What Happens at Verizon . . .

Phone 1: I carry insurance on my Droid 3 I bought over a year ago. Every month I pay an extra bit of money to have that insurance. It covers the usual, as long as it's not something I've done recklessly to the phone it's covered. I am also on the Unlimited Plan (text, minutes, data) that was "outlawed" with Verizon but still grandfathered in.

About a month ago I began having issues with my Droid 3. It would reboot every 10 to 15 mins. I tried all the usual restoring it, etc. Keep in mind I used to be an IT guy so I'm not alien when it comes to hardware and software. SO I figured, "I'm paying for all of this insurance. Let's see what can be done."

I took it in to the corporate Verizon store that's located in my hometown and, lo and behold, they're next-day airing me a "new" phone, which really means refurbished I quickly found out.

Phone 2: I received my new phone and began the process of reinstalling applications, updating everything, etc. Then I returned the old phone to the FedEx Store. Everything seems to be running smoothly. Minor hassle, no biggie. I can take it, I'm not a squeaky wheel.

One week later the phone rebooted and became stuck on the "Droid" splash screen." Couldn't use it, couldn't get past it. I traveled back to the Verizon store.

"Hey, I've never seen that happen before," said the sales associate. We'll overnight you another one.

Phone 3: The new phone actually came in a few days later. Same process. Mailed the other one back. Set everything up again. (I took pictures of my "apps" screen so I could remember what I had on it). Not long into this one some keys on the keyboard began to either not work or double up when I pressed them.

I went back to my friendly neighborhood store. When I walked in there was a gentlemen walking around with an iPad checking customers in.

"How can I help you?"

In a completely calm response, "Hey man. I actually received this phone in the mail as a 2nd replacement for my original phone and I'm having issues with it. I think it could be because, perhaps it's refurbished."

Before I knew it a different customer service representative swept me off to the side of the store, out of earshot of the other customers that were waiting.

"Hi. What seems to be the problem?"

I repeated my initial statement.

"Well you know that refurbished means that someone brought it back because they didn't like it."

I'm an IT guy. I also worked at a Gamestop for eight years I know what "refurbished means." And thusly I replied, "It could mean  that. Or it could mean that it was broken or had an issue and your company's IT guys attempted to fix it."

"What specifically is the issue?"

"When I type on the physical keyboard, specifically the "L" and "P" keys it doesn't register most of the time."

She took the phone from me and started typing on it.

"I'm not seeing the problem."

"You have to type "L"'s and "P"'s."

"Works just fine for me. Show me what your issue is."

"Ok. Watch. I'm gonna type Lindsay Lohan."

And the keyboard typed out "Indsay Ohan."

"I see the problem now. Ok we'll send you another one."

Phone 4: I received my new phone. Same conversion process. Two weeks later the numbers stop working on the physical keyboard.

I venture over to my store. Same customer service representative.

"Hey! Guess what?!"

I showed her the issue. "Ok we'll send you another one."

"By the way, how many phones does this make?" I ask.

"Four."

"Ok, hope this next one does the trick!"

The Phone Call

So there's where I am as far as the store goes. I immediately call the corporate Verizon customer service line and explain the issues I've had. A very nice girl on the other end of the line answered.

I said,"Hey there. I'm not trying to be a squeaky wheel but I've had to exchange several phones because Verizon keeps sending me phones that are pretty much broken. I just left my local corporate store and they're sending me my 5th phone in a month because the last one, the one I'm talking to you on, has decided to stop letting me type numbers on the physical keyboard."

"I'm sorry to hear that Mr. Cribbs. Can you hold on for just a moment?"

"Absolutely . . . "

"Mr. Cribbs? I'm sorry that you had to wait. I'm going to try to troubleshoot your issue and if I can't get it resolved I'm going to forward you over to our technical help, ok?"

Silence

"Mr Cribbs?"

"Yes, I'm here. I appreciate that but here's the deal. The numbers on the physical keyboard aren't working when I type on them."

"Right I understand that, so I'm going to try to troubleshoot with you."

