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What To Bring To The Road Rally (2019 Edition!)

Posted: Sun Oct 14, 2012 10:46 am
by Casey H
What To Bring To The Road Rally

People are always asking what to bring to the road rally and there have been many great threads and posts about that. I thought I’d revisit this and summarize my thoughts for 2019. Additional comments and suggestions are very welcome! :D

OK, here goes…

* An open mind

* Pen and paper

* Business cards… Most important item probably! Make sure it has your name, email address, phone number, and a link to your BEST music (Soundcloud, Box, Disco, etc.) . Simple is fine.! READABLE is most important!

* CDs…. This is one of the most discussed subjects. What kind, how many, etc? There are 4 main reasons to bring CDs. You can use the same CDs for all purposes or make different ones.

Note for ALL CDs regardless of purpose: Always make sure your track list, name and contact information (email and phone) are on both the outside packaging and the CD. These things can get separated. This applies to envelopes as well as jewel cases. When I do envelopes I use a computer printed stick-on label with that info. Track lists on packaging are very important. Once a CD is in a car player, for example, the listener can’t read what’s printed on it. NEVER put your track list ONLY on the CD.

I find that for the RALLY, envelopes are better than jewel cases because of ease of packing both for you and anyone you give a CD to. If you are an artist with fully packaged, mastered CDs in jewel cases, that might be an exception. Of course, for everyone else, having some in jewel cases for “special” contacts can’t hurt. Just use those sparingly.

Back to those 4 purposes…

-1- Give to industry contacts. Becoming less and less of a thing nowadays but still happens occasionally. Chances are you’ll give out WAY LESS (maybe none) of these than you might think when coming for the first time. Certainly be prepared with maybe 10 for THIS purpose but keep in mind that making contacts, exchanging business cards, and following up later (such as a week later) usually works best. Industry folks at the rally get inundated with folks handing them CDs. They probably toss a lot of them in the trash. Running up to these people and shoving CDs at them is a bad idea. If you meet someone at the bar or some other setting, strike up a conversation and they ask YOU for a CD, that’s a good time to give them one.

These CDs should obviously have your absolute best work. You don’t need a lot of tracks on them because you either wow them with the first 1-3 or forget it. At least make sure the first few tracks are the best ones. That’s what will matter. (If you absolutely need a recommended number of tracks, I'd say in the 3-8 range).

People always ask if it’s OK to put tracks on CDs that are already signed exclusively. Opinions vary on this but MY opinion is since you are often trying to show what you CAN do, it’s fine. If you get contacted about one of those tracks, you can tell the other party the track is signed but you can write more like that for them.

-2- Give to your mentor (one on one session, in case they ask) and the mentors at mentor lunches. IF you attend a mentor lunch ("Eat and Greet"), most mentors will take CDs from everyone at each table. So for EACH mentor lunch you attend, assume 5-6 CDs from your stash. There are also 2 special listening sessions for ARTISTS ONLY that require CDs.

-3- Dropping for listening panels. Many will want to drop CDs in the boxes for random selection for listening by an A&R panel. Taxi provides stick-on labels for this purpose whereby you can indicate the genre and track number. So you CAN use CDs from the same batch as for #1 above (then bring a few more) or you can make a few one song CDs just for this purpose. Although after the panels it is possible to get your CD back, it’s very hectic and crowded so you should consider any CD you drop for a panel as expendable. Plan on NOT getting it back. You may or may not. NOTE: 3 out of 4 listening panels since 2018 do not take CDs, songs are picked from special Taxi listings. Members only. The Happy Ending Pitch Panel towards the end of the rally takes CDs, members and non-members.


-4- For use in a class. In some classes, you can hand CDs up to the instructor who will pick some from the audience, listen and comment as part of the class. Again, you can use CDs from #1 above and put a note on it as to which track or bring a few one song CDs for this purpose. You’ll probably get these CDs back after the class unless the instructor loves your song so much they ask to take the CD. It happens once in a while.

***Read all 4 of the above as a guide to how many CDs to bring.

* Lyric Sheets and Rubber bands. In classes whereby you drop a CD for the instructor, you will be asked to include a lyric sheet, folded up, and attached by rubber band to the CD. This may also apply to mentor listening and feedback sessions.

* Lead sheets- lyrics and chords. This is only if you may want to do a song at one of the open mics and want to ask a friend to sit in and perform with you. Then these come in handy.


That’s all for now… I’ll come back with edits and additions per corrections and suggestions.

:D Casey

Re: What To Bring To The Road Rally (2012)

Posted: Sun Oct 14, 2012 12:55 pm
by boatrider
thanks for this post Casey, see you there...!

Re: What To Bring To The Road Rally (2012)

Posted: Mon Oct 15, 2012 8:01 am
by onelight24
Thanks Casey, great post as usual!

Cheers,
Vincent!

Re: What To Bring To The Road Rally (2012)

Posted: Mon Oct 15, 2012 9:30 am
by RonKujawa
Very helpful. Thanks, Casey!

Ron

Re: What To Bring To The Road Rally (2012)

Posted: Tue Oct 16, 2012 4:01 am
by eddied
Thanks, Casey! This was exactly the info I was looking for.

EddieD

Re: What To Bring To The Road Rally (2013 Edition!)

Posted: Thu Aug 15, 2013 4:46 am
by Casey H
As we get closer to rally time, I thought I'd bump this old post of mine... People are always asking, "What should I bring?" Our good friend Mazz always mentions (and I concur!) that business cards are the most important thing. :shock:

Please feel free to add additional suggestions.

:D Casey

Re: What To Bring To The Road Rally (2013 Edition!)

Posted: Thu Aug 15, 2013 5:12 pm
by kclements
Great info, as always Casey -

And don't forget the "dots"

cheers -
kc

Re: What To Bring To The Road Rally (2013 Edition!)

Posted: Thu Aug 15, 2013 5:20 pm
by Casey H
kclements wrote:Great info, as always Casey -

And don't forget the "dots"

cheers -
kc
Yes! Thanks KC for reminding me! Forum members should wear dots on their badges. This way we can quickly find each other in the sea of people. Any cheap colored stick on dots you can buy at stationary stores such as Staples will do. :D Sample courtesy of Dave Walton Enterprises, All Rights Reserved. ;)

Image

Re: What To Bring To The Road Rally (2013 Edition!)

Posted: Fri Aug 16, 2013 1:56 am
by PeterD
GREAT info Casey!! Thank you!
I'm assuming the badges will be handed out at a registration table?
LOTS to know. I don't want to ruin my first time by doing the wrong things.
:)

Re: What To Bring To The Road Rally (2013 Edition!)

Posted: Fri Aug 16, 2013 1:51 pm
by Casey H
PeterD wrote:GREAT info Casey!! Thank you!
I'm assuming the badges will be handed out at a registration table?
LOTS to know. I don't want to ruin my first time by doing the wrong things.
:)
Yes, you get your badge when you register at the Taxi rally registration desk. The registration line opens on Thurs around 5pm (check exact time)... People start lining up pretty early in the day and hang out on line all day. A lot of friendships are made just waiting in line. It's a party to itself.

Here is a short video clip filmed at the registration desk last year: http://youtu.be/TFwprS_L6tg :D

;) Casey