work out some kind of wooden leg trick. I'll keep you posted on that, it's definitely a work in progress!
I know you're super interested in the 'Top 3 Reasons to Kiss a Pirate', so let's get it on!
3. It's the first step in any quest to find any sort of buried treasure, trust me.
2. If you give a pirate a smooch, no way you'll have to walk to plank!
1. Pirates are known for their singing and songwriting abilities...kiss a pirate and you may find yourself in a Pirate love song, like "Taking a Ride."
Do you have any other pressing reasons to kiss a Pirate? If so I'd love to hear them.
Have a great weekend and catch ya latARGHHHHHHHHHH!
~ Shane and Windsor Oaks Band
PS- we had a BLAST rocking in the Raleigh streets outside of The Raleigh Times last Friday! Thanks to@raleighstatic for the shot above
PPS
Oh yeah, almost forgot...old school pic of the week!
This one was from Halloween in 2010:
Halloween 2010! From L to R: GEICO Tennis Caveman, Free Credit Report Pirate, Elvis Presley.
~ What's up in WindsorLand: ~
August 24 - FREE Windsor Car Wash!!
Friday, August 30 - POUR HOUSE in Raleigh - full band w/ Motley Tones and New Sweat (don't miss this one!)
fb event: http://www.facebook.
Greetings!
Perhaps you are wondering why in the world the band and I are so obsessed with pirates these days. None of us are from Pittsburgh and none of us are eagerly anticipating the release of the next Pirates of the Caribbean movie. (What are they at like the 10th one or something??? Who knows.) It's just that we are stoked that our next big rock show is going to be Pirate Night! August 30th at the Pour House to be exact.
In anticipation of the big night, I've been doing a lot of extra yoga to improve my balance and stability. I'm hoping to be able to work out some kind of wooden leg trick. I'll keep you posted on that, it's definitely a work in progress!
I know you're super interested in the 'Top 3 Reasons to Kiss a Pirate', so let's get it on!
3. It's the first step in any quest to find any sort of buried treasure, trust me.
2. If you give a pirate a smooch, no way you'll have to walk to plank!
1. Pirates are known for their singing and songwriting abilities...kiss a pirate and you may find yourself in a Pirate love song, like "Taking a Ride."
Do you have any other pressing reasons to kiss a Pirate? If so I'd love to hear them.
Have a great weekend and catch ya latARGHHHHHHHHHH!
~ Shane and Windsor Oaks Band
PS- we had a BLAST rocking in the Raleigh streets outside of The Raleigh Times last Friday! Thanks to@raleighstatic for the shot above
PPS
Oh yeah, almost forgot...old school pic of the week!
This one was from Halloween in 2010:
Halloween 2010! From L to R: GEICO Tennis Caveman, Free Credit Report Pirate, Elvis Presley.
~ What's up in WindsorLand: ~
August 24 - FREE Windsor Car Wash!!
Friday, August 30 - POUR HOUSE in Raleigh - full band w/ Motley Tones and New Sweat (don't miss this one!)
fb event: http://www.facebook.
Wednesday, July 31, 2013
The Top 5 Reasons our Video Contest is Better than Ice Cream
Happy Thursday!
Wait, you didn't know about the video contest? Well, i's been going on for like a month now, for any song on our new album. Unfortunately, there's no entries in yet...surprising because the prize is $1000! We have, however, gotten a bunch of serious question-packed inquiries about it. So we are expecting a few entries to get in by the deadline of August 18. After that, you and the rest of the internet will vote the winner and select out next official video. Complete details at: http://www.thewindsoroaksband.com/videocontest
So without further ado, here are the Top 5 Reasons our Video Contest is better than ice cream:
5. Our video contest has 0 calories, and is completely and totally fat free.
4. Ice Cream melts and makes the cone all soggy if you don't eat it fast enough. The Video Contest will not melt no matter how long you don't eat it.
3. Our video contest is completely lactose and gluten free so it won't upset your stomach.
2. You can enter with a video you can make on your phone or tablet in a day or less. Although Brandon is totally ineligible for this contest, he made a video with his iPad for one of his acoustic songs in a total of about 6 hours, just to see if it could be done: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7uP4BIBB7E
and the #1 reason that the Windsor Oaks Video Contest is better than ice cream....
1. You have a chance at winning a $1000!!! And the voting us totally up to the internet to vote on it on facebook. So make that video! Upload it ASAP, and get your friends to vote on it so you can win that money! (think of how much ice cream you can get with a thousand bucks!)
