Smooth jazz guitar – Nils

So you finished your CD, what now?

nilsmusic — Sat, 09 Dec 2017 01:22:19 +0000

I just returned from mastering my new CD and I am glad that this part of the process is finished. But there are many more steps for releasing a successful album. So for me this just means to switch gears and focus on the next steps.

I made a list of all the things I want to have in place by release date 3 months from now.

Photo shoot
CD cover and booklet design, credits
Live arrangements / backing tracks
Copyright and performing rights registration of new songs
Music Video shoot
Promo videos
Create secondary product(s)
Setup social media campaign
Press releases
Update website

I will address these points one by one in the following weeks in my blog series.

Depending on your situation there might be additional items you need to get together or pay attention to. If you are fully independent you will have to press CDs and find distribution, and design a marketing, advertising and radio campaign. If you don’t have a press kit yet, then you better get on it. If this all sounds overwhelming you might benefit from the expertise of an expert like Kim Giles of Independent Artist Services. http://www.independentartistservices.com

Kim has been working with many independent artist to give them guidance and direction to get their careers going. And she is an expert in helping them plan an independent CD release and marketing campaign. Her fees are reasonable and are well worth the investment, since she also can obtain discounts for her clients for some of the services needed.

For myself, first on my list is a photo shoot. I will need new photos for the album cover, for my website, for press photos and for an internet campaign. I want to go with my friend Jürgen Reisch (www.jurgenreisch.com) to make that happen. Jürgen is an outstanding photographer. He has a photo studio in Hollywood where he does a lot of fashion photography but also has some quite impressive credits for album covers, like Prince, Earth Wind and Fire and Nils ( Pacific Coast Highway and Ready to Play) :o)

Once I have the photos, we will have to get on the design of the album cover and booklet next.

For the cover I want a photo that will stand out through color and design. That photo then will be worked over, manipulated, cropped and played out with album title and artist name. This is the most important part of the process , because the cover is the calling card of the CD. I always try to imagine what my CD will look like in a rack amidst various other CDs. If it draws my eye to it, it’s a great cover. I am also a good idea to create a unified look from web site to album cover to fb page etc. It’s part of a branding strategy and will help to re-enforce the image.

For the booklet I already assembled the album credits and wrote my Thank You-s. I always create a file with production notes, while I am working on a CD. That file includes budget, song titles, Publishing info, a to-do-lists and also the players that played on each track. A album production can easily take a year or even longer and sometimes it is be hard to remember who played on which song, if you use different musicians. Designing the layout for the booklet, the back cover and the CD face can be a very creative and fun process. I enjoy it, but I’m not always the best suited for the job. I am lucky to have help from the record label, when my graphic design skills just don’t cut it.

All this can take a couple weeks or more to get finished, and then there is the time it takes to print the booklet and art work, so don’t underestimate how long this can take.

In my next blog I will address further points on my list, so stay tuned. And if you haven’t joined my mailing list. Please do so and be part of the fan club. It comes with various perks, gifts and discounts. you can join at www.nilsguitar.com

When I met Jeff Golub

nilsmusic — Fri, 02 Jan 2015 06:39:47 +0000

I was new on the Smooth Jazz Scene. Neither the fans, nor my peers (with a few exceptions) had heard of me, but I had the number one song in the country “Pacific Coast Highway”, it was 2005. The festival season had started and all the festival shows were booked, but I was offered a side stage gig at the San Diego Smooth Jazz Festival. These were my first gigs on the festival circuit, I still was working on finding the right band, getting my charts together. Before I was just producing tracks in the studio, no need for all that.
The show went reasonably well and when I got of stage my friends told me that Jeff Golub had been in the audience, checking out my set. I felt somewhat flattered. I was not really familiar with his music, but I had heard his name before. So I went and checked out his set later that day on one of the other stages. And I really loved his playing. He was a guitar player after my own heart. And I understood why he might have been interested in my set. Both of us have a blues and rock background, which we bring into the Smooth Jazz. I could feel every note he was playing and knew where he was coming from.
Six months later my wife and me were on the ferry to Catalina Island. It was the first time I was to play the Catalina Jazz Festival. On the boat was a area where all the established artist hang out. I still felt a little bit on the outside. I had a mild case of “feeling like the new kid who wasn’t allowed to sit at the cool kids table in the high school cafeteria”. But when Jeff saw me he came over and introduced himself. He made me feel welcome and part of the gang and I will never forget that. We talked about guitars, about our influences and the music biz. It felt good having a friend in this new world I was entering.

Since we lived on opposite sides of the continent, we did not have the chance to hang out as often as I liked. But did ask him to play a duet with me on my City Groove CD. I was excited when he agreed. The song is called “Soul 2 Soul”, because I felt a certain soul connection to Jeff.

The news of his passing shocked me this morning. My heart goes out to his family he left behind and all the fans who are going to miss him. Like myself.

Here is a little taste of the song we recorded together in 2012. https://www.nilsguitar.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/10-Soul-2-Soul.mp3
My guitar is further to the right playing the first phrase, Jeff is panned further left playing the second phrase.

Nils Christmas deals

nilsmusic — Fri, 05 Dec 2014 08:22:56 +0000

pick any album for $6.99 download or 9.99 hard copy

2013 Jazz Gems – The Best of Nils

15 Billboard Top 20 Hits on one CD

2012 City Groove

feat. Darryl Jones, Simon Phillips, Ricky Lawson, Jeff Golub, Mitch Forman and more…

2011 What the Funk

feat. Alex Al, Ricky Lawson, Reggie McBride and more…

2009 Up Close and Personal

feat. Larry Dunn, Shilts, Clydene Jackson, Oliver Brown and more

2007 Ready to Play

feat. Dwayne ‘Smitty’ Smith, Leon Bisquera, Carmen Twillie, , Terry Lynn Wood and more…

2005 Pacific Coast Highway

feat. song of the Decade “Pacific Coast Highway”

1998 Blue Planet

feat. George Benson, Carl Anderson, Bobby Lyle, Chanté Moore and more

Happy Thanksgiving

nilsmusic — Thu, 27 Nov 2014 21:18:32 +0000

It’s this time of the year again. We are gathering around family and friends sharing a meal and enjoying each others company.
And it also a time to reflect on what you are thankful for.

And when I sit back and think about that, I must admit I have a lot to be thankful for.
Of course my immediate thought go to my family and our health and our cats. One of them is driving me crazy as I write this, because he likes to chase the cursor on the monitor.
On further reflection a story comes to mind I want to share with you.
I just played a gig in New York and after the show we had drinks with the promoter. I had a very nice conversation with some of his friends who also were at the show. And this lady told me that she needs to thank me. I was somewhat puzzled and asked her “what for?” She said she listens to my music everyday at work. She always has her Smooth Jazz playlist running, and it is that music, that keeps her going and makes her day enjoyable. She couldn’t do without it.
The beauty is, that she was thanking me, and I, at the same time, feel the urge to thank her and all my fans like her. As for an artists it is the biggest reward to hear, that my music is loved and touches someone’s heart. And I’m sure I am speaking for most of my peers here. We artists might have a cool persona on stage, but we are all human beings and have our fears, worries and insecurities, just like everybody else. So hearing you tell me you love my music, or you guys signing up to my mailing list, gives me the strength to keep going when I feel insecure.
So I am very, very thankful for my fans like yourself. Without you I would not be able to continuously put out records and play shows. I feel truly blessed that I am able to get up every morning, get my coffee in the kitchen and walk over to my studio and just write new songs or work on recordings. It’s what I love to do. And when the product of my work is something you all enjoy listening to, then we have a win win situation.
So a HAPPY THANKSGIVING to you and THANK YOU for your love and support.
NILS

Watch out for the press

nilsmusic — Sun, 28 Sep 2014 20:38:53 +0000

Original post from Oct 2011
A funny episode happened to me last week. My daughter ‘s birthday was on Sunday and she really wanted the new iPhone. The phone came out on Friday. So I told her that she will have to wait a few weeks late, because when you order it takes two weeks to ship and they are going to be sold out that day of.
Of course I had already made plans to get up a 6am after working on the movie sound track until 3 am and get in line before the mall opens at 8 am. So I stood there with 100 of my closest friends, who must have shown up at 5:30 or earlier to beat me to it. I tried to keep my composure while I waited for the Apple store to open at 9 AM. I do this for my little girl, because I wanted to surprise her. And sure enough, after 4 hours waiting I victoriously emerged with a new iPhone which could not be activated, because the AT&T servers were overrun with activation requests. But that was alright I had one extra day to take care of this.
The next morning I get two calls from friends saying “So I see you got a new iPhone”. What? Is this public knowledge? How did they find out? Turns out I was on the cover of the Daily News in front of the Apple Store in line for a new iPhone.
I was just fortunate that neither my teenege girl nor her friends saw the news paper and blew my surprise.
:0)