20 October 2007

First Night...CMJ




Why!?

Doesn't the internet work? Well, it's been unfortunate, but go figure. You live in New York and you're bound to experience some problems.

First off, I need to slightly apologize for not blogging thus far on our journey to NYC for CMJ (the Country Music Jamboree!). Our internet has been down, we've been running wild during the day and it takes about 1 hour to get from our hotel to the inner city of Manhattan. On a scary train. Down a scary alley. Fortunately we're still alive.

So, the whole point of us going to CMJ up here in New York City is to learn what we can do as radio stations to make this world a little better. Dare I say change the world for the better, and if you know me, you know that I'm driven towards changing this world. Start with underground music in Shreveport, then to Northwest Louisiana, then the world. Small steps I'm told. Small steps.

Let's begin at the beginning. That always feels most appropriate. We left on Wednesday morning out of Shreveport Regional airport. We flew to Dallas. Then straight to Newark in New Jersey, which is the landmass known as the states, only to the west of Manhattan (which is the middle).

Everything was pretty ordinary until we landed at 4:15-ish and made a mad rush into NYC as cheaply as we could. We boarded one train. Got off, realized we were on the wrong train. Then got on a new train. Transferred. Turned. Then walked. We were 5 minutes late to the Puck Building to get our badges. They weren't letting anyone in. Nope. Tomorrow. So, what are two kids to do?? Well, keep in mind that through this whole process we're still carrying all of our luggage. Two bags a piece in a city that is bananas with people.

We called Ariane, a super cool promoter from Organic Entertainment and she recommended us going to Club Midway to meet some of the bands. Namely, Billy Harvey. Now, he's a folky-type muscisian with a great attitude and a pret-near amazing flash site. CHECK THAT OUT!

We talked to him out on the street and met his manager. Now, Barry (the manager) is a funny man that's lived in NYC his whole life. For reference, Billy Harvey's from Austin. We spent a considerable amount of time out on the street and then went into the underground venue for the main show (Billy obviously). We met two kids from Hammond's college radio station. We stayed at Organic's party until 10. Then we decided it might be good to check into the hotel, much less just find it!

Took us an hour and a half and boy were we tired. But we found it. Crashed.

on iTunes

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Billy Harvey's whole Organic Entertainment/CMJ Showcase performance is here on YouTube...
http://www.youtube.com/profile_videos?user=elyeager&p=r

- Savvy1007 -

Jon Schleuss said...

yay! glad he changed his clothes for this youtube video!