Help (and luck) of the Irish Needed

Jeromey Balderrama

Ireland

I would love some help from my well-traveled friends! In less than two weeks Bethany and I will be boarding a plane to fly across the pond and journey to Ireland for 12 days.  I am so excited in many different ways, particularly because this is the first time I’ve been out of the country longer than a day. 

We have been planning this trip for nearly two years in terms of budgeting and logistics, and while we’ve tried to do our due-diligence with research I’m we’re still afraid that we might miss something that we’ll regret not seeing.

This is where I need help from my well-traveled or Irish friends: What should we do in Ireland? We want to make sure when we come back and tell people about our trip, people can’t say “I can’t believe you went to Ireland and didn’t go there or see that!”

We’re going to be flying into Shannon and staying slightly north west of there.  We do plan on going to Dublin for a few days, but will be mainly based along the western side of the country.

I would love for you to share me any advice you may have, either in the comments here or on Facebook. Thank you for sharing your wisdom with me!

Band Name Announcement

Jeromey Balderrama

It occurred to me that in my blogging absence I neglected to announce that we had come up with a band name. Back in April I posted the list of finalists we came up with and after everyone’s feedback and some more deliberation, we decided to move forward with Ken & the Action Figures. The decision was pretty hard, as both KATAF and Eden’s Favorite Apple had their fair share of fans.  Thank you to everyone who provided blog comments, Facebook feedback and advice in conversations.

I’m really excited about some of the marketing opportunities that Ken & the Action Figures will be able to provide.  One thing we want to convey with our band is that if you come check us out, you’ll have a good time and forget your worries.

ComingSoon

We have gone ahead and created our placeholder web site, as we are working on getting a logo and graphics package put together.  In the meantime, I’d love for you to sign up for our mailing list, Like us on Facebook, and Follow us on Twitter.

My 6th blog-iversity

Jeromey Balderrama

When the weather starts warming up and the flowers start blooming I’m reminded once again that my blog-iversity – the anniversary of starting my blog.  It was actually this night back in 2005 when I drove home and decided to start a Xanga blog.  I thought it would be a good opportunity to post more of a personal diary in a semi-anonymous fashion.  It was soon apparent that I didn’t have the anonymity that I thought I had and over the years my blog morphed into a  personal column that I haven’t been as good about updating lately.

It’s crazy looking over the 660+ posts and realizing just how much things have changed.  When I started blogging, I hadn’t yet met my wife, and I wasn’t drumming with any bands at the time, and I was living in my apartment close to campus.  Now I have been married to my lovely wife for nearly two years, am doing two different bands and various music projects and we live in our beautiful house with Logan our Kitteh.  At the same time, I’m grateful for things that have stayed the same throughout my blogging tenure: I have been employed in a great job and am fortunate to have my health (also weighing less than when I first started blogging is never a bad thing either).

Thank you for continually coming back when I seldom post and for offering your support and your comments.  I hope that I enter into the 7th year of blogging, that I do a better job of keeping this updated.  If you have any ideas for topics, feel free to offer them! I’m just happy to ramble!

Band Name Finalists [Your Opinion Needed]

Jeromey Balderrama

As I’ve previously posted here, I’ve been involved in a new band called the Ken Stevens Trio, which was originally a supplement to Ken Stevens’ acoustic solo efforts. As the band has progressed and taken on a sound and identity of its own, it became apparent that we should allow this project to take on a new, separate name.  Over the last few weeks Ken and I have come up with a long list, which turned into a short list, and now we have a final list of 2-3 names.  Both are pretty different, and we feel drawn to both of them.  As we’re making these final deliberations, I wanted to turn to you, my friends to offer your feedback.

We have come down to three finalists: The names are Eden’s Favorite Apple, Ken & The Action Figures, and Hey Man Nice Bus.

Eden’s Favorite Apple

To me this name sits in the “this name has deeper meaning” camp, where the name itself can invoke a lot of different imagery.  Earlier when we solicited feedback for this name, one description really drew me: “I would expect a band with this name to push the envelope a bit, to be edgy yet grounded, to have depth.” I feel like that’s what our band is aspiring to be, and that this is a name we could definitely grow into.  While this name definitely conjures up a lot of different imagery, there is definitely a lot of religious connotation with this name, and it could give people the first impression that we are in the Christian music genre, or invoke imagery that people aren’t necessarily comfortable with.  At the same time, the vast array of imagery allows for a lot of great marketing opportunities.

Ken & The Action Figures

Where Eden. lies in the “deeper meaning” camp, this name and Hey Man Nice Bus sit in the opposite side of the spectrum.  This name invokes a much more specific image. This name good pretty favorable feedback amongst our friends, with most of them saying that they found this name intriguing.  The memorable point of feedback we got was “This name implies that if you’re going to check out this band, you’re going to have a good time.”  There is also a vast array of marketing opportunities as well.  The fact that our singer is named Ken gives this added benefit.  A downside to this name is that it doesn’t really offer a deep meaning, and may be a barrier to be taken seriously as a band – after all would you say to your friend, “This song really spoke to me, the one by Ken & The Action Figures”.  Somehow that has a hard time being constructed into a serious sentence.

Hey Man Nice Bus

This name is in the same vein as “Ken & The Action Figures” where the connotation is much less serious.  The feedback we got, while limited (as this name was a late-comer), was also very positive.  This name has a personal tie to our singer Ken, as he owned a VW bus and heard that line for quite a while.  This name could also bring about a fun logo, and some great imager as well. The possible downside is that it could carry a “hippie” stigma – one that may be reserved for more of a “jam band” than we are.

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So those are our three finalists.  I’d really appreciate your thoughts on this.  Which name attracts you the most amongst these three?  Is there anything about any of the names that bothers you?  Is there something else we should consider in naming our band?  If hearing our music would help, give us a listen.  Please feel free to comment below, or contact me on Twitter, Facebook or Gmail.  I’d really appreciate your thoughts, even if you just want to support a specific name.  Thanks again for your feedback!

Want GIGS of Free Legal Music?

Jeromey Balderrama

It’s that time of year again, SXSW (South By South West), the HUGE interactive/web/music conference have compiled their annual torrent of artists that played at the conference.  This year’s compilation has over 6.5gb and 1150 songs – so if you feel like you’re in a music lull, download a bit torrent client (like uTorrent) and then point your browser to http://www.sxswtorrent.com/

In face, you can go back and download the torrents from back until 2005. There is some great stuff in here, especially if you’re interested in discovering new music. Check it out!