Dear IFS Readers,

I hope this email finds you well.

Today I was poking around CDBaby and noticed on Top Sellers this
week:
http://cdbaby.com/topnow
that IFS Reader the BROBDINGNAGIAN BARDS: brobdingnagian fairy tales
CD was the 3rd best selling CD on CDBaby.
http://cdbaby.com/cd/bards6

So I picked up the phone and called my bard buddy, Marc Gunn to find
out if he knew and how they did it. The brobdingnagian fairy tales
CD is their newest release, they sent CDBaby over 100 CD's then he
sent out notices on his email lists and blogs telling folks about
their new CD and asking them to drop by CDBaby to order one. Marc's
curious to see if they'll pick up some incidental traffic and CD
purchases. Marc told me that fans want to help you a lot. Give them
an opportunity to help you. Marc said Ari Koinuma produced the CD, he
met him on Craigslist http://www.hashimusic.com/ari/index.php

Marc's quit his day job to do music full time and he's also been
working on "Irish Drinking songs for Cat Lovers"
http://www.catdrinkingsongs.com/

Good luck guys,

Ande

Be sure you check out the
http://txsongwriterscruise.com/

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Why aren't YOU getting cuts?
1) You might need to write better songs
2) You might need to create better demos
3) You might need to play the song placement game better
4) There's a lot of competition
There's hundreds if not thousands of writers who are doing a great
job

To check out a sliver of your competition
drop by these sites and have a listen.

http://www.puremusic.com/az.html
http://www.puremusic.com/az2.html
http://www.puremusic.com/listenindex.html
http://www.puremusic.com/archives.html

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I was bouncing around and noticed that Lori McKenna got 3 cuts on
Faith Hills latest CD.

Until now singer/songwriter Lori McKenna was a largely unknown
talent, then Faith Hill's included three of her songs on "Fireflies,"
including the title track.

Hill said discovering McKenna's songs put the whole album on track.
When she found McKenna's work through publisher Melanie Howard
(HarlanHoward.com) and scout Missi Gallimore, Hill called her co-
producers and told them she wanted to go back in the studio.

McKenna writes from the perspective of a woman old enough to have
seen enough of life to have been disillusioned and inspired by it.
The first song of McKenna's that Hill heard, "If You Ask," is one of
the three she recorded.

Hill said, "I really felt like I could interpret these songs. I feel
like I wrote them."

Lori's website
http://www.lorimckenna.com/

An interview with Lori on Puremusic.com
http://www.puremusic.com/lori1.html

PDF of the full interview
http://www.puremusic.com/pdf/lori.pdf

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Today I was reading in the austin statesman about a woman who wrote a
song about lance armstrong called "Je T'aime Lance"
www.jetaimelance.com

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The Recording Academy®
Texas Chapter Presents

A GRAMMY® Producers & Engineers Wing Professional Development Event

TEXAS STUDIO SESSIONS: Austin
Featuring Al Schmitt-The Art of Recording
Friday, July 29, 2005
Austin City Limits Studios, 2504 B Whitis Avenue, Austin, TX 78712

From the '60s to today, Al Schmitt has recorded and mixed over 150
gold and platinum albums, received 26 GRAMMY nominations and 12
GRAMMY wins, and worked with artists such as Ray Charles, Jefferson
Airplane, Steely Dan, and Neil Young. Come learn this industry icon's
technique for recording and mixing GRAMMY-winning productions at the
famous Austin City Limits Studio.

This half-day session begins with networking, followed by a moderated
technical discussion demonstrating the art of recording vocals and
piano, featuring Chris Gage and GRAMMY Nominated blues artist Marcia
Ball. This session will give insight into professional tricks of the
trade, demonstrating how the right professional equipment, combined
with engineering talent and experience, can equal unparalleled sound
recordings. The event will conclude with a party in the Austin City
Limits Studio featuring music from Marcia Ball and Chris Gage.

Texas Studio Session Schedule
1:00 p.m. Registration and Networking-Meet Session attendees and
representatives from AMD, Brook Mays Professional, JBL Professional,
Luminous Sound Studios, MSR Systems, Rupert Neve Design, The
Recording Academy's Producers and Engineers Wing, Sony DADC, Solid
State Logic and Yamaha

2:00 p.m. Studio Session with Al Schmitt, featuring music from Marcia
Ball and Chris Gage

5:30 p.m. Music Industry Mixer-Invite a guest and join us for this
post-session party featuring the music of Marcia Ball and Chris Gage
at the Austin City Limits Studios

Registration:
Recording Academy Members $25
Non-Members $75
Students (with valid student ID) $25

**Enjoy all the benefits of a membership in The Recording Academy;
join for $100 and attend as our guest! Go to GRAMMY.com and click on
the Join Us section today!

