Ch-ch-ch Changes…

Hello MIDWEST!

It’s great to be back! We have been very quiet and very busy lately. We just wanted to let everyone know about the recent changes at MIDWESTpeeps, mostly to our website. Through the last 6 months we have been experimenting with a blog style format for MIDWESTpeeps.com, and have learned a couple lessons in the process…

The first lesson learned is that we aren’t bloggers. We like to have open lines of communication with you, and we want to share our thoughts and ideas and talk about shows or bands that are exciting, but we have found that websites such as Facebook work much better, and allow us to really interact with you. We thrive on this interaction, so from now on the blog will no longer be updated. The MIDWESTpeeps Facebook page will be the spot for all the MIDWESTpeeps news, information about upcoming shows, tips for bands, and much more.

The second lesson we learned is that most of the time when you visit MIDWESTpeeps.com you go right to the store, so now when you go to MIDWESTpeeps.com you will be taken to our band new store. We have been unhappy with the way our store looked and was organized for quite some time, but had not found a suitable replacement, until last month we discovered a great tool on the web, Storenvy. I am sure once you take a look at our new store, and what Storenvy has to offer, you will be quite pleased with our decision. Expect a few minor cosmetic changes to happen in the coming weeks, and enjoy the much cleaner looking website. We hope to have the contest winning t-shirts printed very soon, so expect an update about that it the coming weeks.

We hope you like the new look of MIDWESTpeeps.com. We are getting back to our roots as a clothing company who is passionate about the MIDWEST and its community, music, and art, and are excited to be back on track.

Stew Art Series – A New Interactive Experience

From Umphrey’s McGee’s blog, The Floor:

Have you ever wanted to “conduct” an Umphrey’s McGee jam? Ever wished you could broadcast your thoughts to the band to help influence the direction of a Jimmy Stewart? Are you curious about the band’s improvisational thought process during a jam and want to gain greater insight while participating directly? Well, here is your chance as we are pleased to announce the Stew Art Series (S2).

An (S2) event is an experiment in crowd-sourced improvisation. One hundred percent of the music performed at a (S2) event will be improvised, and you are the ones who will serve as directors. Using several communication mediums – which could range from text messaging to prewritten cue cards to chalk boards – you will kick out ideas, descriptive words, phrases, pop culture references . . . pretty much whatever comes to mind. These will be presented to the band who will compose jams on the fly based around those ideas, and ideas will be added to, changed, and deleted as the event progresses. For instance, a fan might toss out the phrase “frightened rabbit,” causing the band the play a frantic, nimble jam and after a period of time, the word “rabbit” might get changed to “brontosaurus” which would take the jam in a heavy, slower direction (though the word “frightened” is still in play). Then perhaps the word “skydiving” morphs the “frightened brontosaurus” jam into a soaring, powerful piece of music that evokes the feeling of being airborne . . . until the phrase “without a parachute” gets tacked on which changes the jam into something else entirely. And so on. No one will have any idea where the music is headed, well, and that’s all part of the fun. The event will also include a Q&A session to provide an opportunity to ask about what you’re witnessing (or ask anything else for that matter). Fans will become a part of the music like never before.

To be clear, each Stew Art show is a TOTALLY separate event than the scheduled concert date and will be sold as a separate ticket – getting a ticket to (S2) does not get you into the show later that night (and vice versa). The (S2) experiment is just that, an experiment. We view this as an opportunity to explore methods of band and fan interaction and collectively discover what works best. The details of each event (cost, size, length, method of interplay) will vary depending on venue size, our costs, and the goal for each experience. But space will be extremely limited as intimacy is paramount. Some of those details will be made public before each show while others will remain a mystery until the show unfolds. We want you to help us determine how the events can best evolve and grow to their potential.

As part of your ticket (which will actually be a custom laminate that will be different for each (S2) event), every attendee will receive an autographed CD of the Stew Art Series they attend minutes after the event has concluded. The Q&A will also be included on the disc as we will be recording your questions for posterity (we are not sure if that’s for your posterity or for ours). You will get to see some classic venues as you have never seen them, empty and in the day time. And on top of that you will get treated an entirely improvised light show by lighting designer Jefferson Waful. We will make sure you stay hydrated and even have some munchies to replace the calories you’ll burn while pushing the band to explore new ground.

Expect an announcement about our first Stew Art Series event soon!

Expect to hear our thoughts on this GROUND BREAKING announcement in the next couple days. This is  a game changer!

