21,000 Hits

Hi Folks, Dave from HitPlay here happy to inform you that Elisa Girlando surpassed 21,000 myspace hits today. All this before we have released her debut CD "rise up". We are also moving closer to picking a promotion company to co-promote the Elisa Girlando video "another songbird". HIP video promotion. Life is funny, turns out their president Andy Gessner is a fellow I've known for close to 25 years. He played with the band Spiral Jetty back in the day. Many a show I played with that band.

Things are getting hectic; and that's good.

peace, 

dave.hitplay

HIP video promotion looks good

Spent the day interviewing and talking with potential promotion companies for the Elisa Girlando CD. I think I'm liking HIP video promotion and the musebox. Will be meeting with them in the future to begin a marketing plan to work in conjunction with the SONY RED team.

Spent the evening rehearsing for Elisa's upcoming NYC debut. We are awaiting the date but it should be happening in June. The band is cooking and Elisa sounds terrific so don't miss that show!

Tiger Bill just sent me a slew of video snippets from the Boodles gig and they look great Ill try to get them onto the blog soon.

peace,

dave.hitplay

That Loving Feeling

What makes a band a special thing? Why are some groups of very talented players uninspiring and the next group so much more to behold? That is the magic and mystery of music is it not?

I've had the privilege over many years of playing in many bands. Some with great players who underachieved. Some with average players that made great music and inspired fans to love them.

I've been thinking a lot about this during the past week. Playing with "Out Of Truth" has been a great honor. A rare mix of great players who when they get together make awesome music "the magic factor". But what keeps a group together is respect and a feeling of familia. Like the crazy family that if you say anything bad they all gang up on you: that's how a band needs to be respect for each other and the music.

Tonight I'm going to bed loving the music and respecting the players and unable to wait to play the music for the people. That is a comforting place to be.

peace,

dave.hitplay

Another Great Show

Well it was quite a night at the  Mohawk house. After some serious technical sound problems delayed the start of the show by over an hour thing s settled in nicely. Props to Screaming Colour for opening the show and cutting their set short to get Elisa on stage by 10pm.

What followed was a 2 hour master concert by Elisa and Out Of Truth. The show rocked and as we left around 2AM I could feel the great vibe still lingering in the air. 

Next week we pick a publisher for Elisa and HitPlay records.

dave.hitplay

Man this is a lot of work

A GamePlan for the Elisa Girlando Project :updated MAY 09

 

1)   CD : completed and mastered.

a.    Tittle? Y/N “rise-up”          actoion:

b.    Graphics: new photo? Y/N action:

c.     Art work: disc makers? Or private artist?

d.    Liner Notes: Elisa with edit by Phil

e.     First run 1000 copies for promotion 1000 for sale?

2)   Live:

a.    NYC: Have RED/SONY book city showcase have in house marketing staff work the party

b.    Tour: Currently looking at 12-14 dates Conn/NY/NJ/Pa/Del

                                                     i.     Continue to work with agency to get this coordinated

 

3)   Promotion:

a.    HitPlay PR: finish RED release send to PR web

b.    Do monthly PR web release

c.     NJ Girl does good interest article: get to all NJ papers this week

d.    Coordinate promo release on E-Girl with RED (next meeting)

e.     Radio: 8 week initial campaign for industry awareness. Need RED input here

                                                     i.     College

                                                       ii.     AAA

                                                         iii.     Adult AC

4)   Internet:

a.    What will RED be doing need to hammer down next meeting with contact people and responsibilities

b.    Blogs/websites/socialmedia/streetteams/design what cant get from RED need to purchase

c.     How can Hitplay Mike coordinate this with RED

 

5)   Publisist: what is the best timing before during or after CD release.

a.    If before need recommendations from RED and start the process now

6) Alternative Branding: per RED we cant do this

 

 

 

CD COMPLETE !

The debut Elisa Girlando CD is finished and will be delivered to RED music tomorrow. The CD contains 10 tracks. We anticipate a digital release in approximately four weeks and a hard copy release four weeks after that. Now comes the real work marketing and playing live. Should be Fun!

DAVE.HITPLAY

New! - "Another Songbird" Music Video

A Strategy Develops

After our 2 hour meeting with the president and vice-president of RED music our Elisa Girlando CD release strategy is starting to develop. 

First we are going to go with the song "another songbird" as the single. The new video is up on the net and I would ask you all to check it out. The video came out great, it is "art". Most times we would not lead a new act out into the market with a ballad but the song and performance are so special we have to take the chance.

Next we are going to team up with the RED Internet team and really boost E-Girls web presence and style. Watch the sites over the next month we should see quite a lot coming from our RED partners.

The goal is to begin having Elisa play regionally with a strong Internet presence in an attempt to build on the buzz surrounding Elisa. Once that occurs we will have ammunition to go after larger venues and radio.

Our meeting was very positive and business like as the RED team really is looking for ways to break E-Girl to the world. It should be a fun ride.

peace,

dave.hitplay

Phil dont hit the soundman or the daniella cotton story

We were asked to play with Daniella Cotton today for a summertime concert. We played with her last summer and the mix of her rocking with Elisa's bluesy vocals was pretty good. So why are we hesitating??

Well the show last year was one of our worst, and not because of anything we did. The sound company was a bunch of knuckleheads who treated us like a lame opening act rather than the powerhouse band that "out of truth" is and the great vocalist that Elisa Girlando is. We are peace loving people here at hitplay but I thought Phil was gonna deck somebody. So when we were asked today I hesitate to say yes because if things go the way they did last year.... We will all need bail money for this show:)!

Any rate on a good note we are scheduled to go into RED next week and meet about the E-Girl release so this show is really taking a back seat in my mind.

peace,

dave.hitplay

A tremendous show another milestone

This past weekend we had the debut performance of Hitplay recording artist "Elsia Girlando and Out Of Truth". The show took place at Bodles Opera House in Chester, New York. We choose this venue for their love of music. We also wanted to see how the band and E-Girl would mesh, away from the NYC crowds.

Well we couln't have been happier. E-Girl sang her heart out, the band played their guts out, and the near capacity audience was BLOWN AWAY!!!! What a night!

After a discussion with CEO Phil Garland, who performed with an intensity I have never seen before, we all feel the band is capable of playing with anyone anywhere in the world. Elisa's vocals where spot on perfect, and the banter between songs was both relaxed and intirguing. The show is ready to go my friends so dont miss it.

Also today I was notified by Mike Lewis, director of internet marketing at HitPlay, that E-Girl's myspace page surpassed 19,000 hits tonight.

Another great week here at HitPlay.

peace, 

dave.hitplay