The Lonely Biscuits

Yesterday, The Lonely Biscuits released their new project: A Girl Named Destiny, and oh is it filling. We’re talking a full order of biscuits here. You’re definitely going to want to get a piece of this home cooked meal. Grady, Nick, Jason John and Sam really outdid themselves on this one. It even got to #27 on the alternative iTunes charts and #114 on the overall charts – quite a feat for a band that started less than a year and a half ago. Congratulations to the dudes. Get it now.

Mixed and Mastered by Cory Wilhite
- Good Music All Day

Yesterday, The Lonely Biscuits released their new project: A Girl Named Destiny, and oh is it filling. We’re talking a full order of biscuits here. You’re definitely going to want to get a piece of this home cooked meal. Grady, Nick, Jason John and Sam really outdid themselves on this one. It even got to #27 on the alternative iTunes charts and #114 on the overall charts – quite a feat for a band that started less than a year and a half ago. Congratulations to the dudes. Get it now.

Mixed and Mastered by Cory Wilhite
- Good Music All Day

South by Southwest wrapped up this past weekend, and thousands of bands who shelled out their own cash for a trip to Texas to play a handful of free gigs have headed back home. Now they’ll wait and see if their gamble will translate into that mythical big break.

But for the Lonely Biscuits, a band from Belmont University in Nashville that combines funk, rock, pop and rap, the journey to Austin was definitely worth it–both musically and financially.

As a reward for winning MTV‘s first ever College Artist Woodie Award, the group’s four members received a trip to the music festival courtesy of the network and sponsor Chevrolet. They also performed on a 30-minute Woodies special that aired Sunday night, and earned an offer from MTV HYPE, a joint venture with Sony/ATV’s Extreme Music, to release a single.“With a small band like us, we don’t have the money to fly down here, and we don’t have the money to go tour around,” says bandmember Grady “Gravy” Wenrich. “So when there’s opportunities like this when big companies that do have the ability to help a little band like us, it’s awesome because we benefit from it and all these opportunities are laid out for us.”


The Biscuits are just another example of how sources of funding have been shifting in the music industry. In the old days, a record label might have signed them and flown them down to Austin; instead, a major brand jumped in and filled the role. That shouldn’t come as a surprise in a world where Jay-Z’s last record deal came from concert promoter Live Nation, or where companies like Red Bull boast their own in-house record labels.

Does it really matter who the patron is? Probably not, at least according to the Lonely Biscuits.

“It’s all about the exposure,” says bassist Nick Byrd. “When you get down here [you] have a potential new fan base of 100 people, 5,000 people, could be anything. You just walk down the street and pass out CDs and business cards.”

Adds Wenrich: “When an opportunity like comes along, we’re just trying to take full advantage. And it’s huge for us. You don’t know what’s going to come out of it, but a lot of stuff could.”

Watch to the video below to hear The Lonely Biscuits talk about music’s new patron model, their experience at SXSW and their future plans. - Forbes

South by Southwest wrapped up this past weekend, and thousands of bands who shelled out their own cash for a trip to Texas to play a handful of free gigs have headed back home. Now they’ll wait and see if their gamble will translate into that mythical big break.

But for the Lonely Biscuits, a band from Belmont University in Nashville that combines funk, rock, pop and rap, the journey to Austin was definitely worth it–both musically and financially.

As a reward for winning MTV‘s first ever College Artist Woodie Award, the group’s four members received a trip to the music festival courtesy of the network and sponsor Chevrolet. They also performed on a 30-minute Woodies special that aired Sunday night, and earned an offer from MTV HYPE, a joint venture with Sony/ATV’s Extreme Music, to release a single.“With a small band like us, we don’t have the money to fly down here, and we don’t have the money to go tour around,” says bandmember Grady “Gravy” Wenrich. “So when there’s opportunities like this when big companies that do have the ability to help a little band like us, it’s awesome because we benefit from it and all these opportunities are laid out for us.”


The Biscuits are just another example of how sources of funding have been shifting in the music industry. In the old days, a record label might have signed them and flown them down to Austin; instead, a major brand jumped in and filled the role. That shouldn’t come as a surprise in a world where Jay-Z’s last record deal came from concert promoter Live Nation, or where companies like Red Bull boast their own in-house record labels.

Does it really matter who the patron is? Probably not, at least according to the Lonely Biscuits.

“It’s all about the exposure,” says bassist Nick Byrd. “When you get down here [you] have a potential new fan base of 100 people, 5,000 people, could be anything. You just walk down the street and pass out CDs and business cards.”

Adds Wenrich: “When an opportunity like comes along, we’re just trying to take full advantage. And it’s huge for us. You don’t know what’s going to come out of it, but a lot of stuff could.”

