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!

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!

You can own a piece of my next album AND help me finance the recording!

I’ve recently become aware of what may be the coolest thing to happen to indie musicians, like, ever. It’s called SellABand. I’ve put myself up as a sort of publicly-traded company and folks like YOU can actually buy a share of my next album. They set the financial goal (I have no control over that), but when I reach it I’ll be doing a lot more than recording in my basement…

Read More…

If you remember me asking you via email to bug the folks over at Pandora, I’d like to thank you for your efforts. Even though one representative said they couldn’t find the CD’s I sent them months ago, it seems they must’ve found one. Goodbye Planet Earth is now available on the most cutting edge internet radio station, ready to stream!

(By the way, if you don’t remember me asking you about this, you’re not signed up for my email list yet.)

Why is this a slice of awesome pie? Two reasons: First, Pandora pays its BMI licensing fees like any other radio station, so the more my music plays on their system the more likely I’ll actually see a royalty payment (and, therefore, eat). Since the stations are built around a recommendation engine, my tunes will be played any time someone searches for someone famous like Ben Folds or Keane. They don’t even have to specifically search for my obscure name.

Second, since a lot of people will hear my music because I’m similar to the artists they’re searching for, there’s a good chance some of them might become fans of mine. I know more than a few people who have discovered new artists they like because of Pandora. As much as the RIAA likes to ignore it, people do in fact buy albums via iTunes and Amazon from Pandora recommendations.

So thank you, all of you, who helped raise the awareness! Hopefully some more of my albums will appear in their system soon, but for now you’ve really helped me break into a new playing field!

Update: Contest entries have ended… time to decide on a winner!

Matt Needs A Drink
Originally uploaded by RoninOtter.

Pay attention, you could win a Matthew Ebel dot net All-Access Pass for one month! My room mate RoninOtter took this picture as we were testing out some of his new photography equipment. Right after he posted it, C.C. Chapman mentioned it looked like a mugshot.

Well, C.C., you’re absolutely right.

So what’s the contest? Reply to this blog post and tell me:

The winning entry will be picked on Feb. 1 by a panel of random friends who haven’t entered the contest. Yes it’s totally subjective and will be based on whatever makes us laugh the most. If you really want to skew your chances, try photoshopping this and posting to your own blog, but make sure you link to it here in the comments with your official entry.

Contest ends at the end of January 2009 and you can enter as often as you like!

Leave your entries here…


Update: I thought it would go without saying that entries containing vulgar language or epithets would be deleted. Apparently, it needs to be said. Be tasteful.

It’s the end of 2008 and I need to write a new bio for the next year. This is the story of my music, not the story of my life. It needs to be so compelling and interesting that reviewers will reprint whole sections of it verbatim and call it an article. Hence why I need your help.

I can write about cows, ninjas, birds, and beer, but writing about myself is rather difficult. If you are a Matthew Ebel fan, you already know why you’re reading this blog. Please take a moment to read draft one of my new bio (below) and help me tell others why they should be Matthew Ebel fans as well!
Read More…

Another week, another batch of radio stations has added Goodbye Planet Earth to their rotation. If you please, hit ‘em up with some request calls and ask ‘em to play your favorite GPE tunes!

KDIC 88.5 FM
641-269-3328
Grinnell, IA

KEOL 91.7 FM
541-962-3333
La Grande, OR

KDUP 1580 AM
503-943-7121
KDUPDJ AIM
Portland, OR

KFAI 90.3 and 106.7 FM
612-341-0980
Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN

KMSU 89.7 FM
507-389-5678
1-800-456-7810
Mankato, MN

If you want the complete list of stations currently playing me, check the list on the fan site, matthewebel.net

[tags]Matthew Ebel, piano rock, radio, KDIC, KEOL, KDUP, KFAI, KMSU[/tags]

Wow… a BUNCH of radio stations just added Goodbye Planet Earth to the rotation. Give ‘em a call and tell ‘em what song to play!

KNWD 91.7 FM
318-357-5693
Natchitoches, LA

WQAQ 98.1 FM
203-582-5555
Hamden, CT

WRTC 89.3 FM
860-297-2450
Hartford, CT

WVUR 95.1 FM
219-464-5383
Valparaiso, IN

WWUH 91.3 FM
860-768-4701
West Hartford, CT

WXOU 88.3 FM
248-370-4274
Rochester, MI

KALA 88.5 & 105.5 FM
563-333-6216
Davenport, IA

KAOS 89.3 FM
360-867-KAOS (5267)
Olympia, WA

And streaming online at:
Bearcast
513-556-4529
Cincinnati, OH

Fusion Radio
416-287-7049
Scarborough, Ontario
Canada

As always, the full list is available right here.

[tags]Matthew Ebel, piano rock[/tags]

As if my interview with the folks at WXIN last night wasn’t enough, they’re adding me to the regular rotation there now. So please check them out and drop them a line to ask for Goodbye Planet Earth tunes!

WXIN 90.7 FM
401-456-8787
Providence, RI

[tags]Matthew Ebel, piano rock, WXIN, RIC, Rhode Island College[/tags]

I just got word that there’s another college station that’s putting Goodbye Planet Earth into rotation:

WAIH 90.3 FM
315-267-2511
SUNY Potsdam, NY

Drop ‘em a line and let ‘em know you want to hear some of my tunes!

[tags]Matthew Ebel, piano rock, SUNY, WAIH, college radio[/tags]