back in 'Big Room Studios' tonight with Mr. Darren Morrison...recording some vocals.

great night in the studio last night!

They are just figuring this out....what a joke!

http://ping.fm/EIUYy

I love this...an small exerp from Digital Music News' 'Daily Snapshot' - Publisher Paul Resnikoff

"And what a riddle corporate music created. Hard to get respect in your early 20s, you lose your A&R ears by your 30s, and you're an old fart at 50. Toss a midlife crisis into the mix, and the fun really begins."

Well Lookey Here: MTV Suddenly the Largest Music Site...

When it comes to amassing music audiences online, powerful allies come in
handy. That's the lesson being taught by MTV Networks, which recently
parlayed an ad-serving relationship with Warner Music Group to claim the top
traffic slot among music sites in August. MTV's 53 million-strong unique
visitors edged out Vevo, which claimed 49 million, according to the latest
Comscore Media Metrix rankings.

That was followed by MySpace Music, which lured 26.4 million uniques. AOL
Music claimed fourth place with 22 million, while ToneFuse Media scored 5th
with 19.2 million.

This is more than just a numbers game, especially when it comes to
advertisers. Part of the Vevo strategy is to amass an utterly huge audience
and reach, a position that theoretically makes the decision easy for
advertisers. Seems like MTV Networks has similar designs, and a 165-percent
year-over-year gain now places the company in a totally different
negotiation with major brands.

Source: Digital Music News

Looks Like They're Sleeping Together, After All: Hurley Sponsoring Weezer
Listening Parties for the Album, 'Hurley'...

Call it a sellout, call it whatever you want. But Hurley is definitely
sponsoring Weezer's upcoming album, which is actually titled...'Hurley'.
Earlier, Weezer denied that Hurley had directly paid for the album title,
though the lines are now blurry at best.

The partners are also collaborating on limited-edition gear and contests,
part of an incredibly brash marketing handshake. Gotta love crass
commercialism, but at least someone's getting paid.

Source: Digital Music News

after many delays in the recording of "Believe' it appears the studio is finally free for Darren and I to get in there and record. He was finishing up work on the 'Before The Damned' CD before I could get in to start on bed tracks. I'm looking forward to getting the songs out there as I think they will be a step forward from a song writing standpoint and recording/producing standpoint. It has been a long time coming and I must apologize for the delays in the release of the CD...but hopefully it will be well worth the wait!

which brings me to what to do after this CD is completed and out...the delays in this CD have made me re-think my direction as both a songwriter and indie recording artist. Going forward I am inclined to shed the burden of trying to monetize my song writing and focus on becoming more prolific as a song writer. Let's face it...indie recording artist don't make money [or very little at best] selling music...hell the majors are having a tough enough time themselves. My thoughts are why not juts put as much music out there as I can for FREE! Now FREE also mean I may have to sacrifice a little sonic quality as future release will be home recorded but in the end it's the 'song' that matters not the 'sounds'. I want people to love my songs not my drum sound whether they are recorded in a project studio or on my laptop...it's the music that matters.

My plan will be to record as much as I can and put it up on my web site for download and sharing....yes for FREE. Also, they will not be released in the form of CD's but as individual songs as they are completed. This is not to say I will never record in a studio again and release a physical CD...I'm sure I will but my priority will be to regularly release songs for free download recorded at home. I have far too many ideas to be able to afford taking them all into the studio to record...so why not get'em down in the best form I can and get'em out there for you to enjoy.

Along with this will be a simplification of my web site...again shedding the burden of trying to look 'major' without a major budget. Just a simple web page with the focus on the music and not the flash. These decisions are actually a huge relief...music will be fun again and that's what it's all about!



Cheers - Chip Gall

Split Gigs

http://ping.fm/nXlIg

Success in the music business used to be 10 albums...now it's 10 minutes! lol

C*G*B* confirmed for the Woodstock Fair Beer Tent Aug 28th...our set is 4pm - 5pm!

Cost-Cutting + More Digital = Less Losses at Warner Music.. source Digital Music News

http://ping.fm/9OruM

pre-production for the CD starts this Thursday...

Rise Against Cancer II

The Rise Against Cancer II show April 24th in Woodstock was a huge success. With over approx. 700 tickets sold, the Oxford Auditorium was packed with music fans ready to have a great time supporting the cause.


