birds, coif·fures and awesomeness

bird (bûrd)n.//

1. a. Any of various warm-blooded, egg-laying, feathered vertebrates of the class Aves, having forelimbs modified to form wings. b. Such an animal hunted as game. c. Such an animal, especially a chicken or turkey, used as food: put the bird in the oven.

coif·fure (kwä-fyr)n.//

A hairstyle.

tr.v. coif·fured, coif·fur·ing, coif·fures

To arrange or dress (hair).

[French, from coiffer, to coif; see coiffeur.]

awe·some (ôsm)adj.//

1. Inspiring awe: an awesome thunderstorm. 2. Expressing awe: stood in awesome silence before the ancient ruins. 3. Slang Remarkable; outstanding: “a totally awesome arcade game” (Los Angeles Times).

awesome·ly adv.

awesome·ness n.

The Hideaway Studio & Cafe 1.22.10

yes…..Sarah’s red heels.

Sarah got a new fancy digital camera for Christmas, so apparently she now takes pictures from the stage…

SAY CHEESE!

John Kelly (owner of The Hideaway), Claire, Charlie, Mark Huhta (Dobro player extraordinaire), Sarah Mac, and Christian.

“Burden Beast” included in Paste Magazine’s “SONGS FOR HAITI”

We are glad to have “Burden Beast,” the first single of ‘A Single Revolution,’ included in Paste Magazine’s
“SONGS FOR HAITI.”  If you’d like to donate, the moneygoes to Doctors Without Borders, the Red Cross, and Wyclef Jean’s Yele Haiti Earthquake Fund.  Or, if you’ve already donated to another organization, just let Paste know and you can STILL download great songs as a thank you! Over 200+ artists have given their songs
to this great relief effort.

January 15, 2010 @ The Sylvia Theater. York, SC

1st Annual SMB Christmas Show – 12.18.09

The Warehouse – Tallahassee, FL

The Submarine 11.14.09

Photos by Annie McElhaney

SMB iPhone/iPod Touch APP!

Have an iPhone or iPod Touch?  Get the SMB App FREE! App Features: *MUSIC-stream all SMB songs directly to your phone or ipod.  As “A Single Revolution” singles are released, they will be made available for streaming on the app. *SHOWS- never again forget when/where/what time an SMB show is!  *NEWS- stay current on SMB news.  *MEDIA- photos and videos!  look for updates for more to be added.

I’m Not Scared of Anything except……

Buy the “I’M NOT SCARED” CD and get access to the exclusive web page with the 13 minute FULL VIDEO (made by Sarah Mac and our good friend/webmaster/video editor Jeremy)!

 

All the cool kids are doing it…..

 

You might be thinking, “What is it? I want to be a cool kid, too!”  Our research team has been feverishly working in the Sarah Mac Band laboratories, and we are ecstatic to unveil our new product, available now to our fans and friends before it’s available to the rest of the general public. Our product has been clinically proven to increase coolness, help you make friends, fill your social calendar with engaging events that will heighten your social status, and give you great, heartwarming memories that will last for years to come!

Sarah Mac Band Seven Steps to Social Success™ Program

Because we’re generally altruistic and believe that everyone should have access to good things (as evidenced by our 2009 Name Your Own Price, Pay What You Can Merchandise Sale) we decided to use our blog and email list to distribute our product to you, our fans, FOR FREE! Here’s all you have to do:

Sarah Mac Band Seven Steps to Social Success™

Step 1: Go to the Sarah Mac Band store and pre-order your copy of the newest single in the Single Revolution, “I’m Not Scared.” Pre-orders are open today for those who purchased the previous single, “Alive Again” and will open for the rest of the public tomorrow, Tuesday, November 10th.

Whether it’s trendy clothing, concert tickets, or Chihuahuas that they use as accessories, cool kids always have the newest, hippest thing.

Step 2: Clear your calendar for this Saturday night, November 14^th. Get a babysitter, blow off game night with the in-laws, ignore whatever football game you were planning on watching…

Cool kids always make the hippest, coolest events their number one priority.

Step 3: Fill up the gas tank in the car and head north across the state line into Georgia (carpool with other cool kids to reduce your carbon footprint!)

