The New Generation of Touring Musician

This is an almost re-post from another blog - it should be on this one...

SongSharing is moving up - big things are happening!! Quick reflection on how we got here from such humble, unconscious beginnings in 1994: That fall I was employed in an office - one of those offices full of highly talented, mis-utilized people always seeking to fulfill their inner callings thru special projects, not job description. As an offshoot of a "Make A Difference Day" project, someone put together a holiday party at an area nursing home, and I was recruited to round up singers, guitarists and a pianist to provide music. (He was a great big pianist - he fired me years later...)

We had a great time, and I continued visiting folks at that senior home the following year. At first I visited a room or two, and in time I was "playing a show" there twice a month for residents and staff. By 1998 my acoustic bandmates were joining me occasionally, and I expanded my personal volunteer effort to include many more area senior facilities - as many as ten at one point. I performed once or twice a month at these homes, a win/win "livelihood" that worked wonders for my performance skills and forced me to always add new material to the repertoire. It's great for your head - nothing like starting a weekend with a Friday show at Kluge Children's Rehab Center, or The Cedars for coffee and donuts!

Okay - a great livelihood, but how would it pay the bills? I "test drove" my roadracing inspired sponsorship idea in 1998 by self-producing a newsletter and successfully selling a bit of ad space in it! In 2002 I secured sponsorship from a local weekly publication, and in 2003 I began to produce public concerts to promote SongSharing, our musicians and our sponsors. By 2004 small scale success had encouraged me to incorporate as a 501c3 non-profit entity.

SongSharing is now poised to release it's first Studio Series cd (songs are here), which will highlight the original music of the musicians that dedicate themselves to SongSharing Community programs. Tales of the Uneasy Writer features 6 of my original songs and a cover of a Fred Koller / John Gorka song. The cd has been professionally produced at Greenwood Studio under the able direction of Jeff Romano. Future Studio Series cd's will promote Thomas Gunn and Proutt & McCormick. Proutt & McCormick are stepping up again to bring the organization further along in the mission. They have been involved with SongSharing for several years now, and spent the better part of a year playing three or more shows a month for audiences at Cedars, Comyn Hall, Heritage Hall, Our Lady of Peace, Region 10 and more. They have recently jumped back in with four volunteer shows since the Spring, and are now taking SongSharing on the road!!

In September the duo has gigs booked in Maryland and West Virginia, and I am busy lining up volunteer shows for them at senior or children's facilities nearby. Going forward SongSharing will assist the duo in booking "SongSharing mini-tours" that will consist of a paid gig or two, a volunteer gig or two, and an on-air appearance at a local radio station. Of course we'll send press releases to the area's media announcing the mini-tour, and hopefully they will respond to this new generation of touring musician that comes to town to Make Music More Accessible in non -traditional ways!

Both the Studio Series of CD's and the SongSharing mini-tours are major steps in the evolution of our win/win/win philosophy - our beneficiaries always win when SongSharing musicians come to perform, the musicians win from the experience and the related promotional benefits, and our sponsors win from their exposure as a supporter of a unique effective organization.This is fun! Can't wait to see what the land barter brings...

By the way, I realize now that it is a special sort of musician that can even do these volunteer gigs. More on that later...

Adventures of the Musical Pork Chop

I coined that Musical Pork Chop phrase last fall while chatting about the number of great musicians that I get to interact with now - recording, performing, swapping notes, etc. I mentioned that SongSharing is the reason that all of these folks have come to know me and interact with me, and I jokingly said "Yeah it's like a musical pork chop I hang around my neck to get folks to come play with me". It stuck.

I am looking for a guitar maker to build me a pork-chop looking guitar, so if you know anyone, have them contact me!

On to the adventures...

This land barter offer is starting to be a great deal of fun. The AP has picked up the story and it is making its’ way across Virginia and the Internet. The writer is optimistic that it will be picked up more broadly over the weekend. I have a cousin that writes for USA Today - he found the AP story and forwarded to his editor yesterday, so cross your fingers for us!

I have had one call on the land so far - nothing serious yet… It was interesting though, because he felt he had nothing of interest to me, then he casually mentioned that a good friend of his manages the group Heart. Heart! I encouraged him to pass the news to his friend and ask him to get it in front of Anne and Nancy. I reminded him that Kyle had traded up to a day with Alice Cooper during his quest... I think I heard those little wheels in his head begin to turn!

