Mike and I both work in the music business; his role in music
manufacturing. me in publicity and promotion.
Mike has been a Loudspeaker Design Engineer for over 25
years.
I've worn several 'caps' during my 20+
year involvement with music, detailed below:
Mid - late 70's: Booked numerous bands in
El Paso, TX
1988 - 1993: Musician's
Emergency Relief Fund (MERF)
Louisville, KY Board Advisor
1994 -
1995: Musician's Emergency Relief Fund (MERF)
Louisville, KY Vice-President
1995 - 1997: Worked with John Grantz and Media
Events, Louisville, KY Event Production,
Promotion, and Talent Buyers. We produced some
great shows while working together (Jonny Lang,
Robben Ford, and Waterside Festival stages the most
memorable) and we also secured talent for area
venues and
special events.
In the same time frame, I entered
into a contract (96-97) with America Online to serve
as their Blues Producer. With the help of an
incredibly talented team, we produced and hosted "BluesChat,"
a weekly live interactive online program that
featured nationally recognized artists and industry
professionals. We hosted many events on-location
from various Blues venues and festivals nationwide.
A couple members of the team and I also started
designing and developing websites for other artists
and venues in late 1996.
1997
- 1998: I decided to move BluesChat off AOL
and onto the internet (www.blueschat.com). The
BluesChat team and I expanded content and format to
include educational forums dedicated to Chicago
Blues, Texas Blues and Blues Heritage, and hosted a
weekly Blues Trivia forum. BluesChat was
awarded the "Keeping the Blues Alive" award
for "Blues on the Internet" by the Blues
Foundation in May of 1997. BluesChat, and the
team, dissolved late in 1998. Most of us have
stayed in close contact and always will. (I've
never worked so hard, but had so much fun, at the
same time!)
1998 - 2003: I
served as
Publicist (Point-of-Contact, and Webmaster) for Double Trouble (Tommy
Shannon and Chris Layton) while designing graphics
and building websites for other artists and
businesses. At the end of 2003 I started
working with Tommy exclusively as his Personal
Assistant and we designed and launched
TommyShannon.com
(a site very near and dear to my heart.)
2004 - Present:
While I still work occasionally on
promotional projects (fee-for-service vs. retainer), my primary focus is
graphics design and building websites, and providing
the best service I can to my clients.
Memberships:
Blues Foundation, NARAS*, NAPP**
*National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences
**National Association of Photoshop Professionals
