Al Goodwin

As ever I always feel a bit reflective as a year comes to a close. It's been a a busy one what with a a new baby of 5 months now Clarisse and my first little girl Alicia (3) going through a brain scan and thank god she's gonna be ok. Love t.l.c and physio will get us through, enough said.

Somehow I'm surviving the credit crunch and continue to work my arse off as a carpenter, a.v technician and playground installer. At times the pressure to support my family and hold the music together feels it could make me crack.

This thing of giving my music away is really bugging me, I network with lots of people in this new music industry and there are two arguments/views. To give music away that costs money and a lot of effort, sweat and tears to make devalues my art, talent, gift whatever you wanna call it and stops me from being taken seriously, yet others say you have to give something to gain loyal fans/supporters of my music.

The main thing is the music, these songs are precious to me yet they deserve to be shared. I've been told on previous blogs (I'm all over the web like a friendly rash) that I inspire and that is wonderful. As you can see I'm calling this stage a "cyber busk" and their is a choice and I'm trying to achieve a compromise between the two arguments.

To do everything that a label, publisher or publicist would do is a mammoth task. I'm a musician and not a business man but I trust myself and I know the effort is going in, I was looking into paying for PR (£1000 a month)I'd be a fool to do this whilst giving my music away and where the fuck do I get the spare grand from, I could give some tracks away I hear you say but there is a choice of download for free or use i-Tunes and the like.

Watching the payment figures can be at times like a perpetual dangling carrot, yes I have to monitor the distributors efforts as well. Not like me to be negative and of course I'm delighted that more and more people are signing up to my site and downloading and yes some actually pay.

I've been approaching publishers and small labels with regard to getting some other people on board. This would be at a price of course. Who does something for nothing, also you have to watch out for the fuckers that are creaming pounds/dollars of artists like myself for ridiculous services like reviewing music, submissions to career furthering angels, fuck off!, ironic that they are taking money from people that don't have any money whilst deluding them that they will.

I do this because I can and I love the whole thing, gonna ease off the marketing thing a bit and get rehearsing with Keith and TJ who played on the new EP, we have never been together playing the songs as I produced it when they were free to help out. That is gonna be exciting and we'll get a cracking set together to promote the EP and revisit some of the songs from my first album, got some nice new ideas which are comimg together. Writing a new album between work, changing nappies and all the other shit we have to deal with can be a bugger to hold together.

I'm doing it and will continue to do so until I get my just rewards. A new year looms, I'm making the music I love, watching my girls grow.

Onwards into 2010 a new album to record, hopefully the shit in the middle east will sort out and England will win the world cup and I'll fix the damp patch in the kitchen. 

Love and music.

Al, sign the guest book and wish me luck. www.algoodwin.com/guestbook