"Right. That's my issue. It's a hardware problem. You tell me to type a number. I tell you it doesn't work. That's pretty much all the troubleshooting there is for this issue."

"Ok Mr. Cribbs . . . umm . . can you hold on for a moment please?"

"Sure."

"Mr. Cribbs I'm sorry for placing you on hold."

"It's cool."

"So, I've looked into the issue and found out that we have a couple of solutions for possibly finding you a different phone."

WONDERFUL! I think. She finally understands.

"I've found out that we have some new phones that we can offer you retail price for if you'd like to stay with your current plan or we can offer you a minor discounted rate but you must change your plan. Do you understand?"

"Yes. I understand that because I'm 'grandfathered' in on my Unlimited plan, Verizon is trying to force their customers to revoke that plan and jump on a new plan so they can collect more money, specifically on data packages."

"Exactly. I'm glad you understand."

"I don't."

"I'm sorry?"

"Nothing. What are the offers that you have on the ones where I don't have to change my plan?"

"Well we have a few here. Two of them are $419.99 and one is 359.99. I'd be happy to tell you more about them if you'd like."

"Wow. OK. Umm what's the OS on the cheapest one. I know it's Android but which one?

"Ok let me pull that up for you. . . .ok . . . ummm . . . yes . . ummm . . .ok sorry, what did you ask?"

"I was wondering what the operating system was on the $360 phone."

"Right . . it looks like it's Gingerbread and/or Honeycomb."

"Those are outdated operating systems by about two updates."

"Right."

"Ok . . .yeah. I'm just gonna wait for the next phone in the mail and hope it works."

SO that's where I am.

Business Cards for Musicians (What you Need)

There are many different opinions on how people should approach their musical career. There are also many so-called experts that like to offer their opinions on how things should work. I'm revitalizing my blog so I can express what methods I use personally in my own career as an independent artist.

On the subject of business cards . . . 


I personally ordered 1500 business cards through Vistaprint. It started off as something like 800 cards but as you're checking out they tend to offer deals etc. I ended up with 1500 for around $30. But there was a method for me having that many cards. I set my cards up at shows, festivals and other events so that people always have something with my information they can walk away with. I've gotten great responses after shows as a result of my cards set up in front of my tip jar.

Glossy vs Matte


Though glossy looks prettiest, I personally go with a matte finish for my cards. This allows any crappy pen or pencil to write various information on the back (which I leave blank).

What to Put on the Card . . . 


Picture vs Logo

This is obviously the big question. On my card, I have an "artsy" picture of myself, that way when people pull that card out of their wallet they can always put a name with a face. Some people put their logos on their cards. That seems to be logical too in regard to branding. I just happen to choose a photo of myself so people can begin to recognize.

Info


On my cards I have my

• Website Address
• Email Address
• Facebook/Social Media Link

And that's IT. Things like phone numbers can be written on the back. This allows you to essentially have a free pamphlet you can hand out to fans without putting too much personal information on it. Hope this helps! Remember, this may not be the right answer but it's my answer to this particular question. Please feel free to leave comments or questions.

Thank you Dave Grohl, I was Listening to Your Non-Auto-tuned Speech

By now, the next morning, we all know about Dave Grohl's acceptance speech for the song "Walk" at the 2012 Grammys. To say the words, especially the last ones, brought tears to my eyes would be close to accurate. If I could have been waving my arms and shouting, "AMEN," right beside him I would have.

I'm a musician. I'm a singer. I'm a songwriter AND I'm in the business. I was thinking the other day about how humorous it was that we're so caught up in the dichotomy of one side of the spectrum saying, "I can't stand when people use autotune," and the other saying, "I just want to dance." Autotune REALLY came into the mainstream when hip-hop and R&B artists began to use it as an instrument. This instrumentation pushed it into the mainstream and then bled into the pop and country side of things. Now I'm not sitting here trying to delve into the history of autotune and how it developed and which people are using it for what and when. I just know that it's being overused in order to put pretty faces behind a muted microphone for sold out shows. I can't tell you the number of friends that have gone to shows and said, "Man, the singing was terrible." And it's not because the bands are touring four nights out of the week. It's because their tracks are auto-tuned on the album, forcing them to not have to hone or practice their craft and when this music is translated live it's the result of either live autotune, a fancy karaoke, or just crappy singing.

