We just wanted to share an experience that kind of astounded us, an experience that shows the importance of our fans and illustrates the kind of difference just one real fan can make.
At the very end of January a fan contacted us to ask permission to use one of our songs under a video that she wished to make and post on YouTube. We said yes. The song is Michigan Girl and the video (also called Michigan Girl) is a lovely slideshow of photos taken all over Michigan, mostly scenic, some personal. She also included just a few shots of us and our band, both on and off stage. It’s very nice. One photo happened to be a shot of Ruth wearing a MI GIRL baseball cap, an item that appears on our merch table. Also included are full songwriter credits for Ruth Bloomquist, musician credits, and our website URL at the end of the video. It’s kind of a long song, so the video is well over 5 minutes.
The fan posted the video on YouTube and shared it on FaceBook. We shared it on FaceBook, too. Some other friends and fans did the same. The response has been overwhelming. As of this writing, the video has had over 200,000 views. (OK. That’s not a Lady Gaga number, but looking around in folk music, it stacks up pretty well.)
Since the video was posted we have had to restock CDBaby with that CD multiple times, and our other CDs have had a sales bump with restocks, too. Song and whole CD downloads are way up as well. Remember the MI GIRL hat Ruth was wearing in one picture? We had to open a Paypal account and put a special page on our website called Hat Shop with a “BuyNow” button for that hat. We’ve been mailing them all over the country.
Are we bragging? Well, a little. Of course we feel great and grateful about all this. But the lesson we learned and that we want to share is that you never know when one of your fans will make a real difference in your life. Be kind to all of them. That fan is Terri Pippin-Granis of Zellie’s Opry House in Howard City, Michigan, a true supporter of Roots Music. Terri and all of the fans and friends and friends of friends who share the word about our music are the reason we are able to do what we love to do the most.
Thanks for letting us share.