MC'd by my good friend Larrie Blancher (13 Aces) the night was kicked off with a great young local band called Flawed Design who cranked out some very cool cover tunes much to the crowds delight. They did a wicked job considering their young age and they showed no fear on the relatively large stage.

Next up was crowd favs Sweet & Innocent who (in keeping with the event theme) dawned their 80's rock apparel (wigs and all) and shredded through some classic 80's cover tunes. The throngs of 80's music fan ate up every minute of it! and the boys were in fine form.

We (Syre) were headlining the show and by the time the opening acts were done the crowd was well oiled (wink...wink) and ready to rock! We were hyped for the show and ready to tear it up like we always do...after a short delay getting on stage due to some last minute monitor issues, we were ready to go once our intro tune Poison's "Nothin' But A Good Time" ended and the lights came on. We turned up the heat rockin' though all of the old fav Syre tunes and few classic cover songs for good measure. Rob Maceachern was on the drums and did a wicked job considering the short notice (1 week) and he added an energy to the Syre's sound only Rob can create.

By the end of the night the beer was running low (both back stage and out front..lol)....the music fans were thrilled and a lot of money was raised to fight Cancer. A big thanks to the organizers of the event as it went off without a hitch and I am looking forward to next years event being even bigger and better (if that is possible...).

Bret Michaels

Image via Wikipedia

I am devastated to hear the sad news of Poison singer Bret Michaels massive brain hemorrhage. Although never a personal friend of Bret I did have the honor of meeting him and jamming with him when he and Rikki Rocket were on the promotional tour for Look What The Cat Dragged In. I was playing with my band Syre at the infamous Gasworks in Toronto when in walked Bret and Rikki with some Capitol Records exec's. We jammed "Talk Dirty To Me" with Bret and Rikki and I remember Bret leaning over to me and saying "you guys play that song better than we do" and laughing.


After the show we were introduced to Bret who immediately took the time to speak with us even when he was surrounded by Toronto finest (if you know what I mean). What really impressed me with Bret was how down to earth he was and how focused he was on our conversation even with all of the distraction around him. The real cool outcome of our conversation was when Bret commented on the cover of Login and Massina's "Your Mama Don't Dance" Syre played regularly in our set. He told me that was such a "cool song to cover". I told him we had been playing that song for years. Little did I know it would end up on their next CD as a single...and I laughed when I read an article and Bret mentioned that Poison had "been jammin' that tune for a long time in sound checks".

We crossed paths again  in Winnipeg where Syre was giggin' and we went to the Poison show at the local arena before our set. I remember Bret looking up into the crowd and yelling "Hi to those Syre guys" after seeing several of us dawning Syre T-shirts in the audience. That's the kind of guys he is and has proven to be over the years. Despite his enormous success he appears to have never swayed from his humble personality and his ability to stay grounded in an industry that is far from it.

To think of that same guy in the position he is in now is surreal. He has struggled all his life to make it (against the grain of the industry) and has fought his way to the top. I have seen it written recently that Bret is a fighter and I believe that to be true in this instance. I believe his love for his daughter's, friends, family and music will give him the strength to fight back and recover from what most people would succumb to.

I send my prayers and thoughts of hope to Bret and his family and friends and take comfort in knowing he is a strong individual with a heart of gold.

Stay Strong Brutha!
Chip Gall

Seems there is never enough time in a day to do everything I want to do...it's a constant source of frustration! The days ahead won't be any different so I'll suck it up and tear through them like a wild man and get as much accomplished as possibly I can.

Upcoming for The Chip Gall Band is the show in our home town of Woodstock April 1st. I'm really looking forward to this show because it marks the debut of my old friend Chris Caron on bass guitar and there will be lots of old and new freinds to chat with. I have played with Chris for 24 years in the band Syre and I'm very excited to have him in my solo band. The very next night I will be pulling double duty opening with my band and Syre for the awesome John Corabi at Norma Jeans in London Ontario. This is an important gig for my solo band as it is only the second time we have played London (the first being an early effort that was a mediocre performance to say the least...lol). The new line up of the band is much tighter and pumped to rock the hell out of London!

After those two dates I'll be finshing up songs for my new CD 'Beleive" and getting the band into the studio with co-producer/engineer Darren Morrison hopefully by mid May for a proposed summer release date. Like this ain't all enough...I'll be booking shows for spring and summer to support the new CD and reheasing the band to rip out those new tunes LIVE! It's gonna be a busy spring and summer but I woudn't have it any other way...