...Maybe if you don't make videos but you know someone who does, you could forward this to them?
ALSO, TODAY is August 1st. So that means it's Brandon's day to go LIVE on Ustream for Break Time 1X15. So go check him out, LIVE at 1:15pm: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/breaktime-1x15 I believe he's having Michelle Johnson as a special guest today, playing and singing her songs on our piano in our kitchen!
as always, please email back or reach out to us on facebook, twitter, or whatever....
Alex, Brandon, and Shane
Windsor Oaks Band
August in WindsorLand:
(we've had a couple people ask us to give a little more notice about our "weekends in WindsorLand," so we'll do just that....we'll give you like 2-3 weeks in advance from now on)
Today - LIVE ONLINE at 1:15pm - http://www.ustream.tv/channel/breaktime-1x15 (if you miss it you can still watch, just not live anymore)
Tomorrow! Friday, Aug 2 - First Friday @ Raleigh Times - outside, in the road, full band! - 8-11pm
fb event: https://www.facebook.com/events/469771099774992/
Wednesday, Aug 7 - Sullivan's - Acoustic Trio - 7pm
Fri, Aug 9 - Fox and Hound @ North Hills - Acoustic Trio - 10pm
Sat, Aug 10 - Woody's Downtown - Acoustic Trio - 9:30pm
Sat, Aug 17 - Private Party @ Carolina Beach (email for details if you wanna come...)
Friday, August 30 - POUR HOUSE in Raleigh - full band w/ Motley Tones and New Sweat (don't miss this one!)
fb event: https://www.facebook.com/events/260669410742559/
Wait, you didn't know about the video contest? Well, i's been going on for like a month now, for any song on our new album. Unfortunately, there's no entries in yet...surprising because the prize is $1000! We have, however, gotten a bunch of serious question-packed inquiries about it. So we are expecting a few entries to get in by the deadline of August 18. After that, you and the rest of the internet will vote the winner and select out next official video. Complete details at: http://www.thewindsoroaksband.com/videocontest
So without further ado, here are the Top 5 Reasons our Video Contest is better than ice cream:
5. Our video contest has 0 calories, and is completely and totally fat free.
4. Ice Cream melts and makes the cone all soggy if you don't eat it fast enough. The Video Contest will not melt no matter how long you don't eat it.
3. Our video contest is completely lactose and gluten free so it won't upset your stomach.
2. You can enter with a video you can make on your phone or tablet in a day or less. Although Brandon is totally ineligible for this contest, he made a video with his iPad for one of his acoustic songs in a total of about 6 hours, just to see if it could be done: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7uP4BIBB7E
and the #1 reason that the Windsor Oaks Video Contest is better than ice cream....
1. You have a chance at winning a $1000!!! And the voting us totally up to the internet to vote on it on facebook. So make that video! Upload it ASAP, and get your friends to vote on it so you can win that money! (think of how much ice cream you can get with a thousand bucks!)
...Maybe if you don't make videos but you know someone who does, you could forward this to them?
ALSO, TODAY is August 1st. So that means it's Brandon's day to go LIVE on Ustream for Break Time 1X15. So go check him out, LIVE at 1:15pm: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/breaktime-1x15 I believe he's having Michelle Johnson as a special guest today, playing and singing her songs on our piano in our kitchen!
as always, please email back or reach out to us on facebook, twitter, or whatever....
Alex, Brandon, and Shane
Windsor Oaks Band
August in WindsorLand:
(we've had a couple people ask us to give a little more notice about our "weekends in WindsorLand," so we'll do just that....we'll give you like 2-3 weeks in advance from now on)
Today - LIVE ONLINE at 1:15pm - http://www.ustream.tv/channel/breaktime-1x15 (if you miss it you can still watch, just not live anymore)
Tomorrow! Friday, Aug 2 - First Friday @ Raleigh Times - outside, in the road, full band! - 8-11pm
fb event: https://www.facebook.com/events/469771099774992/
Wednesday, Aug 7 - Sullivan's - Acoustic Trio - 7pm
Fri, Aug 9 - Fox and Hound @ North Hills - Acoustic Trio - 10pm
Sat, Aug 10 - Woody's Downtown - Acoustic Trio - 9:30pm
Sat, Aug 17 - Private Party @ Carolina Beach (email for details if you wanna come...)
