tag:shawnecaldwell.com,2005:/blogs/almost-finishedAlmost Finished2018-11-17T00:38:46-05:00Shawn Caldwellfalsetag:shawnecaldwell.com,2005:Post/55175652018-11-17T00:38:46-05:002018-11-17T00:38:46-05:00A Lifetime...<p>So it's been a short time since It's Christmas Time released. These recent days have felt very different to me. The extreme busyness of getting the album ready and preparing for the release has passed.</p>
<p>For the first couple of days after the release I was still on an adrenaline high. But then I think I crashed. Sales of the album so far have been amazing, but I started thinking about how many hours went into this project and how many thousands of CD's I would have to sell to even make minimum wage. I don't know that many people and I'm not that good at marketing.</p>
<p>As someone who has loved music since the age of 3, I should know better than to count hours. Music has been a LIFELONG pursuit. Those weekends in my youth spent practicing for 8 hours or more a day helped me get here. The sleepless spring break week in college creating a 4 song ep helped me get here. Those countless hours writing, recording, and mixing songs nobody will ever hear helped me get here. Those recent 20 hour days in the studio helped me get here.</p>
<p>I guess I'm saying that the process has been amazing and has taken a lifetime; way more hours than what seem worth it financially. Sure, I'd love to sell enough CD's to break even on the investment (of money, not necessarily of time.) But ultimately, it's not a financial issue. I wholly believe that I am doing exactly what I was created to do. My goal was to make the best CD I could in the time I had available. And now I need to let God do with it what He'd like. (He's WAY better at marketing than I am.)</p>
<p>Thank you to everyone who has purchased, or is planning on purchasing, a CD or download. I am so proud of this music - it has taken a lifetime to create!</p>
<p>Be blessed this Holiday Season. Shawn</p>
<p> </p>Shawn Caldwelltag:shawnecaldwell.com,2005:Post/54977622018-11-02T21:21:09-04:002018-11-03T01:07:36-04:001 More Week!<p>Only 1 more week until "It's Christmas Time" is available! Boxes of CD's are on their way to me from New Jersey as I'm typing this. It's hard to believe that all of the music work is finished. Now it's time for the other kind of work that goes along with releasing an album - sales, promotion, and marketing.</p>
<p>I'd guess that the majority of musicians would rather spend their time making and playing music than on promoting themselves and their music. I can say that is true for me. I am certainly no pro at this whatsoever, but I've been working on getting some videos ready (with the help of my sons Avery and Evan), sending emails and texts, making social media posts, and getting everything set up with CD Baby who will get my music onto Amazon, ITunes, etc. There are so many more places I'd love to get songs placed, but I'm not sure at the moment how to make that happen. This is such a learning experience.</p>
<p>This whole process is still tough for me to balance in my head. I am incredibly proud of all the music on this album and I would love to have lots of people hear it. And it would be nice to sell a lot of CD's, but it's not really about the money (although I do want to at least break even on this whole endeavor.) I've had people tell me that I will sell out of my original order of discs, but I find that hard to fathom. </p>
<p>So, if we're Facebook friends, thank you for dealing with the multitude of posts. If we see each other regularly, thank you for listening to me talk about this all year. If you are coming to the CD Release party, thank you for celebrating with me. If you have already pre-purchased a copy, thank you - it has been a huge encouragement.</p>
<p>Finally, this week I am being featured in a ReverbNation playlist titled Chart Topping Artists from Pittsburgh, PA. I'd love for you to check it out. It's the first place any full song from the album has appeared! </p>
<p><a contents="Chart Topping Artists from Pittsburgh, PA" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.reverbnation.com/scm/3472-chart-topping-artists-from-pittsburgh?fbclid=IwAR1e1gb_NNasJRXXPuP_ljG9a-r80Q88qYLdiEHRg0v398J7giPHN0xhpCA" target="_blank">Chart Topping Artists from Pittsburgh, PA</a></p>Shawn Caldwelltag:shawnecaldwell.com,2005:Post/54798392018-10-21T21:38:25-04:002018-10-22T02:02:28-04:00Almost Finished<p>Well, it's ALMOST finished! My new CD, It's Christmas Time, will be leaving my hands in the near future and be headed to Oasis CD in New Jersey to be replicated. It's actually kind of hard to say I'm finished and to let it go; I've lived with this music a long time.</p>
<p>It has been quite the journey this year. I officially began working on this album on January 4th and there have been only a handful of days all year that I have not spent time working on it.</p>
<p>This all started last year when my wife Trish wrote the lyrics for a new Christmas song, Awake My Soul (It's Christmas Time). We sang it at church last December and it really made me think over the holidays of making my next project a Christmas album. Every year at the holidays I have folks ask me when I am going to do a Christmas CD. It finally felt like the right time to make it happen.</p>
<p>In conjunction with starting on the music, at the beginning of the year I also began learning new recording software, Studio One. The program I had used since MS-DOS, Cakewalk SONAR, was no longer being supported. So I figured, what better way to learn new software than to dive in and make an album. It was frustrating at times, but all in all it was a great learning experience.</p>
<p>It's Christmas Time will be available this November 10. I can't wait to share it with you! There are video snippets and audio preview clips available here on the website. The CD and a digital download are now available to pre order. PLUS, the CD will make wonderful Christmas gifts for all of your friends!</p>Shawn Caldwell