Hello GigTowners! Andy here, your Grand Poobah :)

Take notice: The Carlsbad, CA based three-piece band, Grim Slippers is here. There isn’t much more you need to know before pressing play, after seeing a Facebook “About” section that reads, “The danceable beats you crave, the darkness you need,” The group's degenerate jaunt entitled, “DownFunk” is our latest Song Of The Week.

The hustle and bustle of America's bigger urban areas doesn't always foster the best environments for musicians who play music of the more subtle and quiet variety. That's not to say none are around. The Oakland, California area, where the band behind the new Song of the Week hails, sees plenty of talented buskers across many genres. Still, in the case of The Yacht Club of Paris, if given the choice of an attentive room or a traffic-loaded street corner, the music of this Gypsy jazz quartet (Ross Howe-Guitar, Cyril Guiraud-Saxophone, Lu Salcedo-Guitar Colin McCuen-Double Bass) deserves all the designated audience attention possible and that goes double for their “Modern Django Improvisation,” which is the new Song of the Week. 

The music industry sucks. Musicians everywhere are scrapping to get paid for their art. The closer to the center of the industry you get, the less money there is for musicians playing around town. There are tons of "get rich quick schemes" where artists can pay a fee for a chance to be reviewed by industry pros who maybe, just maybe, will select your song for use in a noteworthy movie or TV show, or give you a chance to open up in front of a big name artist. Musicians don't have enough money to create very high quality content like albums and music videos. They essentially pre-sell their content through channels like Indiegogo or Patreon in order to create anything in the first place. Then they push the content out to their fans. Sometimes their fans listen. Sometimes they don't. Sometimes the artist pays Facebook money to get more people to watch the video. Sometimes they watch. Sometimes they don't. Whether they watch or listen or ignore entirely, there is no such thing as a 'break' and in 99.99% of cases, almost nothing results.

Oh, the times may be a changin’ but, there are some things that will never go out of style. Transcending differences in culture and generation, a powerful voice and an acoustic guitar has always had the ability to bring people together to create emotional, physical, and spiritual movement.

It’s that time for another GigTown Song of The Week, and today we’re jamming out to the sounds of Middle East meets American South. GigTown group, Kuwaisiana, bridges the gap with “Murra.”

The Huffington Post recently shone a spotlight on GigTown, highlighting us as a company that's running with an Uber-like business model!

Since day one, we've constantly kept an eye on how to improve and grow the family that's formed around this little idea of ours and this article emphasizes just how much everyone the GigTown community – fans, artists, venues, events, and more – has supported one another to help transform GigTown everything it can be. Take a look at just how far things have come and know that there's still many more exciting things planned for the future!

Meet GigTown, The Uber For Local Music
by George Beall

For restaurants and bars, one of the most overly complicated tasks is booking local music.

Happy Halloween GigTowners! Before everyone gets set to flip over to the next month on the calendar, there's one more Song of the Week left to October. While it's not out to scare, the music made by Houston, Texas artist, Paulina Sjoberg  – especially her newest single, “World” – is definitely scary good! (Find her in the "Austin" section of the app.) Just released to the masses this past New Music Friday, “World” might not be a Halloween themed track but by the end of the tune, the song almost seems like it's wearing a disguise.

GigTown might be based in the Golden State and have lots of artists that orbit around the west coast but, the vastness of this music community is what makes GigTown so exciting. The artist behind today's new Song of the Week highlights this very point, as not only is she based thousands of miles away from headquarters but both her overall life experiences and the featured track at hand, “So Much Love,” is built with elements that extend even beyond the United States.  

Sometimes music is intended to show instrumentation. Sometimes it's meant to convey extreme emotion (Here's looking at you Adele). Sometimes, like with musicals, it's meant to be instantly singable. Then, other times, it's obvious when a song is perfect for dancing and latching onto a steady hook, right from the very first downbeat. The latter is precisely what's in store with "Sideways" (feat. Sean the Shaman), the new Song of the Week!