Week #2 - Your Perfect Pitch #MSI9W3

So, Week 2, where I stumbled the first time.  Pushing through this wall.

I was feeling a little pressure because OMGMUSTHAVEAPITCHBYENDOFWEEK2.  Then it came to my attention that it isn't something I MUST have finished by the end of the week, but rather just something I need to start working on now.  I wish I understood that the first time around.  I'm so the type that does things step by step.  Even when I was a kid I refused to read book series in the wrong order.  You start with Kristy's Great Idea, and THEN you can read Claudia and the Phantom Phone Calls.  It horrified me that someone could read Mary Anne Saves the Day right out of the gate. 

(Yes, I know the titles of the Baby-Sitters Club books off the top of my head, don't you?) 

(And yes, I know I skipped over The Truth About Stacey - it was done for added effect, going straight for book 4, what are these people thinking?!) 

In my last entry, I mentioned my first attempt at the MSI9W course, and how I let it lapse. I was hung up on trying to craft my pitch by copying the other examples I've read, citing specific artists. In true Rachel Style, I pushed myself to hit the ground running and find the best pitch that anyone had ever come up with.  Sigh.  Oh Rachel.  My original idea was "Imagine if Tori Amos, Joni Mitchell, and Dar Williams went out for a cup of tea." That (rightfully so) was criticized as "polite and boring" and "gives the idea that you're British" (which is funny to everyone who knows my Anglophile tendencies, I know).  But I got hung up on what else those three women could be doing together instead of drinking tea, which was the wrong road to go down entirely.

Now that I know we can start with coal and make it a diamond, I reviewed all the tips again and took the pressure off.  I honed in on the idea that the pitch should be a few words that give someone an idea of what you're going for.  I think I've got something better where we can start.

"Honest, melodic, acoustic pop sung by a devotee of Tori Amos and Dar Williams."

Good, right?  At least a good place to start, if not the most attention grabbing thing you've read (my husband's suggestion was: "EXPLOSIONS!!!!  Listen to Rachel Schain").  I think that I can best be described as acoustic pop, and the two things I'm most proud of in my songs are the melodies and the honesty of the lyrics.  I put Tori because people are constantly saying they can hear her influence in my singing style, and Dar because I wanted people to understand that I'm fairly literal in my songwriting.  I say what I mean to say, whereas Tori is very obtuse lyrically.  I left Joni out because even though people have compared me to her (and Yay For That), I don't want to give the idea that I'm a devotee of hers.  I have LOADS of respect for the woman, but I haven't spent as much time listening to her as I have the other women.  

While I have your attention:

• I'm happy to report that Happy Happy has almost sold out of its first run, and I'll be ordering a second one shortly.  If you've been to CDBaby.com to get it, you probably know that it's back-ordered.  They ordered more from me on Thursday morning, I had the package in the mail that afternoon, so we're waiting on the Post Office. 
• HOLY CRAP I'M ON iTUNES.  And emusic.  And Last.fm.  I know this shouldn't be such a surprise because I signed up with CDBaby specifically so they would arrange this for me, but hey.  It's real now.  Go take advantage of the convenience.
• I'm all set to go to the Future of Music Coalition's Policy Summit again this year.  MASSIVELY excited about that one.  Last year I went for just the first day and learned quite literally everything I know about the business end of this music thing.  I know I didn't get everything because it was a little overwhelming.  This year I get to go back and pick up what I missed last time.  And then some.

UPDATES FOR LATEST GO:

So, I (very smartly) consulted the folks on Ariel's social network on this topic.  Frankly, I liked the pitch I was using, but I wanted something more attention grabbing.  I mean hubby's EXPLOSIONS suggestion doesn't quite do what needs to be done either.  One genius suggestion I had was to replace "honest" with "raw" and use Tori's "claws" and Dar's "laugh."  So I LOVE the raw bit, and Dar's laugh, but Tori's claws bothered me.  I love Tori, believe me I do, but the idea of claws just gives me ookie feelings.  I'm not *that* bitchy, am I?  Honestly, though, the person who suggested that hadn't actually listened to the music at the time, she just jazzed up my earlier statement, so I am not taking any offense from it.  I don't know.  I feel like if Tori Amos and Dar Williams had a baby, that would be me.  That, however, is a boring pitch.  What if "If Dar Williams and Tori Amos had a baby and it EXPLODED it would sound like Rachel Schain"?

Somehow I don't think exploding babies make for good imagery either.

I'm using "Raw Melodic Acoustic Pop with the soul of Tori Amos and the laugh of Dar Williams."  At least until I come up with something better.