Working in various forms of media over the years, I’ve had the wonderful opportunity to work with and get to know many independent musicians. I’m very happy that GeekMom is doing a music week, as it gives me an excellent excuse to familiarize you with some of my favourite geek musicians.
I didn’t want to single any musician out, as I know loads of musicians who deserve the recognition. However, I think it is only right that I give the following musician his own post, because I’m not sure I’d be writing at GeekMom if it were not for him.
Who is this musician? None other than casual GeekDad contributor, John Anealio.
I first became aware of John on June 23, 2010. The reason why I know the exact date is because he wrote a song called Unicorn Pegasus Kitten and it is AWESOME! John Scalzi tweeted the song because it was inspired by a project he started with Wil Wheaton: Clash of the Geeks. This project is near and dear to my heart. All of the proceeds of this book are going to lupus research and treatment.
Immediately, I had to write about this song on Geeky Pleasures and thus began my friendship with John.
John became my featured independent musician for the month of July 2010. Since I began talking with John, he’s been mentioned 17 times on Geeky Pleasures. He has also been a guest on the Geeky Pleasures Radio Show. If you want to know what we talked about, you can listen to and download the interview here.
In October 2010, John became a casual contributor on GeekDad. He does this marvellous article where he teaches GeekDad guitar lessons via video.
John has to be one of the hardest working musicians I know. The reason why I say this is because unlike other geek musicians who you are probably already familiar with and who use new marketing models, like Marian Call–who he has performed with–or Paul and Storm, Jonathan Coulton, etc., writing and performing music is not his full-time job.
He is a teacher and, obviously, a husband and a dad. When he isn’t busy with this day job and family, he is busy networking with his supporters, writing and producing music. John does this all in a way that I think every one who is trying to do the same thing can learn from. His hard work and dedication alone earn my respect, never mind the fact I really enjoy his music. I’d describe his music as a mix between Jonathan Coulton and The Barenaked Ladies with a good dose of John Anealio.
As music week on GeekMom started to fast approach, I was busy wracking my brain, trying to think of some of my favourite John Anealio songs. He has so many awesome songs to choose from, I can’t choose.
So instead, head on over to http://johnanealio.com where you can listen to all of his music, plus learn a lot more about him. Also, be sure to follow him on Twitter @JohnAnealio.
Later on this week, I’ll be writing a post about new marketing models and what tools independent musicians use that they find the most helpful. John had a lot to share on this topic. Be sure to read that post, especially if you are a creator of any type and want to learn about ways to get your content consumed and distributed.