I have been working with some people in the music industry I feel merit respect but even they are tired of the autotuning. I've heard many stories from different engineers and producers that state their high-paying clients will sing a line (terribly I might add) and then just ask the engineer, "Can't you just change that during the mixing process?" The engineers and producers actually get excited to be able to work with someone who can sing. Are you serious? Is this what this industry has come to? Then there's the concept of creating music inside the box. This term means that all of the music is engineered on a computer, no mixing board. I was recently part of a seminar for my latest album and one of the students asked the professional engineer if he ever worked inside the box. He replied that was specifically for lower budgeted clients, I understand. Well here's the split. Engineers who work hard on their craft get the best sound when sliding faders or turning dials on a physical mixing board. Not only that, but computers are still limited technologically to what a quality board can do with a quality engineer. I'm sorry, I'm digressing. This isn't the point of this entry.

Here's what I want to say. The ONLY reason the industry is getting away with being able to cookie-cutter a pretty face with "popular" music is because popular music has become silent throughout the past 15 years. It's become an onslaught of digital white-out and constant correction. Guess who controls this mess. Guess. It's the fan! It's the person buying the music. Grohl stepped out on a limb for many of us with that quick 20 seconds and I can tell you, I haven't stopped standing or clapping since I heard it.

Why Biting Your Tongue Matters (A Rant)

We've all been there. That moment where you think you need to enlighten the person in front of you about their flaws. They're sitting at a green light, they say something completely out of the realm of fact, their child is sitting in a grocery cart with just a diaper on and nothing else, the person who leaves a 10% tip for what they rave as "the best service they've ever received." More than likely, they do need to be enlightened. There are a million reasons why you shouldn't. Just a couple:

1. You really don't need that black eye
2. They'll be weeded out of the pool eventually
3. If "that" was just said, imagine what their comeback would be
4. Karma

I've come to the conclusion that the last is the most important. I'm a full believer in karma. I am also a believer that people are inherently good. Hell, I'll bet my career on it. Here's some of my circumstances. Many times in the music industry, some of the musician's "employers" don't quite understand how the game works. I wish that I could even begin to list some of the situations, misunderstandings, and downright rudeness that musicians have to put up with . . . wait a minute. . . I can. This is my blog. Let me see . . . 

Solo artists get a bit more flack than bands but bands get their fair share of flack as well. As a solo artist it seems like the first issue is space. Many times I've arrived at a destination only to be shoved in a corner with my PA, having little or no wiggle room. See attached photo to the left. This area, seems to be a consistency for me as a solo artist.  So here's what we're left with. Despite the fact that we can't move, we are unable to prevent feedback. Why? Because the microphone is dry-humping the speaker.  It's true. That's what it's doing. Another issue with this space is the fact that there is nowhere to put any kind of merchandise. This is ridiculous. I know that I'm being paid a minimal wage from the so-called venue but my objective is to provide entertainment so that I can gain fans who would like to purchase my merchandise. This expands my career and helps me grow as an artist. You telling me that I can, "Put my CDs behind me," doesn't do me any good. People want to experience my merchandise. They want to pick up the album, have a gander, feel the shirts, open them up for sizes, sign up on the email list on a flat surface (not hold it so it floats out to Neverland making it illegible). Guess what else I can't put down. Yep, a tip jar. Speaking of, let's get to the nitty-gritty of the tip jar.

