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ALL CHARLIE RECKSIECK POSTS

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Music About The Music Industry
Spotify List Of Artists Biting The Awful Hand That Feeds Them

This curated Spotify playlist highlights songs where musicians fight back - calling out record deals, streaming money, toxic fame, touring and the grind of staying in the industry. Some of these artists' best work.

Posted by Charlie Recksieck on 2024-09-24 Read post
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Shay Bell on Video
Old Shindy.TV Video With Vintage Shay

Here's a video to see some of dearly departed Shay Bell, the crazy lovable Irish drummer from Wexford who made The Bigfellas' shows unforgettable. From pounding out beats to the band's on-stage antics - you can see some of what made Shay Shay here.

Posted by Charlie Recksieck on 2024-08-27 Read post
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Gig Story: Bobby's Idle Hour Tavern
California Fish Out Of Water In Nashville

Story about how a middlingly-successful singer/songwriter from California (me) booked and played original songs in Nashville.

Posted by Charlie Recksieck on 2024-07-02 Read post
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Is Spotify Worse Than The Old Days?
And A Case Study Of A Very Low-Level Band: Us

Everybody likes to point out how little artists make from Spotify, but where else are musicians making money from recorded music these days besides streaming services. We look at the macro and the micro, and we are very well positioned to be the micro example.

Posted by Charlie Recksieck on 2024-06-25 Read post
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Three Bands I Knew Who Should Have Made It
Proof That Music Is Not Really A Meritocracy

There are so many phenomenal bands and singers out there that none of us have ever heard of. Here are 3 whom I've met and loved; and who's lack of success pisses me off.

Posted by Charlie Recksieck on 2024-06-18 Read post
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Stuff On The Moon
Easier To Write A Song Than A 20,000-Word Article For Wired

This post looks at how the track came together, why it ended up closing Chubbed Up, and how humor, curiosity, and being too lazy to be a real writer all aligned to make a spacey groove. A behind-the-scenes look at a Bigfellas song that doesn't shout for attention, but sticks around long after the record ends.

Posted by Charlie Recksieck on 2024-06-04 Read post
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Making A Music Artist Website (Part 2)
Part 2 - Things You Should Do

We're uniquely positioned as software developers and musicians ourselves to define what's a successful music website and how to get there. Part 2 is a solid starting checklist.

Posted by Charlie Recksieck on 2024-05-21 Read post
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Making A Music Artist Website (Part 1)
Part 1 - Goals, Reasons and Some Things To Avoid

We're uniquely positioned as software developers and musicians ourselves to define what's a successful music website and how to get there. Part 1 also goes into some mistakes to avoid.

Posted by Charlie Recksieck on 2024-05-14 Read post
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Rufus Wainwright Playlist
If You Love Him, Or If You Don't Yet You Will

We're trying to be your one-stop shop for the best Rufus Wainwright songs with a sprinkling of thoughts on each of these 40 fantastic Rufus songs.

Posted by Charlie Recksieck on 2024-04-30 Read post
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The Hiya Photo That Never Was
Solo Album Cover Outtake

Brief look at a family photo that I almost used for a solo album, but didn't; why I still love this picture of my dad even though it was unusable from the get-go.

Posted by Charlie Recksieck on 2024-03-19 Read post
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Best & Worst Dressing Room Awards
The Dressies

The Bigfellas have always been a pretty local band to San Diego with limited little tours. But we've played enough places to have no dressing room, great dressing rooms and awful dressing rooms. [drum roll] With no further ado, The Dressies Awards!

Posted by Charlie Recksieck on 2024-03-05 Read post
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"Time To Pretend" (MGMT)
Big Wednesday - Online Mini Concert

Recorded February 2024 in San Diego at Bigfellas HQ. A different take on MGMT's great song. Perhaps in this format you'll get a chance to really take in the words a little better. They're terrific.

Posted by Charlie Recksieck on 2024-02-28 Read post
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100 Bob Dylan Song Covers
A hundred different songs, a hundred different artists

We love making lists and playlists here. But I feel like this is the best Bob Dylan cover song list you're gonna find. No repeats of artists or songs. Only Dylan inspires this kind of second-hand greatness.

Posted by Charlie Recksieck on 2024-02-20 Read post
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We Are The World - Plus 40 Years
A Review Of "The Greatest Night In Pop"

I just stumbled into the We Are The World documentary on Netflix and wanted to share what I got from the experience. I'm always trying to show what it's like in a studio, but only this doc can show what it's like to be in the studio with 45 music legends.

Posted by Charlie Recksieck on 2024-02-13 Read post
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Podcasts Episodes You Need To Listen To (Part 2)
Great Podcast Discoveries For You

We've all heard of the major podcasts; you don't need me telling you about Smartless or My Favorite Murder. But here's several that you need to be aware of if you haven't been already. Most of these bear repeat listening.

Posted by Charlie Recksieck on 2024-02-06 Read post