Monthly Archives: July 2014

Blues, Country, Folk, Great People, Great Songwriters, Music, Roy Elkins

Nashville Joe – The Unconditional Friend & Songwriter

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Nashville Joe (Nashvillejoe) by Roy Elkins

Nashville Joe at the opry 2Over the years, I have had the honor to get to know so many great people through the web and specifically through our website, Broadjam.  Most of whom, I have never met.  One of those great people, and probably the most popular on our site, is Joe Hendrickson of Punta Gorda, Florida.

Nashville Joe - Roy Elkins

Every time I see a post from Nashville Joe, I smile. He always has something positive to say about everyone he meets in person or on the web. His profile photo is of him sitting on a tractor holding a can of something with his personality showing through his smile.

Nashville Joe - Roy ElkinsHe has uploaded about 35 or so songs and one of my favorites is a song called Christmas Blues.  He continues to be one of our top reviewers as well with over 2000 to his credit.  He is one the most prolific reviewers in the 15 year history of Broadjam.

When one looks at his profile, you can see he is a well loved guy.  In just the past week alone, his comments page is an ongoing conversation with the “Who’s Who” of Broadjam – PGO, Diana Rasmussen, Hank Thomas, Julia Schmidt, DeDe, Cyndi Corkran, Earl C. Webb, Tappin’ Tommy, Penny Towers and Marie Preston.

Nashville Joe - Roy ElkinsWhen one gets the idea for a website , they can only hope for members like Nashville Joe .  With all of the negative issues that plague the internet, Joe brings a bright spot into so many lives on a daily basis.  He is an unconditional friend to so many people he has never met in person.  Thank you Joe for being who you are and bringing so much positive energy to so many.

Press & educational links – Hangout June 6, 2014, “Blanket” Music Licensing, Industry Projections, Celebrating Sonic Foundry, A Music Platform, Project Famous – Great Photographer, Models of Opportunity: How Entrepreneurs Design Firms

 

 

 

 

 

Community, Great Organizations, Great People, Madison, Roy Elkins

Willywash Project – Madison City Creed

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Willywash: Below I have posted the Madison City Creed for the Willy Wash Project. Please note this was transcribed grammatically “as is” from the original.  Roy Elkins

Here is a link to an article the Willywash group.

Yahara River WillyWash

I BELIEVE IN MADISON, The Four Lake City.

I BELIEVE in her PAST achievement, in the men and women who created and conserved that I might produce and earn, enabling me to buy and pay, in the courage of her pioneers whose wisdom and foresight built between these lakes a well – planned organic city, every foot of whose ground is worth in gold its market value because the brain and brawn of man has added wealth to nature’s own endowment.

I believe in the reality of her PRESENT, a present that combines the push and friendliness of the newer West with the reflection and poise of the older East, a present which makes her the distributing center of one of the most productive agricultural sections of America, the heart of the richest dairy region in the world, the location of going industry and commerce, and the focus point of miles of railroad trackage, that converges into this hub like the spokes of a wheel from nine directions, a present that makes her the seat of the government for forward Wisconsin, the home of the state university that spells freedom and utility, and the birthplace of so powerful an influence for the well-being of humanity that thousands are attracted annually to this center of achievement in democracy.

I believe in her ability to become the FUTURE, a city of even greater influence and power, a city destined to become the abode of one hundred thousand people, where the poor shall be less unhappy, the rich less self-satisfied, for the one shall have a more intelligent understanding of the other; where jails shall be empty of prisoners, streets clear of beggars and neither shall the aged in want be cast upon the charity of strangers; a city where friends shall be true friends; neighbors real neighbors; a city where the strong shall really sympathize with the weak; where there shall be even more respect for those who have traveled the longer road; and even more hopeful confidence in the promise of glowing youth; a city where progress shall be the result of retaining the good of the old and accepting the tried of the new, where co-operative competition shall be the ideal in trade, live and let live the slogan of business, serve others well to successfully serve self the policy of industry and commerce; and finally, where each and every citizen shall be a community builder in fact, as now in name.

