Freddy’s house of unedited rambling...

Modern independent musicians have more tools available to them than ever to make music, and get it out to the public.  For a little bit of money, anyone make a reasonably good recording.  Once you have songs recorded, it's even easier to distribute them to the public.  Given the size and diversity of the online community of music lovers, it's no surprise that almost all artists can find some people who like their stuff.  But what if that's not enough for you?  What if you want music to go beyond a hobby, and reach more than a handful of fans?

If you want your music to have the widest possible appeal, your songs must be really strong, melodically and structurally.  If you want to catch the ears of labels, publishers, radio program directors, or anyone else in the mainstream music industry, your songs must be well-written and tightly arranged, and they must be undeniable.

My good friend Michelle McAfee helps artists who need advice and an honest opinion about their music.  She has worked as a staff writer at Warner Chappell, she has been through the major label machine as an artist, and she now works in A&R.  People in the industry trust her opinions about music, because she knows what labels and publishers are looking for.  She knows the mainstream music industry as well as, or better than, anyone I know.

Michelle has recently started offering her consulting services to independent musicians, and I want to spread the word.  She hasn't asked me to do this, I'm not getting paid, and I'm not one to endorse something or someone I'm not passionate about.  If you want to work with her, be prepared for honest opinions and constructive criticism.  And if you take her advice, your music and your chances in the music business will improve.

If you're interested, please contact mcafee.michelle@gmail.com

The voting time for the CMT/NSAI song contest has been extended to March 8th!

To vote for my song Massive:

1.  Go to www.nsai.cmt.com
2.  Scroll down to "Massive" by Freddy Litwiniuk
3.  Click on 'Vote for this song now'
4.  Click on the button next to my song, and hit 'Vote'!
5.  Repeat until your wrist is sore.

Thanks!

And if you want to always be in the loop, join my mailing list!

I'm in the finals on the Country Music Television (CMT)/ Nashville  Songwriters' Association International (NSAI) Song Contest Listeners' Choice Award.  My song 'Massive' (listen below) was chosen from over 3000 songs to be in the final 15, and it is the ONLY non-country tune there.  Please, help me win!

No registration required!

1.  Go to www.nsai.cmt.com
2.  Scroll down to "Massive" by Freddy Litwiniuk
3.  Click on 'Vote for this song now'
4.  Click on the button next to my song, and hit 'Vote'!

That's all you have to do, and this time you can vote as many times as you wish.  You've got until March 1st.  And feel free to tell all your friends - I really appreciate your help!

Thanks!

Freddy

On Sunday, February 17th, tune in to Energy 101.5, today's best music, in Calgary to hear an exclusive interview with me, as well as 2 tracks from my new album Doublespeak.  In the Calgary area, just tune your dial to 101.5 FM at 9:30 p.m., MST.  For fans outside of Calgary, or those who want to listen online, go to the Energy 101.5 website and click on 'listen live'.

The interview was entirely unplanned and off-the-cuff, but it was a fun time, and I'm glad to have the support from radio.  It was also nice that they sought me out.  For those of you in the UK, I know that the show will be on at 4:30 a.m. on Monday, so I don't expect that you'll be listening!  But I will try and get a copy of the interview, and post here or on my website, or both.

And I have lots more to tell about my Nashville trip, and I'm going to write about a very good friend of mine who knows the music business incredibly well.  She's got some great advice.

I've been in Nashville for nearly 3 weeks, and I've been having a great time.  I've met some great industry people, I've made some new friends and caught up with old friends, I've performed with my sister Holly a couple of times, and I've enjoyed being here.  There may be an opportunity for me to extend my trip, which I would gladly do.  The people here have been really friendly, and the southern way of life gets to be very attractive.  Life seems to go at a slower pace here, and politeness and manners are not lost or forgotten the way they can be so very easily in a wildly busy city such as my hometown of Calgary.

