July 2nd- Holiday weekend, verse and song of the day

I always look forward to Independence Day weekend. Not only is it the birthday for our country, but over the last few years I have performed at Crystal Springs Resort in Hot Springs, AR every July 4th weekend. It's always a fun time. Over the years, I've been able to make some new friends that I only get to see this one weekend. The crowds are always good and energetic, which makes me feel like I'm doing some good!

Verse of the Day - Psalm 1:1-3
"Blessed is the man whose delight is in the law of the Lord; and in His law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season. His leaf also shall not wither, and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper."

These verses or on a picture that hangs on my wall. I find the verses very encouraging. I read them many times a day.

Song of the Day- "Whose Gonna Fill their Shoes" by George Jones
Yesterday we went with "Footlights" by Hag. Today I wanted to stick with a legend, and stay in the same "song idea". Haggard said "Tonight I'll kick the Footlights" out again, and today "the Possum", George Jones is asking "Who is gonna take Haggards place in doing it". Good Question. Hope you like the song!! It's a great one!

band

It's been awhile since my last entry here. Things have been really busy, which is a good thing! I was fortunate enough to open for the Bellamy Brothers this past Saturday at the Pink Tomato Festival in Warren, AR. Those guys were so good! I knew they had a lot of hits, but I didn't realize how many until Saturday night! It was fun, but it was a hot one. I want to say thanks to the folks in Warren for having me down there again this year!

Well I'm one step closer to getting my band together. I performed last night at Casa Mexicana in Maumelle, AR with Zach Gibbons on bass. Zach and I performed together back in college at the University of Arkansas at Monticello. We were in a Christian worship band together back then. I hope to have a full band up and running by the end of next week....or before. All I can say is just get ready when this band gets together.

"Paintin' and Pickin'" in the Heights

Last week I had the pleasure of performing at "By the Glass" (www.btgbar.com) on Kavanaugh in Little Rock. It's a really cool wine bar in the Heights. For the show they brought in a local artist and a local musician, who was me! They paired me with Barry Thomas (www.barrythomasart.com) a nationally known artist from Ferndale, AR. Barry is an incredible artist. The energy in the place was awesome! Barry painted as I performed, and both arts really complimented each other. Barry didn't know what he was going to paint until he started, and he decided to paint a picture of me performing! It was really awesome! It took him about an hour, and he blew it away. There is a picture above of the finished product. If you've ever seen me perform you know he captured how I move with the guitar. It's really cool stuff. When he finished the painting of me, he painted the bar. He was done with that in about 30 minutes. It was quite an experience. I'm gonna use a picture of the painting he did of me for the cover of my next album. I look forward to performing at "By the Glass" and with Barry Thomas again in the future! I hope you will check out there websites. By the Glass' website is www.btgbar.com. Barry Thomas' site is www.barrythomasart.com.

Pics from the event are shown above.

Thursday, Aug. 13th, 2009 - Getting closer to the weekend

Well today was one of those days that seemed like I worked on all kinds of things. Which could be a bad thing, or a good thing. Yesterday was my day to work on Music Marketing and study Bob Baker's Guerilla Music Marketing book ( www.bob-baker.com ), and most of the day I concentrated on that one thing. I felt like I really got alot of stuff accomplished. Today I worked a little on Marketing, a little on calling venues, getting press kits together, and all that kind of stuff. I went around Maumelle, here where I'm living now, trying to get some gigs, but most people don't want Live Music. It's really frustrating trying to find places to play. I don't understand why places wouldn't want live music. To me, there is nothing better than going out and listening to good Live Music. Well maybe things will change!!

What I've been trying to do lately is do something every day to promote my music. Whether on Facebook, MySpace, My website www.bencoulteronline.com, or through calling venues, I have been good about this. I read in Bob Baker's Book that over time if you are persistent in doing something every day, even something small, that you could really see the difference in your career over time!

I'm really looking forward to playing up in Fayetteville, AR this weekend for the Grand Opening of Sassy's Red House BBQ and Grill www.sassysredhouse.com . Sassy's Red House serves Sassy Jones BBQ sauce (www.barbecueandspice.com ), which is made in Montrose, Arkansas by my neighbors!! It's going to be a really great night!! Mr. Bill, Mrs. Sharon, Jessie and Tippi are coming up, so it will be good to have some home folks there!! I play 7 till 10 Saturday night, hope ya'll can come out!!

Well my artist of the week is Malindia Shoptaw from Paron, Arkansas. http://www.reverbnation.com/malindiashoptawsongwriter
Malindia, in my opininon, is one of the best songwriters out there right now. One day her songs will be heard all over the radio. She has one, "I'd Die Trying", that I sang on the demo, and I really think its a hit song. We also worked on one called "Headed Home" that I hope to put on my next album. I also hope to put "I'd Die Trying" on there also. "Headed Home" is kind of a truckers song I guess you could say. It has the same kind of beat as "Highway 61 Blues"....that good train, truckin sound!! More to come later on Malindia!!