CONTEMPORARY MUSIC : A Primer for Aspiring Musicians

As one who has worked in the health and human services field for 15 years and who, for the past several years, has shared her public relations and marketing savvy with local creative artists, P.J. Grimes is uniquely qualified to write a self-help book for aspiring musicians. So that’s what she’s doing.

Already, Grimes has written several chapters and conducted most of the interviews for what she calls a “self-help primer” on the secrets of promoting and marketing one’s music to the media, to the music industry and to the public. She plans to publish the as-yet-untitled tome later this summer, either on her own or through locally based Rockpress Publishing Co., publisher of the “Rockpress San Diego Music Directory.”

Grimes, 38, is the owner of Imagination Station Communications, a marketing, public relations, advertising and sales business with headquarters in Encinitas. In 1987, she founded Musicians Who Care, a local, community-conscious, nonprofit organization, and she currently serves as editor-writer for EarthBeat Eco-Notes and the EarthBeat Eco-Networker, two environmental publications.

As a reflection of Grimes’ lifelong and varied involvement in community and social causes, IMC’s clientele is made up not only of creative artists of various disciplines, but of environmentally and socially conscious individuals and businesses as well. But it was her work with young musicians that inspired the upcoming book.

“As a music publicist, I’ve worked with artists from Jackson Browne to local, unknown bands, and I’m asked a lot of questions about this business everywhere I go,” Grimes said Monday.

“I thought this would be a good way to answer everyone’s questions in one comprehensive guide. There are a million reference books available on marketing and PR, and I’ve been reading everything in print specifically on how those things apply to the music world. Because I want the book to be different, I’m writing it in a basic, no-frills, no-beating-around-the-bush style so that readers can get the information they need without too much difficulty.”

Grimes says that one of the book’s key emphases will be “networking”--setting up a system of valuable contacts to maximize exposure and interest, thereby enhancing one’s chances for success. According to Grimes, the book will contain the most extensive listing of music-related contacts ever published, but it will also get down to the nuts and bolts of self-promotion.

The source book will have a national scope (and might even include a Canadian section) so its users can send press packets to media contacts in, say, Alabama, before touring there. And Grimes says she will see to it that those packets contain the appropriate materials, properly assembled.

“Because one of the important elements of the book is about working with the print media, I’ll provide detailed information on the do’s and don’ts of putting together an effective press packet,” she said. “You’d be surprised at how many people have no idea how to write a simple press release, who don’t realize the great, free exposure they can get for the cost of a postage stamp or a fax. They complain that nobody is coming out to see them and that they don’t know how to get their tapes to the right people. This book will teach them how to go about it.”

In researching the book, Grimes interviewed photographer Mark Weiss--who has shot album covers for Skid Row, Bon Jovi and Cher--to gather insider tips about photographic presentation. She asked executives at record labels about what they look for in a demo tape, in a press packet and so on. She talked to entrepreneurial types such as John Boyce, manager of Capitol Records recording artists Slik Toxic, to see what it was that sold him on the Canadian band. Once the musician-oriented book is completed, Grimes expects to turn her attention to other performing arts.

“I see this book as part one in a series, because there are other kinds of creative artists who call me daily with questions about how to do this and that,” she said. “I hear a lot of different artists complain that they have no money, no life--they’re really depressed. I think the key to getting out of that kind of rut is to pull yourself up by the bootstraps and get busy, and then to stay focused and positive. Hopefully, my book will help empower people to do those things for themselves.”

Grimes said she’d like to hear from local musicians who have used public relations or marketing methods that worked, and also from those whose efforts might not have worked. She can be reached by phone (632-0770) or by writing to: IMC, P.O. Box 230542, Encinitas, Calif. 92023.

GRACE NOTES: The SummerPops EXTRA! series just added a sure seller to its schedule: Kenny Loggins will perform at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 14 at the Embarcadero Marina Park South. Tickets ($32.50, $20 and $15) go on sale at 10 a.m. Monday at the Symphony Hall box office (699-4205) and at all TicketMaster outlets.

Def Leppard’s first American tour in nearly four years brings the hard-rockers to the San Diego Sports Arena on Sept. 19 for an in-the-round show, with tickets going on sale at 10 a.m. Saturday. The band will perform on a diamond-shaped stage in the center of the arena, and its show reportedly features some nifty new effects.

On the strength of a new album (“Adrenalize”) that entered the charts at No. 1 in the United States, Britain and Australia, Def Leppard’s current tour is drawing big crowds. Accordingly, random-numbered wristbands will be distributed at 8 a.m. Saturday at the Sports Arena, with no lineups allowed before 7 a.m. The other outlets will be distributing random numbers at 9 a.m. There is a limit of eight tickets per person.

The Belly Up Tavern gig featuring Los Lobos and the Blazers on Aug. 6 is sold out.

BOOKINGS: (Tickets for the following concerts will be sold at all TicketMaster outlets unless otherwise specified.) Tori Amos and A Man Called E are booked into UC San Diego’s Mandeville Auditorium on Aug. 26. Tickets ($13 in advance, $15 night of show) go on sale Friday at 10 a.m. . . . Melissa Etheridge and Jeffrey Gaines share a bill at Copley Symphony Hall on Aug. 29 (on sale at 3 p.m. Friday). . . . Country star Alan Jackson and Diamond Rio will share the Starlight Bowl stage Sept. 17. Tickets ($27.50, $22.50) go on sale Saturday at all TicketMaster outlets and the Starlight Bowl box office. . . . Highlights of the Belly Up Tavern’s August schedule include the Ariwa Posse, with Mad Professor, Macka B, Sandra Cross, Sister Audrey and Thrilla Jenna on Aug. 4 ($8); Warren Zevon (making a solo live recording) and Candye Kane on Aug. 12 ($10); Dr. John and His Big New Orleans Band and Doug Randall on Aug. 17 ($17.50), and Jimmy Messina and His Acoustic Band with openers Randy Meisner, Alan Rich and Billy Swan on Aug. 27 ($16.50). . . . Sound FX shows for August include Shotgun Messiah and T Ride, Aug. 5 ($10 in advance, $12 night of show); Babylon A.D., Roxy Blue and Wildside on Aug. 8 ($14.50), and Faster Pussycat, War Babies and Blackboard Jungle on Aug. 16 ($15).

CRITIC’S CHOICE: ECO-FESTIVAL

EarthBeat Productions is sponsoring a free environmental mini-festival and live “eco-music” showcase Saturday at the Artists in Action Galleria in Encinitas. Titled the “North County Environmental Networking Faire,” the event will feature environmental information tables and “eco-art” displays outdoors, and live music with an environmental theme inside the gallery.

Scheduled performers include the worldbeat drums and songs of Xnonbias Rhythms at noon; Steve Saint (of Club of Rome) at 1 p.m.; lite-jazz artist Daniel Stratmen at 2 p.m.; 12-year-old rock singer-guitarist Chris Torres at 3 p.m., and light jazz-rocker John Jennings at 4 p.m. The gallery is at 466 N. Highway 101 (in the Gold Coast Plaza, between Lou’s Records and the Pannikin). For more information, call 632-0770.