Cool kids always know where the party is, even if it’s in a relatively, obscure, small town. Think of the Sundance Film Festival in the early days…

Step 4: Make it to the Submarine in Thomasville, GA to be a part of our CD RELEASE PARTY for the newest single in the Single Revolution, “I’m Not Scared.” We will be joined by special guest, Libby O’Neill. Doors open at 8, show starts at 8:30.

Contrary to what people might think, cool kids are always on time. Punctuality is the new black. Plus, Libby is a cool kid, too.

Step 5: Pay the $5 admission to the show. Unless you have already purchased one of the singles, in which case, admission is free!

Cool kids understand that there is a cost to being cool. Thus, in order to be able to afford the newest fad, they always capitalize on opportunities to get the biggest bang for their buck.

Step 6: Pick up your special surprise gift at the door which will enable you to participate in the audience participation portion of the evening. 

Cool kids relish in opportunities to have an exclusive shared experience with other cool kids. It helps build a collective identity of “cool.”

Step 7: This is the most important step! Invite all of your friends to come.

Having knowledge of exclusive events and the authority to invite people to them greatly increases others perceptions of your social value and elevates you to cool kid status with very little effort on your part.  Of course, we already knew that you were cool because you’re our friend! But you can use this as your chance to spread the good will and pay it forward in the hopes that others might reap the same benefits.

See you there!

What: CD Release Party for “I’m Not Scared” with special guest, Libby O’Neill

When: Saturday, November 14th

Where: The Submarine, 218 W. Jackson Street, Thomasville, GA

Doors at 8:00, Show at 8:30

Illegal Downloads and Ruby Red Slippers

Since we have two really creative and innovative types in our band (Claire and Charlie), we’re always thinking of new ways to expand our audience and get our music heard. Well, really, it’s more like some of us are always thinking of it, while the other contents herself with reading tabloids and celebrity gossip websites (no shame!).

Today is a surprising turn of events, I was reading something online with some substance. I stumbled upon an article in a semi-reputable magazine that talks about cultural trends towards “freeness.” I thought that it was interesting since we talk about that a lot in our practice room and band business meetings, specifically the trends towards “freeness” with digital downloads of music (whether they‘re legitimately free or illegally pirated downloads). In fact, finding a way to creatively keep up with the trend is one of the main motivators behind our Single Revolution experiment. In talking about “freeness” the article says:

In terms of music, it means that bands might give music away for free (Radiohead!) in hopes of creating new fans and reaching more people who will one day attend a concert or (gasp!) buy an album. It’s about creating a relationship with the audience, tapping into the collaborative spirit of the networked age and recognizing that music (and other cultural work) was never intended to be a commodity that lived primarily in the transactional, economic space between producer and consumer. On the contrary, culture has always been firmly rooted in community and a shared sense of understanding and making meaning together.

So, anyway, I thought that this was cool and I wanted to share.

Every time I explain the Single Revolution from stage, I take far too much time and get all bogged down talking about “touchy-feely” things like relationship and fostering community. Really, I’m not sure that I’m willing to or even need to apologize for that (the touchy-feely part… not the taking too much time talking between songs, because I’m really working on that) because I do think that part of what makes the whole system of musical creator and musical participant function appropriately and efficiently is that both parties do their part. And ultimately, without the musical participant finding meaning in it and buying into the vision cast by song, then the musical creator hasn’t really created anything worthwhile in the first place. We have to find it together. Seriously. I’m not just being “touchy-feely” right now. And, I totally haven’t been drinking… yet.

I guess that’s what the coolest part of the Single Revolution is to me. We make the stuff, but this is the test for us… to see if what we create is really something that resonates with people. Did we make something that people are willing to be a part of? Is it good enough to entice them to suspend their reality and get swept away in the story? Is our piece good enough to hold its own in this cycle? So far it’s worked and people have been incredibly supportive, which is affirming, encouraging and exciting. We have just a few more of the third single in the Revolution left, “Alive Again,” and we’re hoping to have them sold out so that we might release the next one next week weekend at our Warehouse show with the Soft Targets. We’ll see. Again, it’s an interesting experiment… we’ve been pleased so far with our results and hope that through it, we will learn more about the symbiosis between the band and the fans.

And… in other news, I’m going to see Where the Wild Things Are tomorrow and I’m so excited about it, I’m not sure that I’ll be able to sleep tonight!

And… in other news, we added a new member to my nuclear family this week. Sarah Mac Band family, meet Ruby.