The Tip Jar

I played a gig where there was a bit of miscommunication regarding the tip jar. Here's the deal. If people want to tip you, they'll tip you. Might as well provide a place for them to toss some cash. I played a place where I wasn't allowed to put a tip jar out. Are you kidding me?! Of course the claim was, "What am I paying you for?" As I was unable to collect my thoughts at the time being so flabbergasted I am now . . . shall we say, collected. Here's what you're paying me for:

1. My gas to drive to your venue
2. The maintenance on my car
3. The sound equipment that I play through (when you don't have one)
4. The knowledge of 3-5hrs worth of songs that I play
5. My taste in music that is not my own
6. My own music
7. My instruments
8. My acquired ability to read an audience and know what they want to hear
9. Oh yeah . . . my musicianship

So here's the deal. People want to tip. They WANT to show their appreciation to the musician. This particular gig people were literally throwing money at my feet in the middle of songs because there was not a proper vessel to place said-currency in. Far be it from me to tell them that their money is no good and I won't appreciate it. Musicians, most of the time, make an extra 40 to 60% on average as a result of tips. Usually the price agreed upon prior is agreed upon with the understanding that they'll make up what they actually need in tips. Just saying. 

But let's get back to Karma.

So I've played these gigs, shoved in a corner, no tip jar, my merchandise practically stacked up on the hood of my car. That's the thing. I've played them. I've bitten my tongue in unfortunate circumstances and came out the better musician for it. I've made some of my best fans because they happened to show up at that particular place on that particular night out of pure circumstance. Here's something you may not know. When I finish playing and you tell me how "great" I was and how you can't wait to see me again, there's a little something that goes on in the background. MUSICIANS TALK. There is an inner circle and understanding among musicians to share their experiences with other musicians. If your venue doesn't treat professional musicians correctly, you'd better bet that word will get around faster than you can turn off your neon "Open" sign. Professional musicians are just that, professional. We are not some random group that has decided we want to pop in and pluck some strings/ivories. We expect to be treated as such. 

The Bar Tab

Ok here's one more . . . for now. There is a reason that musicians ask for a bar tab. Ok. You had some issues in the past where you hired someone that you shouldn't have. They got drunk and started messing some stuff up, cursing all over the place, and were even unable to finish their set because they got so wasted. Ready for this? They're not professional and YOU made the mistake of not doing your homework. The reason professional musicians ask for a tab is because drinking is a social situation. When people are at your bar and they see a musician drinking they subconsciously think, Yeah. That guy has a drink. We have a drink. Let's engage in what he's doing. This causes them to stay longer, drink more, and spend more money. It doesn't behoove me to get wasted. I can't sell albums or shirts that way. 

Moral? Stand your ground but make sure you have ground to stand on first. Thanks for the rant. It doesn't happen often. But I needed it.

Keep Driving,

Where am I?

While things seem to be growing on the music front as far a how busy an artist I am, I feel like I've let certain things go (step aside nutrition, organization, sanity). That being said, I'm going to try to keep my blog updated and constant.

A couple of years ago I decided to drop my life into a stew of ridiculousness without doing any research . . . enter the music industry. "Industry" is such a small word considering the monstrosity that it is. But nevertheless I've tried to think of it as a huge pie that I'm just going to nibble on one piece at a time.

Being an independent musician can be a gauntlet of a task and very much likened to golf. It seems that everywhere I go I find musicians and many other people with suggestions for the newest and latest and greatest. "Here's how you should do this instead of doing that." I believe that the key to keeping your head above water is to take the advice and apply it to you that seems to be most relevant. I still don't have any idea what I'm doing. I can't stress that enough. If it seems like you should do it, do it. Gut instinct seems to me to be the best way to make a decision.

I'm working with a good friend and owner of Pimp Slap Studios to create a mobile application for my tour dates, blogs, etc. Pimp Slap is also helping me create a quick and simple new website that should be up in a week or so.

That being said it seems like the Neil Cribbs Trio is in full effect. We have already lined up a number of dates in December and January that can be found on the tour page of the site. I'm also gearing up for a fundraiser to head back into the studio to produce a full length album in January.

Because the FANS are the reason that I'm able to do what I do, I'm listening to the feedback about the most recent album. A lot of people love the energy but miss the raw sound that Marionette captured. So I'm going back to the basics in regard to writing and sound but still sticking with the instrumentation and high energy that was captured in Windshield.

So if you're out there . . . and you are reading this . . . please continue to spread the word and I'll try to keep everyone up to date with my travels, thoughts, and random shots in the dark.

