Posted on Jul 14 2020 08:42 PM
This is going to be a ramble.
a little preface - I'm involved heavily in a youtube channel called "Texas Toast Guitars". we have about 20,000 subscribers (and growing rapidly) who watch our videos about making guitars, and playing guitars, and having fun......
We do lots of live videos, and get lots of traction with many of those videos......
The original idea was to get what very well might be The Aquasonics last performance on video. Drummer Kevin had moved to Nashville last Sept. to be a real musician, and only because of Covid19 was he back. We played the previous 3 weeks before because we were all going crazy.
I wanted to document the last time. I thought about recording it, but I knew I would never edit/post it. Then, I thought about posting it live. I knew that if I set it up thru facebook, my audience would be small.
Then I thought about promoting it thru the Texas Toast Guitars page. We have a dedicated following of people who love guitars, and music. To post live videos, you have to have over 10,000 subs. Bingo! I knew we had some pull, and I figured "what the hell".
I set it up a couple days before, promoting it thru youtube and facebook (all free) and we did it live, with my iPhone, and a cheap mic from Amazon.
I was, frankly shocked at the response . As of this date, 7/14/20, over 1700 specific individual views. And, I was shocked at he positive feedback I've received since then. Dozens of comments about how cool it was, and how it brought back memories, and, how "I don't like surf, but this was great!" Even a few "I really like this, I'm going to find out more!" Some of the comments even made it seem like I'm a good guitar player! HA!
It made me feel really good. I know we aren't the best surf band in the land, or even the second. Or 102nd. I know we don't play a bunch of new age songs that the SG101 crowd think are cool. But, we had a blast, and we turned on more than a few to surf music. I also know that if I had posted it on the bands regular youtube page, we'd have about 35 views. that's a fact.
It wasn't without problems. our internet speed wasn't up to the task, and if I had it to do over, I would have given us more time to sound check. I also would not have stood in front of Drummer Kevin. But, all things considered, I'm more than happy with the results.
So, what's my point in this rant? I guess, if you want surf to continue, figure out new ways to promote it. Venture outside the norm and see if you can align with someone with some real "Juice". Can you imagine what would happen if someone with a page that has 100,000 subscribers had The Madeira play? Or 200,000 subs with Satan's Pilgrims?
Texas Toast Guitars will do more of these in the future, especially in these times . And, since we'll do something more mainstream than surf, it will be even bigger. 
By the way, all of this was free to post, and do. We all met at our normal rehearsal space on our normal rehearsal night, and did it. And, the next time I get the chance to do it, with just a little more effort, I'll end up with an even better product.
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"You can't tell where you're going if you don't know where you've been"
Last edited: Jul 14, 2020 20:57:02
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