More inspiration from Mindy Gledhill. This time it’s a chance to win $50 and a free CD! Read on.

What I’m trying to do is formulate my “perfect pitch”, a phrase or slogan that describes my music in an appealing way. Below I’ve listed several adjectives in an attempt to reveal all the feelings and vibes that I am trying to create with my music:

* bright
* quirky
* light-hearted
* fun
* jovial
* emotive
* catchy
* uplifting
* nostalgic
* energetic
* hopeful

Now, let’s look at my other lists.

Singers I sound like. You said: Don McLean, Israel Kamakawiwo’ole, Jack Johnson, James Taylor, Tom Waits, Paul Simon, John Denver, Ghostwriter, Buddy Holly, Chris Isaac, Elvis Costello, Brian Wilson.

Here are some of my influences:

* Author and book: Neil Gaiman, Neverwhere.
* Film: A mostly unknown movie Fandango starring Kevin Costner.
* Composers: Vivaldi, Debussy, Mozart.
* Growing up: The Beatles, John Denver, Jim Croce, Fleetwood Mac, Linda Ronstadt.
* As a teen: Led Zeppelin, Paul McCartney, Muddy Waters, Hound Dog Taylor, John Lee Hooker, The Police.
* Currently: Mike Doughty, Jake Shimabukuro, Marcy Playground, The Beatles, Glen Phillips, Cake, Jack Johnson, Colin Hay, Rocky Votolato, Gomez.
* Poets: Charles Bukowski, ee cummings.
* Painters: Mostly contemporaries like Jeffrey Jones, Kent Williams, George Pratt.

Using these lists only as a guide, I am inviting you to have a stab at writing my pitch. If I use yours, I will send you $50 and a free copy of my album, “Ukulele Jim’s Authentic Down Home Marital Aid.” Remember, this is short and sweet. Your pitch must be posted by 10:00 p.m. MST, on Sunday night February 28.

Some examples of artist pitches are:

Mindy Gledhill – “Music that recalls the sweetness of Ingrid Michaelson and the quirk of Regina Spektor, Mindy Gledhill will leave you floating like a scoop of vanilla cream in a strawberry soda.”

John Taglieri – “If Vertical Horizon and Third Eye Blind got hit by Train!”

Devil Doll – “Jessica Rabbit meets Joan Jett.”

My music can be sampled here: http://ukulelejim.bandcamp.com

Don’t hold back. All ideas are welcome! Entries must be posted in the comments section below. Ready, set, GO. And thanks!

I’ve decided to take a cue (and an idea) from Mindy Gledhill by trying to figure out what defines me as an artist in the minds of my fans and potential fans, aka “my brand.” I haven’t done much with branding myself as a musician, aside from using the name “Ukulele Jim” — which, in retrospect, may end up hurting me more than helping. I may have boxed myself into the “novelty” arena rather than trying to appeal to the masses as a “singer songwriter.” But hopefully I can get past that “too late now” hurdle by developing a bit of branding that I can use to market myself better.

As Mindy explains: “so many artists (and people in general for that matter) are not specific enough about who they are and what people can expect from them. When people I meet learn that I am a recording artist, they almost always ask what genre I sing and who I sound like. Many artists (including me, at one time) want to believe that they don’t sound like anyone else out there, but I have learned that potential fans lose interest if they can’t walk away with a firm idea of what you stand for.”

These words are well put, and they have inspired me to try and find my own brand and come up with the perfect pitch. Like Mindy, I’m hoping that having a pitch will help me define myself to fans and important people in the music industry.

This is where I need some objective help from you. The first step is to try to figure out where my music fits.

So I ask you: What artist(s) do I most sound like? And as a bonus question: What genre would you define my music as?

(If you’d be so kind as to leave your opinion in the comments below . . . Thanks!)

This might be my last post for a while, too. If you want updates on what’s going on with me, you can follow me on Twitter. I tend to update there way more than here.

I’ve tried submitting my two albums to them, and they rejected them both times. I am not allowed to resubmit my music for inclusion on their service… apparently they consider stuff one time and then it’s rejected forever.