AND I PLEDGE TO MY CITY a more complete understanding of her problems, a more liberal conception of her limitations, a more hopeful attitude toward her possibilities, a more generous contribution to her needs, and a more active participation in the broader functions of her citizenship in order that my city may become a greater credit to herself, to Wisconsin, to America and to God because of my having lived in Madison, “The Four Lake City.”

If you would like to get involved in the Willywash project, please go to the Willywash website or leave your comments here.

 

Press & educational links – Hangout June 6, 2014, “Blanket” Music Licensing, Industry Projections, Celebrating Sonic Foundry, A Music Platform, Project Famous – Great Photographer, Models of Opportunity: How Entrepreneurs Design Firms

 

Great People, Music

Great People – John Aguilera

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Great People – John Aguilera

John Aguilera Great People

Today was John Aguilera’s last day at Broadjam.  Better known as Pistolero, John has been with us for almost five years as our graphic designer.  To say he was just a graphic designer would be an understatement as he did so much more for the company. He handled lots of incoming member requests and was always lending a hand to other projects outside his are of expertise. After graduating from Madison Media Institute, he joined Broadjam as a cataloguer and quickly demonstrated his ability and desire to take on more responsibility. He has been talking about moving closer to home for some time now as his folks are several hours from the Broadjam offices. Although he won’t be working with us day-to-day, our guess is that he will still be assisting in some capacity once he gets settled.  He is one of those people that everyone just likes to be around and it won’t be the same without him. Here a few thoughts from some of his co-workers:

John Aguilera Great People

We’ll miss John for several reasons. He’s always been a hard-working, fun member of the office, and up for a joke. I’m not sure who I’ll talk wrestling with now… I may have to finally inundate my wife. Here’s wishing John a bright future and plenty of opportunity – he deserves it!  Anthony

John Aguilera Great People

John Aguilera. Helluva nice guy. Young and fun (always great to hear his stories of Madison Millennial nightlife!), reliably positive and easy to get along with, but the best part was that he was full of hidden talents that revealed themselves when you needed them the most.

One day we were talking about graphic design and out of the blue, he’s just like, “You know, I’m pretty good at graphics.” And I’m like, alright, “why don’t you make a banner ad?” And he did and it was awesome, so he quickly became the go-to guy for graphics. When I was working on a video for the Broadjam YouTube channel, he goes “You need any help? I have a degree in video production.” WHAT?! I’d already been here for months working on stuff, when I had a guy that was extraordinarily capable right here! From then on, he became a go to partner in creating the content behind Broadjam.

It was a pleasure working creatively with someone so talented as well a the kind of person that you want to crack open a PBR Tall Boy with at a show!

 John Aguilera Great People

One of the greatest parts of working with John was watching his graphic arts skills blossom at an amazing speed. I’ll also miss John for the great spirit and fun that he brought to the office. Pistolero was good-natured about all of the joking around I did at his expense. I know this because he never did deliver that stinger that I deserved on so many occasions.

Matt

Watching John interact with everyone in the office as he is just awesome to work with. His conversations with Matt were hilarious at times. He can dish it out and takes it with grace, but most of time just ignores the pile drivers coming his way. The more I worked with him, the more I realized how talented he is. He is probably one of the nicest colleagues I’ve worked with and will be greatly missed by all of us.

Roy

Press & educational links – Hangout June 6, 2014, “Blanket” Music Licensing, Industry Projections, Celebrating Sonic Foundry, A Music Platform, Project Famous – Great Photographer, Models of Opportunity: How Entrepreneurs Design Firms

Great Organizations, Great People, Great Songwriters, Music, Music Business

Dallas Songwriters Association Annual Songwriting Contest

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Dallas Songwriters Association Annual Songwriting Contest - Grand Prize Judge Roy Elkins

For the past several years, I have had the honor of being the Grand Prize Judge of the Dallas Songwriters Association annual songwriting contest.  In my opinion, the DSA is the premier songwriting organization in the country.  Not only do they hold their grandaddy songwriting competition annually, they hold numerous other events monthly that are all focused on perfecting the craft of songwriting. In July alone, there are 7 events on their calendar including open mics, song swaps, a workshop, a showcase, a cultural exchange and they’ve just launched their annual contest. Congrats to Barbe McMillen and the entire group at the Dallas Songwriters Association as the organization is celebrating their 27th anniversary in 2014.

