Now:The Big Move

The final touches were just done before I moved to Burlington, Vermont. The album will now be in the hands of the magician Tim Brickley and then it will be mastered. I think the cd will be done in February or March. It has taken over a year, but I think you will enjoy it. Rock, Blues, and a touch of Country/Folk Rock. All new songs by a beginner. I started playing again after a 30 year break and started writing songs! Check me out on www.reverbnation.com/chuckfoster! Chuck 1/5/2011

Now: We All Get Back Up Again?

I got the 50 fans back, but the song plays are flat. I am probably leveling off and headed back down. It will have to take care of itself. No tweaking from me! I'm getting ready to move to Vermont soon. I will record another song tomorrow in Indy! RRG Chuck

Now: We All Fall Down!

I made it to # 5 today on the Louiville Reverbnation chart for Rock! Wow! I'm impressed...not! The system is easily tweeked and you will see artists with way more fans than song plays? Why would you become a fan when you have not heard their songs? To get a higher fan number for yourself. I gained fans steadily after a few key artists became my fan. It is like joinign a fan club or secret society. You are however only allowed to have 1000 favorites so you have to drop artists as you go to keep your own numbers up. I just lost 50 fans today after never losing more than 1 or 2 before. So funny! I guess my fair share payment will go down now! I did earn 18 cents so far, which helps you to see how important "Fameville" (Reverbnation) really is. I will keep my songs on there, but the climb up the charts may be over. I will let it take care of itself. You can spend more time tweeking the fans than writing and playing songs. I'm gonna be Rockin' instead. I did meet a few nice people on RVN which does make it worthwhile. Watch Liam's video on my page or Utube. It is so funny! RRG Chuck

Check out music from Rock and Roll Grandpa Chuck F...

Way Back Then: My Family's Musical Roots

To be fair, I thought that I would mention that I do come from a musical family. My mom was an excellent pianist, but never taught me to play. she did buy me my first guitar! I was a part of our family sing alongs. My both of my uncles sang and played guitar. My uncle George taught me some guitar when I was a teen. My grandfather played violin with the Chicago Symphony until he broke his shoulder when he fell on some ice. His father played fiddle in Iowa. My great uncle Frederick W. Agard sang at the Edgewater Beach Hotel in Chicago in the 1920's and was one of the first to be broadcast on radio. The station was WEBH which became WGN. This is a piece of sheet music with his picture on it that I somehow found on EBay. He was the "Ace of the Air". I chose to paint after seeing my Uncle Richard's work when I was 11 in New York state. It took me a long time to get into music (starting again at 57), but here I am! Thanks, Family!

Now:T-shirts Anyone!

The Reverbnation lesson continues! Part of what you need to do to finish the promotional check list on RVN is to start a store and sell things. I only have signed guitar picks to sell, that I have been putting on EBay to get people to read this blog. I did, actually sell some. Thanks! I now have learned what "Merch" means. I used the handy little RVN program to create my own line of "Designer" t-shirts. I can make mugs and hats too, but I tried to limit myself. I am a good designer after being an artist all my life and I will do some better and more fun shirts soon. I don't like to take away from my music, so it may be awhile. We also tried to make a video yesterday (My wife Dee is a wonderful photographer!) but the wind was too noisey. It sounded like a train going by. We will get one out soon, just for fun! I have moved to #18 today on the Rock chart for Louisville, which is amazing! I did contact some bands, but I do listen to their music before becoming a "fan". I get new fans everyday now, but I noticed that they didn't HEAR MY SONGS! Wow! It is about music isn't it??? At least it is for me. So play my songs and tell me what you think. I'm just learning. Rock and Roll Grandpa Chuck

Now: The Keys To Success!

Next in my journey through music, comes the latest story about fame. My wife Dee is playing a game called Farmville on Facebook. I don’t have time for such games. So I thought. Instead, I signed up for Reverbnation. I saw that some musicians that I knew were on it. After signing up, I found out what a “hub” for the music world it is. You upload your music easily and it can be shared with My Space, Twitter, and Facebook with the click of a button!. This is where I came across the thing called a “widget”. I started placing them everywhere I could, which is something like planting “bugs” in your neighbor’s apartment. It shares your latest songs with a click and also records the play in your “secret log” on Reverbnation. I am not saying that Reverbnation is bad, (I like it!) but you have to remember it really is the game I call “Fameville”. There are rules. Rules you ask? Oh, yes. I get emails from RVN (That’s what the musicians call it.) that tell me how I am doing and when someone wants to become a fan. I got a fan request from Slovakia. The contents of the email was surprising. It had “secret information” hidden in it about how to move higher on the charts on RVN! I am checking things out and I will write more as I learn the “secret rules” of etiquette of RVN. I did move from an obscure #227 for Louisville to # 36 today. Thanks to my “real” fans, not tricks. I am not doing many of things suggested in the email, because I want to see how I do on my own. I do realize that RVN is made up of lots of musicians. (It is like going to an art show opening and seeing that the crowd is mostly other artists or family.) But, I don’t know how many listeners are non-musicians. The CHART really is not like the old Top 40 of the radio days. The chart rating doesn’t help you write songs or pay the bills, although you are supposed to get “a piece of the action” (cash) if you do well. Please visit my site and become a fan to help me out. (My commercial message.) More later, Rock and Roll Grandpa Chuck