The Man is the new Rockstar

"Excuse me, are you the inspector general?"

I mean, it said it on his flight suit.  I figured it wouldn't hurt to ask.

Turns out I should learn a bit more about the Air Force.

However, he was a kind and gracious fellow, and we struck up a conversation right in the restaurant today where I was grabbing a quick lunch between DJ gigs.  And I learned something way cool that pertains to the music industry and how us musicians might do well to embrace change a bit more.

Greg works for the inspector general, and his department writes the rules for how inspections are supposed to take place.  There's a gazillion people in the US Air Force (an exact, military-approved number), and his crew figures out how to write guidelines for say, how to make sure that there's no broken windows with their property.  He told me that they're going through some major changes, and they're building a culture of change in the workplace.  "There's so much change happening, and happening so rapidly, we need to do our best to embrace that."

Yes, you heard that right.  The United States Air Force, with crew cuts, strict discipline, and cool fighter jets, is building a culture of change...and I'm over here wondering about Spotify, nickles and dimes, and how to sell stuff to friends.

It's probably good that I don't fly F-16's.

When I signed up to be a musician, some of the themes that were going through my head were:

- Thinking as big as possible.

- Having friends say "wow!"

- Being change and the very cutting edge.

Time went by, and I became involved in the nitty-gritty of the industry, and got caught up in the day-to-day hustle.  I'm very grateful that I got to talk to Greg today and hear how he was embracing change.

When "the man" is outdoing me on all fronts, it's a bit of a wake-up call.   Yes, I know - it's challenging to be a musician.  But - I'm so lucky to get to make noise.  Digging ditches is hard.  Guitar is not.  The man is outdoing me.  I've got to change that.  I'm going to do my best to remember not only that I signed up for this, but why I signed up for this.  Not to have friends support me...but to raise everyone up on a tide of awesome.  Not to scrape by, but to create a sound that the wind can dance to.  Yes, I'm terribly confused, and not at all sure how it will ever work. I wish I were writing this from a platform of success and cash, and that my fellow hardworking musicians were camping in gold-plated vans eating ramen with caviar.  I get it - it's tricky.   But - it's also a great time to be a musician.  And even if it weren't, that doesn't matter.  Keep the cheese, bro.  It's been moved, but that doesn't matter, because I'm going vegan.


Are you ready to ROCK?!


- Josh

Tour prep!

Comrades!

  I hope everyone had a rockin' holiday weekend.  There were so many holidays - Easter, Passover, 4/20, and, of course, Record Store Day...Truly something for everyone.

  I'm over here working on the 2014 JURT tour prep, and man oh man, now it's starting to pick up steam!  (If you're just joining the conversation, and are like "huh?" check out the press release at the end of the blog.) I'm making lists of people to get in touch with, and here's the categories so far.  Do you know any of these people, or are you one?

Sponsors (businesses who make things financially possible)

Partners (mainly businesses, but also media folks who are instrumental in helping the tour reach a new audience)

Media (media.)

And the one that applies to you the most:  Key people.  

I'm envisioning key people as folks who are really enthusiastic about the project.  Remember, it's collaborative, so it's all aboard, literally!  It doesn't matter if you've never tweeted or if you have a massive following - the heart is where it's at.  More on this in a second.

I've got some big plans for our tour. Pull up a chair to the planning table, and have a look at what I've been jotting down. What do you think of outdoing the previous ones times TEN?  Here's some goals I jotted down:

10,000 downloads of the new song.

30,000 YouTube views of the collaborative video.

Get our tour on national and local TV.

Get our tour in at least two national papers, and fifteen local and regional ones.

Have people involved from twenty countries.

Get our tour on every radio station we can.

Have the most fun ever.

Get at least two bitter enemies talking to each other.

Now, these goals are ambitious, to say the least.  But - I think we can do it.  I'm "cautiously optimistic" as they say, which is absolutely no way to be, so scratch that...I'm yelling my rugby native "hakka" war cry and charging ahead!


The flow

So, I see the sponsors, partners, and media working from the top down - broadcasting far and wide, reaching a new audience, making things financially possible, and burnishing the brand.

I envision the Key People as the front line soldiers, on the street with me, jamming, talking to friends, building common ground through music, saying "hey, I know how you can do _____", or "oh, I run this coffee shop, let's have a jam here" or "I'm having all my friends over and we're gonna have a broom jam on skateboards" or...and the list goes on and on.  This is one of the most exciting things about this tour, and collaboration in general.  It's a big team - almost like the A team, and just like them, we can throw together scraps and metal and cabbages and build a mega machine to fend off the bad guys.  OK, so maybe we won't be fighting actual bad guys, but just asking them to jam, instead.  You know what I'm saying, though.

So...would you like to be on that list?  Let me know!  I hope the answer is yes!  Let's see what we can build!  All abooooaaaarrrrddd!

Just so you know, here's a hakka:


And here's the press release:


Musician Josh Urban set to ignite Planetary Jam Session, take World on Tour.

Says “Instead of arguing, let's jam”

Washington, DC: Talk isn't cheap nowadays – it's free. But in an era of unparalleled communication, the world seems to be at odds more than ever. The anonymity of the internet makes it easy to forget that there's people behind the opposing sides. Enter musician Josh Urban with an idea to bring the humanity and hope back into the equation. His idea: Let's Jam. His goal: a world-wide “jam session” for everyone, musician and non, creating a common ground through music. His strategy: a collaborative music video and tour. The final media will be a diverse cross-section of humanity, with at least one concrete thing in common: a song...and in some ways, a bridge. And it all starts with a train on the 4th of July. All aboard!
The Josh Urban Rail Tour
Urban will be touring east coast cities by rail, much like a blues musician of olden days, and filming the journey for the video. Playing street corners and subways, hosting impromptu jam sessions on the street, and performing at venues, he'll be playing his new song Let's Jam, available for download from iTunes and JoshUrban.com. People in each city are invited and encouraged to come to the jams and appear in the video. Urban stresses that all people are invited to participate, even if they don't play an instrument. He'll be using a home-built guitar converted from a broom – tying into a special theme of the music video.