Friday, August 30 - POUR HOUSE in Raleigh - full band w/ Motley Tones and New Sweat (don't miss this one!)
fb event: https://www.facebook.com/events/260669410742559/
Thursday, July 18, 2013
So You Think You're a Songwriter?
Hey hey,
We are all back in Raleigh, NC...safe and sound after our uber-educational trip to Music City, USA akaNashville, Tennessee.
Sometimes, in any business/field/sport, it's good to be put in your place once in a while. And that's exactly what happened to us this past week. If you are a musician, songwriter, or even someone who just picks around on a guitar and sometimes writes songs, you owe it to yourself to go to Nashville for a few days. The level of musicianship and songwriting talent in that town is nothing less than mind blowing.
Take Broadway for example. It's the "main drag" in downtown Nashvillle, loaded with famous bars and clubs like Tootsie's, the Stage, the Wheel, Hard Rock Cafe, Margaritaville... with live music 7 days a week from 2pm to 2am. Most of the time, upwards of 5 acts every single day...most of them playing for tips! To top it off, the talent is amazing. I wanted to beg almost every guitar player I saw for a free lesson, but I didn't want to come off too tourist-y.
While we were there we met with our reps at ASCAP, and I joined the Nashville Songwriters Association International (which has chapters all over the US, with one opening in Raleigh very soon).
Honestly, I went there with the delusional notion that people were going to hear the couple "country songs" I wrote recently and immediately feed them to some hungry country artists and put our names on the musical map "just like that"...boy was I wrong. After having the tunes heard by some professionals it's clear to me that I have a little ways to go before I try that again. They didn't hate it all, but their critiques were honest and heartfelt, and after letting it all sink in for a few days their words are clear as day.
I want to give a special shout out to Linda and Sandy, the people who have let me crash with them on all three of my humbling and enlightening trips to Music City. Accomplished performers and songwriters themselves, they know how awesome-and-totally-sweet-yet-difficult-and-soul-crushing this business can be at times. And they believe in me and the Windsor Oaks Band more than anyone I've met in a long time. Serendipitously, Sandy's poignant and personally relevant play (all about a struggling songwriter who gets dream-visits from Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, and Sammy Davis Jr., called All For a Song) opened at a really cool dinner-theatre while we were there. Shonna (my lady) and I went to go see it and we were absolutely blown away. And so were the reporters from the Examiner. Check out the raving review here: http://www.examiner.com/review/chaffin-s-barn-dinner-theatre-presents-world-premier-of-all-for-a-song Thank you, Linda and Sandy, from the bottom of my heart.
So, tell me...Are you a songwriter or just someone who writes songs? At this point I am just someone who writes songs, and it's gonna be a minute before I graduate.
Sincerely all for a song,
Brandon Scott McLean and the Windsor Oaks Band
THIS WEEK IN WINDSOR LAND:
we are back!
1.) Tomorrow - Friday July 19 - World of Beer @ North Hills
2.) Saturday - 7/20 - Chef's Palette in Cary, NC
3.) getting some pirates on board for August 30 at the Pour House
and
4.) ROCKING OUT to Linda's viola-driven version of "I Am the Walrus"
We are all back in Raleigh, NC...safe and sound after our uber-educational trip to Music City, USA akaNashville, Tennessee.
Sometimes, in any business/field/sport, it's good to be put in your place once in a while. And that's exactly what happened to us this past week. If you are a musician, songwriter, or even someone who just picks around on a guitar and sometimes writes songs, you owe it to yourself to go to Nashville for a few days. The level of musicianship and songwriting talent in that town is nothing less than mind blowing.
Take Broadway for example. It's the "main drag" in downtown Nashvillle, loaded with famous bars and clubs like Tootsie's, the Stage, the Wheel, Hard Rock Cafe, Margaritaville... with live music 7 days a week from 2pm to 2am. Most of the time, upwards of 5 acts every single day...most of them playing for tips! To top it off, the talent is amazing. I wanted to beg almost every guitar player I saw for a free lesson, but I didn't want to come off too tourist-y.
While we were there we met with our reps at ASCAP, and I joined the Nashville Songwriters Association International (which has chapters all over the US, with one opening in Raleigh very soon).
Honestly, I went there with the delusional notion that people were going to hear the couple "country songs" I wrote recently and immediately feed them to some hungry country artists and put our names on the musical map "just like that"...boy was I wrong. After having the tunes heard by some professionals it's clear to me that I have a little ways to go before I try that again. They didn't hate it all, but their critiques were honest and heartfelt, and after letting it all sink in for a few days their words are clear as day.