They gave no explanation why they rejected my music. It’s professionally produced, it spans several genres, there’s comparable music out there, so what’s the problem? Is it just not good enough? I have no idea. I can assume based on what I’m seeing elsewhere online that Pandora simply doesn’t accept independent artist submissions. If you’re indie, if you’re unsigned to a major label, you’re unwelcome.

The only other way (based on what I see in the FAQ) to get my music included in their private club is to have fans write in and request my music :

“How do I suggest music if it’s not already on Pandora?

When you try to add a song or artist to one of your stations, or try to create a station from a song or artist, and Pandora doesn’t recognize it, please let us know!

Send your music suggestions to:
suggest-music@pandora.com”

So then I reached out to my fans for help, asking them to send an email requesting that my music be added to their catalog, just as the FAQ says. But even after several hundred such requests from fans, friends and followers, Pandora came back and said “no” yet again.

They’re response was actually, “We appreciate your fans writing into request your music, but we cannot re-review your music at this time.” Still no answer as to why. In fact, I was told, “As a policy, we choose not to discuss these matters on why we pass on certain albums.”

In other words: we don’t support independent artists, fuck you very much.

I think their policies are exclusive and shady, but that’s their business I guess. At least there are more progressive services out there like Last.fm and others.

If Pandora rejected your music, post a comment and let me know. I’m curious as to how many others have had this happen to them.

Did you get your copy of my album yet? NO?? Well, now’s your chance. I’m offering the album for sale at ANY PRICE until the end of the month. That’s right, you decide what you want to pay! Download the album for as little as $3 or $4, or $5 if you feel like being nice to me, or only $1 if you’re cheap, or get it FREE if you’re really broke like me!

Pay whatever you feel it’s worth.

This offer is being extended only to my friends and fans on Facebook, Reverbnation, and readers of my blog — and only until the end of the month!

Head on over to ukulelejim.bandcamp.com to buy the album today and name your own price!

http://www.tricornpublications.com/uke_player.htm

The album is available from iTunes, Amazon, eMusic, Napster, and any other online music retailer you can think of. And it’s cheap. So please buy one.

Hey there. As some of you know, I play the ukulele and sing and stuff. And over the last year or so I’ve been writing some songs and putting together an album. I’ve posted many of the demo tracks here on my blog and some of you seemed to like them, so I thought I’d give my blog readers (all 5 of you) an update and a special deal.

The album “Ukulele Jim’s Authentic Down Home Marital Aid” has been submitted to online retailers such as iTunes, Amazon, eMusic, Rhapsody, Napster, etc. It won’t show up in the online stores for at least 4-6 weeks. In the meantime, I want to offer those of you who happen to read this an early jump at the record and a discount.

For the next week or two, I’m making the entire album available for only $5 through the Snocap digital store. That’s half of what it will sell for everywhere else.

I’m not going to tell many people about this special deal, but I definitely want to share it with all of you who are reading this because you rule.

So, if you’re interested, head on over to the Snocap store and check it out. The songs are MP3 format and DRM free. You can preview each track, and if you want you can get them individually for .99 cents or get the whole album for only $5 bucks.

If you do end up buying the album or one of the tracks, please come on back and post a comment here with your opinion. I’d love to know what you think of the music.

And sign up for my mailing list! I’ll occasionally send info about new songs, albums, exclusives, shows and other news. I promise I won’t spam you or sell your information. Honest.

Recently I’ve started work on a children’s album that will be called “Ukulele Jim and His Jumping Flea Circus” with songs mostly written for my 3-year-old twins but also with the idea that other kids might like them, too. This is an early version of the title song.

(And in case you weren’t aware, the Hawaiian word “ukulele” roughly translates as “jumping flea”, due to the action of one’s fingers playing the ukulele resembling a jumping flea.)

Anyway, press the ‘PLAY’ button on the widget below to check it out.

What do you think of it so far?

Rate it!
Note: There is a rating embedded within this post, please visit this post to rate it.

Oh, and if you know of any Flash animators who would like to make a video for this (and are generous and willing to work for super cheap or even free), please let me know!

I wrote this for my lovely wife Lisa as a gift for our anniversary, which is today. Thirteen years married, twenty-two together as a couple.

(It was raining really hard outside my window during this… some of it is audible, especially at the end.)

Here’s to you, darlin’. I love you.

Happy Valentine’s Day.