Watch to the video below to hear The Lonely Biscuits talk about music’s new patron model, their experience at SXSW and their future plans. - Forbes

You guys, I think I’m in marketing love. A few weeks ago, a few of our content marketers went to see some live music. The second band that played was this really chilled-out group of college sophomores, The Lonely Biscuits (TLB), from local Belmont University. They opened their mouths and it was pure musical magic. Jasmine (that’s me) fell deeply in musical love, Jen bought their EP, and we both went home to scope them out on social media. Enough about TLB, though. Let’s talk about marketing.
Rock stars have long tended to be at the forefront of marketing and branding practices, which was detailed in Steve Jones’s pretty good book Brand Like a Rock Star (which I heartily recommend, except for the part where the author says Nirvana was a pop group). You can’t even be in the same conference space as David Meerman Scott or HubSpot’s Brian Halligan without hearing about how inbound marketing the Grateful Dead were. This formerly obscure Nashville group, The Civil Wars, gave their first EP away for free, and look at them now. They’re red hot. The Lonely Biscuits are just as awesome as their better-known counterparts, and I’m about to run through why their social media strategy is just as mind-blowingly great as their “phunky phresh” blend of rap, pop, and funk. Their 7,000+ Facebook “Likes” don’t lie.
1. It’s Meme-Tastic
There’s hardly anything better than memes as a tool for Facebook marketing. We’ve all heard the statistics about how images are 2x more effective at driving engagement on Facebook. People love humor, and memes are perfectly packaged for sharing. The Lonely Biscuits don’t just publish a meme every so often. Their Facebook page is basically exploding with memes that are fan-generated, which the band then republishes. The most clever creators are rewarded with a swag bag. If your fans are generating viral-worthy brand content, take a note from TLB and send them a T-shirt or something:
This effort below is just one example of the memes that were created by their fans in support of their recent nomination for an MTV music award to play at SWSX (which they ultimately won):
2. It’s Contest-Driven
To drum up fan support for their recent contest, The Lonely Biscuits incentivized their fans to reach 300 shares on the following photo in exchange for the release of a never before-seen music video.
Of course their network crushed it, generating the required shares within hours. They were promptly rewarded with a YouTube link and sincere appreciation from the band. Tons of big brands can learn from this pure genius move for gaining exposure.

3. It’s Freak Flag-Tastic
Someone recently asked me what I thought the biggest mistake brands make. I’m solely operating off opinion here, but I think there’s an epidemic that’s even worse than not using a content calendar. It’s failing to differentiate from competition, and Kathy Caprino of Forbes agrees with me. Most of us are being compared against competitors from every corner of the globe and facing questions such as “Why should people care about what you have to offer?” There’s a good chance that your buyer personas are at least a good decade older than The Lonely Biscuits, but you’ve got to differentiate and communicate just how much you can improve their lives. TLB does a really rock star job of addressing some pretty common college pain points in their promotional video below:

I doubt these guys have much formal marketing training, but they nail it each and every time. Regardless of how you feel about their music, their marketing has a viral-ready appeal and sensitivity that’s a chart topper. Take a note from Nashville’s best college band, and let your freak flag fly.
- Yahoo! Small Business Advisor

You guys, I think I’m in marketing love. A few weeks ago, a few of our content marketers went to see some live music. The second band that played was this really chilled-out group of college sophomores, The Lonely Biscuits (TLB), from local Belmont University. They opened their mouths and it was pure musical magic. Jasmine (that’s me) fell deeply in musical love, Jen bought their EP, and we both went home to scope them out on social media. Enough about TLB, though. Let’s talk about marketing.
Rock stars have long tended to be at the forefront of marketing and branding practices, which was detailed in Steve Jones’s pretty good book Brand Like a Rock Star (which I heartily recommend, except for the part where the author says Nirvana was a pop group). You can’t even be in the same conference space as David Meerman Scott or HubSpot’s Brian Halligan without hearing about how inbound marketing the Grateful Dead were. This formerly obscure Nashville group, The Civil Wars, gave their first EP away for free, and look at them now. They’re red hot. The Lonely Biscuits are just as awesome as their better-known counterparts, and I’m about to run through why their social media strategy is just as mind-blowingly great as their “phunky phresh” blend of rap, pop, and funk. Their 7,000+ Facebook “Likes” don’t lie.
1. It’s Meme-Tastic
There’s hardly anything better than memes as a tool for Facebook marketing. We’ve all heard the statistics about how images are 2x more effective at driving engagement on Facebook. People love humor, and memes are perfectly packaged for sharing. The Lonely Biscuits don’t just publish a meme every so often. Their Facebook page is basically exploding with memes that are fan-generated, which the band then republishes. The most clever creators are rewarded with a swag bag. If your fans are generating viral-worthy brand content, take a note from TLB and send them a T-shirt or something:
This effort below is just one example of the memes that were created by their fans in support of their recent nomination for an MTV music award to play at SWSX (which they ultimately won):
2. It’s Contest-Driven
To drum up fan support for their recent contest, The Lonely Biscuits incentivized their fans to reach 300 shares on the following photo in exchange for the release of a never before-seen music video.
Of course their network crushed it, generating the required shares within hours. They were promptly rewarded with a YouTube link and sincere appreciation from the band. Tons of big brands can learn from this pure genius move for gaining exposure.

