Same Old Song

Back when I was singing, in an acappella group and later as a band leader, I really wanted to get people at our gigs. I tried posters, postcards, email and personal invites, but appearing in print was always the ultimate thrill. Our biggest success occurred totally by chance when Mixed Company, our band of singers, was featured on the front page of the New York Times. We happened to be in the right place at the right time that day--caroling in Leavenworth, America's favorite Christmas Village, when the reporter snapped his shot.

For the most part, getting in the newspaper has taken concerted effort. Yet I did not achieve big results. I tried to maintain good relationships with the appropriate editors, sent them timely press releases, left nice black and white photos on file. The problem is, your run of the mill concerts become just that. To make a story big, you either need to be really famous or present something unusual and newsworthy. This point of view paid off when I started the "Salmon Band" a group created to educate people about natural resources. We made the front page of the Leavenworth Echo the week we debuted ! Apparently I had figured out a way to give the media something more than the same old song.