Josey Greenwell

September 04, 2009
By Ken Tucker

What started as a way to make sure favorite artists didn't slip by unnoticed has turned into a powerful information tool for fans and artists.

Launched in 2004, San Diego-based Eventful was conceived by founder and Board Chairman Brian Dear, a veteran of eBay and RealNetworks, among other companies. His motivation, according to Jordan Glazier, CEO, Eventful, was that Dear was "fed up" at finding out that events he would have liked to attend had already come and gone.

"There was no good way to find out what was happening across your interests in your local market or in a market you're traveling to," Glazier said.

So Dear launched Eventful, which utilizes a Web site (Eventful.com) and e-mail notification as well as mobile applications and content distributed through widgets and apps to keep users informed about things they're interested in before they happen.

"Eventful gives people time to make plans with their friends or to connect with people with common interests, so they can go together," Glazier explained.

From that service goal, it was a short step to address another common concern: events you wish would happen but had not been scheduled. This inspired Eventful to create its Demand feature, which helps fans register and influence where and when events such as music performances can occur. "It's a way to finally be able to communicate to event organizers, promoters and performers that you would be willing to buy a ticket to see your favorite performer," Glazier said.

Through this process, fans become emotionally invested in the performers they help bring into their markets. "Instead of just reading about it in your local daily and deciding whether you're going to go, which is a very passive experience, for months in advance of the event you have been a part of the process of where that event is going to occur," Glazier pointed out. "When the event happens, not only do you go, you also bring your friends and family."

Eventful's users select from nearly 4 million events taking place in local markets throughout the world, from concerts and sports to singles events and political rallies. While some of the first events to use the Demand feature were book signings and art gallery openings, Glazier noted, "It very quickly became apparent that we'd struck a nerve in the music industry."

That connection has amplified to the point of KISS partnering with Eventful to route its upcoming U.S. and Canadian tours. Fans "demanded" where the legendary rock band would perform, beginning this September. And along with registering votes in hopes of bringing KISS into the market, fans could monitor the tally of votes elsewhere to see which cities were in the lead.

"We help performers make the right decisions about where to perform, based upon really good, substantial, rigorous data about where there is demand by their fans for events," Glazier said. "Whether to go to Nashville or Chicago or Los Angeles, those are easy decisions. When they're deciding to go to Columbus or Cleveland, historically it's like throwing a dart. Economically, where should they tour to sell tickets?"

Eventful has impacted the Country market too, as Little Big Town teamed with the organization to find an opening act for four shows on "A Place to Land," the group's first headlining tour, in March. Prospective artists and groups responded by encouraging their fans to "demand" that they get the opportunity.

The campaign was a natural fit for Little Big Town. "We're all about nurturing new artists and struggling artists because we did the exact same thing," said band member Phillip Sweet. "We went out and played in front of whomever so we could get our name out there. It was about giving these artists an opportunity and letting them do their thing in front of our audience. There are fewer and fewer opportunities for new artists."

Fifty thousand fans participated and 309 bands competed. It was, as Sweet described, a "good all-around experiment. There was no faking it. You definitely had to get your fans going for you. It's good to find new ways to market yourself and generate activity for yourself. We didn't know what to expect or what would come from it. We got four different and unique artists [to open for us], which was cool."

One of those winners was Josey Greenwell, an independent artist from Kentucky who earned the chance to open for the group in Tulsa, Okla. While Greenwell, who counts John Mayer, Taylor Swift and Keith Urban among his influences, had considered entering talent search-type contests in the past, the Eventful experience exceeded his expectations.

"I never thought there'd be a contest where you could go straight to opening for someone," he said. "It was a great opportunity and a great experience. I can't believe someone in Little Big Town's position would extend this opportunity to someone trying to get started. I'm so thankful to them. I've been introduced to a broader audience. We've been getting a few more gigs here and there, and more people have been checking out my MySpace page."

Greenwell, who also stays in touch with fans through his Twitter account, had been using Eventful's Demand widget on his MySpace page even before entering the contest. He also uses the company's Performer Dashboard feature. "They give you a lot of stats that I can look at and see who is listening to my music and where we should go," he noted.

Record label executives are also taking note of the Eventful model. "What can we do to add more ticket sales and word of mouth when it's a smaller tour?" asked Cindy Mabe, Senior VP, Marketing, Capitol Records Nashville. "You want to build as much word of mouth as you can. When there's less cash involved, getting fans involved is just the way you've got to go."

Club owners and venue operators are utilizing Eventful too. "Venues are coming to our site to see who is in demand in their local market to make informed decisions about who they should book," Glazier said. "We've got venues all across the country using the data."

Luke Bryan, whose second Capitol Nashville album Doin' My Thing is due in October, has partnered with Eventful for a promotion that allowed his fans to bring an album release show to their city. Bryan's hometown of Leesburg, Ga., won the honor by submitting the most demands over an eight-week period.