It's sweeping the world – join the tour!
People the world over, musician and non, are invited to video themselves playing “broom guitar” (air guitar with a broom) to Urban's new song Let's Jam. They would then post it to social media using the hashtag #JURT (Josh Urban Rail Tour) to jump on the global stage, tagging it back to the tour and including it in the official video. Check out the tour YouTube channel for some ideas! Don't want to shoot a video? No problem! Post a photo of yourself or a friend playing broom guitar using that hashtag. By using the hashtag and social media, everyone gets to join the tour, sharing a worldwide stage and audience. Join the band – Let's jam!

“Music has brought me face-to-face with people I considered enemies, and taught me not only tolerance, but great respect. If we start seeing each other as “band-mates” in the human band, maybe we can realize that like good musicians, we can listen and learn from each other.

Diversity
As a counterpart to the unifying theme of brooms, Josh suggests that participants include something in the video to illustrate who they are, such as auto enthusiasts appearing in front of their car, animal people with their pets, etc Additionally, musicians are invited to send in music parts for the Let's Jam, adding to the existing song with sounds from around the world.

Schedule
Kicking off on the 4th of July, a symbolic day of unity and freedom, and running through the 14th, the tour will make stops in Washington, DC, Alexandria, VA, Waldorf, MD, Charlottesville, VA, Charlotte, NC, Richmond, VA, Philadelphia, PA, and New York, NY, as well as online concerts and venues TBA.
Everyone is invited to participate, either at the in-person jam sessions, or by posting a video or photo of themselves dancing to the new song, playing that broom guitar, of course! Use the hashtag #JURT (for Josh Urban Rail Tour) to join the band, and start the jam! Contact: 240-682-2801,www.JoshUrban.com management@joshurban.com @DontJoshMe Facebook.com/officialJosh

Hear that Train A-Comin' - You're invited to join the 2014 Rail Tour!

Comrades!

  Mega exciting news!  For almost four months, I've been over here pondering and thinking and plotting and inventing, and well, I think I've got it.

ARE YOU READY TO GO ON TOUR AGAIN???!  I sure am!  I'm super excited, and here's the brand new, official statement.  All aboard!

(Well, OK, so that sums it up, but here's the PRESS RELEASE.  Looking forward to seeing you out there!)

For Release 6/25/14 or later

Musician Josh Urban set to ignite Planetary Jam Session, take World on Tour.

Washington, DC: Us people will talk. Now, for the first time, we can – to anyone, anywhere. We are the pioneers in an era of ultra-connectedness. Friendships are formed halfway around the planet, and translation software breaks down language barriers. Yet much division and strife remains. Enter musician Josh Urban with an idea: Instead of arguing – let's jam! “When you look at it one way, we're really all in the same 'band'” states Urban, making the point that most people are after similar goals of happiness and a fulfilling life. Kicking off an international project on the 4^th of July, Urban aims to highlight the unity of humanity instead of the division so commonly seen. His goal: a worldwide “jam session” and tour for everyone, musician and non. His strategy: a collaborative music video.

The Rail Tour

Building the video in several phases, Urban will be touring east coast cities by train, much like a blues musician of olden days, playing street corners and subways, filming the journey, hosting impromptu jam sessions on the street, and taking the world on tour with him through collaborative social media. He'll be playing his new song We're in the band , available for download from iTunes and JoshUrban.com. People in each city are invited and encouraged to come to the jams and appear in the video. He'll be using a home-built guitar converted from a broom – tying into a special theme of the music video.

It's sweeping the world!

People the world over, musician and non, are invited to video themselves playing “broom guitar” (air guitar with a broom) to Urban's new song We're in the band. They would then post it to social media using the hashtag #JURT (Josh Urban Rail Tour) to jump on the global stage, tagging it back to the tour and including it in the official video. Don't want to shoot a video? No problem! Post a photo of yourself or a friend playing broom guitar back to the tour to show that you're in the band. No matter where you are, you're on tour – invite your friends! The worldwide jam is sweeping the planet!

Diversity

As a counterpart to the unifying theme of brooms, Josh suggests that participants include something in the video to illustrate who they are, such as auto enthusiasts appearing in front of their car, animal people with their pets, etc Additionally, musicians are invited to send in music parts for the We're in the Band, adding to the existing song. Urban will be collecting sound samples of his rail journey, and mixing that with guest artists' contributions for the soundtrack to the final video. “Music has shown me such respect for people I formerly considered enemies. I'd like to scale that up to the international. If we start seeing each other as “band-mates”, maybe we can realize that like good musicians, we can listen and learn from each other. Instead of arguing – let's jam!”

Schedule

Kicking off on the 4^th of July, a symbolic day of unity and freedom, and running through the 14^th, the tour will make stops in Washington, DC, Alexandria, VA, Waldorf, MD, Charlottesville, VA, Charlotte, NC, Richmond, VA, Philadelphia, PA, and New York, NY, as well as online concerts and venues TBA.

Everyone is invited to participate, either at the in-person jam sessions, or by posting a video or photo of themselves dancing to the new song, playing that broom guitar, of course! Use the hashtag #JURT (for Josh Urban Rail Tour) to show the world that you're in the band!

Contact: 240-682-2801, www.JoshUrban.com management@joshurban.com @DontJoshMe Facebook.com/officialJosh