Thursday, July 2, 2009

Herman Put Down The Gun



From Georgianne Nienaber at The Huffington Post:

A while back I posted a commentary and review on Indie music as a soundtrack and metaphor for troubling financial times. In today's atmosphere of music industry giants swallowing the little Indie guys and the news about Ticketmaster's Echomusic shutting down the websites of 200 mid-level artists with barely a "slam, bam thank you guys and gals," a little band from Atlanta proves that all it takes is heart to produce art and great PR.
....

I came across the "Lonely Street" video on Facebook, and since I am a huge fan, I wrote to front woman Sonia Tetlow and asked how much time and money it cost to put the thing together. Plus, I wanted to write something positive about the music business for a change.Turns out it cost zip. A week ago, instead of having band practice, the band met at Tetlow's house and went for beers in their Atlanta neighborhood while taking turns with an eight year old camera that had not seen much service.


Now the video is going viral on Facebook and elsewhere on the net. I love what the musicians did with no resources but their talent and creativity. Thanks to Georgianne (the woman who made me famous!) for spotlighting them at The Huffington Post.

From SOVO (Southern Voice):

Herman Put Down The Gun with lead singer Sonia Tetlow is making viral waves on the internet thanks to a DIY video for their song “Lonely Street.” Tetlow, a lesbian, was featured in Southern Voice as one of its “next generation of gay Atlanta.”

With no money and using an old video camera in making the just over 3-minute video, the Atlanta-based rock band was written up by the Huffington Post about its use of Facebook and Myspace to spread the video that has now been linked to numerous other sites as well.


That's how to do it, guys.

The woman lying on the ground in the video is Sonia Tetlow, the band's front woman. They were playing in 99° heat in Atlanta, and she suffered a minor heat stroke, but she revived quickly after a dose of Gatorade. By the way, Sonia has the right roots. She is a native of New Orleans.

12 comments:

  1. O/T

    Due to a last-minute change in the schedule for GC, the meetup time for the followers of Fr jake have changed. The revised plan (still on July 10th):
    I. Meetup begins at the No-host bar/reception, promenade, outside the Pacific Ballroom, Hilton Hotel, 6.00. (If you get there early, check the Atrium bar in the hotel lobby)

    II. Join at the Integrity Eucharist, Pacific Ballroom, Hilton Hotel, 7.30.

    III. After the Eucharist: Bar Louie in the Anaheim Garden Walk, 321 Katella Ave.


    More info at Friends go to Anaheim

    Mimi, shoot me an email; we're getting into Anaheim earlier that day and would love to do quality time with you

    ReplyDelete
  2. Maybe we should call this one:
    "Gumbo Granny Blogs From the Bayou for Herman!!!"

    GN

    ReplyDelete
  3. Georgianne, I love ya, but no more Gumbo Granny, please. I never wanted to be called Granny, thus the Mimi.

    I like your article quite a lot.

    I wanted to get word to the Hermans that I wrote about them, but I see that you've already done that through tweets and Facebook.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Mimi,

    The "Hermans" will be thrilled!

    GN

    ReplyDelete
  5. LOL! Shorter form. I hope the "Hermans" have a sense of humor.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I LOVE this! Think I've listened to the song about five times so far. I've posted the video on Facebook. Thanks Mimi.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Dear Mimi,
    Thanks so much for writing about us and sharing our video with your people! It really is amazing how it has spread on the internet in such a short period of time, and we are thrilled! A big part of making music is connecting with folks through song, so thank you for helping us to do that in this vast worldwide web:) Have a great 4th of July weekend!
    cheers!
    sonia
    sonia

    ReplyDelete
  8. Suzi, I'm glad you enjoyed the video.

    Sonia, I love your music, the video, and that you did it all without spending a bunch of money I wish you and your group great success. You're my soulmate from New Orleans.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Mimi- I am the drummer for "the Hermans". Thank you so much for your comments and helping us to spread the music. It really means a lot. I hope I get to meet you the next time we head to New Orleans!! One of my favorite places on earth :) Linda

    ReplyDelete
  10. Linda! It's great to hear from members of "the Hermans". I hope very much to meet you one day in New Orleans.

    ReplyDelete
  11. What an absolute delight this is. I enjoyed the music and video, I love the backstory and the human connections. Thanks, Mimi and GN, and very best to the Hermans! I will put it up too with a link to the story here.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Paul, thanks. The least I can do for the group is get them a little more publicity after I changed the name of their band.

    ReplyDelete

Anonymous commenters, please sign a name, any name, to distinguish one anonymous commenter from another. Thank you.