Keep Driving,

Neil.

I've Always Given Love to My Cribblets

A while back I threw up a post on one of my social networking links (Twitter, Facebook) about how I was wasn't going to "make it" in this industry because of anything BUT the fans. The more I play, the more I write, the more I firmly believe that. For the thousands of you that have reached out to help me and my music I wish that I had the time, money, or stamps to send you each a card of thanks. Alas, this will have to do. I'll try to make it as short and sweet as I can.

I'm very much living in the present and understand that NONE of this would be possible without the support of my friends and fans. Being an independent musician can be compared to server/bartender jobs working off of tips or any other tip waged income but the heart of the matter is: I love what I do and the people that help me do it. As much as it seems that I'm out there hitting the road solo in my wee Corolla, I bring all of you along with me.

I wish I had a way to tell each of you how amazing it is to be able to perform songs that I've written and interpreted and see you in the audience smiling, bobbing your head, tapping your foot, and ultimately throwing money my way to purchase an album or a piece of merchandise that I've created. I wish I had a dollar for every person that walked up to me and said, "Keep living the dream." It's that person and every other person who tells their friends about me, comes back singing my songs, and ultimately puts gas in my car, food in my belly, and gets me to the next destination, that allows this dream to be a reality.

Ultimately I AM living my dream, but ALL of you are in this dream with me. For that and for continuing to share the groove with your friends and family I will be forever in your debt. Thank you all my Cribblets and, as always, keep driving.

Well, well, well. Whatdoya Know?

It's becoming increasingly flattering that I've been getting approached by musicians that are just beginning this game that we call the "industry." I'm always more than happy to give advice or tell people what I'm doing or what I've done in order to help create a little ease in someone else's dreams. But it seems to me that there is so much advice out there that there isn't a definitive road in regard to what's right or wrong.

Take this guy for example. Bobby Owsinski. He seems to think that giving your music away is the way to get your music heard. This is the beginning of his article in case you didn't click on the link.

When you're just starting out, your music is worth nothing, regardless of how much time and money you spent on it, because no one knows who you are. If you charge for it, all you do is limit the number of people who might otherwise hear what you have to offer, thereby stunting your career growth. There may come a point in time where you can charge for it, but if you're in DIY mode then that time certainly isn't now.


Well I'm pretty much going to call bullshit on that. I feel, you know as an experienced musician in TODAY's world, that if you begin your career by handing out your music that the actual value of your music and musicianship decreases. A wise man once said to me, if you hand your music out for free at your gigs or whatever, it loses it's value. People are more likely to pop an album into their CD player or Ipod that they've actually invested in. Make sense to me. Granted, if you have a great platform to hand out a song for free it would make be a great way to get some exposure. But honestly. Where are those platforms that have ready-and-willing fans? Where should I go to drop a link for a free song that will actually get heard? . . what's that? Crickets?

I tell ya man his article just goes downhill from there: There's been study after study all over the world that all come to the conclusion that the biggest demographic for music consumption (teens to about 30 years old) all feel that music should be free. What?! Ummm. Kaaay. Well, also gonna have to say a resounding "nay" to that as well. Sure people might want to rip your album. Sure they might want to burn it for their friends. I'm down for that. Hi. My name is Neil Cribbs and I'm a musician. You know how I can say that? I have good fans who BUY my music and my merch. Yeah . . . they BUY it. Ya Dig?

This is the skinny on what I'm trying to say. A good musician came to me with this article and questions. Thank Moses he did. Had he taken this guy's "advice" he'd be out of the game in no time. Talk about starting down a rocky road without shoes. I've read this guy's bio. And, I'm sure, if he has Google Alerts he's beginning to read mine. Sure . . . been in the industry. Taken pictures with famous people. I really don't care. If he can give his two cents, which he has given a way for free go right ahead. I'm sorry I just feel that bad advice is bad advice. I say if you believe in your craft, whatever that may be, and you invest time in it and you're getting good feedback from people about it. Sell it. Believe in yourself. Dreams aren't unattainable. You just have to remember them when you wake up. That's the first step.

Keep Driving.