I hate the fact that every time I introduce myself as a Christian I have to immediately append “but no, I’m not that kind of Christian.” It’s a shame that a small number of idiots who think they’re doing the right thing can ruin something for so many people.

It’s all about the image you portray to the public. We all have two sides- every person, company, organization, even our pets. You have the public face and the private face. The reason we keep the two separate is not because it’s dirty or reprehensible, it’s because the private does not necessarily reflect the interests of the entire group.

Our military kills people, but the recruiter won’t tell you “join us so you can shoot people.” That’s not our military’s main purpose.

Our mothers and fathers spank their children, but they don’t announce it to people they meet for the first time. “Hi there! I whipped my boy’s butt last night!” That’s not what parenting is about.

Public relations is all about putting your best foot forward and making the right first impression. When you know your group or company is already fighting an uphill battle, everything you say and do speaks to the conduct of all involved. The fine line between private and public image must be made clear.

Don’t be ashamed of what you do in private, but don’t be ready to jump in front of the press corps and announce it either.

There is no greater threat to one’s career than playing to an audience that doesn’t want to hear you. A room full of strangers is much preferable to a room full of people that think you suck. It’s part of human nature to be vocal about that which we dislike, much more so than that which we love.

To put it simply, you’ll tell a couple of friends about something you really love, but you’ll tell the whole world about something that annoys you.

It’s like playing rap music in a country bar… If all you see is a crowd of wallets, you’re going to get beer bottles thrown at you. Before you start rapping, those people are just bystanders. Once you’ve given them a dose of something they don’t want, they become a negative PR force actively working against you.

This is the reason I do not sign people up for my email list that didn’t ask for it. I’ll send invites- ONCE -but if they don’t want my emails, I don’t want to send to them. My blacklist is almost as big as my mailing list. Why? Because each person I send an email to is remotely interested in my music. If they’re not, the last thing I want to do is annoy them!

Lately I’ve been receiving auto-DM invites to a music site via Twitter. One invite? Sure. Identical invites from many different people with no way to opt-out? Now I’m never going to sign up for that service. In fact, I’m writing a blog post about it because they’ve ticked me off. I am now a negative PR force working against them, all because they wouldn’t let me opt out.

The lesson? Don’t play rap to a country crowd. No audience is worse than the wrong audience.

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.

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!
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