Country Weekly / Due West

Due West Update - July 2009

Hello friends, family and fans of Due West! We hope everyone is having a wonderful summer.

We wanted to send out an update to bring everyone up to speed on all the great things that continue to move forward in the Due West camp.

Our debut single "I Get That All The Time" has been continuing to climb up the charts as it is getting spun at over 280 radio stations nationwide. We currently sit at #54 on the Billboard chart, and #34 on Music Row. This puts us as the highest charting new independent artist on the Music Row Chart!

With this number of stations playing our song, approximately 1.2 million people every week are hearing Due West on the radio; we love it!

We are excited to appear in Country Weekly magazine as part of their 'New Artists To Watch' feature, which is scheduled to be on newsstands July 13th. Go pick up a copy next Thursday!

We've grown to almost 12,000 friends on MySpace, over 1,000 friends on Facebook, and are tweeting to over 1,200 followers on Twitter. Thanks for all your help!

We continue to visit radio stations around the country, and had a GREAT visit with Sirius/XM this week here in Nashville. Be watching for our debut on satellite radio!

Next week we leave for a run of gigs out in the west with stops in Bear Lake, Idaho - Draper, Utah - Ogden, Utah - and a HUGE show in St. George, Utah where we'll open for Lady Antebellum. There are some big surprises in store for that show; you don't wanna miss that one...trust us!

August 1st we're headed back out to Seattle to play the tailgate party for the Kenny Chesney show at Qwest Field. That will surely be a blast!

The video for "I Get That All The Time" is still being worked on; we've had some slight delays, but we promise it's going to be worth the wait... y'all are gonna LOVE IT!

The best news of all is that we're still having the time of our lives, and couldn't be part of a cooler bunch of people. The whole Due West crew is full of passion and talent, and we're honored to be working side by side with all of them.

To you, the friends, keep up your good work too; thank you for YOUR continued support and love. This is just the beginning of a long musical journey on a roller coaster-ride...headed DUE WEST!

We love you all!

Brad, Tim & Matt
Due West

CMA Music Fest 2009 - Recap

We have had such an amazing time this year at CMA Music Fest! ..we're so sad it's already over. :(

The week started with the St. Jude Celebrity bowling event out at Hermitage lanes, where we got to meet and bowl with friends, fans and country music celebrities. Some of the artists that were there included: Trent Tomlinson, Lonestar, Jeff Bates, Adam Gregory, Sarah Darling, Buddy Jewel, Danielle Peck, Bo Bice and Megan Mullins.
We got to find out who the best bowler of the three us of is - Brad turned in an impressive 143! We won't say who the WORST bowler is, however we will say that Matt bowled a 61 one game. Ouch.
The best part of that event was knowing that ALL the proceeds went to benefit the children of St. Jude's Hospital.

Next up was the Music Row Live remotes over at the Tracking Room, where we did an acoustic performance and gave a dozen or so interviews for some radio stations from around the country, who were in town for Music Fest. We even did a TV interview!
While we were there, we signed about 30 guitars, hats and other stuff for stations to give away.
One of the coolest parts about that day, was the 'gift room' for artists. We got to go into a room with big shopping bags, and pick out boots, sunglasses, jewelry and other stuff - FOR FREE! Wow, we could really get used to this. :)

Later that day was the Chevy Kick-off Parade which routed right down lower Broadway in downtown Nashville. Before the parade, we were walked in, taken care of VIP-style, and got to rub elbows with some of our heroes - like Brady Seals. Being treated like stars is actually very humbling for us; and we are truly grateful for all of this. The actual parade was awesome! Some people were even cheering for us; did they even know us?? :)


Thursday was our autograph signing day at the convention center. Once again we were overwhelmed by the number of 'fans' who showed up to meet us and get a picture with us. VERY COOL. We're already so blessed with such amazing folks, who dig our tunes. Thanks y'all!
When we were leaving the convention center, at the artist VIP entrance, we gave the valet boys a 20-dollar bill and a Due West picture, with the message "best tippers of the day" written on it! :) We wanted Reba, Wynonna, Carrie and the like to catch a little glimpse of our mugs on their way in and out. Ha ha! Do you think they even noticed??

