Friday, December 31, 2010

Happy, Joyful, Productive, Inspired New Year

The giant ball has just dropped in New York City, so in Eastern Standard Time in the United States it is officially 2011. It will soon be time to dump out the stale champagne at the bottom of the flutes, put away the black plastic stovepipe hats, shut off the music and say goodnight.

Of course, most of you will be reading this post once the sun has risen again. It’s the first morning of the new year. Though it may be cliché to ask, we ask anyway: what does it mean to you? What will be most important to you in two thousand eleven?

If you are parents, new or not – God bless you – may your shining joy be your child or children.

If you are finishing school this year may your heart be afire with the thrill of where your future might take you.

If you are about to retire may all your plans for truly golden years start to come to fruition.

And if you are artists … if you are driven to put words to the page, song to the air or images to the canvas … if you have a passion within you to speak truth and create beauty … if you cannot stop creating art despite the discouraging words you have heard … if you create it regardless of even the encouragement you receive … if you love what you do but 2010 was a hard year for finding an outlet in which to do it, well then: may the new year bring the way forward.

May 2011 be the year you get discovered.

Happy New Year!

GettingDiscovered.net

Thursday, December 30, 2010

Art for the Holidays

 

To get discovered is just the first step. Once we've gotten our audience's attention, our goal then is to make a lasting impact.
 
Earlier this month, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel published an article about the Janet McKenzie show at the Haggerty Museum of Art. The article discusses both the new work on display as well as the splash McKenzie made ten years ago with her best-known work, "Jesus of the People".
 
The article quotes art historian Wendy Beckett: “This is a haunting image of a peasant Jesus—dark, thick-lipped, looking out on us with ineffable dignity, with sadness but with confidence. Over His white robe He draws the darkness of our lack of love, holding it to Himself, prepared to transform all sorrows if we will let Him.” - jsonline.com
 
Despite the praise she got for this piece, McKenzie evidently triggered some anger among conservative Christians for being a bit too liberal with her depictions of Christ in some of the other work in that show, but what is good art if not provocative? Now all she need do is continue to produce work and we can be confident people will want to see it.
 
What are you working on over this holiday season that people should see? Get it out there, and let's see how many are still buzzing about you ten years down the road.

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Reclusive and Famous

Have you seen the new Coen brothers film True Grit yet? The New York Times recently published an article about the author of the original novel, Charles Portis (pictured here left of John Wayne, who starred in the first film adaptation).
 
"Mr. Portis doesn’t use e-mail, has an unlisted phone number, declines interview requests, including one for this article, and shuns photographs with the ardor of a fugitive in the witness protection program. He hasn’t published a novel in nearly 20 years." - New York Times
 
How appealing does that sound? Just hole yourself up in a studio, office or cabin out in the country and crank out your masterpieces. Then send them off to your publisher and watch the royalty checks come in. For Charles Portis, it is probably a wonderful reality.
 
But for the rest of us it's a fantasy.
 
Most of us have to work hard to get our work out there, networking and selling ourselves, just to get a start and to keep our work on the minds of our audience. In other words, it's a lot of work to get discovered, in most cases. All we can do is believe in ourselves and keep feeding our passions with the art we create.
 
Support the arts, support yourselves. Submit to Getting Discovered or be a part of our audience!

Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Where is the American Idol for us?

 

Each year, tens of thousands of people try to get discovered on  American Idol. The show is a phenomenon because people love watching people try to live out their dreams (although in some cases, like in the video above, the show can really be about showcasing failure). There is something electrifying about seeing those finalists get on the stage and belt out the notes for a shot at a recording contract. Even if only for a fleeting moment, they are living out their passion. That is attractive to all of us.

But what about those of us who are artists of a different slant? Are only the vocalists of the world encouraged to live out their dreams?

We may not be American Idol, but here at Getting Discovered we want you to live out your dreams. We are the next step along your journey. Take it.

Monday, December 27, 2010

Artists in the Closet

Do you need to get discovered?

According to the American Bureau of Labor Statistics, if you live in the United States the best chance is that you're in the transportation industry. If you don't drive a vehicle professionally, there's a strong possibility that you work on computers, manage payroll or assist in some other administrative capacity in the professional services sector. Still haven't hit the mark? Next on the list is food service, so if we haven't guessed your job yet you might be taking orders or flipping burgers in a restaurant. We see similar trends in the United Kingdom and Canada.

The point is, whatever it is you do for a living, you are probably not making a dime as an artist.

The only people who get a foot in the door in the arts and entertainment industry are those who believe in themselves enough to put their work out into the world. If you make it but you don't show it then you've got a hobby, not a potential career. Show us what you've got.

Submit!

Saturday, December 25, 2010

Matthew Trisler - Memphis Power-Pop

Nine Songs, the first collection from Memphis, Tenn.-based Matthew Trisler, is something of a purge.

Culled out of nearly 200 recordings, made over the course of ten years and nearly as many apartments, the record motions toward a wide range of genres and themes while retaining a common thread of urgency. Any one of the ideas contained in this record could either speed away at any moment or collapse under its own weight.

This record is documentation of that tension.

Echoing the low-fi experimentalism of Smog and early Beck, the orchestral folk of Sufjan Stevens, the expansive power-pop of Big Star or the New Pornographers, and the direct simplicity of Jens Lekman, the record retains – despite its decade of gestation – the dashed-together immediacy of Guided by Voices.

The coming year promises to be a busy one; Matthew plans on releasing a covers record in early Februrary, with a proper Nine Songs followup to come shortly thereafter. Keep up with or contact Matthew Trisler at his website, MatthewTrisler.com or his Twitter account.

gettingdiscovered.net

Friday, December 24, 2010

What Is Getting Discovered?

You are.

Welcome artists, musicians and writers … who are also servers, custodians, childcare workers, retail salespeople, secretaries, bank tellers, librarians, police officers, office managers and countless others. You have a passion for the art you create when you can get away from your day job. You just haven’t had an audience. Until now.

Click here for submission guidelines, then e-mail us at submittogettingdiscovered@gmail.com. We want to be your stage.