Uncategorized Archives - Page 3 of 4

#1 Thing I Learned From Street Performing

I’ve struggled my whole musical career to know the answer to the following question…

How much do you charge?

However, I recently spent five days straight playing on the streets of Fredericksburg, Virginia. My wife and kids were visiting grandma and I had time to myself. So of course I figured out a way to get battery power to a small amp and my guitar pedal board! After those five days I finally feel confident I have an answer to how much I charge to perform.

While I played on the streets people tipped me a lot. I came to know how much people are willing to freely give me based on my talent and their perception of my value...

November 5, 2015 Uncategorized No comments Marc Allred

Upcoming Shows – Hawaii Included!

I’ve lined up a number of great shows for the next few months that I’m really looking forward to. I played for the first time at a great Irish pub in Stafford last month called Paddy’s and they’ve asked me back and I couldn’t be more excited to spend time with the great people at that venue again. I’m going to be in Stafford, Culpeper, and Fredericksburg Virginia in the month of November. But I’m most excited that I’M GOING HOME to Hawaii in December!!

In 2012 I left Hawaii and essentially “broke up the band” when I left my band Upstanding Youth without a singer/guitar player...

November 2, 2015 Uncategorized No comments Marc Allred

Kickstarter Song Reward – She Gives Me Light

That cool dude in the sunglasses, that’s Spencer Oscarson on tour with Upstanding Youth in 2007 – like a boss.

Last year I offered to write an original song for anyone who donated $100 or more to my Kickstarter project. A lot has happened since completing that goal and so I’ve sadly been behind completing all the rewards. I’m all caught up now except for the songs I owe to some very special people.

Today I’m writing my newest song – She Gives Me Light. I wrote this song for a really good friend, Spencer Oscarson, who has been a huge supporter and fan of my music for a very long time. At one point he came with my band Upstanding Youth on tour in 2007 and helped out in so many ways...

March 19, 2015 Uncategorized No comments Marc Allred

Live Gig Sat 24 Jan 2015!

I’ll be opening for my friends Swamp Trash at their new CD release party this Saturday, 24 Jan 2015. I go on at 8pm. See all the details HERE.

When we moved to Stafford, VA I felt like I lost my address book because we moved into a place where I didn’t know anyone! I used to know all the mechanics in town, musicians, cops, and cooks. In Hawaii, I knew all the venues where I could play with my band, I knew all the managers, I knew all the other bands on the island, and I felt like I had a really good finger on the pulse of the music scene. And then we moved. It’s taken a lot of hustle to even begin getting to know bands and venues in the area, but luckily I stumbled across the band Swamp Trash.

Swamp Trash says that they are “all military veterans, have raised families, travele...

January 20, 2015 Uncategorized No comments Marc Allred

You & M.E. First Live Gig

There was an event this past Saturday in Fredericksburg, VA that was part of the Day To Serve. People made pillow cases deployed military personnel, wrote them letters, collected food for those in need, and a lot of other activities intended to serve others in need. As part of that, my wife and I were asked to perform during a portion of the day – because we’ve started a band and we’re calling ourselves You & M.E. (Marc and Echo). While we’ve done a few living room performances or private shows, this was our first live gig and it was awesome. But since we only have about 5 songs under our belts that we can perform, I had to take up a portion of our slot doing solo work before my cute wife joined me to close out our set...

October 2, 2014 Uncategorized No comments Marc Allred

Street Performing in Fredericksburg, VA

I decided last night that I need to get back into street performing. Growing up in Hawaii, I would often take off from the North Shore of O’ahu so I could play guitar and sing on the streets of Waikiki. It was so much fun to watch so many different kinds of people walk by as I played and sang. I’d usually make enough money to buy some food and pay my cell phone bill for the month.

I’ve also been inspired by a musician named Dub FX who is primarily a street performer who has blown up. He draws insane crowds for his street performances...

October 1, 2014 Uncategorized No comments Marc Allred

Friends @ Amy’s Cafe

Even though my gig was cancelled @ Amy’s Cafe this past Saturday, great friends still showed up to hang out and have a good time. I’m pretty sure we bothered people there with all our laughter. Even though I didn’t have a chance to play, we still had a great time and wished you had been there! I’ll let you know when I play there next.

September 22, 2014 Uncategorized No comments Marc Allred

Gig Cancelled Tonight @ Amy’s Cafe

I just received a last minute cancellation for the gig tonight at Amy’s Cafe in Fredericksburg, VA. Thank you so much to the loads of people who already showed their support by planning to be there and were making arrangements to hang out with me tonight. I’ll still be there tonight for a bit if you’d like to join me for food and drinks. Hope to still see some of you there!

-Marc

September 20, 2014 Uncategorized No comments Marc Allred

Freedom To Choose – What It Means To Be Human

There is a space, an amount of time, between the moment we experience stimulus and our response. In other words, when something happens, we always have the freedom to choose how we react.

I was listening to a podcast by Srini Rao from the Unmistakable Creative recently and Srini was talking with Kevin Honeycutt. There has been a running theme lately with Srini and some of his interviews about the gap between stimulus and response. When talking with Kevin, that gap was compared to a gasket or a grommet. A head gasket in a vehicle engine allows one piece of metal to respond to the impact of another – it creates a gap which allows wiggle room. Without that wiggle room the two pieces of metal would destroy each other because they would hit each other hard enough to ruin their value...

September 19, 2014 Uncategorized No comments Marc Allred

Which Song Would You Vote For The Mid-Atlantic Song Contest?

Tell Me Which of My Songs You’d Vote For

I just joined the Washington, DC Songwriters Association! I’ll be submitting a song or two in their Mid-Atlantic Song Contest and want to know, from the demos I have below, which song would you vote for to win? Keep in mind, these are demos and I have time to re-record them for better production quality; however, the impact of the song itself should be apparent in the demos below regardless of the production quality. So, if you were a judge, which one do you think has the best: melody, lyrics, flow, structure, and overall effect? Take a listen to the songs, VOTE HERE for the one you like the best, and that’ll be the one I submit to the contest. Much love!