We ended our week's festivities with the GeoQuest scavenger hunt. Jim A. and his folks from the Grass Roots team did such an amazing job putting that whole thing together, and the end result was incredible. Todd Thompson of Hendersonville won the electric guitar; way to go Todd!





All in all, we LOVED CMA Music Fest 2009, and can't wait for next year!

Please tune in to our youtube channel, 'duewestmusictv' to see videos from the week.



Also, check out this slideshow from the Due West GeoQuest. (photos by Debbi Tannock)

Due West makes TOP 50 Tweeters LIST!

Hey everybody, we were so excited to find out that we made the Music Row top country twitter list! The coolest part about it is the company that we're in...

Thanks for all the follows! Spread the Due West / Twitter LOVE! :)

Thanks!

Check it out: http://www.musicrow.com/charts/top-ranking-country-artists/

Follow us on twitter at: http://twitter.com/DueWestMusic

Due West GeoQuest Challenge

Due West announces GeoQuest Challenge navigation game in downtown Nashville

Due West is challenging country music fans to explore the streets of downtown Nashville with their GeoQuest game, set for Thurs., June 11, 1:00-3:00 p.m. Can you follow the clues and complete the trek leading to some of Lower Broadway's historic sites?

Finish the short walking course and you will be invited to a special private event at one of Nashville's historic music spots, plus there will be great prizes.

Who can play? Everyone is invited! (And it's free...)

When? Thursday, June 11 - 1:00-3:00 p.m. (Please allow at least 30 minutes to play!) A special private post-game event will follow at 3:30 p.m. for all players completing the course.

Where? Lower Broadway, downtown Nashville

How do I play? To get your first clue, call 615.656.5636. You'll be instructed on your next step.

Prizes? Yep. Everyone who finishes the challenge will be treated to an exclusive private event at 3:30 p.m. on Thursday and there will be special prizes for all finishers.


615.656.5636. Call. Find. Win.

Where do we stand?

Hey guys, wanted to catch everybody up on what's going on in the world of Due West. Sorry it's been a while since our last blog entry... we boys have been BUSY! :) ..we love it.

Our debut single "I Get That All The Time" continues to make its journey slowly up the charts. We are all very pleased with how things are going so far, and although the process takes a lot of patience and hard work, it will all be worth it.

Currently there are over 200 stations across the country playing our song! That is such an amazing reality for us to comprehend, and it blows our mind every time we think about it. With that number of stations playing it, we've managed to claw our way into the 40's and 50's on the several charts mentioned before ("A Brief Lesson In Radio").

This place we've reached so far is a HUGE success! The next big task will be getting over this 'hump' that we're staring at; because once you break into the top 30's and 40's, especially as a new unknown act, then a larger majority of the remaining stations start to take you a little more seriously.

We like to give the analogy that everyone (radio station programmers) is standing on a big giant line - kinda like a starting line; looking from right to left, up and down the line... they're all wondering who's gonna go first..."you go" "no, you go..." As soon as a few of them take a chance and make that move off the line, then ALL of them will follow suit. At that point it becomes a snowball effect, because as explained in the previous blog, the more stations that play "I Get That All The Time", the higher the song charts...the higher the song charts, the more stations want to play it...and so on, and so on.

What can YOU do?

If you know that your local radio station IS playing our song - even if it's only once or twice a week - call them up and request it..a lot! :) Let them know how you feel about the song.

If your local station isn't playing it yet, or doesn't have it yet, be patient... they will get it when it gets higher on the charts.

Once it does get into the top 30's and 40's, and you DO begin to hear it more frequently, the next major test at THAT point will be finding out how the song connects with the listeners. ...if they can relate, if it speaks to them, if it's catchy, etc. So feel free to call them and RAVE! :)

We can't wait for that stage of our journey with this song! We feel so passionately about this song, and we sing it from such a real and honest place, that we can't help but feel that the listeners out there will 'get it', and identify with the song as well.

Thank you all again for being such great friends and fans to Due West!

Brad, Matt & Tim

Music Video Coming SOON!

We've received word that the music video for "I Get That All The Time" is going to be done very soon. The first edit is done, and some final tweaks are being made.

We're so excited for y'all to see it...

Please stay tuned.

Florida Radio Tour

We've had an incredible week of radio visits in Florida!
The only thing that wasn't amazing was the weather; it rained almost the entire time we were down there. Oh well, maybe we'll see the sunny side of Florida next time.

We're now making our way back to Tennessee, after a couple more stops along the way.
Tomorrow night we have a big acoustic show at Cotton Eyed Joe in Knoxville. We're excited to see how many people show up; we've heard that the East Tennessee people know how to party. We'll see! :)

As soon as we get back to Nashville, we'll have ONE day off, and then we head out to sunny California for another week of west coast radio. We're excited about our full band show at the Saddle Rack out there on Wednesday night. If you're in the area, come check us out!

Stay tuned for the release of our video for "I Get That All The Time" - coming in the next few weeks or so.

A brief lesson in radio

Hello friends & fans of Due West.
If you're anything like us, then you love to learn new things about stuff that you never knew anything about before.
So today, we will share a little bit about what we're learning about the world of country music radio.
There are several different categories that radio stations fall under when it comes to the "charts"; monitor stations, indicator stations, music row stations, and non-reporters.

The more these stations play our song, the higher we move on the various charts that those stations report to. The higher we are on the charts, the more likely stations are to play our song. Stations understandably like to play popular music."Popular music" has usually been determined as such by it's chart position. So how do you gain chart position when your song is not yet 'popular'?

Great question. A new act like Due West, with a new song like "I Get That All The Time" fights this battle to make an impact at radio by going around to as many stations as possible in person. We get to know the program directors and staff members, sing for them, and basically beg them to play our music.

The more stations that we can get to take a chance on our music, the higher we'll chart. The higher we chart...well, you get the picture. At a certain point it can become a snowball effect. Once the song charts to a level where the majority of stations are playing it, then FINALLY at that point for the most part it is in the hands of listeners (YOU). If the people across the nation love the song, and react well to it, then we just might have a HIT on our hands!

It's all part of this interesting game called the music business, and we love it!

NEW Due West SONG POSTED!

Hey everybody, we've begun adding new songs online from our forthcoming debut album. Please check out our newly posted song "Don't Rock It" on myspace.

We hope you enjoy!

Thanks.

Brad, Matt & Tim

DW

Due West on iTunes!

Our debut single "I Get That All The Time" is now available on iTunes! Check it out!

Tomorrow is the BIG DAY!

Hello friends of Due West!
The purpose of today's blog is to bring everyone up to speed on the progress of our journey.
As most of you may know, we've been out on radio tour for the past several weeks. We've visited radio stations all over the country, taking them our music, and getting to know the programmers of those stations.
It has been a blast!
If we weren't out promoting a single to radio, we'd still be out meeting new people, making new friends, and playing music as much as possible. So this is truly what we LOVE to do.
So far we've been to about 60 radio stations! Everywhere from Salt Lake City and San Francisco to Portland, Maine and Augusta, Georgia.
Sometimes they let us go on the air, and sing live. Sometimes they record us and play us over the airwaves later on. Sometimes we just sing for staff members in a conference room; but whichever way it goes, we always end up walking out of those radio stations with a few more friends and fans of our music. It has been great.
We'll continue to visit as many stations as will have us. Stay tuned to our schedule to see where we're going next.

Tomorrow, Monday April 27th, is the day that our single "I Get That All The Time" becomes available on iTunes. We're SO excited to have our music on iTunes for the VERY FIRST TIME! WOW.
Also, tomorrow is the official 'add date' for the single at radio. All this really means is that they officially start the timer, and start keeping track of all the stations that are starting to play our song. The whole 'chart' game starts tomorrow. Wish us luck.
If you haven't heard our song on a radio station near you, hopefully in the next few weeks you might start to. We were SO happy to hear that we're popping up occasionally on Phoenix stations, and that people are hearing us on Salt Lake City radio too. That's AWESOME!
After tomorrow, feel free to call your LOCAL radio station and request our song. Please remember however, that it's just a REQUEST...we can't demand them to play our music. We want our fans and friends to be passionate about our music, but we don't want our friends and fans to come across as pestering. We want radio to WANT to play our music for our polite and gracious friends around the country.