The website hits are starting to take off - SongSharing, the song samples from the new cd, and the REALANTHROPIST(tm) page. Real Estate Professionals should check that last page out - it's an easy, inexpensive way to support SongSharing and a non-profit of their choice in their community, and it gets them a designation that they can display proudly on their business info.

Thanks for checking in - drop me a line!

Trading Up for Others

As far as I can tell I may be the only person on the planet who is trying to trade up in order to better the world and benefit a non-profit organization.

I hope someone finds that newsworthy. I know the philanthropists are out there that will look at what I have created in the last 12 years and be willing to help me out. 1.75 million dollars is not a lot of money to an awful lot of people, and after all, the money is not for me.

As Bryan McKenzie, the Daily Progress reporter said in the article, "Allen said trading the property on behalf of the nonprofit rather than selling it and pocketing the profit is his way of keeping faith."

Faith. Yup.

The Press - episode 2

Local radio interview yesterday morning on a talk show. It was great - they asked good questions that allowed me to get the story and the motivation out there to the first group of listeners.

The local NBC affiliate also called to set something up yesterday, but they must have had a big story break because they're still "it" in our game of phone tag. I expect I'll hear from them soon..

I've had interest expressed from my hometown paper, the Winchester Star (VA), and also from a PBS station in the Shenandoah Valley. Hopefully those will pan out - I'll keep after them.

Tell your media friends!

The Press - episode 1

He'll Swap Land for a Dream
Details trade, goal on Web site
By Bryan McKenzie / Daily Progress staff writer
July 19, 2006

With shaved head and rock-and-roll demeanor, Charlottesville Realtor Greg Allen will never be mistaken for Monty Hall even though he desperately wants to make a deal: his land for enough money to keep his pet project rolling

Allen wants to trade more than 8 acres near Walnut Creek Park in Albemarle County for an endowment to fund SongSharing, the Central Virginia nonprofit that organizes professional musicians to perform for those who have little or no access to live music. Allen has posted his plan on craigslist.com to make a series of trades along the lines of those arranged by craigslist.com user Kyle MacDonald. MacDonald started with one large red paper clip and within a year wound up with one Main Street house in Kipling, Saskatch-ewan, in Canada.

Some Canadians might argue that MacDonald came out on the bad side of that deal, but the idea of trading something small for something big stuck with Allen. He figured if he started with something big, he could wind up with something bigger, a bequest for SongSharing.
“It sounds crazy, but it seems like the thing to do to make sure SongSharing can continue to operate,” Allen said. “Greg Allen Realty is something my father and I do to make a living and the music is what I love. In this case, the property is something that my father and I bought as an investment and we decided to make the investment in SongSharing.”

He’s a Realtor. He knows he has the goods. The property is 8.6 acres along Old Lynchburg Road, about 2.7 miles south of Red Hill. There’s one hillside home site that has passed the perc test. That means soil on the site percolates, that it’s absorbent enough to install a septic system. Another home site is at the bottom but it has not had a perc test yet. Albemarle County has valued the land at $84,000 for tax purposes.

He has no set price for the property, but he does have a dream. “I’m hoping for something like $1.7 million over seven years to keep [SongSharing] growing. Maybe someone will offer improvements or trade it for part of an estate,” he said. “If a man can start out with a red paper clip and wind up with a house, who knows what will happen?”

Faith in future

Allen is optimistic that his plan will work. He points to MacDonald’s success as the best motivation. MacDonald started with a red paper clip and traded it for a wooden fish pen. He traded the pen for a ceramic doorknob, the doorknob for a camp stove, the stove for a generator and then things got weird.

He traded the generator for a portable party including beer keg and neon sign. That was swapped for a snowmobile that was swapped for a trip to Yahk, British Columbia, that was bartered for a moving truck that was swapped for a recording contract that was exchanged for a year’s room and board in Phoenix, Ariz.

That was traded for an afternoon with rock star Alice Cooper. MacDonald traded the day with the Billion Dollar Baby for a Kiss rock band snow globe. Although he questioned the trade at the time, he was vindicated when Hollywood actor and moviemaker Corbin Bernsen traded a credited, speaking role in a movie for the globe.

That’s when the town of Kipling upped the ante with the Main Street house.
“If you can trade a red paper clip for a house, why not trade property to make a nonprofit venture more viable?” Allen asked.

