A Concert and a Contest
The Intro
It has been almost six years since it went off the wire, but I still hear fairly regularly from former listeners lamenting the demise of Radio Free Tiny Pineapple. (Hey, Paul!) But, while it was an awful lot of fun while it lasted, quite honestly, the end came at a pretty good time.
For the past couple of years, I’ve been going through a real music-appreciation dry spell. Most of my favorite artists have released lackluster album after lackluster album and I’ve found blessed little new music to get excited about. In fact, I can only think of one album from the past five years that I can still listen to today with the same enthusiasm as I did when it was released.
So, when my friend Scott walked into my office a few months ago and said, “I’ve been listening to some music that I think you’d like,” I was more than a little skeptical…and not just because Scott has a bewildering fondness for obscure Scandinavian black metal bands.
He told me to go to DebraFotheringham.com and as soon as the home page loaded, music started playing. “Autoplay” web sites are a pet peeve of mine, and I was going to say something to that effect, but I got a little distracted halfway through the first sentence of my mini-rant. “Man, I hate it when they automatically…um…uh…well, I don’t think sites should…uh….who did you say this was? This is…um…wow…I really kinda like this.”
And I really kinda liked the next song, too. And by the third song I was really kinda buying the CD from the CD Baby web site and, let me tell you, it is really kinda brilliant.
What’s more…she’s a local. (She grew up just a few miles north of here in American Fork, Utah.) And, let me tell you, she is fantastic live. The girls and I were going to catch her at a Christmas House Concert back in December, but a round of the stomach flu squelched those plans. But I was finally able to hear her live at Muse Music last Friday night and I was absolutely blown away.
Note to savvy record company executives: Sign her. Now.
Note to everyone else: Buy her CD. Now. Either on CD Baby or iTunes.
Or, better yet…
The Concert
What are your plans for this Saturday night? Well, cancel them. Debra Fotheringham will be performing live (with a full band) at the Tahitian Noni Auditorium down in Riverwoods at 7:30pm.
Here are the exact details:
Debra Fotheringham Valentine’s Concert
Saturday, February 16th, 7:30pm
Tahitian Noni Auditorium
333 W. River Park Dr.
Provo, UT
(Here’s a map.)
Bring your friends. (Well, find some!) Bring your spouse. (It’s the perfect way to make up for that lousy last-minute Valentine’s Day gift you bought at the supermarket on your way home from work.) Bring your kids. (I am. My girls are big fans.)
Tickets are only $5 at the door, but if you order them in advance (and pick them up at the door) it’s “Buy 1 Get 1 Free.” (Just go to her site and click on the “Store” link.) For Pete’s sake, at $2.50 a seat, you could bring your entire dorm!
The Contest
At Friday’s show I was able to get Ms. Fotheringham to autograph four copies of her CD for me. She looked a little startled when I asked her to sign four. I think she thought I was a stalker. Either that, or she thought I was trying to impress her:
“No, as a matter of fact, I don’t want you to sign a CD. Because, unlike the other guys in line who only want you to sign a CD, I need you to sign FOUR of them. That’s right, FOUR! Because one just isn’t enough for a man like me. I’m the kinda guy who needs FOUR.”
But what I was really doing…besides stalking and/or trying to impress her…was getting some prizes for a little contest.
So, here’s the deal:
Leave a comment on this or any other entry on Tiny Pineapple between now and the end of the month.
On Friday, February 29th, I will randomly pick four comments left during the month of February and send each of the four commenters one of the FOUR autographed CDs.
Did I mention there are FOUR of them?
It’s that simple. Your comment doesn’t have to be anything elaborate. Just say “hi,” or introduce yourself, or tell us how you discovered Tiny Pineapple, or tell us your favorite nurse book title, or ask me when I’m finally going to get around to writing Chapter 6 of Her Majesty’s Gardener. (Answer: next week.)
Whatever, just go for it…
Update: Here’s an article from the Daily Herald about Ms. Fotheringham and the show.
Comments
Alia
Hi! Unsure how I found this site, but it’s been on my RSS feed for years. Think it was probably a link from someone else’s blog. Anyway, I’m from Oxford, UK so wouldn’t have a chance to see her in concert until she gets much bigger, so would love the CD - assuming you’re ok with posting it overseas :)
Thanks,
Alia
Emily
Are you REALLY going to start writing Her Majesty’s Gardener again?! I’m so embarassingly excited I can hardly stand it.
Also, Grettir, I think you have fantastic taste.
Very also, what class(es) are you taking this semester?
jenny
I think yer blog is gud. ur very funy!
(Gimme a cd.)
