Friday, March 21, 2014

What to Do When Life Hands You Lemons, and Why I Posted My Bio On This Blog Last Night

Longtime readers may be wondering why the heck I randomly posted my bio on this blog yesterday, because that's not usually done.

It's not even something I'd recommend you do. There are better places for that, right?

In short, blame the Richie Sambora supporter who's been stalking* me and hacked the website that hosts my bio because they're still pissed off about this post from way back in August 2013. (There's a post coming about this, but I've been slammed with work and haven't quite finished it.)

A member of the media wanted to see my bio, so it had to be visible somewhere. I chose this blog.

The irony is, I get most of my work through personal referrals and don't do many interviews because I believe people who work behind the scenes should keep the focus on the clients, so my bio's had more action today than it's probably had in six months.

When life hands you lemons, I highly recommend making a lemon tart and piling on the meringue. It's tasty stuff!

(If it's limes, make a margarita!. Confused? See this post.)

RR


*Yes, stalking. This person's actions have crossed over the line into the legal definition of stalking under California anti-stalking law. That's punishable up to five years in prison. If the person who did it impersonated me in any way to accomplish this, which they most likely had to do, that's identity theft, which is a Federal crime. 












My Margaret Sames Recipe Featured in "Best Margarita Recipe Ever!" in Latin Times Today, and an Example of How the Media Gets Things Wrong

An early version of MusicBizAdvice.com, had a recipe section (in our Lifestyle department) called The Starving Musician. It was popular but a pain to do every month, because I personally wrote out and tested each recipe in a kitchen space the size of a tour bus kitchen, to be sure each recipe worked.

In 2004, we posted my ""Margarita Sames' Original December 1948 Margarita" recipe. Being a fan of pop culture history and a collector of vintage recipes, I did some research on the history of the  Margarita and included my findings in the intro to the recipe.
Today, Latin Times posted that recipe, crediting me. That's very kind of them, and I thank them for thinking of the recipe when compiling their "Best Ever Margaritas!" article.

However, something was lost in translation. The photo caption in the article says I "claimed to have met Margaret Sames" in the 1990's. That is incorrect. I have never claimed to have had the pleasure of meeting Margaret "Margarita" Sames, and Latin Times never contacted me to fact-check the article or ask for permission to print my version of the Sames recipe--which is my copyrighted material.

When I saw the error, I immediately tweeted the Latin Times writer, Susmita Baral who wrote the Best Ever Margaritas! article, to ask for a retraction or correction.(Her email address is not on the Latin Times website, or I would have asked privately.) [Update 7/30/14: Ms. Baral never responded and removed my recipe.]

What I actually wrote in the recipe article in The Starving Musician section on MusicBizAdvice.com in 2004 was, "This recipe is from the notes I took when Margarita Sames was on a TV talk show in the early 1990's."

I was at home sick and saw her on TV!!! (She may have been on something called The Home Show, but don't quote me on that.) I was not at the taping, and never claimed to be.

MusicBizAdvice.com changed web hosts and servers long ago, and we removed that section for a possible return at some point, so the article is no longer on our servers. I do, however, have a text-only print out of that Starving Musician article sitting in front of me, which I've scanned it for you below. (I'd printed it out for my recipe box during data recovery after a computer crash, so you'll see a date of 2010 at the bottom.)


That, my friends, is how stuff gets twisted in the media, however accidentally.

P.S. I've tried a variety of tequillas in this recipe. My preference is 2 jiggers of Cazadores Reposado, and very little or to salt on the glass. (Need glasses? Margarita glasses didn't exist in 1948, so if you're setting up a bar with a vintage vibe, champagne coupes are the way to go. They're also versatile, so they save space.)











Thursday, March 20, 2014

Randi Reed Bio



Randi Reed     
Founder/ Editor in Chief, MusicBizAdvice.com
Music Business Consultant, Internet Publisher, Writer, Speaker


Randi Reed is a music business consultant who specializes in live music industry troubleshooting. But that’s only half the story. “Trouble shooing would be a better description. My job is to find the problem, resolve it, and teach clients how to avoid more problems in the future. I want musicians to win.” 

Randi Reed also has a flair for making lemonade out of lemons. Case in point: in early 1997, in the midst of a platinum level career in booking, artist management, and concert promotion, she was sidelined by the autoimmune disease CFIDS. Battling vertigo,  dizziness, and cognitive issues, but still undaunted, Reed started an online resource for unsigned and independent musicians--while confined to bed. "I'm really stubborn," says Reed. "I just refused to allow the disease to keep telling me no." A few name and format changes later as she recovered, that online resource evolved into MusicBizAdvice.com, an online magazine in web publication since 2003. 

