1 Topic by BansheeUK (edited by BansheeUK 2015-11-11 04:06:31)

  • From: Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England
  • Registered: 2011-08-12
  • Posts: 4,615

Topic: Chris King Robinson

You've probably seen this young man all over the most recent edition of Blues Magazine; yet with something like 635,000 followers on Twitter, no thread until now on the Forum - heck! I don't even know if he's been mentioned before.

Anyway, not only is he relatively new to me, but embarrassingly he's played near me, in Stockton earlier this year and I missed it: fortunately someone had the good sense to video the whole show. What a show!

See what you think:-  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xNWHiOWIsYs

When life gives you lemons; don't make lemonade.
Give back the lemons.  Why were the lemons free?  What's wrong with the lemons?
Do Not trust the lemons...
  • Registered: 2008-06-16
  • Posts: 4,021

Re: Chris King Robinson

really like the arrangement for AATW, very funky and different. It sounds like it came right off of the Super Session recordings with Bloomfield, Stills, and Kooper. He has a decent voice as well....will listen to more here at lunch shortly.
Thanks for posting it, never heard of him until now.

As corn through a goose, so are the days of our lives
  • Registered: 2008-02-14
  • Posts: 2,578

Re: Chris King Robinson

I think there's something wrong with an artist's priorities if you're spending so much time on Twitter building up followers rather than what musicians usually do. 

Statements like the following also display quite a naivety about the pulling power of the social network too:

I appreciate the fact that you need to make money when booking a band, and to do this you need to book bands that can draw in a large crowd. We are the most followed Blues band worldwide on Twitter ( @ChrisKingRMusic ), we would tweet about the show repeatedly to over 660,000 followers to get a packed house.

"The recently formed Edinburgh Blues Club has identified an appetite for the personal communication between musicians and audience that the blues long ago perfected." The Herald Newspaper (Scotland)
http://www.edinburgh-blues.uk

4 Reply by BansheeUK (edited by BansheeUK 2015-11-13 04:39:03)

  • From: Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England
  • Registered: 2011-08-12
  • Posts: 4,615

Re: Chris King Robinson

I believe there are sites or apps whereby you can get a breakdown of the demographics of a person's Twitter followers, which would be interesting in this instance; but I'm not that nosy. Also, apparently there are sites where you can "buy" followers, usually unused or frozen accounts - amazing what you can learn watching Dave Gorman's Modern Life is Goodish.... And before anyone jumps down my "virtual" throat, I'm not suggesting this is the case for Chris K R. but I do think Duncan has a point about the lad's naivity regarding the way he uses Twitter as a promotional tool, especially when he should be concentrating on playing. There's an "app" for that, its called "a manager"....

I would have thought, in the case of a band (or a promoter), get your tour (or roster) up on your website of Facebook, couple of months in advance, announce on twitter that it's available. In the run-up, couple of days before the event, get some tweets going about a show, last minute build-up; that sort of thing, as quoted. As for packing houses, I don't know any of the venues Chris has played this year, apart from Cleveland Bay where the YouTube clip was recorded - I can tell you that what you see as the stage is the width of the room and it's lucky if it's twice as deep (including the bar), so 20 people is "comfortable", 30 is "cosy" and 50 is "cramped", so "packed house" is relative especially when its a "free entry" gig and as folk will tell you, even at the spit'n'sawdust level, it's not getting them in, it's keeping them in

Anyway, that is kind of incidental; the main issue is, is there any substance, can he play? Well, from the Youtube I found, yes, the lad can hold his own, and I know a couple other local promoters showing interest (as support artist) so good on him. Think he's worth keeping an eye on.

PS - Last word on Twitter - I've always like Joe B's habit of a "thank-you" tweet every every gig; good personal touch....

When life gives you lemons; don't make lemonade.
Give back the lemons.  Why were the lemons free?  What's wrong with the lemons?
Do Not trust the lemons...