Think Social Media Is A Fad? | Jason Bradford

more about "Think Social Media Is A Fad? | Jason …", posted with vodpod

Our 100th Post! (New Shirts and New Shows Content!)

It’s a celebration, bitches! We have finally reached our 100th post on WordPress, and to mark this milestone we are proud to announce the winners of our Vote for Your Favorite Shirt contest on Facebook. So without further ado… (drum roll, please)

Your GOLD MEDAL winner is Rock Corn V2

in second place with the SILVER MEDAL is Bobby on a Pony

and last but certainly not least, with the BRONZE MEDAL is the MIDWESTpuzzle

…and there you have it! Now I bet you want to know when you can get your greasy little mitts on one of these bad boys… Well, we decided to make them available in VERY LIMITED QUANTITIES and release them once a month for the next 3 months. So basically there will be a September shirt, an October shirt, and a November shirt. More details and pricing to come soon.

We also have our first MIDWESTpeeps presents even in quite some time. The Werks and Ladymoon will be performing together September 19 at Papa Pete’s in Kalamazoo, MI. Show starts at 10pm, 18 and over, and it’s $5 at the door. Please join us won’t you?

Thanks everyone, and STAY CLASSY!

MIDWESTpeeps Social Media Series – 3 BIG Reasons Your Band Should Be On Facebook

*This is the first piece in the MIDWESTpeeps Social Media Series, or MWPSMS (what can I say, we love acronyms) for short. Over the next few months, we’ll be looking at different websites and platforms, and talking about how to leverage them for your band. Throughout this series we will be coming from both a fan’s perspective as well as a business perspective.*

Sorry everyone, but we want to talk to BANDS for a second (though this applies to pretty much everyone).

WHY DON’T YOU HAVE A FAN PAGE ON FACEBOOK?!

Seriously. I’m not talking about groups here, I’m talking about a fan page. EVERY bands needs to go to Facebook as soon as they finish this article and set up a fan page. Hell, do it RIGHT NOW. If you need help, don’t hesitate to send us an e-mail. You are missing out on a huge opportunity to get your name in front of as many eyeballs as possible, and to cash in on the superior features Facebook offers you. I understand the love affair some of you may have with MySpace. They let you post your music, and the design is pretty easy to customize with HTML. I never go there, and when I do I feel like I don’t get the same satisfaction, the same interaction, that I do on Facebook’s platform. There are 3 BIG reasons to spend more time with Facebook.

1) INTERACTION. I love being able to ask questions of our fans and get answers. This is NUMBER ONE for a reason. I think it’s as important to engage your fans as it is to do anything else you do. Be real. Connect. Talk. INTERACT. After all, these are the people that support you, these are the people that make you, and these people probably have good advice. You may not like what they have to say all the time, but take it with a grain of salt, and in the end you’ve built a community around your band, which is an important factor in your growth.

2) THE NUMBERS. Facebook has taken over MySpace in the number of people using it on a regular basis. You need to position yourself to be where the action is. I’m not telling you to leave MySpace behind, but make sure your represented well on Facebook and cashing in on all of the eyeballs. I know I would rather be at the party with 100 people shaking hands than the party with 2 people.

3) EVENTS. Event Invitations and so much easier to use and distribute on Facebook. With Facebook, you get an almost natural viral spread to not only your fans but to your fans friends. These events can show up in your fans and their friends Highlights on the Facebook main page for weeks, giving you a great chance to cash in on new eyeballs, and gets people used to your name. They may not know why they know your name, but having someone remember your band name, even if they have never heard you, is a good thing.

So, there you have it, the first article in the MWPSMS. In our next article, we’ll be talking about the 3 BIG reasons your band should be on Twitter.

MIDWESTpeeps presents The Werks and Ladymoon Sept. 19th

MIDWESTpeeps Presents
The Werks wsg Ladymoon
Saturday, September 19th 2009
Papa Pete’s
502 S. Burdick
Kalamazoo, MI 49007
10PM | $5 | 18+

MIDWESTpeeps presents The Werks and Ladymoon

More information to come!

MIDWESTpeeps Video Made on Animoto.com

Hoxeyville is This Weekend!

Thanks to everyone who participated in the Hoxeyville Music Festival Ticket Giveaway. It’s always a pleasure for us to give to the community, and we hope the winners come back with lots of great memories! Have fun this weekend!

Hoxeyville Ticket Giveaway Winners!

Earlier today on USTREAM.tv we gave away some tickets to the Hoxeyville Music Festival, and here is the video. This was fun so expect more in the future!

more about "Hoxeyville Ticket Giveaway Winners!", posted with vodpod