I just got a couple of emails… one from the Eventful.com staff (posted here) and one from the guy who recommended Eventful to me in the first place, Jonathan Coulton:

Hey Matthew,

Very surprised to hear that, I’ve never heard any complaints from my fans, and I know they’re generally very careful about being spammy. Are you sure that’s happening, and have you contacted eventful about it? I’ve found them to be very helpful in the past.

-j

If you’re getting emails from Eventful.com that you don’t want, I’d suggest checking the unsubscribe links and reading carefully. I can’t find any evidence that they’re spammy. In fact, they seem to be fairly reputable as far as online services go.

Sure, they want to send you mail, but I can confirm that they do indeed let you opt-out once you’ve created an account. If you still have any problems, though, please let me know!

Though my Macbook is working wonders as a robot band and sound guy, I really want to bring in some real human musicians for local shows. I’m looking for people who know more than just how to play songs, I need business partners. People who understand that being a drummer also means you’re a booking agent, PR guy, and roadie just like the rest of us.

I need people who understand how to put on a good show, not just play songs and stare at their shoes.

If you’re in the Boston area (or know someone who fits the bill), please let me know if you’re interested! Right now I’m looking for:

• Drummer/vocalist
• Keyboardist/vocalist
• Guitarist/vocalist

For full details please check out the Band Member Audition page. Let’s rock!

In a couple of weeks I’m going to offer myself up for public (very public) scrutiny on a major network TV show. A lot of people keep telling me I need to audition for American Idol… well, Idol is a show for singers. I’m more than that, I’m an entertainer. I’m a piano player. I’m a space pirate captain. I want to try my luck on a show that’s more about the entertainment than the voice.

So on March 7, 2009, I’ll be lining up with 20 gazillion other people in Boston to try for a slot on the next season of America’s Got Talent. The auditioning starts at 8am (GAH!) and, when all is said and done, the winner of the show takes home a million dollars and gets a show in Vegas. I’ve never been really good at auditioning for these kinds of things, so I will need all the prayers and support you can offer.

Right now I have to figure out which cover tune I can play for y 90-second initial audition that will really show off my talent.

UPDATE: Hooray! I just made Artist of the Week! Thank all of you who voted, this is your victory!

Last week I made the #2 slot for Sellaband’s Artist of the Week contest. This week I’m back and I need your help to make #1 by Monday morning! Here’s what you need to do:

1. If you haven’t already, sign up for Sellaband as a Believer.
2. Once you’ve got an account, go to my page at http://sellaband.com/matthewebel
3. Click the giant button on the right-hand side that says:
   
4. BONUS: If you’ve invested any money in any artists (like me) on Sellaband, you can vote every day this week. Please do!

If I make it to the #1 spot this week I’ll get $200 towards my next album from Sellaband as well as a bunch of other promotional opportunities. So far they’ve been VERY good about not spamming people, too, so don’t worry. Please help by voting, thanks!

Well, at the very least, they wrote about me and my friend C.C. Chapman. This is pretty sweet, so please check it out. Here’s a clip from the article:

Photo by Angela Rowlings

“In a field as competitive as entertainment, what matters most is how well you connect with your fans,” said Ebel, who moved to Boston from Nashville, Tenn., a year ago. “The technological tools we have give us the power to not just talk to but to listen to more people on a more meaningful level. If I stopped listening to my fans, they’d stop listening to me.”
Ryan Foley, The Boston Herald

You can read the article in full at a ridiculously long URL that I’ll just say is here.

For those that were wondering why I was so jazzed up about getting my music on Pandora.com a while back, it’s emails like these:

I just so happened to come across your song “Everybody Needs A Robot” on Pandora today, and I immediately looked up your site.
You’ve gained another new fan today!

I know so many people who find their new music via Pandora radio these days, this is exactly why I am thrilled to be a part of it.

I’ve received a few complaints from fans saying that my new calendar system has signed them up for unsolicited event updates that they have no interest in (and didn’t sign up for). Should I ditch Eventful and try something else?

First of all, please make sure when you sign up for any site that you hunt down any checkbox that says “I’d like to receive the [fill in site name] Newsletter” and other boxes of the sort. If you don’t have that option while signing up, that is a problem and I want to know about it!

