Music Success: Week 1

Breathe. Breathe again. This moment reminds me of being at the end of the Olympic swimming pool, with my cap and goggles on, standing on the blocks about to dive in and swim a race at the school carnival. I feel nervous!

Why…I ask myself?

Because this is a lot of firsts for me. I am jumping into deep water and in new territory, about to try a whole lot of stuff for the first time, and I am doing it in a blog in public, for anyone to see.

What is this all about?

Well; I am embarking on a nine week challenge set by US music PR guru Ariel Hyatt, called Music Success in Nine Weeks, and it is ‘a step by step guide on how to use social media and online tactics to supercharge my PR, build a fan base and earn more money’.

It involves me rolling up my sleeves and getting down and dirty with this online world, and sharing my experiences with you in regular blogs. It feels very confronting, but I am excited to be moving into the unchartered waters of the digital landscape.

It feels empowering already, as I am stepping onto the blocks and up to the plate and committing to learn more about this landscape myself, not rely on others to do it for me, such as my manager Lorda or music producer/internet consultant Barbara Griffin.

I am welcoming Ariel’s challenge, as I have been feeling more and more ambivalent about social media. I am on twitter, facebook, myspace and Youtube already but have recently felt conflicted about the whole lot, especially twitter and facebook. I need to face this ambivalence head on and get to the bottom of it!

I am sure by the time I get to the end of this challenge I will be in a better position to assess what I feel about social media, as I will have given it a red hot go rather than just dipping my toes in and dancing around the edges.

I have never had any real training with internet technology, or with PR, so this challenge is a first time for me in those fields too. During the last couple of years I have been immersed in recording the album, with my head filled with lyrics and chord charts and time spent sitting in recording/mixing/mastering studios.

Now I will be hopefully expanding my learning curve and gaining new skills in these new areas. Daunting! Breathe

Week one of Music Success in Nine Weeks has got me making lists of my goals. Ariel says that by just writing your goals down, you are TEN times more likely to achieve them!

Well, after having done what I am told, I can report that I already feel clearer about what I want and how I want to use my time. I feel more motivated as I have clear, specific goals with timelines attached. I also like her suggestion of writing down five successes or little victories you have had each day and one can be doing the laundry

With my album now finished and a single and music video coming out soon, plus some gigs on the horizon, there are a lot of things I need to do, and I can feel overwhelmed by it all at times. By writing down what Ariel calls ‘little victories’ over the last few days I am feeling less overwhelmed and realise I am getting things done and things are flowing along in a good way.

So far, so good – I have enjoyed this first week!

Jane Walker

Music Success: Week 1 is a post from: Jane Walker

It has been a busy couple of weeks. Keith Walker (no relation but perhaps a shared distant Scottish ancestor!) has done some further mastering on the album and we have finally chosen the song order. Lorda and I had been going ’round and round’ (to quote ‘Optimistic Gardener’) with various options, true to my Libran sun sign, so that’s a relief Trent Mitchell is editing the video for Do It With Love, which we are all excited about, so it won’t be long now before we have more release news…yay!

video and mastering update is a post from: Jane Walker

I loved performing at National Sorry Day concert 2010 down at First Fleet Park in The Rocks, right next to the MCA. It was special to be part of this event and to give support to the stolen generations and Aboriginal people. Even though it had been pouring with rain all week, we got a brief respite and the rain mostly held off for the concert. Barbs played with me and from the stage we could look out across Sydney Harbour to the Opera House and we ended up incorporating the ferry horns and train whistles into our set. Barbs got to meet Street Warriors for the first time who were as great on stage as ever !

National Sorry Day concert is a post from: Jane Walker

Jane’s next gig is at Notes in Newtown, Sydney on Friday June 25 with FisherKing and Leeroy & Samson. She will be playing one set only at 9pm with Barbara Griffin and James Haselwood so don’t be late In a last minute addition, the wonderful Jan Bangma is playing with Jane for the first time. Meanwhile the recently shot Anina Dress Up/Do it With Love videos are entering the edit phase!

Notes gig and video edit time is a post from: Jane Walker

Jane’s gig at Notes with Ophelia of the Spirits has been postponed due to the State of Origin being on that night: other dates being confirmed at the moment and will be posted soon.

Jane’s next gig at Notes is a post from: Jane Walker

Jane Walker is performing at National Sorry Day Concert Sat May 29 (joined by Barbara Griffin on keys) to mark National Sorry Day

National Sorry Day Concert

National Sorry Day Concert is a post from: Jane Walker

Jane’s filming Anina Dress Up/Jane Walker Do it With Love video clip shoot – right now – watch it live streaming here!

http://apps.facebook.com/fashionnews/home/live

Watch Jane Walker Live Stream from video shoot is a post from: Jane Walker

Getting ready to shoot video this week and creative forces are converging…. clothes, hats, hair, make up, lights, cameras music action! Anina’s creative spark is firing and we’ll be posting more details of the designers and production soon. Will be performing with the wonderful Barbara Griffin on stage with Jane at National Sorry Day Commemoration Concert on Saturday afternoon, May 29. The Sydney Harbour Bridge will be closed for people to walk across and the concert will be in the park underneath overlooking the harbour.

video time…lights camera action! is a post from: Jane Walker

Being Born Again Couture Fashion Show

Just started blogging on this site – check out the new blog about my recent fun at Being Born Again fashion show this week on the blog page. Will be posting details very soon of some new gigs just being organised at the moment

New blog page on this site is a post from: Jane Walker

Being Born Again Couture Fashion Show

I had fun at the Being Born Again show this week… got this snap of Akira Isogawa and Lindy Lee’s gorgeous design and D&Em’s ravishing pink creation. I love the head pieces and dug their choice of music – Bertie Blackman’s recording sounded electric. Bertie and I did a gig together at the Side On a few years ago just before they closed that great venue down.  It was fun having Chris Taylor from The Chaser conducting the auction to raise money for Butterfly Foundation… wish the Chaser was back on tele!  I loved the creativity shown at Being Born Again show… it brought together so many artistic expressions in the one evening. The live music was great and the crazy stuffed toy sculpture mountain was a trip in itself

Had fun at Being Born Again is a post from: Jane Walker