Yesterday, we took a drive out to the Loveless Cafe for lunch.  This famous cafe and former motel on the outskirts of Nashville is touristy, but definitely worth the trip.  Like many southern-style restaurants, they serve things like fried chicken, meatloaf, country ham, and all-day breakfast.  The meal starts with biscuits, hot and fresh, with butter and preserves.  But these biscuits are famous, and well-regarded as being worthy of a challenge from celebrity Chef Bobby Flay.  Rarely do things live up to their hype, but in this case I have to say that the biscuits were incredibly good and worthy of their praise.  My question is, are the heart attack rates in the southern United States higher than in other parts of the country or the world?  I mean, a meal of biscuits with butter and jam, fried chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, macaroni and cheese, and possibly a slice of delicious pie, while delicious, is not exactly what could be considered healthy.  But it most definitely can be considered delicious.  And if you ever find yourself in Nashville, you will find many southern restaurants, diners, and cafeteria-style meat-and-threes at which to eat this kind of food.  You will also find any other type of food from around the world, and healthier options, in case you're trying to maintain your rock star figure.

After lunch, we decided to go for a drive.  To Alabama.  It was a beautiful, warm sunny day, do we hit the interstate and drove as far south as we could while we still had daylight.  It was cool, but we didn't get to see too much.  On the way back we drove through the countryside.  The scenery is nice around here, but not nearly as nice in winter as in the other seasons.  There are lots of great day trips to do from Nashville, such as a drive to Memphis to see the King and the home of the Delta Blues, which we have already done.  Or a drive to Lynchburg to the Jack Daniel's distillery, or to Kentucky, Missouri, the Carolinas, Louisiana, Florida, etc.  In about seven hours, you could be in New Orleans, or on the white sand beaches of the Gulf Coast.

It's a cool place, and I wouldn't mind living here, especially when I get word from home that the temperature has reached -30 degrees today.  And with wind it feels more like -50.  Meanwhile, I am loving Tennessee in short sleeves.

I've been visiting my sister in Nashville, and she has Guitar Hero.  It is awesome, so naturally we've been playing it as much as possible.  But the other day my sister was flipping out after playing the game, so I asked her what was up.  She told me that the Christmas tree was moving (yes, she still has the tree up as of January 19th).  I thought that was odd, but she told me to try looking at the tree after playing Guitar Hero and staring at the endless conveyor-belt fretboard.  So I did.  And sure enough, the tree branches  looked as if they were moving.

That freaked me out.

If any of you still have your tree up, I suggest you try it.

I've been in Nashville for a week now, visiting my sister who lives here, but also meeting with publishers, doing co-writes, playing gigs, going to shows, etc.  My genre is nowhere near country, but this town is so much more than that.  The people are really friendly, and music truly is the focus of the entire city.  And even though it is a city, it feels much more like a friendly small town.  I'm still here for awhile longer, and I know that this will continue to be an incredibly productive trip.

Coincidentally, I just received some news about a song contest I entered that is put on by CMT and NSAI.  My song 'Massive' has been chosen as one of 15 finalists to be the CMT Listeners' Choice Award Winner.  For the entire month of February, listeners from around the world will have the opportunity to vote, and the song with the most votes wins:

• Offered a single-song publishing contract by a major publisher
• Three-day trip to Nashville including airfare and hotel accommodations
• Tickets for two to the 2008 CMT Music Awards
• Private tour of CMT studios in Nashville, TN
• A CMT branded Gibson Epiphone PR-5e guitar

I'll be posting more details and, of course, asking for your vote in the coming weeks!

And here's 'Massive', the first track on my new album Doublespeak, and the song that made it to the final 15 of over 3000 songs:

I'd like to wish everyone a very happy new year!  I hope that 2008 will be a fantastic year for all of us.

Here are a couple of rock tunes that I wrote and demo'd up just before Christmas.  One is called Contagious and the other is called A Picture of You.  I don't sing the lead on either as these tunes aren't the kind of stuff I do as an artist, and I don't think my voice would necessarily do them justice.  I'd love to hear what you think of them!

I'd like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas, and a happy, healthy and prosperous new year.  May Santa bring you everything you asked for, including a record deal...

Sincerely,

Freddy

I am in the finals of Slicethepie.com's Indie/Rock showcase, and I need your vote!  I was in tyhe lead, I fell to 2nd place, but it is still very close!  The winner gets 15,000 pounds, and your vote could be the one that puts me over the top!

Please:

1.  Go to Slicethepie.com
2.  Register for an account
3.  Click on 'Showcases' in the bar along the top of the page
4.  Select 'Indie/Rock 1'
5.  Click 'vote'
6.  Scroll down and find me, Freddy.
7.  Click on 'vote' next to my name.

That's all there is to it!

Thanks for your support.  The contest ends tomorrow, and I'm sure the results will be out right away, so as soon as I hear, I will post them.

Freddy