My MySpace Hell or how 4 months work disappeared in an instant

Well hitplay fans, we can't have a great week all the time now can we. This week started out very hellish! I was getting ready for E-Girl to hit 19,000 myspace hits this week in conjunction with her top ten listing on the reverb nation charts. Then it happened.

I logged onto the myspace page and it was GONE! Gone I said. No 19,000 hits no 3500 email fans no 11,000 listens to E-Girl songs. Gone all gone. Just a note saying the page has been deleted! We spent the next three days trying to figure out what the --- happened and were getting nowhere fast.It got so bad we were making plans to just start a new page, after four months work!

And by the way you cant get any info from myspace if you need it, nadda nothing.

Then just as mysteriously it was back. Like a lost child showing up at the doorway it reappeared. I aged a few years and got a cold from the stress, but its back home safe and sound. I am well a little wiser. 

 My take home point, nothing is a sure thing and the Internet can be a very mysterious place.

Don't forget boodles this Saturday night.

peace, 

dave.hitplay

Elisa Girlando breaks first top ten chart!

Elisa Girlando (aka E-Girl) has just broken her first top ten chart! We just came in at number nine on the reverb nation blues chart, on the strength of our upcoming single "another songbird". You can listen to the song on the reverb nation site. Our first milestone before we even get the song over to RED music. I hear a buzz, do you?

Elisa also top 18,000 hits on myspace this week and is rapidly moving towards 19,000 hits. Our strategy at hitplay seems to be working. Find great songs, mix them with great musicians (out of truth band), and let Elisa finish them off and we would have that "retro-fresh" sound, the "HitPlay Sound". Slowly start to spread the word and let it build.

Don't miss Elisa and out of truth at boodles opera house Sat March 28'th at 9pm

Its fun to be here at hitplay 

peace,

dave.hitplay

The Blues or not the Blues? That IS the question.

We had an interesting conversation today at hitplay. We posed a question vital to the success of the E-Girl CD. On the surface easy to answer but when we really thought about it it became much more difficult. 

And what is the question you are asking?

How should we characterize Elisa Girlando's music. Is she blues, contemporary blues, aor, pop, RnB? 

On the surface we felt that E-Girl was definite contemporary blues. But what about the single "another songbird". That's not blues that's definitely pop, and so the dilema. If we push blues the audience may be smaller, but it would be easier to climb up the charts. This is evident by our reverb nation chart climb with minimal promotion (currently number 20 on the blues chart). But there are more pop fans and although it is harder to get noticed when you do the rewards can be greater.

So we are going to sleep trying to decide what we will ultimately do with the Elisa Girlando CD. Although we thought we had it all down we go and start thinking again, and that can usually means trouble my friends.

Listen to the songs and tell us what you think.

dave.hitplay

Elisa Girlando playing Boodles Opera House Chester,NY

We had a great weekend in the studio. Completed the drum tracks for 7 songs on the Jon George project. The songs are great catchy tunes and I cant wait until you get to hear some of it. Perhaps when they get further along Wayne George and Phil Garland will let me put a tune or two on-line???

We also recorded a new track for Elisa Girlando, and man is it good. We all felt very strong on this tune as a possible single for the new CD so much so we had to get in and record it immediately. I am here to tell you it will be a monster- remember you heard it hear first.

If you cant wait to hear the new tune "scheming", click over to E-Girls reverb nation page and check out "songbird". The song is rising up through the blues charts before the release and is now as of today number 20 on the reverb nation charts. Wow number twenty before we release it on SONY/RED music. Do you hear a buzz?? I do.

We are ready to start playing live and the first show will be at boodles opera house in Chester, NY. If you want to see a great artist backed by an awesome band them come to this show you will love it!

peace,

dave.hitplay

A Drummin Kinda Weekend

Hey there hitplay fans. This is gonna be a fun weekend for our hero (that's me). I get to go to the studio and play drums all weekend long. Boy this hitplay lifestyle is really tough on a boy!

First up is a new song for ELisa Girlando. The hitplay studios and E-Girl teamed up with talented songwriters Max Huber and Jav (his central American sidekick) to write an awesome song.Max, Elisa, and Jav are a great songwritting team and we cant wait for more. We at hitplay feel so strong about the song that we want it on the finished CD. SOOOOOOO its back t the studio I go. When you get that special feeling with a song you gotta run with it.

Next up is a great project and a possible future release at hitplay. The Jon George project. This is a tremendous project and I'm honored that Wayne George asked me to be a part of it. Once this gets a little further along I'll have more to say about it.

Well I need my beauty rest cause I'll be drumming all weekend long.

peace,

dave.hitplay

Candace Giaquinto joins Out Of Truth band

We are pleased to announce the addition of Candace Giaquinto to the "Out Of Truth" band. Candace is in rehearsal with the band and will be playing percussion, some bass, some harp, and backing vocals. The band will be supporting Elisa Girlando with her up coming CD release on HitPlay records.

Candyce Giaquinto’s powerful and distinctive vocals reflect a unique blend of influences ranging from R&B, soul and blues, to jazz and rock. But whatever the style, one of her greatest talents lies in her ability to always deliver a genuine and emphatic performance.

In addition to her vocal prowess, Candyce also plays flute, bass, harmonica, mandolin and percussion. She is an accomplished writer as well and one of the primary writers on the most recent album by The Suits, as she was for her former bands, Bliss and The Adults. Working out of her home studio, she has also written and produced several soundtracks.

Candyce's compositions are as diverse as her vocal talents and reflect a variety of styles from austere and moody to searing Latin, jazz and Afro-Cuban inspired pieces. Lyrically, she will take you on an emotional journey, often told through the eyes of one of her vivid characters.

Throughout her musical career Candyce has performed in numerous venues where she has shared the stage with Black Sabbath, Colin Quinn, Room Full of Blues, Papa John Creach and Kathleen Turner. She has also entertained many foreign dignitaries including the Prime Minister of Italy.

In the summer of 2004, Candyce traveled to China as the featured vocalist and percussionist in an R&B / jazz / reggae band, touring seven cities including Beijing, Hong Kong and Shanghai.

In addition to her live performances, Candyce has spent a great deal of time in the studio recording her own compositions, jingles, corporate tracks and has recorded work for “Sex and the City” and “The Sopranos”.

Wherever and whatever the performance, Candyce’s expressive renderings are sure to leave a lasting impression.

You can see Candace live with Elisa Girlando and the Out of Truth band throughout 2009. Its shaping up to be an awesome year isn't it!

Elisa Girlando Hits 17,000 myspace visits

We've all been very busy here at hitplay this week. On the Web Elisa Girlando hit 17,000 visits to her myspace page. Kudos to hitplay Internet marketing genius Mike Lewis for helping to get the word out for E-Girl. It seems once we started placing the videos up the web started to light up for us at hitplay!

Speaking of video we have been getting a great response to all the videos we have for e-girl. My personal favorites are the a capella version of "another songbird" and the new video for "tell mama". Be sure to check out hitplays own Phil Garland on violin, dig those shades.

We will be taking the music over to RED next week to develop our release game plan. Currently Tom Carabba over at SONY has the music and we are awaiting a conference with him before we move over to our RED partners. If you think this is hard work- your right. If you think its fun-your really right.

Looks like we will be doing an additional video next week. More to come.

peace,
dave.hitplay

New Video from Elisa Girlando and Out of Truth Band