Canvassing door-to door vs Self-Releasing a Record

This is a little note I wrote today to my friend Dan, who I used to work with at Texas Campaing for the Environment (TCE) in Dallas, TX.

I took a three-year semi-hiatus from my music career to canvass door-to-door and campaign-direct for TCE. Talk about an intense job. Full of highs and lows. The kind of people that are capable of taking door-to-door rejection for the sake of environmental and social justice are REAL. They believe in something greater. A strenghth in numers. People, when organized, can become a powerful force. I witnessed TCE, along with the Electronics Take-Back Coalition, organize thousands of voices to get Dell and Apple to start recycling computers. And more importantly, designing those products to be recycled. Now they are working to do the same for TV manufacturers.

So releasing a record on your own is actually much harder than canvassing. It's more natural for me to talk to people about helping the environment than helping my music career. It's a little awkward actually to cold-call someone and say "hey, my record is great and here's why you need to help me get it out into the world. my music is meaningful and marketable." That's self-centered and wierd. It's noble to serve a community and improve our environment. The truth that separates the two is that I am now in sales, releasing my record 'airplanes' (booking myself, blogging, etc) where before I was a political activist. I never pictured myself going into sales...

I sold a CD today! To my good friend Dan I was telling you about. I'm glad my parents and friends are buying my record anyway. As passionate as I am about the environment, I cannot deny my passion in music. I have played the violin since I was 5 and now I'm on to writing songs and playing guitar. I am fortunate to support myself doing things that I love. Hopefully I can use my stratigic campaign skills and passion for music to market my record. It sure felt good to have a fellow campainger and friend buy a record today!

I can promise you that my music is REAL. The production value on my record is impecable thanks to Chris Masterson. And it's something that I'm very proud of. I hope you like it. If you do, please tell your friends. Maybe if enough people catch on, my 'airplanes' will get off the ground.

You can get your collectors copy of my hand-painted CD, 'airplanes' from IndieKazoo or CDbaby (I am up to #800 and it's a lot of work!) Or you can just download it on itunes, etc... it's out there.

Thank you for supporting!

Cheers-
Eleanor