YOU ALL ARE WONDERFUL, WONDERFUL PEOPLE, and we LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH!

Thanks for the continued support.

Matt, Brad & Tim

DW

The FIRST Due West video PREMIERE!!

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Portland, Maine - North Atlantic Coastline

The sun was setting, the frigid waves of the North Atlantic Ocean were landing on the rocky coastline, as a 200 year-old lighthouse loomed in the background with it's rotating beacon still guiding ships into port.. WOW, the only thing that could have made this moment better would have been having the supporting ladies of Due West there at our sides. Next time ladies, next time!

As we stood here for this picture with WPOR's Matty Jeff, our stomachs were full to the brim with some of the most amazing seafood we'd had since Australia last fall. If you're ever in Maine, make sure you go check out The Lobster Shack; you won't be disappointed!

Thanks so much Matty for taking us there, and for the tour of downtown Portland! (Matty is a SUPER-COOL HANG!) We can't wait to come back and hang with you again.

Phone interview with Dave Williams @ 99 Hits FM in New York

While driving up to Portland Maine the other day, we called in to a station in New York called 99 Hits FM for an interview. We got to chat a little with Dave Williams over the phone, and then he spun our debut single "I Get That All The Time" on his program, Dave's Dish and the Daily Debut. CLICK HERE TO LISTEN. Then click on Dave's Dish on the left hand side of the page.

Thank you so much Dave (and his wife Heather - for telling him about us) for playing our song!

Matt, Tim & Brad

DW

Country AirCheck Visit

Raised On The Street? Bigger Than Me/Nine North's Due West promised the Country Aircheck staff they'd play a song that really expressed them as individuals and a band before breaking into an impromptu version of Backstreet Boys' "I Want It That Way." After an impressive verse and chorus (and a good laugh from the staff) the band relented with their debut single "I Get That All The Time." Pictured (l-r) are CA's Kelley Keith, DW's Tim Gates, CA's Lauren Tingle, Jeff Green and Lon Helton, DW's Matt Lopez, Nine North's Larry Pareigis, DW's Brad Hull, CA's Mary Forest Campbell and Erin Duvall, Nine North's Tom Moran, CA's Chuck Aly and special guest Flat Stanley.

Quick trip to East Tennessee!

Yesterday we took a jaunt over to Knoxville and Chattanooga to visit a couple GREAT radio stations!

We had a fun time on the air with Andy & Alison at WIVK in Knoxville. Brad wanted to thank Alison with a kiss.....What a sweet guy!
Check out our qik video of these two morning DJs!










We also had the opportunity to meet Program Director, Mike Hammond. What a nice man, for real.









Then it was on to Chattanooga, where we had an AWESOME lunch meeting with Dex and his staff at WUSY. We did an acoustic performance for them, which was a blast! What a great crew of people!






We were SO surprised and blown away to find out that Carol and Gina, two WUSY listeners, had seen Due West in Nashville at the Wild Horse Saloon about a year back, and had purchased one of our old CDs. They had been hounding Dex to give it a listen for over a year!

Because of them, when we pulled up to this visit, Dex already knew EVERYTHING about us, and was a FAN! Thank you SO much Carol and Gina; we'll never forget your amazing contribution to our careers!


..and then, just when we didn't think it could get any better.. They put us right on the air with Kim Carson! She's a great gal, and she let us do THREE SONGS! Amazing.



Thank you WUSY! We'll make you guys proud!

Don Jarrett on WOW 104.3 in Boise, ID

WOW is right! Our friend Don Jarrett, who we met a few years ago in Salt Lake City, is doing his thang these days at a popular country radio station in Boise, Idaho.

Don has stayed in touch with Due West through the years, and we love him for that.

Just recently, when we officially started sending out our debut single "I Get That All The Time" to radio stations across the nation, Don called us to let us know he had received our single, and couldn't wait to play it!

Since then, he's been spinning the tar out of it, and singing our praises over the airways of Northern Idaho! Don, we love you brotha!

Thanks for the DW love!

Here's a link to Don's blog on the WOW website: DON's BLOG

The last day of THIS week's radio tour

Bringing Due West to the Midwest!