anyone ever heard of...

[Alex003]

the Taxi Road Rally?



I get to go this year. im stoked!

[gatorjj]

Oh yeah! I wish I could make it this year...but there's always next year. Let us know how it goes!!!

J.J.

[Alex003]

Have you been before? i haven't. Im interested to see what it has in store

[Alex003]

I'm leaving tomorrow! Ill post some pictures when i get back

[jamienelson]

I went last year. It was great. I can't make it this year. Have a great time.

[Wedgebill]

I went last year. It was great. I can't make it this year. Have a great time.

Ahhhhh, you must be that Jammy bloke Tim was on about :rolleyes:

[jamienelson]

The ever elusive one, himself.

[Alex003]

That was great!! Tons of useful information....i think i took more notes in that weekend then i have all year at school lol

That was great! I really liked the internet marketing class.

I was there as Recording Magazine Staff so there will be an article written by me in next months issue reviewing the rally! Thatll be sweet!

[jamienelson]

Cool, I'll look for your article in next month's mag.

[Alex003]

It'll be the fade out...on the last page. Glad to hear there are some subscribers here!

[gatorjj]

Okay man, lets see some pics!

[Alex003]

ah they are all on my dad's camera...ill post as soon as i bug him enough to put em on my computer

[Alex003]

Well i just wrote the article. It will be the fade out for the January 2009 issue.

This is my article thus far: (Keep in mind it hasn't been edited at all yet and i still need to write an intro for it)
What do you think? its my first time writing for a mag.

"Taxi Road Rally 2008 I found out walking into the door was going to be an amazing experience, but no words can describe the feeling I had after the weekend on my way out. The line for registration spoke for itself, filled with talented songwriters with various goals and genres, all in one place. The rally is like a backstage pass the to the music industry’s inner workings. It was a huge eye opener to me to see how every thing REALLY works. My experience there was nothing short of inspiring. After i got back from the rally, I really wanted to call in sick from school for an entire week just so I could lock myself in my studio. I took more notes there in that weekend then I think I did all year at school! Yes, you learn that much.

The opening ceremony had a special Taxi VIP there to welcome everyone. He went by the name of Lamont Dozier. I thought the interview with him was an awesome way to kick off the weekend. As Dozier said, "Everything you do is a collaboration." He told us some of his tricks of the trade. One thing I think I am going to now incorporate into my music is critiquing it a week after I write it. He taught me that sometimes when your writing a song your in the heat of the moment when you trash it or start to call yourself a genuis. Take a deep breath, step back and critique it the following week.

What I liked about the rally was the fact it was all about freedom of choice. With a huge list of classes taught by the industry’s finest, you could be in the ballroom for listening, a classroom writing notes like you have never before, or simply talking with hundreds of like-minded song writers in the lobby. Possibilities are limitless. I can take as many or as little classes as you desire; I make my own schedule.

I found the mentor lunches although very loud and crowded, very rewarding. The mentors that cycle through the tables all seem to be nothing short of, well, successful. And that is in short supply these days. I found the other taxi members at my table can also be very useful to talk to. Although they may not be a label, or producer I still learned a lot from other taxi members.

I was lucky enough to get signed up for the one on one mentor sessions before they were all taken. I chose a mentor off a huge list that specializes in my genre. My mentor was Fuzzbee Morse. His bio read: "Instrumental, Jazz, Pop, Rock, Raggae, Film & TV - Composer/producer/Songwriter/Multi-instrumentalist who has played with Bono, Frank Zappa, Peter Gabriel, Lou Reed, Aaron Neville and many more. He has had songs and scores in many films and TV shows with Paramount, ABC, 20th century Fox, Comedy Central and labels such as A&M, Universal, Epic, Geffen and Warner Bros." How would you like to have that guy listen to your music? He critiqued a song of my choice, and I think he nailed it. In the ten minutes I had with him he gave me hours of work in the studio to get better.

Then there were the open mics every night. My first night at the rally I had no idea what to expect out of these, which is why I decided to not try it this year. There were alot of musicians that really blew me away, then there were some others who weren't as prepared. Either way I felt the environment was very warm to play in. Everyone in the crowd obviously knows the feeling of being on stage infront of a ton of people, and alot of them were very talkative and encouraging to those performing. I was really surprised at how humble everyone was in the room. Next year I am for sure going to try the open mics, now that I know how to prepare for them.

My favorite panel that I attended was taught by Derek Sivers and Ariel Hyatt. It was a class on effective ways to market your band, build a fan base and make more money from fans. Alot of it was on internet marketing. A cool concept i walked out of there with was to bribe your fans. Most people are always saying, "Well whats in it for me?" Ariel suggested to reply with something like this, "How about you sign up for my email list and you get to download a free mp3." Another good panel was taught by Ariel Hyatt, Vikki Flawith, Debra Russel, Dean Krippaehne and Derek Sivers. This panel was called "Fear Factor: Removing the Roadblocks to Your Success." My favorite concept from that panel was "Lets see what happens if..." You complete the sentence. I learned to use that phrase, and just let go and experiment with everything.

There was a panel called, "Pimp My Song." This was with Ralph Murphy who is a hit songwriter and VP of ASCAP. There were a couple brave musicians who stood up and played a song they had written. Afterword Murphy would critique it and tell them what to do to make it better. Mostly ways to, as he put it, make it appeal to women. So he told everyone how to change the lyrics to do this, and then had them perform it the next day revealing the changes they made. That was really cool to hear some of the changes, all for the better in my opinion.

Taxi doesn’t promise miracles. They keep it real as far as making money in this business. No fake promises of success, or false beliefs. With a ton of hardwork, and some luck, who knows what can happen. I feel like Taxi certainly has the potential to help me out with the luck category. I walked away feeling like an expert. The following days at school my jazz and guitar teacher had me lecture the class! I felt like the rally gave me a HUGE step ahead of everyone else.