Everything about the looming trade is an opportunity to Allen.
“There are a variety of things that can happen. Because SongSharing is [an Internal Revenue Service-recognized] nonprofit, if a builder wanted to build a home on the site or someone wanted to do some improvements it could be a tax write-off. That would up the desirability and the value. That’s more for SongSharing,” he said.

Allen’s desire to make SongSharing self-sufficient comes from his love of music and the program. The idea started after he volunteered with friends to perform in a nursing home and the reception he received convinced him of the need.

“It didn’t matter whether we played music they knew. They just enjoyed the performances,” he said. “I now play about 10 or 12 times a month as a volunteer. I’m always calling up groups and performers and saying, ‘Hey, this is what’s going on in a couple of weeks, can you do it?’ The idea is to include people in the local culture and they seem to appreciate it.”
That they do.

A good show

Officials at the University of Virginia Children’s Medical Center/Kluge Children’s Rehabilitation Center say the performances are enjoyed by staff and seem to calm anxious children awaiting doctor appointments.

At The Cedars Nursing Home, where Allen plays every other Friday and other musicians fill in when available, the residents are eager to listen. “The residents love it,” said Tiffany Wade, human resources officer at The Cedars. “They look forward to it. It’s something they enjoy and it seems to lighten the mood.”

Although Allen can organize performers and book gigs, he readily admits that his head is not in business. The property trade - he refers to himself as a “realanthropist” - could help assure the organization runs properly. “It would be nice to know there’s enough money available to keep SongSharing going, to make sure everything’s taken care of financially and business-wise and that the organization can grow,” he said.

Allen said trading the property on behalf of the nonprofit rather than selling it and pocketing the profit is his way of keeping faith. “My life is good. I have no one who wants to fight me and no one I want to fight with,” he said. “If you hear my music, you’d see that it’s the kind of thing I write about. I’m just trying to live my own lyrics.”

Contact Bryan McKenzie at (434) 978-7271 or bmckenzie@dailyprogress.com.
This story can be found at: http://www.dailyprogress.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=CDP%2FMGArticle%2FCDP_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1149189239888&path=!news

The Press Release

For Immediate Release
Contact: Candace Schoner
Lapdog Productions, LLC
www.lapdogpro.com

REALANTHROPIST™ plans to trade land for arts endowment (Charlottesville, VA - July 17, 2006)

Inspired by Kyle MacDonald's success bartering one red paper clip up to a house in 12 successive trades, Albemarle County REALANTHROPIST™ & singer-songwriter Greg Allen is beginning his quest to trade 8.623 acres of land up to an arts endowment for SongSharing™, a non-profit organization that he started in 1994.

The land is about 12 minutes south of Charlottesville on Old Lynchburg Road, has division rights, and two home sites. “The site at the top of the ridge is very private and has southeasterly views - looking towards Monticello”, says Allen. “It’s a wonderful piece of land in arguably the #1 place to live in the country!” (Allen, owner of the land, is a licensed real estate agent in Virginia, doing business as Greg Morgoglione.)

"I'm looking to trade up to a 7-year endowment for Song Sharing of $250,000 annually to help expand upon our mission of Making Music More Accessible™ he added. “I’m one of the first registered REALANTHROPIST’s - real estate professionals giving back to their communities”, Allen says. “It seems natural for a REALANTHROPIST™ to offer up a piece of land in exchange for assistance and funding that will grow the organization to a level I can not take it alone - increasing the national impact of our programs.”

Since its inception, Song Sharing has operated on a small budget with Allen at the helm, a few dedicated local musicians and business sponsors, from as far away as Athens, GA and as well known as R.E.M. Allen is pleased that SongSharing is now fulfilling two important growth landmarks: releasing their first Studio Series CD and offering SongSharing shows beyond Albemarle County and Virginia through touring musicians like Proutt & McCormick.

Song Sharing is a unique 501c3 non-profit organization that has been Making Music More Accessible (3MA) by bringing live musical performances to a variety of underserved audiences. The 3MA Community Venues program coordinates intimate on-site performances for seniors, adults and children in special situations. Charlottesville area "alternative venues" include the Kluge Children's Rehabilitation Center, Region 10's Meadowcreek Center and Horizon Clubhouse, and a number of senior living and care facilities. To learn more about SongSharing, visit www.songsharing.org or call 434-979-SONG (7664). - end –