I want to give a special shout out to Linda and Sandy, the people who have let me crash with them on all three of my humbling and enlightening trips to Music City. Accomplished performers and songwriters themselves, they know how awesome-and-totally-sweet-yet-difficult-and-soul-crushing this business can be at times. And they believe in me and the Windsor Oaks Band more than anyone I've met in a long time. Serendipitously, Sandy's poignant and personally relevant play (all about a struggling songwriter who gets dream-visits from Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, and Sammy Davis Jr., called All For a Song) opened at a really cool dinner-theatre while we were there. Shonna (my lady) and I went to go see it and we were absolutely blown away. And so were the reporters from the Examiner. Check out the raving review here: http://www.examiner.com/review/chaffin-s-barn-dinner-theatre-presents-world-premier-of-all-for-a-song Thank you, Linda and Sandy, from the bottom of my heart.
So, tell me...Are you a songwriter or just someone who writes songs? At this point I am just someone who writes songs, and it's gonna be a minute before I graduate.
Sincerely all for a song,
Brandon Scott McLean and the Windsor Oaks Band
THIS WEEK IN WINDSOR LAND:
we are back!
1.) Tomorrow - Friday July 19 - World of Beer @ North Hills
2.) Saturday - 7/20 - Chef's Palette in Cary, NC
3.) getting some pirates on board for August 30 at the Pour House
and
4.) ROCKING OUT to Linda's viola-driven version of "I Am the Walrus"
Thursday, June 27, 2013
monkey + dog = best friends forever.
Well howdy there, it's good to have here. When we meet people and get them on our list, we always like to make sure we let them know it's going to be mostly good news, music, videos, and fun stuff. So, without further ado...
Good news: my dad's coming from Rhode Island to visit and spend the 4th with us...if I'm lucky, maybe we can get him to record drums on one of the country songs I've been working on! Speaking of country songs, but not this week but next week I'll be writing to you from Nashville and maybe live webcasting 1X15 at an open mic at the Bluebird Cafe (fingers crossed) on Monday July 1 at approx. 6:15pm.
Music: our whole album is on SoundCloud right now due to the contest: http://soundcloud.com/thewindsoroaksband/sets/tracks-from-take-a-chance I really like Sound Cloud, by the way, and they ain't paying me to say that.
Video: Have you ever seen this crazy dog and monkey? they're best friends. It's amazing. Meet Syria and Roscoe:
watch their news story..I think they're in South Carolina! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdKtr2zw1H0
Fun stuff: KNOCK KNOCK. [reply "who's there?" ]
This week in WindsorLand:
-Friday, June 28 - Woody's @ City Market - Raleigh - 10pm
-Saturday, June 29 - Woody's in Cary - 10pm
-Brandon's Dad Visiting NC from Rhode Island
Summer smiling,
Brandon, Shane and Alex
Windsor Oaks Band
PS
You heard about our video contest right? We're giving $1000 to the winning video...do you make videos? know someone who does? Feel free to forward on...www.WindsorOaksBand.com/videocontest
PPS
ok, just one more of Syriah and Roscoe:
Good news: my dad's coming from Rhode Island to visit and spend the 4th with us...if I'm lucky, maybe we can get him to record drums on one of the country songs I've been working on! Speaking of country songs, but not this week but next week I'll be writing to you from Nashville and maybe live webcasting 1X15 at an open mic at the Bluebird Cafe (fingers crossed) on Monday July 1 at approx. 6:15pm.
Music: our whole album is on SoundCloud right now due to the contest: http://soundcloud.com/thewindsoroaksband/sets/tracks-from-take-a-chance I really like Sound Cloud, by the way, and they ain't paying me to say that.
Video: Have you ever seen this crazy dog and monkey? they're best friends. It's amazing. Meet Syria and Roscoe:
watch their news story..I think they're in South Carolina! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdKtr2zw1H0
Fun stuff: KNOCK KNOCK. [reply "who's there?" ]
This week in WindsorLand:
-Friday, June 28 - Woody's @ City Market - Raleigh - 10pm
-Saturday, June 29 - Woody's in Cary - 10pm
-Brandon's Dad Visiting NC from Rhode Island
Summer smiling,
Brandon, Shane and Alex
Windsor Oaks Band
PS
You heard about our video contest right? We're giving $1000 to the winning video...do you make videos? know someone who does? Feel free to forward on...www.WindsorOaksBand.com/videocontest
PPS
ok, just one more of Syriah and Roscoe:
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