Mabe chose Eventful for the Bryan promotion because of the label's experience with the Little Big Town promotion. "It generated a lot of noise, got people excited about the tour and helped propel their first headlining tour," she explained.

"In this day and age, it's so critical to encourage fan involvement and accessibility," added Bryan. "You're always looking for a new way to capture a fan and get them involved."

Almost immediately after the contest was announced in May, fans began posting Demand banners and widgets on their local networks, according to Mabe. "We're competing for everyone's attention, time and money," she said. "Having the fan involvement and word of mouth is more critical than ever these days."

People use Eventful to track and share events in many ways, which include importing iTunes and Last.fm performer lists, exporting events via feeds, calendar widgets and services, e-mail alerts and customized e-mail event guides and watch lists.

Supported by advertisers, Eventful is free to artists, labels, booking agents and managers. The company also makes money through ticketing partnerships and ringtone partnerships and from licensing event content to other companies that use the information to power their online calendars and mobile applications.

And it's expanding its fan base to include many of the artists who have made use of it. "It's a really cool idea," Sweet said. "I think we're going to see it evolve and grow. They are making an impact, and I think we're going to see a lot of artists experimenting with this in the future."

On the Web: www.Eventful.com - World Sentinel

Posted by Country Girl on February 28th, 2009


Remember the Little Big Town contest that we told you about? You know – where artists could enter to win an opening act spot on their tour. Well, yesterday was the last day of the contest and we have exciting news. Josey Greenwell, our CMTT Fresh Face, came in thrid place! He was well ahead and in first place for the majority of the contest and fell to a very respectable third place to earn a spot as an opening act!



Final results are in and here are the upcoming opening acts for Little Big Town:

32 Below 3,408 people Demand it!
J.W. CUDD 3,311 peopleDemand it!
Josey Greenwell 3,256 peopleDemand it!
Corinne Chapman 3,219 peopleDemand it!
CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL OF THE WINNERS!


Posted in Josey Greenwell, Little Big Town Tags: Josey Greenwell, Little Big Town 5 Comments »
Introducing Josey Greenwell!
Posted by KittyCobbler on January 16th, 2009


As you know, your pal Kitty is always on the look out for the latest and greatest country music talent. Well, about a 6 months ago, someone, (well actually a few someones) emailed me, alerting me to a relatively new talent who has been burning up the MySpace charts. So naturally, I checked him out. Then I checked him out again. Then I checked him out again…. (What can I say? He isn’t exactly hard to look at!) Anyway, I realize that he is very new to the whole singing thing, but I LOVE him.

His name is Josey Greenwell. He writes his own songs, plays guitar and has talent to spare. I realize he is still a little green, but I’m thinking he has all the makings of a country music star. He has just recently moved here to Nashville, but he originally hails from Bardstown, Ky. Josey loves his family, gets along with his sisters, and plays sports. He has been singing since he was young, but he has only been writing and for a little over a year. He states his influences as being Keith Urban (of course, Tawny would never let me put this guy on here if he wasn’t), Rascal Flatts (again, ditto, but this time Country Girl),Jason Aldean, Carrie Underwood, and Taylor Swift to name a few.

So lets give him a big old Tattle Tale welcome, and let us know what you think.. We are looking forward to an exclusive interview and performance from him coming to you in February. (Hey, your Kitty is always here for you, so if it’s warm I will do my best to get him to do it shirtless… hee hee…) So be sure to check back often and always, and be sure to sign up for the Josey Greenwell You heard it here first!

- Country Music Tattle Tale

Plenty of fresh new acts are just waiting for their turn to shine. And Little Big Town understands that. So they opened their hearts -- and their tour -- to give four country bands a chance to show the world how good they are. A Place to Land tour will be the runway for Josey Greenwell (Bardstown, Ky.), 32 Below (Fargo, N.D.), Corinne Chapman and J.W. Cudd (both of Nashville). Some 300 artists were vying for those four spots, so how did LBT narrow it down? Through a four-week competition via the Eventful Web site. Fans, friends and family all voted, and it came down to who had the most demand. LBT's Philip Sweet says, "We are excited to see up-and-coming talent emerge and are grateful to share our fans and our platform with them in this unique way. We're a band that believes in perseverance and building a strong base of fans in a grass roots way, and this is a cool way to nurture that spirit of independence by creating this opportunity." Good Lord willing, this will be the start of something even bigger for the four winners.
- CMT

By JENNY BLANDFORD

A move to Nashville in October to pursue a country music career by Bardstown native Josey Greenwell has paid off in a big way. Earlier this week, he was chosen to open for country music group Little Big Town following a national online voting competition through Eventful. And since then, invitations to open for other country music groups keep coming.



More than 300 country musicians vied for one of the top four spots through the four-week voting competition that ended Feb. 27. The competition was through Eventful’s Demand service. Greenwell posted a link to vote for him on his MySpace page, http://www.myspace.com/joseygreenwell, with a large Demand It! button, which linked to the voting Web site.

