The unexpected success of "Fill The Sky" has spawned tons of other peripheral stuff that also requires a lot of time and effort such as interviews, endorsements, and guest appearances.
A lot of people don`t realize that the guitar is a great melodic instrument, and can easily take the job of a singer. You can take a vocal melody, play it on a guitar and make it just as expressive or more so.
I play instrumental blues and rock. Freddie King`s instrumental records really had an impact on me. I can`t sing but those records showed me there`s still a lot you could say without vocals.
My latest album was self-released and to be honest I completely forgot that there was even an option of being on a label. I never attempted to send a disc anywhere asking to join a label.
My first CD with my name on it was self-released. They recorded me for free so I would have a product out but it is a live CD, recorded in a club on a night I didn`t know I was to be recorded.
In general, my newest compositions are always my favorites. Creating is what it is all about for me. I rarely go back and revisit old pieces. My current material is always representative of where my head is at musically at any particular point in time.
I recently posted a couple of tracks on Soundcloud and my track "Atomic Shadow" went bananas with over 50,000 listens within a couple of weeks. That was the largest single networking event I`ve experienced.
It`s having different layers on songs - melodies and different time signatures under melodies - that makes songs interesting. It´s cool when you are able to find new things from songs after listening several times.
Although social media can be great to connect with fans, who knows when Facebook or Twitter will disintegrate? My advice to other musicians would be to not put all your eggs in one basket, especially if you don`t own that basket!
The upside of the democratization of music production is that anyone can create and market their own music. The downside of the democratization of music production is that anyone can create and market their own music.
I personally think that since everything is in HD today, it gets too clear sometimes, and then, the enchanted atmosphere is not there.
RadioAirplay.com - there is nothing like getting your stuff heard and getting new fans. It costs but it works and does generate interested fans who like your music.
Dan McAvinchey is a guitarist and composer living in Raleigh, NC.
He believes every musician or composer has the power to write, record and release their own music.