I just sent this email to Eventful support to try and get to the bottom of this:

Dear Eventful Team-

I recently switched my entire tour calendar system to Eventful and tossed a “Demand It” widget up on my website. Almost immediately my fans started using the system, and almost immediately I started getting complaints that Eventful was sending them unsolicited junk mail!

My fans are predominantly computer geeks who know how to uncheck a “Send me newsletters” box when they sign up for something, so I find it hard to believe that the multitudes who are complaining simply didn’t sign up correctly. If you’re sending emails about other artists to my fans without them actually signing up for them, I’m going to have to ditch Eventful entirely.

It’s difficult enough convincing people to sign up for a website just to RSVP for events, if they’re going to get SPAMMED by the service they’re less likely to click on anything else I ask them to.

Pax,
Matthew

If you’ve been getting spammed by Eventful, I apologize. As soon as I hear a better option I’ll be happy to switch to a new system. Drop me a line via the comments here and let me know!

Update: After my second email to Eventful, I received this reply:

Hey, Matthew! I’m very sorry I wasn’t able to address your concerns until now.

To explain our system a little better, once one of your fans demands you for a performance, we do our best to keep them updated about their demand and your activities. The most efficient way is through e-mail.

However, Eventful has a strict policy about SPAM e-mails. We do not share our users’ e-mail addresses with anyone but out trusted partners. And even then, the user has to opt-in to receive those messages. Your fans should not be

The only messages that your fans should be receiving from Eventful.com are the following: Demand update, Performer update, our weekly e-newsletter containing local events in your demanders’ hometowns. And, if any of them decide they’d no longer like to receive these messages, they simply have to click the “Unsubscribe” link at the bottom of each message. They should also know that since each e-mail campaign is designed for a very different purpose, they have to unsubscribe from each of them individually.

If your fans are reporting that they’re receiving messages other than these, can you please ask that they forward them to me ASAP? As I mentioned above, Eventful is extremely conscientious about SPAM laws and works to ensure we’re only supplying people with information they will enjoy receiving.

If I did a poor job of explaining our e-mails to you, please let me know and I’ll go a little more in-depth.

Does this explain what’s happening to your satisfaction? I’m happy to stick with Eventful if it’s just a matter of a bunch of my fans not knowing how to unsubscribe from emails. It seems like a good service, when all is said and done.

REAL quick, I promise… I’m part of their “Artist of the week” popularity contest right now and I need your votes. If you’ve already pre-ordered my next album you can vote daily, otherwise just make your mark once and you’ll help me out!

Just hit http://www2.sellaband.com/sixpack.html for more info and to see the competition.

Just LOG IN and VOTE at http://sellaband.com/matthewebel as often as you can. Thanks!

Good news! I’ve made a deal with the organizers of Furry Weekend Atlanta, where I’m Guest of Honor next month. Since I haven’t played any house concerts in a while, anyone who has signed up for an All-Access or VIP pass can come see my performance FREE!

BUT YOU NEED TO RSVP BY MARCH 13.

The FWA organizers will need to know before the event if you’re coming. If you’re going to make it, drop me a line directly at matthewebel.com/contact.

I must admit, I lied. My workdays are the same, every single day.

First thing I do in the morning is clear the bed of strippers and beer bottles. I have a service that comes by every morning to pick those up from my front porch. My chauffeur pulls the stretch minivan around to the rear of my house and I crawl in, still in my silk pajamas.

The windows are tinted enough that I can see out but nobody on the street can see me changing and showering in the back of the van. By the time I’m ready to go, the Birdmobile has arrived at my private Starbucks near Cambridge. Breakfast is always a treat.

It’s a short ride from there to the studio complex so I only have time for one phone call. I usually make this my high-profile call of the day, shooting the shit with Keith or Mick or the President (of the Universe, mind you, Obama’s too damn busy to take my calls still).

Once I hit the studio the doors are hermetically sealed behind me. Inside there awaits an army of piano tuners, session musicians, backup singers, and engineers. There’s also another private Starbucks in there, but this one can put a shot of Irish Cream into my coffee. REAL Irish Cream.

After a long hard day of songwriting and recording I stuff myself back into the Birdmobile where my sushi chef has already laid out dinner for me. I eat en route to that evening’s party, for which I am always fashionably late.

Unfortunately, I can never recall what happens between then and the beginning of the next day.

Photo by Mingo.nl