... but what have you done for the jacket.

[Jaimoe]

Speaking of, has anyone ever heard MMJ on normal radio play?  Not college or public radio stations, but big money stations?  I am just curious, because I don't think they do in my fine state but then again, I never listen to the radio anymore.

(Oh, and I've contributed strictly with my wallet by purchasing everything that has ever been waved in front of my face and I still feel like I owe somebody. ;D)

Not on radio, but the videos One Big Holiday and Off The Record have aired on MuchMusic, Canada's music video station (a rival of MTV).

[Phrazz]

Well, in time I hope I can promote My Morning Jacket through my photography, which seems to have helped more than a few bands.   8)

As for popularity, that is both a diaphanous veil and a double-edged sword (oxymoron, you say?).  There's a certain "something" that makes a band popular, but when writers try to put this thing into words, they can only approximate the idea.  MMJ has that undescribable quality, something like powerful restraint or poetic musical prowess (but again, words fall short).

In my understanding of growth patterns, I would say that MMJ is quite large right now and will be huge very soon.  They are moving and growing pretty fast and I am running into more people now who've heard of them than even a year or two ago.  I myself have discovered them fairly recently but right away I liked them so much that there was never a transition period.  Very few bands have ever done that for me.

Another thing is I always get extra tix to shows, even if I don't know who's going with me.  I almost always find someone, but it's rare during the week where people just jump when you tell them you have conert tix (in the 9 to 5 world, or more like 7 to 5 in my neck of the woods).  They might say "I've always wanted to see them...do you really have an extra?" and thank me profusely (share the love, it will come back to you).  This time around I had no trouble at all finding lots of people to join in the fun at the 930 Club.

There's another paradox with not really needing to promote already-sold-out shows, but certainly not a problem to help a band grow to the next level.  However, I still like the rock club atmosphere and a stadium show is a completely different vibe.  I'm thinking of transistions of other huge bands like Pearl Jam and Dave Matthews and how they rarely play the small shows anymore.  In a sense, they can't afford to anymore:  they have a huge company of people involved.  Similar with the Phish and the Dead...no turning back when you get to super large levels.

I know we all wish our favorite bands stay small enough to remain intimate, but with the really successful ones, this is not possible in today's market.  You have to get big to sell records (CDs, etc) and without that revenue, the struggles become oppressive and can eventually hurt the music.  However, there's also a backbone of artistic integrity that MMJ will never lose (again, I'm using intuition here, I can't predict the future, only take a hopeful guess) and even when they do go from large to huge I feel they will keep their core identity and never really "sell out" because they won't have to.  Their strengths lie in honesty, talent, integrity and quailities that no evil record company would ever touch.  Also, not every large company is evil and it also depends on management and individual relationships...there are some which don't follow the norm and hopefully these special relationships will connect those who really care at all levels (even if it takes longer, it's worth it in the end results).

As for radio play, who even listens to FM anymore?  *jk*  I see MMJ all over the Net, which is pretty much the new radio dimension (satellite a close second).  Word gets around and it's rare that I mention MMJ at all and people don't know (but you'd be surprised how many people still live under rocks -- it's our solemn duty to help them see the light ;-} ).

There is another quality about MMJ I find more prominent than any other band, which is the ability to make women and men alike instantly ecstatic with delight (as in newbies right from the first song are transfixed like a deer in the headlights).  I made a joke at the 930 Club that we were gettin' our "giddy on" (pun intended).  This at first may seem like some rock silliness, but it's more of a regression back to childhood wonderment where we've loosened up enough to say "wow" and feel it and smile (dance if you got your boogie on as well).  That kind of medicine is better than you can get at any pharmacy.

Even if satellite and net radio are taking over, there are still thousands of listeners who tune into college radio.  So a very simple way to promote is just to dial the hell out of stations and request MMJ tunes by name, give them a variety of choose from and some DJs will even thank you for helping out with a good cause.  Obviously MMJ tatoos make quite a statement.  I was also considering some sort of performance piece on the Washington Monument lawn facing the White House here in DC -- but I haven't gotten clearance from my publicist yet.  >;-}

-Phrazz

[BH]

This at first may seem like some rock silliness, but it's more of a regression back to childhood wonderment where we've loosened up enough to say "wow" and feel it and smile (dance if you got your boogie on as well).  That kind of medicine is better than you can get at any pharmacy.

Well said, man.  Well said.

[sweatboard]

"baptism by reverb."  

[The DARK]

bump

[ManNamedTruth]

bump

should't there be something significant to add if you're gonna bump up a thread?

[The DARK]

Introduced all of my friends to MMJ...no true converts yet, but most of them still have great taste in music.

'Tis a long quest.  ;)

[thebrainy]

A couple years ago a new radio station started up in Minneapolis called The Current.  It was a station that would play anything, and namely, would also play My Morning Jacket.  They were taking CD donations so I sent them a copy of At Dawn and It Still Moves.  Once they had those CD's I started requesting The Way That He Sings.  After awhile I thought it was not going to happen but within a month or so they played it and put it out to me, apparently they misplaced the album and once they got their hands on it they played that song.

