Name of your website?Mission City Hot Rhythm Cats
Your name?
Mike Pittsley
Your Location (city, etc)
San Antonio, TX, USA
Please give us a short summary of your website?
Our site is to help people get a better idea of who we are and what we're about. The Mission City Hot Rhythm Cats is the newest traditional jazz band in San Antonio (and we feel it's one of the best), specializing in early New Orleans-style jazz in the tradition of Louis Armstrong. We also do a lot of swing tunes and standards from the 1930's and 1940's.
What inspired you to launch your own website?
To be honest, lack of funds! We would all much rather focus exclusively on the music and leave marketing and promotion to others who are more qualified. I guess that's typical for most musicians. We just want to play and not have to worry about the business.
How did you decide on a name for your band?
We had a live audience when we recorded our demo. We passed out forms and asked for suggestions for what we should call the band. After reviewing the comments we received and talking it over, we decided to call ourselves the Mission City Hot Rhythm Cats. Mission City is a little-known nickname for the city of San Antonio, TX. We liked it, so we incorporated it into the name of the band.
What makes your band different from other jazz bands?
Unfortunately, jazz bands that specialize in the earlier jazz forms are becoming very few and far between. We find that most listeners tend to key in on two primary aspects of music; the time feel (or the "beat") and the melody. Early, New Orleans-style jazz incorporates these two qualities in a way that seems to appeal to just about everyone, regardless of how much or how little they may know about music in general. They may not know *how* we do what we do, but they sure seem to love what they hear.
What is your eventual goal?
Our ultimate goal is to become a polished, established and well-known traditional jazz band; recording CD's, playing jazz festivals, etc. Basically, doing what we've done most of our lives - entertain people with the music we play and having a ball doing it!
How does your investment of time and money balance against your success?
We're just getting off the ground, so it will probably be about a year or so before I can really answer this question. So far, we've had a great deal of success locally with just business cards, demo CD's and word-of-mouth advertising.
If you had an unlimited promotional budget, how would you put it to use?
This question is hard to answer in just a few sentences. There are so many things we would love to do. We would most likely record several CD's, promote ourselves internationally, add to our repertoire and perhaps add some more musicians to the band. One of our most basic goals is to keep this music alive. Jazz is America's only indigenous art form and we all feel called and compelled to introduce it to the younger generations and inspire them to keep it going.
If your site got really big, really quickly, would you be able to keep up with the demand?
Not a problem! Actually, our focus isn't as much the website as it is the music we play. The website is just part of a larger picture that will help us develop a fan base and get the word out about us.
What unexpected costs and headaches have you had to deal with?
The current state of the economy is the biggest issue we have to deal with right now. Most people are being very careful about how they spend their money, and booking entertainment is no exception. In spite of this, we've received comments that hearing our music was a very welcome breath of fresh air and an enjoyable diversion to their everyday lives.
What has been your biggest challenge?
Since we're doing pretty much all of our own promotion, getting the word out about the band has been our biggest challenge. Even so, we're dong surprisingly well getting the word out about the band. We do have a band manager. She loves the music as much as we do and she's been a very big help to us.
How long have you run the site? Will you continue to maintain it?
The site has only been up for a couple of months or so. Right now, I'm maintaining the site, but since my skills as a webmaster are somewhat limited, I think as the band becomes more established, we'll most likely turn the reins over to a professional to maintain the site.
Do any of you have other jobs besides music?
This is a very common question we get from folks. Our pianist is a very skilled piano tuner/technician. Other than that, we're all full-time, professional musicians! We feel truly blessed to be able to do what we love.
What is your website address?
Mission City Hot Rhythm Cats