Tim
I like free CDs, and my favorites from your blog were the Pride & Prejudice review (and comments) and 100% Customer Satisfaction.
mary
Thanks for the concert heads up.
I feel the same way about autoplay websites and had almost the identical reaction you described when I followed the link to her site in your last post.
My first impulse was to post a bazillion comments to up my odds of being randomly selected, but I shall be a grown-up (one who after all could afford to buy her own CD) and practice restraint. And still get in on the fun of a contest. Yay!
Chelsea
I can’t resist a chance for something free. Like the girl from the UK, it’s strange to think that I found this site like four years ago and have read ever since. Does that creep you out? :)
elisabeth
Please bless I win. That would make me sooo happy :)
Everett
I’m going to leave FOUR comments, because I’m the kind of blog-reader who isn’t satisfied by just one!
I’m pretty sure I found RFTP when it was on the iTunes radio list. I can’t remember now. But I do recall doing my taxes in April 2002 while listening, and being happily surprised to hear viol music by Saint Columbe come on.
I’m having trouble connecting to Debra Fotheringham’s website. It must be the huge influx of TP readers…
Hey, wait a second… Doesn’t the contest discourage people from clicking on the CD Baby and iTunes Store links?
Best wishes from San Diego –
Joanna
Like Everett, I can’t get her page to load. You have apparently overwhelmed her site with referral traffic. I’m leaving a comment anyway…hope, hope, hoping (!) that I like her music if I win.
Everett
Aha! Aided by Google, I remember now. I used to read MacInTouch pretty regularly, and I’m pretty sure I found RFTP through the link archived on this page.
I also discovered one of my pages is in the top 10 results obtained by googling “Radio Free Tiny Pineapple”….
Andrew
I’m working on Debra Fotheringham’s website, and the autoplay-ness will be discontinued forthwith (as soon as the hosting server is back up, that is). You’re welcome.
We also apologize for the server down-age; hopefully, the host will have such resolved soon.
P.S. Suggestions to ameliorate Debra Fotheringham’s site are always welcome; just send us an email!
P.P.S. Perhaps it goes without saying, but please disqualify this comment from your contest.
Grettir
I sort of assumed that at least one winner would be overseas, so that’s no problem at all. In fact, with the favorable exchange rate on your end, you could probably lease a private jet and have it flown to you for the equivalent of two pounds twenty.
I am. I think three-and-a-half years was just the right amount of time to cleanse the palette between chapters. Don’t you?
Ladies and gentlemen…I present to you, my sister. And she’s the smart one in the family…
If memory serves, you like free anything, Tim.
I knew I should have posted comprehensive rules and eligibility requirements. Did I mention you have to be left-handed to enter?
I try not to dwell too much on exactly who reads this weblog. A few years ago a web site demographic report pegged my average visitor as a 50+ female making over $85,000 a year, so I spent a great deal of time and effort trying to target that particular audience with the ultimate goal of finding a sugar momma.
Unfortunately, a more recent report shows that the bulk of my female audience is now in the 18-24 range, so I have to change my strategy completely. In the future you can expect fewer menopause jokes and more makeup tips.
You just got engaged. I could be giving away used soup and you’d be ecstatic!
Ahhhh, that was the soundtrack from Tous les matins du monde. I haven’t listened to that in a while, so thanks for reminding me about it.
Oh, great! In a few weeks I’ll probably read something in the paper about a talented singer/songwriter who had to give up her dream of a career in music when her CD sales plummeted in February. “I only sold FOUR CDs the whole month, and those went to some stalker who only bought them to try and impress me.
I’d be surprised if that was the case, even if all five of my regular readers rushed the site at the same time…
The problem is that, as much as I don’t care for autoplay-ness, it worked. I could have browsed the site for an hour and never clicked on any of the audio links, but because the music started automatically the moment I arrived, you helped me find a new musical crush. So, I hate you…and I thank you.
It’s back up…and, oddly enough, I miss the autoplay-ness.
chronicler
I could always use some new music love so yes, I will once again leave a comment. Usually I have witty advice, or silly comments but alas this one will be just for downright groveling. I never win anything, please don’t break my record! Oh except if you do, I’ll be able to say the only time I ever won anything was a CD from the nice man Grettir of Tiny Pineapple fame. And everyone will swoon that I, little old (emphasis on old) me, have a Kevin Bacon link to the pineapple!
Wow, I never knew there were so many lurkers!
lisa
The only thing I’ve ever won was a pair of scissors from a fabric store. This would be a HUGE step up. Remember: I AM your FAVORITE older sister … . !
lisa
… And if I win, I could probably produce REAL TEARS and a rather impressive acceptance speech.
And world peace.
And I’d clean your bathroom for a year.