This year will be the 10th year I have been involved (I think it’s 10) in the Dallas Songwriters Association contest and some of the best independent songs I have ever heard came through this competition. As I was creating this blog, I was looking at the reviews from the previous years.  My guess  is that I have written about 100 or so reviews about the top songs. Kudos to the writers as I remember just about every song in the list.  Lots of good memorable stuff.

Below I have posted some of my favorites that I found links to on Broadjam.

Do You Believe by Jay + Tonic, Delete by Noel Cohen, No Hard Feelings by Shane Martin, Hell Freezes Over by Liz Miller & Tom Stipe, The Morning You by Andy Taylor, My Devil Does by Will Hopkins and Dig Into Reading by Randy Sauer.  These are just a few of the winners.

Dallas Songwriters Association Annual Songwriting Contest - Michael George Band on BroadjamMy favorite to date is still Here’s To Love, by the Michael George Band.  It’s a song about peace and done so tastefully with a deep baritone voice.  No matter what mood you’re in when you listen to this song, you will feel at peace by the end of it.  That’s the brilliance of it. This is also in my personal all time favorite playlist.

Here is the winners blog for further reading.

If you would like to read reviews of other songs, please visit Onliner Notes.  Lots of great songs and feedback is featured there.

If you are a songwriter, whether you live in Dallas or not, give the contest a shot. You can enter it here at Broadjam. If you live in Dallas, get involved with the Dallas Songwriters Association and you will become a better songwriter.

Press & educational links – Hangout June 6, 2014, “Blanket” Music Licensing, Industry Projections, Celebrating Sonic Foundry, A Music Platform, Project Famous – Great Photographer, Models of Opportunity: How Entrepreneurs Design Firms

 

Community, Madison

Willywash

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WillyWash by Roy Elkins

WillyWash is a great example of how a forward thinking group of folks can get together and make something significant happen. They met at the Student Union on the UW campus in Madison, Wisconsin and discussed many things. The focus of this meeting was to develop the area between the capital and the Yahara river into a music and arts district.  The southern border would be Willy Street and the north would be East Washington, hence the name WillyWash.  The group was born.

Yahara River WillyWash
Yahara River on Madison’s East Side

All kinds of ideas for this project have emerged including a performance venue, a charter school, a themed based restaurant museum, music rehearsal spaces and street performance venues.  But the primary idea is to create an artistic zone where Madison citizens who enjoy music, can live, work and play in.  The movers also hope to attract tourists and new high tech business to the area as well.

High tech businesses are attracted to culturally creative environments. If there is a strong artistic nightlife, there is a work force who are intelligent and creative. Many tech start ups are in the process of bringing lots of young and talented people to the workplace. They need a place to play and live as well and that’s what the WillyWash initiative is all about.

Madison is ripe for this kind of development as the city is growing and the music scene is rockin’.  Recently, the Madison Area Music Association hosted their annual awards show and the talent has reached a new level. Here is a link to the winners list and another to the a review of the multi-winners.

They WillyWash “movers” have made a choice to make something happen. If there is a movement with a potential return on investment, the capitalists will be there.  Numerous projects have already been launched and many more are following.

Please visit the WillyWash site for more detail. It’s amazing what a small group of citizens can do.

 

Press & educational links – Hangout June 6, 2014, “Blanket” Music Licensing, Industry Projections, Celebrating Sonic Foundry, A Music Platform, Project Famous – Great Photographer, Models of Opportunity: How Entrepreneurs Design Firms