Born in the Midwest and transplanted to California's Coachella Valley in her early teens, Randi Reed  began her music career at 16 as a singer and songwriter in a local band.  “My singing career was short-lived, but it definitely affected the way I work with musicians,“ says Reed. “I was passionate about music, but I had constant throat problems and didn’t love singing enough to be miserable. By then I was co-managing our band and enjoyed the behind-the-scenes aspects, so I decided to go into management. My parents probably thought I’d be a novelist, or maybe write for Rolling Stone." (Reed is a former college journalism award winner.)

Advised early on by a prominent talent manager to learn as much about as many different facets of the music industry as possible, Reed set about learning the business “from all sides of the contract—everything from working at a music store, to working for a symphony during the day while working with local metal bands at night, to writing another artist’s fan club materials.” Meanwhile, she immersed herself in the local music scenes in Southern California and Arizona.  

Her national-level break came in the form of an internship with illustrious concert promoter Danny Zelisko. It would prove pivotal in every sense of the word: half a decade and a move to Los Angeles later, in an odd twist of fate Reed would work for a Pollstar Concert Industry Award winning talent agency--for an agent responsible for the booking territory covering Zelisko’s venues. “Both sides of the contract, totally unplanned," says Reed, who had originally applied for another position within the agency. “I couldn’t have asked for better experience in major concerts.”  Meanwhile, she continued to work on a variety of music industry projects, including a stint assisting a Billboard Top 10 pop metal artist she declines to name. “That it was brief was a blessing,“ says Reed. “Had the Internet and social media culture existed as we know it today, I would have known they'd been through six management companies in three years, and who knows how many agents. No one was talking because of confidentiality agreements, so I only had half the story going in. Let's just say it was a great learning experience!"

Fast forward to 2014, and management performance audits and music industry background checks are some of the services Reed offers in her role as a music business consultant. But whether checking out that new manager a band is thinking of hiring, or helping indie musicians sort out issues that can arise from trying to road manage themselves on tour, or showing artists ways of improving their live performances, or even advising a non-profit about planning a benefit concert, one constant remains: for Randi Reed, it’s all about live music.

But does she miss singing? "Absolutely not! But I'm grateful it taught me what it takes to go onstage, and what it feels like when the show's going really well, or how part of you just wants to die when your voice gives out in front of a crowd. That's why I'm so passionate about helping musicians succeed."

###





Artists Worked With:

Concerts produced by companies Randi Reed has worked with are mentioned in several books about rock and roll, including The Dirt by Mötley Crüe, Walk This Way: The Authorized Biography of Aerosmith, Planet Rock by Lonn Friend, and The Heroin Diaries by Nikki Sixx.

Clients of firms Randi Reed has worked with, concerts produced by firms she's worked with, and artists she's worked with in a variety of capacities include:


38 Special
Aerosmith
After 7
Air Supply
Al B. Sure
Alan Thicke
Alice Cooper
Alice in Chains
Allman Brothers Band
Anne Murray
Another Bad Creation