Kate
oh - the - pressure
mary
Andrew,
I’m thinking I might need to make a special exception to my autoplay peeve for web sites of musicians. I mean, that’s why a musician has a website, right? So people will hear their music? And, like Grettir said, it did work.
mary
Oh, and I forgot to mention that we were hoping to go to the concert tonight and what has descended upon our home but: a round of stomach flu! What, did you curse us or something?
kate g.
Totally would love a free CD…please…please…please…
ames
Eye tak o’fence at u sayin jenny is teh smurt won in teh famulee. Eye wanna cd two.
s'mee
I am entering this because it is pretty much the only type of contest I *could* win. Let’s face it, I’m challenged in ways that cannot be categorized.
One of those being musically. Ask Chronicler, I have a bad music gene somewhere. I am the anti-hip when it comes to music.
So in actuality you would be doing something more than charity, it would be benevolent and magnanimous (hat tip to Her Majesty) for you to add (something worthy) to my musical library.
And yeah, I’d let Chronicler listen to it once in a while.
Kate
more.more.more.pressure
brent
Yesterday it was -11. We are currently in the 6th snowiest winter on record for our town and I have shoveled all of it out of my driveway including the entire (double wide) street’s worth that gets shoved into the entrance to our drive after every storm. Three days ago I chipped a path through 1 1/2 inches of ice down the sidewalk and up the drive so I wouldn’t slip and break something I prefer to keep whole. Winter doesn’t end until sometime in April (I’m not kidding) and spring doesn’t really arrive until May. I could use something inspiring, exciting, or even interesting to listen to to help me make it through the winter without … well I’ll just have to leave that unspoken. I know this isn’t witty, but humor dies when desperation sets in. (Most adam sandler movies prove that.)
I’m not above begging.
brent
OK, I feel compelled to be truthful, I’ve never seen an Adam Sandler movie. I’m not that desperate, yet …
Rhapsidiomite
I actually discovered Fotheringham back about the time she was getting her start in Utah. I happened to go into a book store where she was performing, I think it was Borders down in the River bottoms. I was speculating at the time that she was just testing the waters, because it seemed like her family or somebody was there cheering her on in what seemed to be a premiere effort…
I corresponded with her once about her music.
So, anyway, yeah, I’ve been watching her for a while from a distance, because when I first heard her, I immediately had a sense of her musical skills — some people just have that certain something — and thought she might be able to go the distance.
Deborah Gamble
I am so very curious to know what complex algorithm you’ve devised to randomly select four commenters to receive free CD’s… I hope it places me as one of the fortunate winners!
jenny
Ames, the fact that you spelled “won” w-o-n and not w-u-n, and the fact that you knew where to place the apostrophe in “o’fended” give you away as the bright bulb in our family chandelier (which would probably look something like this one, were it an actual item. Ames is the intact bulb. The rest of us either petered out, cracked, or were removed because of negligible wattage.)
(…”The rest of us” not including Grettir, of course. He would be one of the fixture’s glittering, mesmerizing, multi-faceted crystals, swaying elegantly with every subtle passing breeze, each facet unique in its own startling beauty and brilliance. *nudge-nudge, wink-wink*)
Jim in Atlanta
Hi, I know how you feel about ‘dry spells’. I’m glad you found some new music with a local artist! Now please select me for your random CD drawing (smile). Oh, do you know about lala.com? If your CD collection is large as it sounds it would be a decent way of ‘sharing the love’. Good listening y’all!
Kate
SHOTGUN!
?
Pam Lynn
Having read and enjoyed your web site for years,
I have never participated before— I prefer to read the clever and witty comments my daughters and husband make. But, when I saw that you had to be left-handed to win the CD I knew my time had finally come.
Please add me to your list of potential left-handed winners!
Pam
Pam
Oh, no! I read it wrong. Being left-handed only allows one to enter, it doesn’t assure one of winning!
Shoot.
Kate
Alright, this is my REAL comment/entry (unless you thought “SHOTGUN!” was especially pithy. Then keep that one). This will be more than four words, as one expects from me, and it’s nice to fulfill peoples’ expectations, yes?
I’d thought I’d gush and bestow lauds and honours galore upon RFTP; I planned on recounting the many, many, MANY satisfying hours I spent in its company. Then I thought I’d admit that it was literally a life-saver because I was allowed to egregiously abuse the “request” feature; it was something I desperately needed at an especially difficult time in my life (worse than this difficult time in my life, ‘cause you really wanted to know).
I thought I’d confess that it was I - I was the one who played “You Are Not Alone” and “Give Me the Strength” and similar ballads repetitively - and I mean REPETITIVELY. Again and again and again. And again.
