Let's get BFT on the Radio

[iwalksoftly]

Alright everybody,

When I was at Pumpkinfest it hit me hard when Will asked 92.9 to play them on their station. I realized that with some radio play these guys could really blow up. So after the show I took a sample CD over to the 92.9 guys and pleaded with them to play some BFT, the kid working the table looked at me like I was crazy, took the CD, and threw it in a backpack. It made me realize that the only way to truly help out the band we love is to do whatever it takes to help them make it big.

So, I think the best thing we could do would be to petition a radio station. And that station is Boston-headquartered "Independent Radio" 92.5 . Think about it.... they did Earthfest, they're a solar powered radio station thats all about Green Energy. I think they're perfect. So I devised a plan.

I want everyone to send the following email to info@wxrv.com

"Hello,

Since you consider yourself an independent radio station that plays independent music I thought I would recommend to you a truly independent band. Barefoot Truth, based out of Mystic, Connecticut, has risen to fame in New England as one of the premier acoustic/roots/jam bands of our age, and in the blink of an eye the acoustic folk rockers have transitioned from a few shows per month to a full-time, full-fledged touring act.

The venues are changing too.  BFT kicked off 2008 headlining the Pearl Street Ballroom (Northampton, MA) on New Years Eve.  Over the year they played notable venues such as The Paradise Rock Club (Boston), Bowery Ballroom (New York), World Café (Philadelphia) and even sold out the Higher Ground Lounge in Burlington, VT.

BFT's ever-changing live show features a wide array of instruments, including upright bass, Weissenborn lap guitar, lead harmonica and didgeridoo, plus a drummer who sings lead vocals.  Their studio albums have grown from stripped down optimistic sing-a-longs to the full band environmentally themed songs on their most recent release, "Walk Softly".

 "All Good Reasons", Barefoot Truth's new single, captures the feeling of change that engulfs the band and with election-day just ahead, much of the country.  Close to 5,000 people downloaded the song in the first four weeks of its release.  With their music spreading rapidly, the group was asked to play the Obama campaign pre-debate rally near Hofstra University in New York.  The band was even further honored as their set was sandwiched, on the same stage, between performances by Bruce Hornsby and folk legends Crosby and Nash.

And they have achieved all this, without being signed to a record label, through grassroots efforts and constant touring. These guys are just getting started but have an incredibly promising future in independent music.

I strongly encourage you to check them out, their sound fits ideally with the other music you play on your station, and some radio play would truly send this band into stardom.

You can hear them at www.barefoottruth.com or www.freebft.com where you can download free songs to play on your station.

I am not in any way affiliated with the band, just a devoted fan who knows good music.

Thanks."

It might be crazy, it might just be because I have nothing better to do, but it also might work.

Start Emailing!!!! info@wxrv.com

[walk pretty soft]

I like this.  I ain't no english major but perhaps change "you consider yourself an independent station that plays independent music" to something like "As my favorite Boston area radio station I thought I would recommend to you a truly independent band..."

Just a thought, but they might be more psyched to play it if everyone comes across as dedicated listeners...Also, what if we linked them to download All Good Reasons?  That would probably be the best song for them to play.

http://www.barefoottruth.com/agrv1/AllGoodReasons.zip

[AGertOne]

I think a more effective approach would be to send the radio station more individualized messages.  It'll make them believe you actually care about hearing this band played on their station, instead of making them believe your just some crazy spammer.

[iwalksoftly]

Those are great ideas guys. I wanted to present people with a template, but absolutely everyone should write what they feel like saying. I dont know this idea just came to me, and I thought I would throw it out there. Thanks for the feedback!

[mace]

my friend from work and i already attempted this and didnt get much cooperation from the radio station. we should just get a lot of ppl to keep on requesting and it will eventually happen

[smcfan23]

After tweaking the template a bit and sending it off to The Point fm, this is the response I got:

Thanks for the tip. I'll check them out...
 
Zeb Norris, Program Director

I guess that's better than no response at all

[mace]

When we sent the email they asked us to burn them a cd so we did and sent it in and then they ignored us.

[iwalksoftly]

yah, im still waitin on a response from 92.5

[Riley]

Hi all,  its been a while, I just came across this though,  BFT on NPR!   
The show is called The Pandora Effect, its really good, but  skip to 41:00 to hear Jay talk about pandora and the band.
http://www.onpointradio.org/2009/11/pandora

[mace]

Hi all,  its been a while, I just came across this though,  BFT on NPR!   
The show is called The Pandora Effect, its really good, but  skip to 41:00 to hear Jay talk about pandora and the band.
http://www.onpointradio.org/2009/11/pandora

oh nice find!

[HAGGS]

To get a radio station's attention, it's true, you need to get an organized effort among a few hundred fans to bombard a radio station and demand they play Barefoot on their station.  They get calls, e-mails and CD's by the droves every day from indie bands across the country, so it's nothing personal toward the band, of course.

The Beatles took over the airwaves when fans across the country started to call and request Beatle's music. We can certainly do the same, but it must be an organized effort. Murray "The K" Kaufman, known as the "5th Beatle" was the disk jockey for WINS AM in NYC. He started to get calls from fans requesting their music. He listened to them and fell in love and the rest is history.

Can we do the same? ABSOLUTELY! But we need to organize and establish a plan. I think that we should first target a station which we feel would be the most Barefoot friendly. I think targeting a station in Boston is a good idea- rather than NYC. I also think we should choose several "radio friendly" songs and use the Pandora-effect as our basis.

The songs which I believe are the most radio-friendly are (in reverse album order):

1. Okay
2. Spoonful
3. All Good Reasons
4. Easy come high
5. Walk Softly
6. I Prefer
7. The Ocean
8. Roll if ya fall
9. Changes in the Weather

I say these are radio-friendly because many of BFT's songs are a little lengthy for radio. Most radio songs are 3 minutes or less. I also feel these are the most catchy from a commercial standpoint. 

So, as I see the strategy it should be:

- Choose the most likely radio station which we believe would play BFT
- Get an army of fans together to call and e-mail
- have each fan mention one or more of the above songs.

All it takes is one DJ to give in to the pressure and then the rest will follow suit.  Perhaps this is worth establishing a "Bring BFT to the radio" Facebook page to organize the effort. There's also nothing stopping anyone from making multiple calls and using multiple e-mails

What do you all think? 

[slawson]

I think that is a great idea. 92.5 the River seems like the station to go after. It's Boston based, it advertises itself as "independent radio," it's big on being green, and BFT's music would fit well with other music played on the River. Whatever the station is, it makes sense for everybody to go for the same station because a few calls and emails to lots different stations will probably get nothing accomplished. I think Believe could be added to the list of most radio-friendly tunes. It's short, upbeat, and catchy. But we might be better off to make the list of songs to request even shorter, like choose the top three so that those ones get more attention. I think a facebook group sounds like a great way to organize.

[HAGGS]

Yes, Slawson. You are right on! Now, we just have to organize. Who wants to start the Facebook page?  I can certainly help out. Someone's got to step up to the plate. I am older and not too Facebook savvy when it comes to setting up those kinds of pages.  But I'll see what I can do. Targeting that one specific station would be best. They sounds very Barefoot friendly!