Show notes
At this point I had began recording every song I could on my own and releasing them and selling them at shows
There wasn't an iTunes or Spotify at this moment. The closest thing to it was a website called Downloadpunk.net
which would end up sponsoring my tours I did throughout Oklahoma, Indiana, Texas, Illinois, Louisiana, Tennessee,
which I would sell these download cards. Looked like a credit card but you could buy the card then go home
get on your computer and download the MP3 of whichever album card you bought. It was pretty cool, and to back up
how I got the sponsorship was through an album feature I got on a website thats still going today
absolutepunk.net but its called chorus.fm now as they've changed their brand with the times. Absolutepunk.net
at the time was really the news source for anything punk rock, indie rock, emo, pop, anything unsigned really
and that really helped me get some more eyes on my myspace page which then really exploded with over 80,000
followers and gaining over 10,000 plays per day. It was ABSOLUTELY MIND blowing. I remember all the messages and
comments throughout the days and nights I would get and I would literrally stay up til 6am replying to each and
every one. Engaging with anyone that had taken the time to listen to my music, and let alone taken the time
to message me was extremely important to me. More important than sleep. I wanted to make sure that anyone
that was investing 3 minutes into listening to even one song and shooting me a message that they felt valued
and knew that I appreciated them. When I went on my first tour which was mainly alot of the main cities in Illinois
(Springfield, Jacksonville, Champaign/Urbana, Bloomington, Quincy, Chicago, Chicago suburbs, Effingham,
Alton/Godfrey, Edwardsville (at the SIUE campus Starbucks), and some other towns along the way to the major cities
but when I was on that first tour I made a post on myspace, at the time it was known as a bulletin.
In each city I'd usually arrive early and meet up with different people in these cities and towns to either
grab lunch, get coffee, walk around their town, go on a drive and check out the local spots. My whole goal
was to just enjoy life and give time to those that have given me theirs. Through that I really got to know
tons of amazing people who I am so grateful for to this day. I remember on that first tour I was playing a show
with a popular band at the time named This Providence that was signed to Fueled by Raymen Records which had the powerhouse bands
Paramore and Fall Out Boy on their label as well. My best friend Matt who I traveled with a lot during this time frame
was with me and we had a blast. It was one of those shows where I really kinda felt a little unprepared as a lot
of the bands were amazing and here I was just one guy with a guitar, but it ended up working out and was a complete
blast.
I'll leave off here and next episode I'll be talking about my tour with my buddy I met over Myspace
Joshua Aaron as well as a show in Argyle, Iowa.
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