Full band rehearsal for our mini tour this weekend. Boston Saturday, NYC Sunday!

To Flyer or Not to Flyer - It's Better Face-to-Face

Those of you in bands may have faced this dilemma before. What is the most effective way to promote your upcoming show? Flyers are an old-fashioned, yet tried and true tactic to let people know you're coming to town.

So, with several shows on the horizon, I went down to the Lower East Side yesterday (in the greatest city around, NY, NY) with a purse full of flyers and some freshly purchased mailing tape. (You know, the kind you pay too much for at the post office).

I walked around several city blocks and saw that ATMs and outdated telephone booths (remember those?!) were the areas reserved for posting flyers. I saw flyers for only 2 bands, and the remaining space was taken by cell phone companies, street fairs, and a company promoting CD replication services. I ended up not putting up any flyers at all, and saved a heck of a lot of expensive mailing tape.

Feeling like I had hit a dead end in the goal I had set for the day, I walked around the corner to Rockwood Music Hall, where I was handed a flyer. Hmm, I got to thinking. Maybe getting the word out about your band, concert, etc. is better done face-to-face, or hand-to-hand, for that matter. Who even looks at telephone booths anyway?

The person handing me the flyer was a volunteer for Oxfam, an international relief and development organization that works to solve poverty, hunger, and injustice. They were hosting a benefit concert, featuring three New York-based artists.

What did I learn from this experience? Well, there is something special about personalization. It makes your experience count. Who cares about some random band on some random flyer posted on an ATM. What people respond to, at least what I responded to, was someone talking to me and promoting themselves, their cause, etc. face-to-face.

Busking in Brooklyn

This weekend Jessa and I packed up our gear and headed to Brooklyn to busk at an outdoor farmers market in McCarren Park. Although summer-like days were bookends to Saturday's performance, it was a chilly 45 or so and cloudy when we began playing (should have worn my fingerless gloves!)


The cold weather did not, however, stop people from enjoying the day outdoors. Young families wandered the market with their children, who were mesmerized at the sight of a harp and guitar. We met musicians, social activists, fruit farmers (selling a dozen different kinds of apples) and some passionate dog owners out enjoying the afternoon sun. Among my favorite neighborhoods in Brooklyn, Williamsburg and Greenpoint have a strong sense of community, beautiful parks, an artistic flair, and a sense of peace and quiet not easily found over the bridge in Manhattan.


After our market outing, I am now beginning a portable garden. Our "next tent neighbor" was selling a "garden in a bag," a simple portable gardening system for sprouting different seed blends. Sprouts are really easy to grow in the cramped comfort of a one bedroom apartment (yay, city dwellers!) and are more nutritious than their adult counterparts. I tried a sample of the sprouts with some delicious peanut sauce and bought the garden bag right away (I'll let you know how it comes out).


If you've never been to a farmer's market before (and why not, they are awesome!) visit LocalHarvest.org or another community website and find one. Buying local supports the economy of your community and is better for the environment.

The Power of F.O.C.U.S.

Hello! Jessa just returned from Anaheim, CA where we attended a week-long business conference. I have since returned and my head is swimming with ideas!

I'd love to share some of the pearls of wisdom I took from the conference with you. Please leave comments and share some of your stories, thoughts, and ideas.



PEARL #1 The Power of F.O.C.U.S.

One of the recurring themes of the week was the power of focusing on a goal, a plan, etc. I particularly liked the acronym Follow One Course Until Successful. (thanks Mari Smith!) It's so often that people begin a project or a business or a song, for that matter, and never follow it through to completion!

This week I am going to focus on performing live as much as possible. Last night I got off to a good start and played the open mic at Lucy's in Pleasantville. Then, today, I booked The Callen Sisters at The Living Room in NYC on June 22!

How can you apply the power of focus this week?

<3>

Printing setlists

Rehearsal with our band!

Hunting for Flea Market Gems

Flea market in Chelsea (NYC) ... searching for clothes for our album photo shoot next weekend

Arranging and rehearsing!

Guitar Kitty

The Callen Sisters have been listed in this year's All Music Guide, The Definitive Guide to Popular Music, 4th edition!

See the book on Amazon.com

New Year's Resolutions, Callen-Style

2010!

Happy New Year from Beth and Jessa! For the past few years I've made New Year's resolutions, but this year I think I came up with some really good ones.

* Do something every day that makes me joyful, no matter how basic the activity
* Be present in each moment (whether this means petting my kitties, washing dishes, or playing "Here Comes the Sun")

Backstage at the Bitter End in NYC

Currently Listening To ...

Father Lucifer by Tori Amos.