“I knew I had a shot, but I was still shocked it went through and happened,” Greenwell said. “I never thought I’d have a chance to perform with them. I want to thank everybody for taking the time to vote. I really appreciate it.”

As a result of garnering the most votes, the top four — Greenwell, 32 Below from Fargo, N.D., J.W. Cudd from Nashville, Tenn., and Corinne Chapman from Nashville, Tenn. — will each open one of Little Big Town’s shows in March as part of the band’s A Place to Land tour.

Greenwell will be the opening act for the March 29 show in Tulsa, Okla., at the Mabee Center. He said it would be his first trip to Oklahoma. He will perform for about 25 minutes with Little Big Town, which he said is “very exciting.”

“Congratulations to the winners and their fans for voting and making this event a success,” Little Big Town’s Philip Sweet said in a statement on the band’s Web site. “We are excited to see up and coming talent emerge and are grateful to share our fans and our platform with them in this unique way. Each of the four winners is very different from each other and has something special to bring to the show. We’re a band that believes in perseverance and building a strong base of fans in a grass roots way, and this is a cool way to nurture that spirit of independence by creating this opportunity.”

Articles about Greenwell and the other groups who will open for Little Big Town appeared on several country music Web sites, including Country Standard Times, Country Music Television (CMT), Country Weekly, Nashville Gab and Great American Country (GAC).

Little Big Town also posted the news to its Web site. Greenwell was quoted on the site, as well as several others, saying, “I am very excited to have this opportunity to open for Little Big Town and so thankful towards Eventful for putting on such a great competition.

“I am truly honored to be in the top four and looking forward to getting my music heard, but I am mostly excited about being followed by such incredible talent like Little Big Town,” Greenwell said. “For them to be where they are in their careers and extend an opportunity like this is just huge. I think my style of music will complement theirs very well and generate an exciting show. Thanks to Eventful, Little Big Town and all of the fans that voted for giving me this chance to live out a dream.”

Greenwell, who is working on his first album “My Life on the Radio,” which he hopes to release this summer, has had several other offers to open for other country music singers since the contest announcement.

On Thursday, a Franklin, Ohio, show to open for Mark Chesnutt at JD Legends May 30 was confirmed. Another Ohio show in August to open for Tracy Lawrence is in the works, along with several others, Greenwell said.

A 2007 graduate of Bethlehem High School, Greenwell is the son of Susie Greenwell and the late J.I. Greenwell. He said he hopes to have the opportunity to perform closer to home in the near future.

“I would love to (perform at home) if the opportunity came up,” Greenwell said.

- The Kentucky Standard

By Jenny Blandford

Bardstown native and aspiring country music singer Josey Greenwell packed up his bags in October and moved to Nashville to pursue his dream. Now, he’s seeking his hometown’s support in a contest that could land him on the road with country music group Little Big Town.

The voting competition began two weeks ago, Greenwell said, and he joined about a week ago. He learned of the contest from a friend, who has also entered in the contest.

The contest, “Demand your favorite band win!” would give the top four bands the opportunity to be the opening act for Little Big Town in March. Greenwell posted a link to vote for him on his MySpace page www.myspace.com/joseygreenwell.

Under “About Josey Greenwell” is a link to “get us on the Little Big Town tour” by clicking on a yellow “Demand it” button, which will take viewers to another Web site to vote.

As of Thursday afternoon, Greenwell was ranked third in the contest with 5,255 votes and about 190 votes behind the first-place contestant. Voting ends at 5 p.m. EST Feb. 27.

If Greenwell wins the contest, it would not be the first for him. A 2007 graduate of Bethlehem High School, Greenwell won the 2006 Colgate Country Showdown in Nelson County.

The son of Susie and the late J. I. Greenwell, he said he has been singing “all my life, but never decided to do anything with it” until after he won the Colgate Country Showdown. Since then, he has focused more on his music career.

“I picked up the guitar and started playing and writing (songs) and see where it takes me,” said Greenwell, who describes his sound as modern country music. His musical influences are Keith Urban, Jason Aldean, Taylor Swift and John Mayer.

“The newer (country music) generation influences my sound and my writing technique,” he said.

Greenwell is currently working on his first album “My Life on the Radio,” which he hopes to release this summer. William Smith is producing the album under his production company Tyler Music Group.

“The title track is called ‘My Life on the Radio,’ so it’s named after one of the songs on the album,” he said. “It’s kind of like an introduction to myself. I wanted there to be one song that really shows who I am as a writer and as a person. It kind of reflects what I want to do in my career … to stay on the radio.”

Greenwell said the album has not been signed by a record label, but is hoping for one soon.

“I am hoping that once we get the album mastered and released, we can start pitching it around to different labels,” Greenwell said. “I’d like to pursue music as my career.”
- The Kentucky Standard