Rachel Lee Walsh

Friday morning began set-up of the Exhibit Hall, which included my promo table with my recent EP “She’s Not Waiting”, RLW biz cards, stickers and flyers. There were lots of great tables to look at including individual artists, indie record labels, entertainment and promo companies, cd manufacturers, and instrument/equipment shops.

Gilli Moon, an Australian Singer/Songwriter and Honorary Indiegrrl Member, presented “Secrets to DIY Indie Marketing, Promotion, and Touring Success”, one of the many panels I attended, which was one of the most helpful sessions I attended. I also went to a songwriting workshop, let by Pat and Pete Luboff, called “Super Song Starters”, which addressed how to keep publishers from turning off your demo song within the first few seconds. Always a useful skill to know, to say the least! I even went to a couple of sessions on looking at your career from a holistic point of view. These type of sessions were just as helpful as the business focused panels, if not more.

Check out posts from my previous days at the conference below and stay tuned for more pix and info on the showcases I played. As a reminder, you can purchase the digital downloads of my recent EP, “She’s Not Waiting” by clicking on the link. You can also help me raise funds for the making of my full-length CD by clicking on the “DONATE” button at the top of this site.

Rachel Lee Walsh

I recently returned from Nashville where I attended the 2009 Indiegrrl Women in the Arts Conference. It was an absolutely amazing experience. I played four showcases, including the Indiegrrl Main Stage, the Tryxo Entertainment Stage, the Women’s Radio Guerilla Room Showcase, and the Texas Women’s Guerilla Room Showcase. I attended some great workshops and panels. I also met many many fabulously talented performers, many of whom I’m looking forward to working with in the near future.

Opening Night Banquet

The opening night banquet, which included keynote addresses by David Llewellyn, 2008 winner of the John Lennon Songwriting Contest and Karen E. Reynolds, the host and director of “The Writer’s Block” radio program, was a wonderful way to start the conference! One might normally expect keynote speakers at a music conference to focus on the business aspect of ways to succeed, but both Llewellyn and Reynolds talked a great deal on how important community is to our lives as musicians in our efforts to succeed. I don’t think there was a dry eye in the place! Leave it to songwriters to speak eloquently and move everyone to tears!

Honorary Indiegrrl Members

Also at the banquet were the Honorary Indiegrrl Members who presented and performed at the conference. Pictured here is Rachael Sage, Karen E. Reynolds, Gilli Moon, and Sonya Heller, along with Vicki Blankenship, the founder and president of Indiegrrl Women in the Arts. Throughout the conference, I was able to attend panels, showcases, and performances led by each of these women, which were each absolutely astounding. It was so energizing and inspiring to hear each of these women’s stories, whether I heard it in the form of their advice about succeeding in the biz or I heard it in one of their quirky or beautiful songs!

I just arrived in Nashville yesterday for the 2009 Indiegrrl Women in the Arts Conference. It’s only been a day and a half that I’ve been here, but it’s already been jam packed, and the conference hasn’t even started! I’ve spent my time rehearsing, setting up my merchandise/promo table, meeting some of the participants, and checking out the very interesting Hotel Preston, where the conference is happening. The decor here is fabulous! It, of course, has some music themes running through it via pictures of famous country musicians. Tammy Wynette and Loretta Lynn, to name a few. Also, some very unique art around the hotel to look at. My pictures tell all. The hotel also has a pool, which allowed me to swim for the first time in months. Last, but definitely not least, after having lunch and wondering around the hotel yesterday, I decided to take a trip down to The Bluebird Cafe for an early “In-The-Round” show last night. If you aren’t familiar with the “In-The-Round” show format, it’s where a few different songwriters sit on a stage in a circle facing one another and go around the circle trading off songs. Usually the circle of songwriters is placed in the middle of the audience in some fashion. At the Bluebird Cafe, it’s right in the middle of the cafe, so you can have a drink or dinner while you listen. It’s a great format because often the songwriters will tell the stories behind the songs and will often join one another on each other’s songs. Hearing the stories behind the stories is my favorite part! Well, the Bluebird didn’t disappoint. I didn’t previously know any of the performers before stumbling into the 6pm show, but I ended up hearing some great performers. Trent Jeffcoat, Mark Steven Jones, and Steve Dean really stood out to me. The material was written about different subjects than I’d write about, for sure, but, wow, what great songwriting! I gotta play there one day soon! Tonight, I’ll be attending a banquet dinner and listening to performances from some of the Indiegrrl Songwriting Competition Winners! Really looking forward to the evening. Tomorrow begins the showcases and workshops which I will be performing at and attending!

This morning I’m on my way to Nashville for the 2009 Indiegrrl Women in the Arts Conference. I’m incredibly proud and excited to be taking part. The conference takes place from August 20th-23rd. It will includes tons of workshops, showcase performances, song pitching opportunities and live webcasts from the conference floor. I’ll be playing at the Indiegrrl Main Stage, the Tryxo Entertainment Stage, the Texas Women’s Guerrilla Showcase Room, and the Women’s Radio Guerrilla Showcase Room. I’m also also lucky to be receiving an artist development mentoring session with Eric de Fontenay of MusicDish. Stay tuned for details from each day!

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I’m scheduled to play a showcase music slot at the Indiegrrl Women in the Arts Conference on the weekend of August 20th in Nashville! I’m very honored to have been chosen for a slot as Indiegrrl is a great member organization that “works to create networking, educational, and showcasing opportunities for women”. Check them out at Indiegrrl.com.