The track is from Boys for Pele. This song reminds me so much of London. It was impossible to ever be sad while singing in my head "Nothing's gonna stop me from flo-o-o-o-ating." I love the piano part and the beautiful sparse arrangement - - - especially the addition of trumpet (yea James Watson!). What lovely colors!

The Tale of Molten Java and My Shower Curtain

This past weekend we played a show at this sweet little coffehouse called Molten Java in Bethel, CT. Upon entering their restroom, to my delight, I discovered that the curtain hanging from the ceiling, whose job it was to conceal cleaning supplies (I think that's what it was hiding, although I didn't even sneak a peak behind it), was a twin to my very own shower curtain! See image below for visual reference. Exciting, yes, I know. ;-)

Hudson Valley Concert Series

Join us for a concert with our full band in April:

We will be joined by David Gluck on drums, Dan Castellani on keyboards (and perhaps accordion??) and Chris Anderson on bass. Wine and light refreshments will be served before the performance and during a post-performance reception.

One Week Til Memphis

Hey Y'all! Jessa and I are gearing up for the trek to Memphis on Wednesday! (Hence me practicing my greeting with you). We've been invited to perform on Friday night at the ASCAP showcase as part of the 2009 International Folk Alliance Conference. We open the show, which begins at 6:00 - and are followed by musicians from Los Angeles to Galway, Ireland. Jessa and I will play an acoustic set of songs from our debut album as well as two new songs which we are currently recording. We've been laying down tracks for a new record - due later this year on Cordless Recordings.

Joining us on the drive south is Anais Mitchell - check her out online here

We hope you will stop by if you are attending the conference and look forward to meeting you. 

Beth

Airplane in the Hudson River

Yesterday I drove into NYC and brought my Taylor to get repaired at 30th Street guitars. Little did I know, just a couple hours later, a commercial airline plane would be making a crash landing in the Hudson River! It is a miracle that everyone walked away alive, and a testament to the pilot's skill. One of the really touching aspects of the whole event was how many different people, who did not know each other, came together to rescue the passengers. Ferry boats and water taxis, filled with tourists and sightseers, rushed in to help immediately. The bravery and compassion that these New Yorkers showed makes me proud to call this city home. 

CMJ

We had an awesome time playing CMJ on Thursday. Our set was at The Living Room, a sweet singer/songwriter-friendly venue on the lower east side of manhattan. We had the full band there, and started the set with three accordion-laden tunes. We played three brand new new songs during the set that we will record when we go into the studio officially next month! Here's the setlist from the show:

Tangled Up
Like You
No Shelter (new one)
Irrelevant
Reincarnate
Lullaby
My Own Way (another new one)
Life (impromptu)
Between Us (yet another new one)

At the show we had the pleasure of meeting and hanging out with Gliss from LA, and tried to catch their set at The Delancey the following night, but missed them by 5 minutes. I blame it all on traffic and not on my propensity for being late ;-)

All in all, it was a great weekend ... it's fun and exciting to see so many musicians littering the streets of new york city, gathered in their tour vans, lugging guitars and amps and cymbal bags, double parked or searching for a spot. License plates from Wisconsin, California and Ohio, people dressed up and dressed down, whiskey and beer flowing, and an electric vibe of "happening-ness." I love this time of year.

We Signed to Cordless!

Hey all,

Just in case you didn't see the news on our website, we just signed a deal with Cordless Recordings!

We wanted to give you a behind-the-scenes sneek peek at the signing, so we snapped some photos with my camera phone. Check it:







Beth





Jessa





Mark making sure it's official

Our Show at Purchase College

On Thursday we played a sweet show at Purchase College for the first time since we attended as students. I actually can't remember the last time I was at Purchase - - - hmmmmm. I'll have to ponder that for awhile. Abby Payne opened the set with some stellar songs from her new record. The sounds were lovely. I found myself humming some of her songs in my head at the after party.

The Callen Sisters followed suit by debuting three new and as-of-yet unrecorded songs. One is a ballad that Jessa sings by herself. It's a beautiful heartfelt little tune. She played it in the middle of our set on the stage by herself. When the band came back to join her, Chris, our bassist, belted out a hilarious Tom Waits cover.

The other two new songs rocked...partly because I was playing my new ASAT Classic. It is pretty sexy as far as guitars go, I must admit. Here, to your left, is a nice pic for your viewing pleasure.

My new song, as Dave, our drummer, likes to tell everyone, begins in the time signature of 5/8. If that is musician garble to you, just know that it sounds like a funky groove - and it's really fun to play with the full band.

Thanks to everyone who came out to the show. We had fun playing for you and experimenting with the new sounds of the accordion and stand up bass. If you missed the show, then boo hiss! Haha... we are going to be adding a string of tour dates in New England this Fall/Winter, so stay tuned.

Love,
Beth