Rocks Off mentioned in Tuesday's installment of
Magnolia City Mixtape that Runaway Sun lead singer Andrew Karnavas and Monica Danna, the band's publicist, are keeping track of their travels on
Twitter as they make their way from New York City back to Houston. Earlier today, Karnavas emailed us with a link to his Excerpts from Daydreams blog, and said we were welcome to reprint his and Danna's adventures as they tried to score a publishing deal in Nashville.
Rocks Off, as always, was more than happy to oblige.
"Tuesday afternoon we hit the street (Music Row, that is) with my two albums. Driving by Chrysalis Music Group, I spotted an open parking space for the Armada, so we stopped and got out. What was I expecting to happen? Exactly what happened.
"'We can't accept any unsolicited music.'"
Their luck was a little better at ASCAP's headquarters not far away...
"The receptionist told me that there was a Q & A opportunity with an ASCAP representative on Wednesday morning at 10pm. Perfect. Sign me up.
"When I showed up, it was only myself and another songwriter. This in itself was worth the twelve hour drive. 45 minutes of one on one time with a person capable of soliciting my songs to record companies and booking agents, and his office is walking distance to everyone from Chrysalis to Sony Music Group. "If I like your stuff, I'll knock on every door I can." There are no ASCAP offices in Texas, not even in Austin. "There isn't an infrastructure in Austin for the industry.
"You get the sense that they've heard all the stories, but they haven't heard your songs. I gave the representative background on both albums and got his card. Today I'll email him our press kits and thank him for his time. The next time I'm in town, I'll stop by ASCAP and talk to him again. This doesn't guarantee success by any means, but musicians need to be their own facilitators with their music."
It wasn't all work for the duo - they stopped by world-famous honky-tonk Robert's Western World, had some shepherd's pie at super-hip East Nashville restaurant/bar/music venue The Family Wash and went record shopping at Music City vinyl mecca The Groove. Follow the duo all the way back to Houston on
Karnavas' and
Danna's blogs.
They hit Charlotte, N.C., next. Safe travels, you two.