Skelmersdale based singer songwriter Matt Swift will be singing an Alun Parry song at Liverpool’s Unity Theatre on Tuesday 25 January 2011.

Matt will be playing a set of his own observational, poetic music to help launch the paintings exhibition of fellow musician Jo Bywater.

Matt has recently released his excellent single Release Me which you can hear by clicking here.

The event kicks off at 8pm, and with Jo herself also performing, plus Lonesome Georginas, it promises to be a great night of art and music.

I’m delighted to confirm that I will be playing at this years Liverpool Remembers event on Sunday 23rd January 2011.

Liverpool Remembers is an afternoon commemorating the Holocaust with contributions from members of the Jewish community.

It is also a chance to reflect upon other human rights tragedies and genocides affecting people across the world with communities now based in Liverpool.

The event takes place at St Francis Assisi Academy in Gardners Drive, Fairfield (just off Shiel Road) from 2pm til 5.30pm.

For more details click here to see Cllr Louise Baldock’s blog, or check my gigs page.

Many of you will know my mate The Woolly.

She’s not from Liverpool you see, and we call people from outside Liverpool ‘woollybacks’. Affectionately of course.

So it followed that my nick name for Shaz is The Woolly.

Well she is now starring in her very own movie at the Manchester City Official website. And because I’m very proud of her I wanted to share it with you.

Check it out at http://www.mcfc.co.uk/Video/Features/Behind-the-scenes-Sharon-Latham-club-photographer

It’s a lot of fun. There’s another installment on Wednesday and Friday too!

I’ve decided to go on tour during 2011.

But this time with a difference.

I did a UK tour on my last outing.

I travelled as far north as bonnie Scotland, and as far South as Brighton. A lot of fun it was too.

This time I’m staying more local.

As musicians we tend to play the big centres.

But there’s so many places to play within a 15 mile radius that is more than worthy of a tour, and are often overlooked.

So that’s what I’m going to do.

I’ve already booked two dates in the tour – one in Kirkby on February 18th that I’ll be giving more details on soon, and the other in Liverpool City Centre in April.

I’m now looking to book gigs in the following locations to complete the tour.

If you can help in some way, please drop me a line.

• Birkenhead
• Bootle
• Chester
• Ellesmere Port
• Frodsham
• Kirkby – BOOKED
• Liverpool – BOOKED
• Ormskirk
• Runcorn
• St Helens
• Skelmersdale
• Wallasey
• Warrington
• Widnes
• Wigan

One of the things that has fascinated me for a few years has been the impact of the internet on the music industry.

Many panicked, but I’ve been excited by it, and played with it a bit too with various experiments.

Beating Radiohead To The Punch

At one time, I even pioneered what I called ‘Buskernomics’, a way to download my tunes for whatever you wanted to pay for them. This was before Radiohead went and did the same thing, and I got featured in the world famous Billboard magazine as a result.

A bit of a think

These days musicians aren’t just about music (were they ever?) and so I’ve been having a bit of a think about some of the things that musicians can or do provide, and things that fans and supporters (or even organisations) might be keen to have.

Sharing my ideas

Some of these things would naturally be free.

Others could be things that supporters might pay for, thereby feeding the said musician at the same time and so allowing for more music to be produced and performed.

I thought I’d share what I’ve come up with so far.

• Blogs.
• Monthly podcast looking at other songs in the same genre.
• mp3 tracks to download.
• Full album.
• Regular videos of the artist giving their point of view on things of interest
• Regular videos of the artist singing something
• Tshirts, sweaters, mugs, keyrings, etc (they call this merchandise)
• Concert tickets
• A Special Event of some sort (not a concert)
• Sponsor an album track
• Attend a rehearsal
• A day in the studio as the artists record
• Song book of the artist’s songs with lyrics and chords.
• A book about the stories behind the artists songs.
• Have your name in the album sleeve notes.
• Have your photo in the album sleeve notes.
• Have your organisation’s logo on the album sleeve.
• Have the artist learn and record a particular cover song of your choice.
• Original handwritten lyrics from when the artist was first writing the song
• Have the artist speak at a conference or a panel discussion
• Subscription to a fan club or VIP section of the artists website
• Have the artist  perform at a private show

Your turn to be the music mogul

Add your ideas in the comment box below, fellow music moguls.

Just think of your favourite artist and ask yourself what you would want from them.

And tell me which of the ideas I’ve come up with that already press your buttons.