3. It’s Freak Flag-Tastic
Someone recently asked me what I thought the biggest mistake brands make. I’m solely operating off opinion here, but I think there’s an epidemic that’s even worse than not using a content calendar. It’s failing to differentiate from competition, and Kathy Caprino of Forbes agrees with me. Most of us are being compared against competitors from every corner of the globe and facing questions such as “Why should people care about what you have to offer?” There’s a good chance that your buyer personas are at least a good decade older than The Lonely Biscuits, but you’ve got to differentiate and communicate just how much you can improve their lives. TLB does a really rock star job of addressing some pretty common college pain points in their promotional video below:

I doubt these guys have much formal marketing training, but they nail it each and every time. Regardless of how you feel about their music, their marketing has a viral-ready appeal and sensitivity that’s a chart topper. Take a note from Nashville’s best college band, and let your freak flag fly.
- Yahoo! Small Business Advisor

College band The Lonely Biscuits are headed to South by Southwest. The Nashville-based group from Belmont University has won mtvU's first Chevrolet Sonic College Artist Woodie Award, which honors top emerging college musicians, The Hollywood Reporter has learned exclusively.
As part of the prize, the foursome -- who fuse soul, funk and pop with rap -- will head to SXSW in Austin to open the mtvU Woodie Awards music festival March 14. Other acts on the festival bill: Alt-J, Jake Bugg and Joey Bada$$.
"It's an honor to win the first ever Chevrolet Sonic College Artist Woodie Award," said The Lonely Biscuits in a statement. "This is huge for us. We've only been a band for a year and a half, so this is definitely the biggest opportunity we've gotten and we're just hoping to take advantage of it and have an awesome time at SXSW."
On March 6, a mtvU video crew dropped by the Nashville campus of Belmont to surprise the group, formerly known as Gravy and the Biscuits, and inform them of the win. Footage of the visit will hit MTV at 7 p.m. March 11 and also will be broadcast on mtvU earlier that day.
The Lonely Biscuits also received a deal with Hype Music, a music licensing partnership between MTV and Extreme Music, the production arm of Sony/ATV. Through the deal, the band will release a single.
Founding members Grady Wenrich and Sam Gidley were roommates at Belmont who began to make music out of their dorm room in September 2011. John Paterini joined from across the hall, with Nick Byrd rounding out the group two months later as bass guitarist.
MTV and mtvU will air a 30-minute Woodie Awards special on Sunday, March 17 at 8 p.m., which will include The Lonely Biscuits. The band's journey to SXSW also will be profiled on various MTV channels and platforms. - The Hollywood Reporter

College band The Lonely Biscuits are headed to South by Southwest. The Nashville-based group from Belmont University has won mtvU's first Chevrolet Sonic College Artist Woodie Award, which honors top emerging college musicians, The Hollywood Reporter has learned exclusively.
As part of the prize, the foursome -- who fuse soul, funk and pop with rap -- will head to SXSW in Austin to open the mtvU Woodie Awards music festival March 14. Other acts on the festival bill: Alt-J, Jake Bugg and Joey Bada$$.
"It's an honor to win the first ever Chevrolet Sonic College Artist Woodie Award," said The Lonely Biscuits in a statement. "This is huge for us. We've only been a band for a year and a half, so this is definitely the biggest opportunity we've gotten and we're just hoping to take advantage of it and have an awesome time at SXSW."
On March 6, a mtvU video crew dropped by the Nashville campus of Belmont to surprise the group, formerly known as Gravy and the Biscuits, and inform them of the win. Footage of the visit will hit MTV at 7 p.m. March 11 and also will be broadcast on mtvU earlier that day.
The Lonely Biscuits also received a deal with Hype Music, a music licensing partnership between MTV and Extreme Music, the production arm of Sony/ATV. Through the deal, the band will release a single.
Founding members Grady Wenrich and Sam Gidley were roommates at Belmont who began to make music out of their dorm room in September 2011. John Paterini joined from across the hall, with Nick Byrd rounding out the group two months later as bass guitarist.
MTV and mtvU will air a 30-minute Woodie Awards special on Sunday, March 17 at 8 p.m., which will include The Lonely Biscuits. The band's journey to SXSW also will be profiled on various MTV channels and platforms. - The Hollywood Reporter