Month: July 2009

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6/21/09: Promoting Alex King in the Midwest


First day of a Select-O-Hits Music Distribution promotional run to promote the new Alex King album “Reincarnated”, as well as new albums from Juicy J, DJ Paul and B Hamp, whose single “Do The Ricky Bobby” has been heating up across the southeast. It was extremely hot as I drove up to Brownsville, and then along Highway 79 into Paris, Tennessee. At Murray, Kentucky, I stopped at Terrapin Station and Sunset Boulevard record stores, putting up posters, and then grabbed a latte from Fidalgo Bay Coffee before heading on to Madisonville. The Sam Goody there would not allow me to put up posters, so I headed on northward toward Owensboro, but I called the FYE music store there and found that they already had a large poster display, so I drove on into Evansville instead, checking into my room at the Fairfield Inn on the east side of town. I first drove around to the record stores, dealing with some violent storms that were popping up (and storm sirens going off), and then after leaving Joe’s Westside Records, I drove back out to the Tin Fish in Newburgh for dinner. They closed at 8 PM, and I just barely got in before they quit serving food, but I made it, and the seafood was good, although the atmosphere was more like a fast food place than I had expected. The rain was over, and I drove back downtown, looking for something to get into, but Main Street was largely quiet, and after stopping at a Starbucks near Eastland Mall, I drove back to the hotel.

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6/20/09: Reewine Radio Summit Day 2/Back to Memphis


I went to breakfast at Scenic 90 Cafe, but was somewhat disappointed, as they have quit serving hashbrowns and only have potatoes simmered with onions. Afterwards, I drove out to the Cordova Mall with promotional materials, but there were no urban clothing stores there, and the FYE music store could only accept the CD promos and not the posters. I was able to put up some posters at Tom’s Records on Navy Boulevard, and that seems to be the city’s main rap store. The music conference’s beach party was to start at noon at Pensacola Beach, so I drove across the toll bridge onto the island, but while there were large crowds everywhere, I didn’t see anybody from our conference out there. I had wanted to attend, because there was to be barbecue, and live performances, but Trinigal, the conference organizer called me and told me that the start time had to be pushed back two hours because nobody woke up until the afternoon. Unfortunately, I had to drive back to Memphis in the afternoon, so I couldn’t wait for the beach party to start. I decided to eat lunch at Surf Burger and then head out for Memphis, but I literally could not find any place to park, so I drove back up 9th Avenue in Pensacola to L & N Record Store near the projects, but they were still closed. Out on I-10 in Alabama, I saw a billboard for a California Dreaming restaurant at the Eastern Shore Center in Spanish Fort, so I got off the road there to eat lunch. I had a filet mignon sandwich there, and then headed out Highway 45 through Eight Mile and into Mississippi. At Tupelo, I stopped for dinner at a Santa Fe Cattle Company, which was really good, but I could not find any coffee bars open at that time of night, so I headed on to Memphis.

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6/19/09: Reewine Radio Summit, Pensacola


I had to drive to Pensacola, Florida for the Reewine Radio Music Summit, so I stopped at T-Bone’s Records in Hattiesburg to leave them with posters for our new releases, and I noticed that they have now added a full coffee bar to their record store. I got myself a latte there before heading on to Mobile. I decided against stopping to eat in Alabama, and went on into Pensacola. The conference had booked our rooms at the Travelodge, so I checked in and then drove down to the Atlas Oyster House for dinner. The setting on the bay was attractive, and the restaurant was crowded, but the food was disappointing. Prices were steep, and the portions were tiny. At least it was close to the conference location, however, and I was running late, so I drove over to the Knights of Columbus hall on Palafox Street. The Reewine Radio summit did not draw as large a crowd as I had hoped, but Ms. Beach Bunny was there, as well as Willo from Choke ‘Em Out Entertainament, DJ Colock, DJ Sammy Sam, Michael London, DJ Bull, Al Weeden, an artist named JP from Pensacola who calls himself “King of the Whiteboyz”, and Big Bone, a Pensacola rapper who was handing out a new underground CD called “Coaching Season.” The most fun I had was in critiquing the demos that people brought and played for us. Most of the artists sounded too much like Plies or Rick Ross, but there were a couple that really impressed me. Afterwards, I would have liked to have gotten coffee or dessert, but nothing was open, so I headed back to the hotel and went to bed.