About another month after that they played another MMJ song (they would do it on occassions) but it was requested by a Lance in Minneapolis, who called himself the biggest MMJ fan in Minneapolis.  I just so happened to be another Lance in Minneapolis and there was no way I was going to let that slide.  

Beginning that night I would submit a MMJ song request every night.  Mostly I would request the more radio friendly songs or just a MMJ song in general.  Every few days they would play a song for me.  A lot of times they would just play One Big Holiday, Magheeta, or Dancefloors, but they did mix it up every once in awhile; I got them to play Christmas Curtain on July 25th as a Christmas in July type idea.

After awhile I decided to set my goals high and get one of the great MMJ songs on the radio that never get played because of their length.  I started up "Phone Went West or Steam Engine Gate".  Every night I would e-mail in a request asking one of those two songs to get played and reminded them every time that I would not give up until they played one of those two songs.  And I did this every night for over a month, until they announced that they were going to end one of the most tenacious requests that they had seen.  A couple songs later they played Steam Engine.

And as long as I worked the night shift I would request MMJ songs.  After Z came out though, it did not see it was as necessary anymore, they were getting plenty of requests from others at that point.  So ended my routine.

[BH]

A couple years ago a new radio station started up in Minneapolis called The Current.  It was a station that would play anything, and namely, would also play My Morning Jacket.  They were taking CD donations so I sent them a copy of At Dawn and It Still Moves.  Once they had those CD's I started requesting The Way That He Sings.  After awhile I thought it was not going to happen but within a month or so they played it and put it out to me, apparently they misplaced the album and once they got their hands on it they played that song.

About another month after that they played another MMJ song (they would do it on occassions) but it was requested by a Lance in Minneapolis, who called himself the biggest MMJ fan in Minneapolis.  I just so happened to be another Lance in Minneapolis and there was no way I was going to let that slide.  

Beginning that night I would submit a MMJ song request every night.  Mostly I would request the more radio friendly songs or just a MMJ song in general.  Every few days they would play a song for me.  A lot of times they would just play One Big Holiday, Magheeta, or Dancefloors, but they did mix it up every once in awhile; I got them to play Christmas Curtain on July 25th as a Christmas in July type idea.

After awhile I decided to set my goals high and get one of the great MMJ songs on the radio that never get played because of their length.  I started up "Phone Went West or Steam Engine Gate".  Every night I would e-mail in a request asking one of those two songs to get played and reminded them every time that I would not give up until they played one of those two songs.  And I did this every night for over a month, until they announced that they were going to end one of the most tenacious requests that they had seen.  A couple songs later they played Steam Engine.

And as long as I worked the night shift I would request MMJ songs.  After Z came out though, it did not see it was as necessary anymore, they were getting plenty of requests from others at that point.  So ended my routine.

Nice!

[.Walt]

A couple years ago a new radio station started up in Minneapolis called The Current.  It was a station that would play anything, and namely, would also play My Morning Jacket.  They were taking CD donations so I sent them a copy of At Dawn and It Still Moves.  Once they had those CD's I started requesting The Way That He Sings.  After awhile I thought it was not going to happen but within a month or so they played it and put it out to me, apparently they misplaced the album and once they got their hands on it they played that song.

About another month after that they played another MMJ song (they would do it on occassions) but it was requested by a Lance in Minneapolis, who called himself the biggest MMJ fan in Minneapolis.  I just so happened to be another Lance in Minneapolis and there was no way I was going to let that slide.  

Beginning that night I would submit a MMJ song request every night.  Mostly I would request the more radio friendly songs or just a MMJ song in general.  Every few days they would play a song for me.  A lot of times they would just play One Big Holiday, Magheeta, or Dancefloors, but they did mix it up every once in awhile; I got them to play Christmas Curtain on July 25th as a Christmas in July type idea.

After awhile I decided to set my goals high and get one of the great MMJ songs on the radio that never get played because of their length.  I started up "Phone Went West or Steam Engine Gate".  Every night I would e-mail in a request asking one of those two songs to get played and reminded them every time that I would not give up until they played one of those two songs.  And I did this every night for over a month, until they announced that they were going to end one of the most tenacious requests that they had seen.  A couple songs later they played Steam Engine.

And as long as I worked the night shift I would request MMJ songs.  After Z came out though, it did not see it was as necessary anymore, they were getting plenty of requests from others at that point.  So ended my routine.

i love that story, and i love the current even more now.

[fitzcarraldo]

Introduced all of my friends to MMJ...no true converts yet, but most of them still have great taste in music.

'Tis a long quest.  ;)

You won't get caught.   :)  

I keep on doing lil things as all of us would. Internet juke gets lots of plays at bars... and then, lots of feedback.  :)  Most times - Who IS this band?!  -oh yeah- Sheesh, I get to throw a listening par-tay for Okonokos, with an ad in the Village Voice, other than my 10 friends we had like 10 other peeps at Pianos. Well yeah, in NYC on a Wednesday nite at 8.  :-/
Keep on fightin the good fight! But I don't think there Is a fight anymore, no wait never.  8-)