Hey Rockers...I am proud to announce my endorsement with Carparelli Guitars! Mike , Rob and the entire Carparelli team are awesome people making awesome guitars and I am proud to be welcomed into the Carparelli Guitar family....Check out their wicked line of guitars at www.carparelliguitars.com

Congrats to the Canadian Olympic Team...you've shown the world you are "world class".

Don't frustrate your fans! - How to properly create a Facebook Event for your shows. | DIY Musician http://ping.fm/zrhVl

Simple Productivity | Zen Habits http://ping.fm/wI8KO

Gigs for March: March 12 SYRE opening for The Bullet Boys and your truly solo acoustic opening for 13 Aces

Back at it after a wicked weekend of gigs with SYRE...big thanks to Archie for allowing us to perform at the London Cares Benefit for Haiti...what a great night and wonderful success.

looking for a serious and professional booking agent / manager...

Chip Gall Music Victoria Staffard

Cool vid someone put together on YOUTUBE dedicated to Tori Satfford...rest in peice little one.

Finding paying gigs is a constant struggle

It's not like the old days [1980's for you younger folk...lol] when you were exclusive to an agent and they made sure you were working 6 days a week and your travel day was Sunday. Unless of coarse you were in Sudbury Ontario and playing the Sunday afternoon matinee before you headed out to the next destination lol. These days the agents are making their doe from tribute acts and corporate gigs because the clubs won't pay the average cover band enough to warrant and agent picking up the phone. It's even worse for the indie recording artist who is trying to get their music heard but has to either play for free or put a cover at the door in hope that the masses will give up buying one beer in order to come and here their music. Yes times have changed in world where everything is free it appears this has translated to the gig scene as well.


So what's a band to do...you have all of this great music and talent just waiting for the world to discover. My take on things is I won't play for free unless it is a charity or some other form of fund-raiser I agree with. Other than that I won't put people into a bar for the management to make money while I play for nothing. Now if bands choose to do so that's their prerogative. However, I come from a time when you were paid for the service you provide either in the form of the club paying you up front or you put a cover charge on the door and take 100% of it. The latter seems to be the more common format these days. The clubs have downloaded the rick to the band rather than taking it on themselves in the for of paying the bands out of alcohol income. That's all well and good if you are playing your home town where 150 of your friends are going to show up to your gig. However, what about the band who is playing 2 hours away and may not have a following in the area they are playing. If the turn out is low not only does the band not get paid but the club gets pissed that know one showed up.

There has to be a split in responsibility. The clubs need to promote the bands that put people in their clubs. Not only so they can sell booze, but so the band can in the least recoup their cost for PA and lights for the show. In turn, the bands have to promote the shows as wel...l and be creative as to how they get people to show up. This may include organizing bus trips to the show for out of towners, giving away samples of their music or free tickets to their next show in a near by town. In th clubs defense they are trying tto run a business however so is the band. There has to be a give and take so both can benefit frombe in business.

It's a jungle out there for bands these days and you really have to fight for every dime you get paid for a show...and chances are that dime won't come out of the clubs profits... you will have to be craetive and create that income yourself.

New Years Gig A Huge Success!!!

Hey Rockers!

The band rocked the 2009 New Years Eve show with special guests Murmur. The show was packed with old and new friends and the band cranked out a mix of cover tunes and music from Me, Myself & You! The crowd ate up the tunes and the dance floor was packed all night long. I even had a chance to jam with my good friend Larrie Blancher from 13 Aces and Murmur who performed flawlessly I might add!

The new CHIP GALL BAND T's were a huge hit and sales surpassed what I expected (special thanks to everyone who bought shirts and CD's!!) and people who hadn't heard my music before bought CD's for the first time which was so cool!

A big thanks to Donny and Jackie Wetlauffer for organizing the show and Tuxedo Bill for providing PA and DJ tunes for the night. A special thanks to my band guys for doing such a great job and taking time away from their families to rehearse for the event.

2010 will be a wicked year for THE CHIP GALL BAND with the addition of new members my good friends Chris Caron on bass guitar from SYRE and Steve Pelly on drums. I am also looking forward to releasing my next CD "BELIEVE" whcih will be out in the spring.

That's it for now rockers an we will see ya'll soon!

Cheers Chip