Greetings Gunn Runner
What a crazy March!
Covid19 took over the world. St Patrick’s Day disappeared, along with most musician gigs.
But my Kickstarter for Selcouth was a huge success.
Let’s try and unpack it… on show #260.
0:28 – PODCASTS
The Pub Songs Podcast is my new favorite thing. It accomplishes many of the goals that got me started podcasting in the first place. I wanted a fun, engaging, and interactive way to promote my music and news. The challenge was that podcasting is typically not intuitively interactive. But over the past month, it's become so. I finally figured out how to get responses from the Pub Chat by using the Celtic Geek Facebook group. I also added a live streaming element. That means the show now broadcasts on YouTube too! And it's more than just an audio podcast on a video platform.
Now the only struggle is do I keep it bi-monthly or should I go weekly? And if the later, COULD I go weekly without adding as much additional work as I'm trying to avoid? I'll try ‘n let you know what I decide.
The virus has made some of things more difficult at home. I’m running Daddy Daycare right now.
It’s pretty much sidelined most of what I do. I feel like Stories from the Road is one such sidelined podcast. Tho admittedly, I have a couple episodes I recorded. Just need to upload them. So I guess I’m not too bad at keeping the show coming. But I feel bad inattentive nonetheless. I have trouble focusing as is. This isn't helping.
I'm happy to say I am on top of the Irish & Celtic Music Podcast. And now that the holiday is over, I find myself getting back ahead of releasing episodes. I'm actually starting to plan them weeks ahead. I just need to pick songs. But the themes. Those are coming along brilliantly. It also helps that I can a bonus week in April. I'm taking the 9th off so that I can get ahead on OTHER shows… maybe even recording… We'll see…
Mikey Mason and I recorded an episode of In the ‘Verse right before the Coronavirus became a national issue. It was also right around the beginning of March. So I never wrote my song. I started one. But it just wasn't good… And right now, I feel disheartened like I don't have time to write music. That's frustrating.
3:39 – VIDEOS
My live streaming videos are about to go off the deep end.
Coffee with the Celtfather is in its final season. Well, it's the end, in so far as I'm gonna stick with an exact time on an exact day. I love doing these shows. But they aren't growing and they take up most of my Wednesday work time.
So does this mean I'm abandoning them?
Nope. I'm just gonna change it up. My plan is to turn Facebook into a full on busking experience. Meaning I'll pop in now and then. The show will be focused on tips, nothing else.
I might even try to fund raise a busking show… meaning–when I hit a certain financial goal, I will go live. Or something like that… It'll be on days when I feel like I can spare the time.
I do still plan on going live at least once a week… but it's gonna be a bit more random.
As I said earlier, I started to live stream the Pub Songs Podcast on YouTube. I love this. I will try to notify folks in the Celtic Geek community when I'm about to go live. That is also the place to get your thoughts added to the Pub Chat.
While I record the show live, I don't do much interaction with viewers. But that too will change with the next show. The main part of the show will be the recorded podcast. But there will be bonus songs, again fund raised by viewers after the regular show ends. So that's another reason to watch if you're able.
As for pre-recorded videos, I'm slowly dolling some of those out as well. Not nearly as many as I planned.
I just checked. I'm still doing pretty well with my 2020 goals. W00t!
6:48 – MERCH
My free CD offer is still going strong. I don't have nearly as many people taking advantage of it. But I'm happy to say it's still financially worthwhile doing. So SCORE!
Oh! And if you didn't get the free album from the Irish & Celtic Music Podcast, follow the link.
The Kickstarter for Selcouth was a rousing success. Over $8800 was raised. That's my second highest Kickstarter. The highest as a soloist.
Interestingly, you'd think… or maybe not you, but I would think I made a KILLER profit on sales. But I actually didn't. I still did well in terms of pre-sales. But I don't think the take home pay will be more than a thousand dollars. I find that fascinating to realize…
That said, I will get new merch, CDs, and I get to hire musicians in need. So that's a big bonus.
Check out The Doubleclicks' latest Kickstarter.
9:07 – TRAVEL
What's the status of the Celtic Invasion of Italy? I wish I knew. I plan to make a decision by mid-April if I'm gonna be able to keep it running or not. It's not looking good. So maybe we will reschedule… or maybe not…
9:50 – WEBSITES
The Irish Song Lyrics website has once again come into its own. I've updated a couple dozen song lyrics over the past month. You can now play many of my most-popular songs as well as a bunch of traditional Irish and Scottish songs. But if there's one that's missing, please let me know. I'll get it added asap.
It's a pretty sweet site. Next I need to start making videos teaching folks to sing and play along.
10:58 – SHOWS PLANNED FOR APRIL
My full schedule is empty, like most musicians. I have a couple of local gigs and some official internet concerts planned though.
APR 9: Internet Concert on YouTube @ 8:30 PM
APR 24: Tucker Brewing Company, Tucker, GA
MAY 7: Internet Concert on YouTube @ 8:30 PM
MAY 9: The Lost Druid, Decatur, GA @ 7:30 PM
Weds Morning: Coffee with The Celtfather, Facebook (Season 5!)
11:44 – STATS
Mailing list subscribers = 1028 is down from 1038
Celtic Music Magazine = 3938 is down from 3963
YouTube Subscribers = 4482 is up 41 from 4441
YouTube Watch Time = 26.7K is down from 314.8K
YouTube Views = 12.4K is up from 8.5K
Facebook Likes = 3684 is up from 3667
FB Page Views = 809 is up from 501
FB Reach = 21,234 is up from 9214
FB Video Views = 13298 is up from 9485
Spotify Latest Single Stats: “Molly Malone”: 292
Spotify Latest Single Stats: “The Last Jedi Drinking Song”: 150
Spotify Latest Album Stats: I Will Not Sing Along: 604 down from 1.4k streams
Spotify followers: 1501 is up 25 from 1476
# Number of listens on Spotify: 3485 is up from 3266
Most-popular songs on Spotify: The Widow and the Devil (1.3K), When Irish Eyes Are Smiling (707), Doctor of Gallifrey (581), Wild Kitty (345), Rattlin' Bog (316), Pan-Galactic Gargle Blaster (294), Molly Malone (292), Hero of Canton (255)
Spotify seems to have stopped showing subscriber numbers to playlists.
15:46 – PATREON
Patreon Subscribers: 154 is down from 155
Patreon Monthly Income: $1061 is up from $1050
16:05 – The Morbid Irony of the Music Business
Thanks as always for supporting my music. Remember. You can help me create and release more music. Join the Gunn Runners Club to step behind-the-scenes with bonus podcasts, new music, videos, and live concerts.
Slainte!
#CFMonthly
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