It did, however, occur to me that this confession did not reflect well on me… Then I had an epiphany as I delivered Christmas gifts earlier tonight (YES - just shy of two months late).
It’s brilliant: It is shameless, crass, passive-aggressive, tacky - wholly tasteless. Moreover, it completely flies in the face of your new SLA, for which I, as a matter of fact, have great respect.
Here ‘tis, in all its indecorous and unrepentant glory:
GOLLY, what a wonderful belated birthday gift an autographed Debbie Fotheringham CD would be for lil’ Kate! SO perfect. Oh, how it would trump the Birthday cards from her Dentist and former Chiropractor (and they were touching, indeed). And February 29th is still within her Birthday MONTH, so it would be tasteful, generous and timeless!
One more lil’ thing. I was considering having a blog contest for which the prize would have been a vintage (perhaps?) can of Hungarian bacon. Then I gave it to someone… *Sigh*
Kate
TIMELY gift was what I meant. Though I’m sure it’s timeless in it’s appeal as well…
Natalie
Grettir! It was great running into you at the concert. I miss seeing you around campus. Very sad. Also, these past few days have been the kind of days that I’m just doing all I can in order to survive. BUT I’m taking your advice and recognizing the small miracles. Thank you.
And, by the way, I’m thinking that you would make a stellar Mr. Collins. He’s got a great song. Think about it.
Karen
My baby girl looks like she *might* be left-handed, and she likes the music I listen to so…can we enter together? Hoping to play on the “awwwww” factor for one of the four.
So how was the concert? Enough of your readers must have gone to provide a pretty concise review.
If you’ve posted the RFTP playlist at any time, I missed it. Is there any chance you might dredge it up and post it (again)?
Thank you [in advance] for the upcoming HMG chapter…
Tyler
I have the most beautiful fiancee ever. I would really love to give this CD to her as a pre-wedding gift. Elisabeth has the voice of an angel. She’s also terribly witty and clever.
No, no. She didn’t tell me to say that.
Well.. Yes, maybe she is the one writing this.
Kimball
Typing with left hand. Wrist cramping. Brain cramping. Drool spilling. But so desperate to win Debra Fotheringham CD that I can’t stop typing. Left handed.
bennion
Wish I could make the show tonight. I guess a signed copy would make up for it uh? Thanks for the introduction.
Chris
So much for all my music recommendations from the past five years. You can kiss all future recommendations for obscure dissonant rock bands goodbye.
That’s a pretty low bar. Shouldn’t there have been a a law enacted disallowing us to reproduce? Our gene cesspool continues to spread unabated like a methane fire.
Isn’t that image you linked to the old family dining room chandelier we had in conjunction with the yellow and green swirling carpet? I lost many a pea on that carpet.
Leah
Hi!
I think I found this site while trying to figure
how the heck pineapples grew.
On trees? Vines? Like potatoes??
Then I clicked on one of your great retro pineapple
post cards-my favorite is “How I Do PINE For You”-
and I was hooked.
I also have to thank you for pointing me to
Engrish. Oh, the hours of enjoyment!
I’ll keep my fingers crossed, but looks like
a lot of competition!
Q
I’d like to try my luck at a free CD… How nice of you to think of all your readers—er, fans! ;)
elisabeth
How will you be informing the winner? Just wondering what I should be looking for tomorrow.. Email? Pigeon? Phone Call? Hot air balloon? Arrow? The possibilities are endless. Really.
Paul
This isn’t the Paul who got the shoutout in this post, but I’m a fan nonetheless! Another lurker, too, I might add…
Kate
OH, THE SUSPENSE!
chronicler
I, like others I’m sure, am assuming that I did not win. Sigh. Not a huge sigh though. I did not break my losing streak. Thank goodness. If I did i’d have to come up with an impromptu speech and I was always so bad at that because I seem to go on and on blathering about nothing, like the time my cat got caught in the neighbors yard and we could hear it meowing on and on but couldn’t get him to climb the fence until mrs bluehair came out and got her broom after him. Ya know stuff like that. You probably have never thought that before but I do on sometimes. ;-)
Thank goodness though it wasn’t an instant winner/loser prize. I really enjoy the long drawn out losses ala Mitt’s resignation the day after my vote was cast type of thing. No instant loser for me!
Hey when is the new chapter being published? The gardener’s been out in the garden way too long. Has he married by now? Or were you drawn away from it due to your Harry Potter compilation book? ;-)
s'mee
Grettir! A public thanks for the terrific c.d.! I am way excited and have already told my sis she has first dibbies after I get a good week’s worth out of it!
And well, because I am a dork, I have to say that just getting a letter from the Tiny Pineapple made my day! Thanks again! eeeeeek!