I’m Still Standing: a Celebration of Imbolg
Hello everyone, I wanted to share with you what I was doing while everyone was watching the Grammys. I know it was a few weeks ago, but the message is still of significance.
If you have been following Imbolg over the past few years, you may have noticed we have not released any new material in quite some time. Yes we done newer versions of Red Devil and Paler Still but have not released any new material. So we decided to go live on February 1st (Which happens to be when the Holiday of Imbolg is celebrated) and play the new song we are working for everyone who was watching.
I made this decision after spending time trying to figure why we have faced so many obstacles in the past few years with low show attendance, sales and fan engagement. I realized it's not a lack of interest, it is because of many factors that have to do with the business model of promoting music these days. Social Media purposely buries anything that isn't costing something to post. So people don't see it, don't hear the music and don't become inclined to attend shows or buy merch. On the other hand, people often buy ads without knowing who to target and they end up with hundreds or thousands of fake plays or plays from halfway around the world and wonder why they don't have many people coming to see them live. After doing some research thanks to gaining insight from a book Called from Buzz to Bond by Ariel Hyatt (free excerpt in the link) I decided to do something to engage more with fans and even started a small group that have proven to be more of our most dedicated fans to share ideas with and offer them first hand info about the band's latest moves and other perks as a thank you for their support. This was also a means to not let the algorithm dictate our destiny and steer people here to our Homepage.
Ironically enough, shortly after creating this group for our most loyal followers (I have no doubt that they are reading this since I will plan on texting you the link to this entry as soon as I post this. YES we even communicate through text some of them have even rode in my vehicle and had me over as a guest in their homes.That's a Bonded Fanbase) Facebook decided to lock me out of my personal account, despite me having it for over a decade and going through all the hurdles to prove I am who I am. So much for the convenience of AI. This just further re-iterates the points made in From Buzz to Bond because had I had done this sooner and moved the chat off Facebook completely I would have had no hiccups. And yes I am still locked out of my Facebook, despite having spent money on ads and all the other aforementioned facts as to why this shouldn't have happened.
I'm Still Standing
As I said before, It has been very difficult over the years. And if it wasn't for the people who do believe in us, it would be not be possible. We have been blessed with some people who have been passionate enough about our music to keep supporting, coming out to shows and requesting that we send them autographed merchandise.
I was on the fence about even writing this post after all these issues. What is the appeal? I asked myself. And of course what was I going to name it. This song by Sir Elton John immediately came to mind. Despite coming up with a name, I still had my doubts. I was feeling at my absolute lowest, about everything in general. The future of the band, my personal future, everything. And out of nowhere this song came on. Considering how popular this song is, I know it's not some act of divine intervention. But it was a sign nonetheless. I discovered that the song was about a terrible break up that Bernie Taupin (Elton John's writing partner) had gone through and overcame. Despite the setbacks, I decided to proceed with my plans and used other means to get the word out (such as our mailing list, which I should have been using all along) Before we started we re-arranged our studio room.Not the most interesting detail, but I figured I would include and yes you will be able to see what we did.
As rough as it was, we pulled it off. And for those of you who stuck through and watched the video above this, there is the debut of a New we have been working on called "Blasphemy", along with some of our previously released music. And there will be more new music coming for those who are still listening. We will give some of our most loyal supporters the chance to hear the new music before anyone else does and even get a glimpse of it as it being made. If you are interested in this and other perks, please follow us across all our Social Media Links and please help us by commenting, sharing with friends messaging us privately with and suggestions or requests (such as Birthday shout outs), we may even do another contest for FREE Merchandise and special discounts for our most loyal supporters.
