Vote for the MAY 2010 Songcrafters Festival

[Ted]

but two running concurrently for two months?

Or one this month, and a different one next month?

[Saijinn Maas]

I am probably in the minority here, but I almost think that one every month is too much. Don't get me wrong, I love doing them and they are great fun, but I end up feeling like I'm not doing anything EXCEPT fests. I know I don't HAVE TO take part, but that would almost be sacrilegious!  

As far as running for two months as opposed to one; It seems most fests are petering out at about the month mark as it is, do you think interest can be kept up for two? I'm not sure either way, just asking. And doing two at the same time might force people to divide their time to the point that neither one gets as much interest if it ran separately. 

Hmm... Just wondering out loud here.  I'm down with whatever gets decided.

[cuthbert]

I'm for the monthly scheme, but I'd prefer six weeks. 

[Ted]

I'm for the monthly scheme, but I'd prefer six weeks. 

I dunno.  I've missed the boat because I couldn't get it together in one month.  I've also deliberately sat one out because I wasn't interested in contributing a recording--but six weeks would be a long time to wait.

[64Guitars]

I have some of the same reservations as you've all stated. I guess I was just thinking that we've currently got 20 choices with more being added each month, and only 12 months in the year! And I'd like to have the YuleFest every December, so that only leaves 11 months. It will take several years to get through all of the festival choices.

Should we perhaps eliminate the artist choices and concentrate on theme fests instead? All of the previous festivals have been theme-based except for NeilFest, and that was before we started voting. And some of the artists will be included in the themes anyway (Beatles and Stones would be included in the British Invasion theme, for example).

Or should we leave well enough alone and just continue with the current choices and one festival per month?

[bannybassman]

I like 64 g's idea of a song and theme feast running simultaneously. It gives us a choice.
Maybe running this for two months would be better though, to give people a chance.
That's my view anyway.

[Geir]

I am probably in the minority here, but I almost think that one every month is too much.

I'm inclined to agree with Saijinn here. Not because I don't love the festivals, I think I've shown that I do

And regarding the artist tribute fests, although I really hoped for a Zappa-fest, I do see it can be less inclusive than a more general theme-fest. ( come to think of it, Zappa made so many records (70++) and had so many musicians involved that it borders on a theme-fest )

Anyway, whatever gets decided I will ok with it, and will try to give my contributions.

[launched]

I am probably in the minority here, but I almost think that one every month is too much. Don't get me wrong, I love doing them and they are great fun, but I end up feeling like I'm not doing anything EXCEPT fests. I know I don't HAVE TO take part, but that would almost be sacrilegious!  

I'm for the monthly scheme, but I'd prefer six weeks.  

I dunno.  I've missed the boat because I couldn't get it together in one month.  I've also deliberately sat one out because I wasn't interested in contributing a recording--but six weeks would be a long time to wait.

I'm onboard with the boys here. I really like writing my own songs, but I like doing the 'fests, too. Obviously the ones that allow original material work great for me. And the challeneges, like the FEmCAm challenge - I love those.

Anyway, I think I have a good Idea. We vote for a fest, and don't actually post material for 30 days. So the actual 'fest is 30 days behind the vote. I hate being the loser that can't get a song ready in two days, an by the time I get a collab finished or whatever, it's all over. For example I'm working with a couple members on another punkfest tune, and it will be just like last time where we are better late than never, and everyone has moved on to the next gig.

So there  

[64Guitars]

Anyway, I think I have a good Idea. We vote for a fest, and don't actually post material for 30 days.

There's no way oldrottenhead will be able to do that! He can't even wait till Flash Harry adds his bass track before posting their Jemima's Kite songs.  

[Ted]

Anyway, I think I have a good Idea. We vote for a fest, and don't actually post material for 30 days. So the actual 'fest is 30 days behind the vote.

I had a similar idea: Why not start scheduling the fests two or three months ahead, instead of having a vote at the end of the month for the following month?  I think it would allow people to plan, and prioritize better.

If I know that the Streisand Fest is in two months, I can at least be thinking about it and conspiring behind the scenes with collaborators.  Or, if I'm going to sit out the Streisand Fest, I can be plotting for the Cher Fest that's in three months.  All the while, I'm not feeling particularly rushed with what I'm working on this week, or feeling like I've got no time to work on originals.

Related idea: What if we alternate genre-fests and cover-fests.  People who are no into doing covers could pass on the cover-fests, and people who don't like to write originals could either sit out the genre-fests, or do a cover in that genre.

Related related idea: During the cover-fests, songwriters and composers might like the challenge of creating an original song in the style of the artist being covered.

On that note...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQTNBWIdLeI