New Member - first listing, first forward!

[rezloh]

I'm pretty happy to have been forwarded on the first listing I responded to as a new member - S070207MS. I'm hoping this will bode well for me with TAXI and that I'll start seeing fruits of my effort with my latest album - its been getting quite a nice response since the release in January.I understand that I'll probably have to wait awhile until hearing any response (if ever) from the forward but I'm wondering if there's a general ratio of forwards to some actual action/deal/$$ that some of you long-timers have zeroed in on...Anyhoo, I'm pretty psyched and thought I'd share FWIWBest,~rwww.robholzer.comwww.myspace.com/robholzer

[gitarrero]

hi rez,congrats to the forward - you passed the first step.I don't think that there's any responsible ratio concerning forward/deal or even $$ - too many factors are involved here. remember, taxi is out of the game once they forwarded you, than it's up to the listing-starter to contact you.the best way (in my point of view) is: get as many forwards with high quality material as you can get - that increases your chance of getting a deal.cheers,martin

[rezloh]

Thx Gitarrero - I did some reading through the forum yesterday and got alot of great info on what my expectations should be - particularly from Matto who has provided a great deal of insight on these boards it seems. Thansk again for the help.Best,~r

[gitarrero]

yeah, you can defenitly learn a lot on this board, so did I.

[rezloh]

Just got another forward with great feedback ...hmm 2 for 2 - I think I'm going to like Taxi We'll see.~r

[tonyrichards]

congrats man ... I checked out some of your songs on myspace .... yer good dude ... real good ...all the best to you man

[rezloh]

Thanks a bunch Tony ...separately from Taxi, I just got my first licensing deal from another company so I'm feeling real positive about the album - the response has been great.Best,~rwww.robholzer.comwww.myspace.com/robholzer

[gitarrero]

hey rob,just listened to your myspace page - well done work, well played & produced!did you do all by your own (all instruments, production), or is that your band?cheers,martin

[rezloh]

This was done professionally in a studio in NY on my shoe-string budget. My very good/old friend and wicked rock producer Jon Kaplan (former bass player for The Hatters, now producer/engineer for Gavin DeGraw, The Damwells, Lola Ray, etc.) did me a solid favor taking on my project and I was fortunate that I have great musicians around me - this is my band now that I play live with when they can make my shows as they're all very in-demand guys (Nir the drummer was in Genesis and did John Mayer's first 2 records and now is playing with Chris Cornell, John Caban the guitarist plays with Richard Bona regularly among others, Justin on bass has his own great band "The English Department" when not playing with me and Scott Metzger, guitarist, plays with everyone from Warren Haynes to Stevie Winwood). It certainly helps when you got a crew like this - necessary when you do what we did - 9 songs in 2 days in the studio (I laid down additional keyboards later along with more percussion from Nir and guitars from John - I did the vox separately in my home studio and other home studio setups I borrowed). The 10th track for the album is a cover of Leon Russell's "A Song For You" - the Donny Hathaway version has been one of my favorite all-time records and I made my attempt at it - recorded it solo in one take at home one night soon after finishing the studio sessions and everyone dug it so it closes the album and I'm happy with it. You can hear all the songs from the album on Broadjam at www.broadjam.com/robholzer "Savior" and "The Heart of our Lives" have spent over 4 months on their Top 10 in the Rock/Roots category and "Brother", "Precious Time" and "Love Song Serenade" have all rotated through ...don't know if that's saying much with Broadjam, but hey I'll take it.Like I said, overall the response has been fantastic. Where I am in my life (ripe old age of 37) I'm not looking to be a rockstar, but I'm happy that I finally made the album I knew I always could - completely on my own terms. In this day and age with all you can do with licensing and reaching so many people through the Internet, the entire definition of success with music has changed and I'm looking to find success this way and see what happens ...I guess my $0.02 learning experience from this album project is to get the best musicians you can and work hard on the pre-production before going into the studio so the songs are as tight as possible. I will always recommend getting the right guys to execute your vision - that was the ticket for me. We really all clicked together in an eerie way as well and made an "instant band" over those 2 days (read my blog entry about it on MySpace for the full story and all the crazy synchronicity) - the best illustration of this was the assistant engineer in the studio turning to Jon K. somewhere close to midnight the first day of tracking and asking him how many years the band had been together Whoa - long post ...thanks for listening Martin (et. al.) and if you like what you hear, please pass it on!Best,~r