So many musicians have asked me how to improve their chances of being on this year's "Best Singer / Songwriters" CD. There are so many answers based on each person's individual situation, therefore I've decided to address one each week starting with those things that disqualified the greatest number of songs or artists from last year's CD, Volume I.

Tip #1 - (11/30/2003) - Use a Good Sounding Instrument

This was one of last year's biggest reasons for disqualification, using a bad sounding or out-of-tune instrument. In order to guarantee a professional sounding CD, UMO Music requires "good quality sound" as well as great talent. This means that a performer's guitar must at least have "good quality sound" when recorded. I myself fell victim to this problem because I used a "relatively" cheap guitar with a "poor pickup" on it.

So my first suggestion is very simple - bring a decent sounding instrument. (In the meantime, I am trying to improve the sound of my guitar or possibly replace it, so that my odds will improve.)

Tip #2 - (12/7/2003) - Stick With Your Best Songs

To get on the CD, the song itself should be a great song. Often I see artists who insist on doing all different songs every week. This is a great way to let others hear your recently written songs, however, the CD must have one "polished song" from each artist. Therefore, you should pick one or two of your absolute best songs and make sure that at least one of them is part of any set you play at the UMO Open Mic. (Remember, if you come early you can usually play more than one set.) By the end of the Winter Open Mic season you should have enough takes of your best songs to increase the odds that one of them will be on the CD.

Tip #3 - (12/14/2003) - Make Sure You Show Up

Woody Allen once said "90% of success is just showing up". This seems to be especially true for musicians, actors, writers and many other creative types. Someone hears of a situation in their field but doesn't bother to follow up only to find out later that they missed out on a great opportunity. For example, someone I know, wrote a TV Series, sent it out and after only 3 rejections one of the largest production companies invited him to their office to discuss the project. But guess what, he never went. Many years later a similar(?) show became a long running series.

What does this have to do with last year's CD? Last year I was contacted by some musicians (months after the recordings were finished) who felt they should have been on the CD. However, after months of my reminding them to bring their bands and come on down, these groups never showed up. Since they never followed through it's not possible to say which of those musicians might have gotten on the CD, but they would have been 90% closer had they only shown up.

Tip #4 - (12/14/2003) - Play Frequently at the UMO Open Mic

Since all the live recordings to be used on the CD are made at the UMO Open Mic I would recommend playing there often. This provides two great benefits., First, there will be more of your performances to be considered for the CD. Second, your performances will become more polished with frequent playing.

Remember, in the end, we are always searching for the 14 best performed songs to put on the UMO Music CD.