Just wanted to share this old set list I found from late 2003, back when I was still "Johnny Broadway and the Polyester Project". It's funny when you find songs you had completely forgotten about, but you remember how to play them again the minute you're reminded of them...

I'm very stoked to finally show you guys the cover of my next album, Room 213:


The photo was taken by the amazing Bill Vaccaro of Chicago, Illinois. Go check out his photography at www.billvaccaro.com.

The album is made up of 10 stories that all happen in or around the same motel room in Grand Forks, North Dakota. It kicks off with the cleaning maid setting the stage, followed by a couple having an affair, a final road trip before college, a criminal running from the law, the law catching up with him, and lots more.

You can hear current mixes of 5 of the songs in the player on the left of the page. Check 'em out and let me know what you think!

- Johnny

First of all, thanks to Scott Place for putting on the Open Mic Idol 4-week event! Be sure to check out Scott's CD release party on June 11th, also at Dylan O'Connor's (Portage location).

Second, thanks to Unison Studios and Universal Media Solutions for spending 4 weeks judging the event, and for putting up the prizes!

Third, congrats to Dana K who won second place – you sounded great! All the performers were solid tonight!

Fourth, thanks to everyone who came out to cheer me on, it means the world and I really appreciate it!

That's it for now. I'll be announcing some shows dates and other news soon so stay tuned!

- Johnny

I've made it to the Open Mic Idol finals this Monday, June 1st at Dylan O'Connor's on Portage (2609 Portage). Show starts at 8pm. Come out and cheer me on, 20% of our score comes from audience support so you could help push me over the edge! For more info, visit the Facebook event page here.

The prize is a bit of recording time at Unison Studios as well as a CD duplication package from Universal Media Solutions, both of which would be ultra sweet.

See you there!

- Johnny

I woke up today to find a package at my door: Brand new Johnny Broadway download cards. Hot on the heels of yesterday's post about PubMail for sending newsletter emails, these spiffy downloads cards are the next piece in the ad hoc JB marketing plan. Here's a photo of the box of cards, all 2,500 of them:


Despite the grainy cell phone photo, these cards are ultra slick. Thick 16pt card stock, silk aqueous coating, and they were only $115 CAD from jukeboxprint.com.

The trick to making them not just ordinary business cards, but full fledged download cards is the line "sign up for the mailing list and get a free exclusive MP3 download: www.johnnybroadway.com/mailing.list"

I just had to create a page on my website with my PubMail subscribe form, and in the welcome email I include a link to the MP3 download. Couldn't be easier! I now have a great promotional tool I can give away at shows, cafes, or anywhere else for about four cents per card.

The funny thing is, literally a day after I ordered these I got a flyer in the mail advertising download cards from discmakers.com, at the limited time price of 200 cards for $100. I never thought to look for an existing service that provided these kind of things... Strangely, the fine print says you have to order physical discs as well or pay a $49 setup fee, and that it "requires the purchase of a digital distribution package" which I couldn't seem to find more info about.

It looks like there are several differences between my cards and Disc Makers though:

1. Theirs is for downloading a full album, so you would sell the card and not just give it away.
2. I'm using mine to build my subscriber base, which theirs doesn't seem to help with. Instead, you're directing someone to their website instead of yours.
3. There's nothing stopping someone from sharing my download link with others, while theirs is a one-time-only download.

So these are definitely for a different purpose, but similar enough to consider which is your best bet. If your goal is a promotional tool, I think my card is the clear winner. If you're looking to sell an album without the usual cost of physical copies, you'll need to talk to them.

I mentioned that someone could just share the download link, as a promotional tool I would argue that that's still a good thing. It means another person has heard your music and if they like it, they may become a fan. As Oscar Wilde famously said, "The only thing worse than being talked about is not being talked about." You can't completely control the conversation, at least not without killing it, and being talked about or having your songs/bootlegs traded has helped many artists get their start.

Cheers!

- Johnny