Space is limited and pre-registration for the workshops is required.
Register now, call 512-328-8176 or e-mail Texas@...
<mailto:Texas@...>

SPONSORED by: AMD

PARTICIPATING SPONSORS: Brook Mays Professional, The Austin
Chronicle, Luminous Sound Studios, 7 UP, SONY DADC & Yamaha

EXHIBITORS: JBL Professional, MSR Systems, Rupert Neve Design, Solid
State Logic

To learn more about The Recording Academy Texas Chapter and the
Producers & Engineers Wing, go to GRAMMY.com.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

I finally heard from my buddy Halie Loren

Halie Loren Newsletter –

July 19, 2005
www.halieloren.net

Hello out there!

Welcome to the first issue of my brand-new newsletter—so new, in
fact, that it hasn't even been given a name yet (look for that
addition in the weeks to come).

I'm going to try to start sending updates out to everyone who is a
fan of my music, who has been a fan in the past, or even those who
don't know my music yet but are still interested! I'll keep them
short and simple and mostly informative, and creative graphics will
be added later when I figure out a format and as time permits. I
welcome all feedback, and I'm looking forward to hearing from many of
you.

She's Legal:
First, the really big news – I am now officially 21 – Yay! So far
the only advantage I've noticed is I can actually go into the venues
as a patron that I once could only perform in… BIG difference! :)

Music Updates:
Now that's out of the way, on to other important things…like music!
With school out for the summer, I'm finally getting back into playing
gigs more regularly. BIG thanks to everyone who's been coming out to
hear me perform—I really appreciate your support. I'm having a great
time and am starting to feel as if I'm finally forging my own musical
path. I try to keep my website up-to-date concerning upcoming gigs
and other news, so feel free to check things out anytime at
www.halieloren.net.

I'm steadily working on recording a solo CD that more closely
reflects my new musical direction. I've been doing the project
pretty much solo up to this point, including most of the music and
the recording/producing (a new-found passion of mine), so it's taking
longer than I had anticipated. Starting in August, a few more
musicians will be joining me, and I'm looking forward to that phase.
My goal is to have it completed by the end of September, and I'll
certainly spread the word as soon as it's finished.

I've also been recording a fundraiser CD project called "…for the
Love" with a group of amazingly talented musicians (Matt Treder, Paul
Wurster, Jason Palmer, Brian West, Ankush Vimawala, Mark "Mo"
Schnieder, and Dave Burham). Our group is collectively known as "The
SGC Project". The songs are mostly covers, but there are a couple of
my originals included, all selected for their "positive message"
themes. The CD's almost completed, and we'll be having an awesome
concert on August 25th to celebrate and, hopefully, to sell lots of
CDs. It's all for a good cause (funding for the Spiritual Growth
Center's music program), so come enjoy the live music and maybe even
buy one of our CDs! See calendar below for more details.

The Songwriting Muse never lets me rest, and the longer I live, the
more life experience I have to draw on for inspiration. I need to
hurry up and complete both of these projects so I can start tackling
a new generation of songs… now that I'm perceived to be an adult by
everyone (except rental car companies), I should have a whole new
stash of adulthood-inspired things to write about. Like being knee-
deep in college debt, and other uplifting stories. :)

I did have a nice surprise in mid-June when I was informed that one
of my songs (`What We're Fighting For', Co-written with Larry Wayne
Clark) had won first place in the country category of the Pacific
Songwriting Contest. The prize was $1,000, which this college girl
can put to good use! It was a surprise and an honor to hear the news
straight from the contest's sponsor, singer/songwriter Deborah Wai
Kapohe at the Contest's New Zealand office. You can hear my song as
well as read more about the 2005 and upcoming 2006 competition at the
Pacific Songwriting Contest website,
http://www.pacificsongwritingcompetition.com/. They have been
featuring another song that I entered called `Sand', which was
especially well-liked by the judges… This is an awesome songwriting
competition—brand new and fully supporting emerging
singer/songwriters needing exposure. `Sand' can be heard on my
website, www.halieloren.net.

I'm hosting a series of `Songwriters in the Round' at various venues
around town. I always enjoyed watching this kind of event during my
stay in Nashville, and for some time I have wanted to get something
similar started here in Eugene. You can see the dates/places/times
on calendar below. KEZI will be doing an interview with me this
Friday (July 22nd ) about the `In the Round' I'm doing that Friday
evening as a fundraiser for Relay for Life/American Cancer Society.
If any of you are up by 6:00 a.m., tune into to KEZI/ABC Channel 9…
I'm even supposed to sing that early in the AM… my solution will
probably involve staying up until I get home from the interview
proceeded by a very long nap and LOTS of coffee.

There's plenty more to share, but I think I've said enough for now—
it's only the first issue, after all! I'll be dishing out more news
in the next few weeks, in case you just can't get enough. :)

If you're receiving this, it means that you are either someone who
has expressed an interest in receiving my newsletter, or you're a
friend who I've decided needs to know more about me! If that's not
the case, please accept my apologies and reply to let me know you'd
like to be removed from my mailing list—I'll be happy to oblige.

Best wishes to you all,
Halie Loren
www.halieloren.net

~ ~ ~ ~ ~
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Write on,

Ande Rasmussen
AndeRasmussen@a...

http://songramp.com/ande
http://www.AndeRasmussen.com

512-217-2728 cell

835 Martindale Falls
Martindale, TX 78655

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