Anthrax

Arcade

Arsenio Hall
Bad Religion

Barbara Streisand

Barry Manilow

Beach Boys

Bell Biv De Voe
Ben Folds
Ben Harper

Big Daddy Kane
Blind Melon
Bob Saget
Bob Seger
Bobby Brown
Bobby Collins
Bobby’s World
Bobcat Goldthwait
Bon Jovi
Boyz II Men
Brandy
Brett Butler
Brian Setzer Orchestra
Bruce Springsteen
Bryan Adams
Buffalo Tom
Bugs Bunny on Broadway
Butthole Surfers
Candlebox
Carrot Top
Catherine Wheel
CCR
Celine Dion
Charlatans U.K.
Cheap Trick
Cher
Cheryl Crow
Chris Rock
Cinderella
Circle Jerks
Clawhammer
Collective Soul
Coolio
Corrosion of Conformity
Creedence Clearwater Revisited
Crowbar
Cry of Love
Dana Carvey
Dance Hall Crashers
Dave Collier
David Lee Roth
David Spade
Dean Martin
Dennis Miller
Diana Ross
Dinosaur Jr
Dokken
Dolly Parton
Don Rickles
Dr. Dre
Echobelly
Ed O’Neill
Eddie Money
Edwin McCain
Elayne Boosler
Ellen Cleghorne
Ellen DeGeneres
EMF
Erasure
Everly Brothers
Extreme
Failure
Faith Evans
Faith No More
Fight (Rob Halford)
Flaming Lips
Flotsam and Jetsam
Foghat
Four Tops
Frank Sinatra
Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons
Freddie Jackson
Fuzzy
G. Love & Special Sauce
Gallon Drunk
Gary Moore
Gene Kelly
George Benson
George Carlin
George Wallace
Giant Sand
Gigolo Aunts
Gin Blossoms
Gipsy Kings
Glenn Frey
Gods Child
Goo Goo Dolls
Grateful Dead
Gregg Allman Band
Hammer
Hazel
Heart
Heavy D. & The Boyz
Helium
Helmet
Horace Brown
H.O.R.D.E.
H.O.R.D.E. Festival
House of Love
Howie Mandel
Imperial Drag
INXS
Iron Maiden
Isley Brothers
Jamie Walters
Jars of Clay
Jay Leno
Jean-Luc Ponty
Jewel
Jill Sobule
Jodeci
Joe Walsh
John Pinette
Juliana Hatfield
Julio Iglesias
Kate Clinton
Keith Sweat
Kenny Rogers
Kings X
KISS
KORN
Kris Kristofferson
Laundromat
Lemonheads
Lillith Fair
Liz Phair
Liza Minelli
LL Cool J
Lollapalooza
London Suede
Lorrie Morgan
Louie Anderson
Loverboy
Luke Torres
Madonna
Magic of MGM The Lion Roars
Manhattan Transfer
Manic Street Preachers
Marry Me Jane
Marsha Warfield
Mary J Blige
Meatloaf
Megadeth
Method Man
Michael Bolton
Michael Crawford
Michael Feinstein
Michael Nitro Band
Michael Richards
Michel’le
Monster Magnet
Moody Blues
Morrissey
Mötley Crüe
Mudhoney
Neds Atomic Dustbin
Nelson
New Edition
Nirvana
Notorious B.I.G.
O.M.D.
OzzFest
Page/Plant
Pantera
Patti Lupone
Paul Revere & The Raiders
Pavement
Pearl Jam
Pennywise
Peter and the Wolf
Pink Floyd
Possum Dixon
Primus
Proclaimers
Prong
Pulp
Raffi
Ray-J
Red Hot Chili Peppers
Redd Kross
Rickie Lee Jones
Rita Coolidge
Rita Rudner
Rob Halford
Rob Schneider
Robert Plant
Ronnie Milsap
Rush
Screaming Trees
Sex Pistols
Shari Lewis & Lambchop
Sheryl Crow
Shirley MacLaine
Silverchair
Sinbad
Six Finger Satellite
Slaughter
Slayer
Smooth
Snoop Dogg
Social Distortion
Sonia Dada
Sonic Youth
Soundgarden
Southside Johnny
Sponge
Stanley Clarke
Sting

Stone Roses

Strutter

Suddenly Tammy!
Sugar Ray
Superchunk
Superdrag
Susan Anton
Sven Gali
Swervedriver
SWV
Take 6
Tammy Wynette
Teddy Pendergrass
Testament
The Badlees
The Boredoms
The Cramps
The Exploited
The Mommies
The Muffs
The Rat Pack
The Who’s Tommy
Third Eye Blind
Three Dog Night
Tina Turner
Toadies
Todd Rundgren
Tom Poston
Tommy Tune
Tony Danza
Turtle Island String Quartet
Unwritten Law
Usher
Velocity Girl
Vent
Versus
Vince Neil
Warner Bros. Family Entertainment on Ice
Warren Zevon
Waterdog
Wayne Kramer
Willie Nelson
Winger
Wu Tang Clan
Yoko Ono
 
Contact Randi Reed:


Website:
http://www.MusicBizAdvice.com

Mailing Address:

Randi Reed
MusicBizAdvice.com
2219 West Olive Avenue #136
Burbank, CA 91506


Media Contact:
Jinjer Hundley
jhundley@musicbizadvice.com

Business Inquiries:
Randi Reed, MusicBizAdvice.com Founder/ Editor in Chief
rreed@musicbizadvice.com

 
Randi Reed / MusicBizAdvice.com on Social Media: