Shane K. Smith|Se7en South|Sierra Leone|HAJUSOM

Here is a letter that was sent to me by our good friend Shane K. Smith.

It is actually a letter that he received from a German Documentary Film Company that found the video that he produced featuring our somg Sierra Leone - Great work Shane!!

We will be anxious to hear more about this project.

Congratulations!

Sierra Leone is a worthy cause to support so please watch the video and support the cause. These kids need our help.

Se7en South

___________________________________________________________________

We are a Documentary Film Production Company which produces films for German TV, schools, institutions, universities and the international film market for TV and movies that are concerned and engaged in people's rights. Moreover, our goal is to provide people who are less fortunate and those whose human dignity is violated, with their freedom to express through the films that we make.
We are planning to produce a documentary which deals with teenage African refugees who are suffering from hunger and violence and fled away from their country and came to Germany to seek and fight for asylum. The protagonists are actors of the theatre group HAJUSOM in Hamburg. www.hajusom.de, which was founded by three german female regisseurs eight years ago.
Through Myspace, we have come across your film footage, which we found very interesting and would like to ask, if you would like to participate in this documentary?
The young actors of the Hajusom theatre group (coming from Togo, Sierra Leone, Afghanistan, or Uganda) will be filming their everyday life with their own small cameras until approximately November – so they are constantly keeping a kind of video diary. Through their shots they intend to show how their life in Germany is like, what they are feeling and what their dreams are.
The concept of the documentary is to combine these shots of the young refugees in Germany with the material you – among other people from all over the world – send us from yourself and the place you live.
So, if you would like to participate, your task would be to send us film footage of your home country, which will become a part of the documentary. We will install a private online video-room, to which only those will have access, who are participating in the documentary. This online-room will make it possible for everyone participating to exchange film footage and messages. As a matter of course, you will receive film footage from young people from Africa or Asia, who came to Germany to seek and fight for asylum and you will be able to exchange opinions with them. If you have any questions about the project, please feel free to ask.
We would be really glad, if you liked to participate for the next months until the end of the year.
Have a nice day and we will be hoping to hear from you soon.
Regards,Felix

Shane K. Smith and Se7en South - A Picture is Worth 1,000 Words

Shane K. Smith is not only a Professional Pro Frisbee Player, Shane is also an avid video editor who has produced several featured videos which used the music from Se7en South's Alblumo Duo CD. Thanks to Shane's talents you can see and hear some of the Se7en South songs on My Space, You Tube, Google and other video upload sites. One such video features Se7en South's song "Sierra Leone"

Sierra Leone is a haunting melody that focuses on the blood diamond trade and the human suffering that the people are made to endure. Se7en South's music and Shane Smith's video talent certainly prove that a picture is worth a thousand words.

Go here to see the video on AOL ===> http://video.aol.com/video-detail/war-torn-sierra-leone-by-se7en-south/2147301169

There were plenty of Irish drinking songs

St Patrick's day 2005 - A day of infamy in the history os Patte's Sports Bar. when the band Se7en South came to play that night. It was certainly not an Irish potato famine and the Guiness flowed like water. Like the onld Irish joke about "What is the most dangerous man in the world... an Irishman with a 6 pack" a party soon ensued. It started with Irish drinking songs and another pint of Irish Red Ale and the next thing you knew there were people daning on top of the tables in the booths and hopping from one to another. By the end of the night the damages were totalled and Se7en South was banished into the night, told never to return.

But return they did on St Pat's this year only this time the boys had to promise to be on their best behavior. They decided on a few accoustic sets.

Well the Guiness flowed and the crowd limbered up as the band began to play precisely at 8pm.
By 9 the crowd was singing, that Guiness was kicking in.

People were soon dancing in their booths and table hopping began again. Round 2 had just begun.

As the band gained stream the crowd just roared and soon the waitresses where chiming in. It seemed as if St Patty's day from 2005 was revisiting Patte's Sports Bar again.

If you were there we appreciate your spending your evening with us. If you missed us, you missed a great party. And to those who asked - yes, I did find my brain.... It was in a bowl of cold water with bite marks and fur all over it.

notes from the edge

March 4, 2008.

Woke today to a great telephone call from se7en south drummer Nick Prokopchack. Nick is in Bagdad serving our armed forces. We had a few good laughs about his last visit in PA and how we are looking forward to his safe return in several months.  He was diggin' the new album and pleased with Pepper Watkin's drumming abilities.  We used much of the time to talk about upcoming projects and how we should team up when Nick is back state side. (I'm looking forward to that).  In speaking to the others they enclose their love to all and we each ask fans and friends far and near, whisper some good thought over Nick , and hope the only sand he encounters is that from the little guy that helps you close your eyes at night. Good night Nick- keep in touch. and Love to all

Kevin McG

 

Se7en South Finds An Oasis In The Desert

Recently Se7en South, the band got the 'nod' from Oasis Disc Manufacturing. The news release stated that their song 'Kentucky Diva' had been chosen for Oasis' Country Radio Sampler volume VIII - #1 compilation CD.

"It is quite an honor to be chosen" said "Guitar" George Stuscavage.

Oasis chooses songs that they consider to have marketability from thousands of artists and then compiles those choices into various genres to be promoted to select radio stations. Just good country songs with good country music lyrics.

Included in this year's Country Music selection were Katie Clark & The Green River Band, Amy Arton, Keno James, Gary Richey, Nick Joseph, Andy Simmons, Genuine Nick, Outlaw Lynn, Tracy Stefans, Lacey D, Scott Dale, Jeromy Goodnight, Dave Rudolf, Chris Bellamy, Pistol River, Shiny Johnson, Kevin Kimes & Beaune Road, Matt Stivers, Randy Thompson, The Wasteland Kings and Se7en South.

Canadian Film Industry Shows Interest in Se7en South

At a recent Se7en South post production party held at the Mt Airy Resort and Casino (http://www.mountairycasino.com/), Kevin McGroaty told guests that he was extremely pleased with the results of a 3 week work session with George Stuscavage at fellow band member, James Frushon's Savannah, Georgia studio.

This opportunity all came from our second CD, Alblumo Duo and was picked up as a demo by the undisclosed Canadian film production company based in Toronto, specializing in "made for TV movies." We received a telephone call in January asking us if we would be interested in producing 2 or possibly 3 original pieces for consideration.

"It is an honor to be considered" said Stuscavage, lead guitarist for the band.

The band's second CD is produced by Socially Awkward Schoolgirl's Records and is distributed by CDbaby.com has received some international interest with sales in Canada and Europe.

Se7en South - Pilot Truck Stops - Guerilla Marketing

What do Se7en South, Pilot Truck Stops and Guerilla marketing have in common? I guess that is similar to asking the famous old children's question od animal, vegetable or mineral and trying to figure out the similarites and the differences which make up this unusual symbiotic relationship.

In this case we have the band "Se7en South" whose music has a wide range of sounds running the gambit of country love songs to blues, easy listening, some rock and jazz. I guess what I am trying to say is that Se7en South has a little something for everyone.

Next up to bat we have meeting places called "truck stops" where hundreds of average, everyday working class people stop and fill up or grab something to eat. These folks are called "trucker". Truckers by and large are a nice friendly group of guys and gals who spend at least 10 (ahem) hours a day on the road hauling heavy loads in all weather conditions.

So the guys at Se7en South came up with an idea to help spread the word in a non-conventional way using guerilla marketing techniques and strategies and go to where their audience is and it started with the local Petro truck stop and the Pilot truck stop where band members were handing out CD's, Socially Awkward School Girl Record T-shirts and Se7en South hats and the response was outstanding.

Truckers from as far west as California and as far south as the Carolinas have emailed in saying how much they enjoyed listening to to the CD on that long ride. One gal even wrote "You guys are hot."

We at Se7en South want to say thank you and we appreciate your comments and the next time you are on Route 81, slide our CD into your player and .... TURN IT UP! we have a song for you.

Antique Gas Pumps - Vintage Gas Pumps and Country Love Songs

What do antique gas pumps, vintage gas pumps have in common with country love songs? Just ask Shane K Smith, his friend Barry Bell and his wife Marlene Shue Bell. The Bells have a unique hobby and that is that they love to collect gas pumps. I didn't know any that information until early this morning until I plopped down in front of my computer to begin work on some new Se7en South promotions when I saw an unfamiliar link staring out at me from Google.

Always curious I clicked on that link and was pleasantly surprised by a little video created by Shane that featured Barry and Marlene's photos of their 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air, the gas pumps and this silly little country love song that brings back days of vintage cars, vintage gas pumps and visions of this fresh faced country girl as a station attendant pumping gas ... it is love at first sight.

We at Se7en South would like to thank Shane, Barry and Marlene for using our song "Gas Pumpin Girl" in their video and for the shameless plug of our CDbaby link. Actually guys we liked it so much we added your video to our blog and we are waiting for you to send us an address so we can ship you some Se7en South goodies. You are the best!!

Se7en South Expands its Target Audience with Technology

Se7en South, NEPA's most popular studio band employs cutting edge technology to increase their music exposure. In a recent radio interview Robert Sterling, Se7en South Marketing Director talked about the challenges facing marketing Indie bands. If you do a Google search for Indie music, you will find 4,870,000 organic results competing for the specific term "Indie music".

Organic results simply means that those websites appearing in the main body of the Google results pages did not pay to be placed on that page where as the listings appearing either on the right side of the page or highlighted at the top of the body of the page have paid Google a fee for the priviledge of appearing on that page.

Many, if not all of the emerging Indie bands don't have the disposable income to fund an extensive paid Google adwords campaign or the time and knowledge to build an effective SEO based marketing plan to get them to the top of the Google pages however hope is not lost and there are some companies offering solutions for the 'little guy' just starting out.

Veretekk is just such a company, founded Thomas Prendergast and Mike Darling, entrepreneurs who saw a need and heard a calling to provide honest, reliable low cost solutions made available to the 'average person' to help them become educated about Internet marketing and provide them with innovative tools to help them achieve the results needed to build successful home businesses.

According to Kevin McGroarty that is just what Se7en South has done. McGroarty is certainly no stranger to advertising and marketing having owned a successful northeastern Pennsylvania media company. McGroarty has also produced a local perennial favorite PBS movie."Wyoming Valley Massacre" with Kevin Jones and Summer Bellas, A hit comedy CD, "The Apartment" and has achieved regional success with the band Se7en South.

The Veretekk tools have been instrumental in allowing us to reach targeted audiences and has enabled up to make the contacts necessary to get our music placed internationally.

Se7en South's Alblumo Duo picked up by Indie Rhythm

Se7en South's recently released second album Alblumo Duo is now available on INDIE RHYTHM. This second CD has a little bit of something for everyone. When asked to describe the Se7en South signature sound Producer James Frushon said "The music is 100% completely original with strong family appeal."

Who is Se7en South? Se7en South, is a a couple of minded guys who have a strong committment to friends, family and community as evidenced in their music.

Remember, when everything appears hopeless a little ray of light comes from somewhere and that light is Se7en South.

Se7en South music and merchandise is available at the following locations:

Indie Rhythm - http://www.indierhythm.com

CDbaby - http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/se7ensouth

eBay - http://cgi.ebay.com/Se7en-South-Limited-Issue-Fan-Pack_W0QQitemZ330210594628QQihZ014QQcategoryZ307QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Promotional efforts made possible by - http://qurox.veretekk.com

Paper Package

Paper Package is a Se7en South lullaby featuring Kevin McGroarty on vocals. This 22nd track on Se7en South Alblumo Duo CD allows the listener to reach its own conclusion on this paper package...could it be a brown package image, making a trip to the new england winter with images of clipart of crowds of people? Hmmmm!

Almighty

Almighty is another remix off the first alblum of Se7en South Alblumo Uno. It has nothing to do with the save my soul african movie beyonce. Rather, the vocals of Kevin McGroarty ask to save my soul and spare me from the devil's gold. It's a time of reflection within...my soul finds rest in you..."you" can be whatever spiritual entity one wants...this song provides the words of spiritual encouragement and devine heart spirital healing. Give a listen to soothing sounds on the 21st track of Se7en South Alblumo Duo.

Your Photograph

This solo by James Frushon on the ivory keys for Your Photograph, the 20th track on Se7en South Alblumo Duo CD appeals to all audiences. One might think, since Jimmy has migrated south, it would be a more a hallelujah chorus and piano solo. But it is not..rather the listener might think that the dial landed on a mid-afternoon PBS station. It is easy-listening, soothing piano music which will take the listener's mind on a memorable photographic trip of a lifetime. So, grab a drink of your choice, sit back, relax and allow your mind to wander down the path of lifetime memories instead of real photographs of ghosts. Whatever your online purchase preference...go to cdbaby.com...purchase the new Seven South CD and you determine your values, beliefs and preferences in music. You may be amazed at your paw preference.

Queen Nine

The British are coming, the British are coming!!! The vocals of Kevin McGroarty on the 19th track of Se7en South Alblumo Duo CD provides a history lesson, with a twist, of the dexter British Invasion subtitle. Queen Mary of Scots biography provides a tale of Queen Mary of England who cruised on a Queen Mary haunted ship and spoke of ghosts aboard the Queen Mary and how Queen Mary can make frozen lemonade. The boys in the band openly admit they tried to sound like "George Martin"...but think it's an excellent rip. Have a listen...you will be pleasantly surprised.

Tiger Steal Jeep

Tiger Steal Jeep, the 17th track of Se7en South Alblumo Duo CD, is an instrumental tune. The melody allows you to imagine yourself on an african safari trip where good tigers go wrong. The misguided tiger often finds itself under the hood of a willys jeep station 4x4 wagon...and after giving a few twists to wires that spark a connection, he sets off on a wild joy ride into the jungled darkness. Unable to control the wheel with gaint paws, the hellish terrain ride ends with the jeep coasting out of gas and his majesic profile is frozen looking over Lion Mountain.

Wyoming - a Small PA Town

Kyle Hiedacavage's awesome violin playing is featured again on the 16th track of Se7en South Alblumo Duo CD. James Frushon's raspy voice gives a glimpse of a good ole' boys days in the Valley with a Heart thru the beer-garden eyes of a dude with dusty crows feet who returns after the 1972 Agnes Flood. Looking at a Susquehanna River map you will find that the Borough of Wyoming (known for the Wyoming Massacre) is located halfway between Pittston, the tomato capital of the world, and Wilkes-Barre, hometown of Congressman Dan Flood, known for his handlebar moustache

Judy Zee

Judy Zee, the 15th track of Se7en South Alblumo Duo CD, can best be described as roll up a pack of smokes in your white tee shirt sleeve and hang by the bar juke box to ask the question who wanted the violin? This tune is not an ordinary violin playing basics by Kyle Hiedacavage. Kevin's immpecable playing makes me wonder how soon he will be a violinist figurine.

You Like/I Do

The lyrics of the 14th track of Se7en South Alblumo Duo has you thinking that Kevin McGroarty is swooning over a lost love; when, in fact, it is a love story...a dog love story. It has all the dog antics from sharing pancakes in the morning to burying bones in the backyard. Love match charts would classify it as a classic innocent love which gives merit to the saying love me love my dog pewter.

Route 81

Se7en South 's eleventh track, Route 81, on their Alblumo Duo CD is an humorous "road trip". Kevin McGroarty's vocals take the listner for a tongue-in-cheek ride on the famous north/south Pennsylvania Interstate. Use your travel map for interstate highways and start in receiving a massage, Great Bend, PA, then travelling thru a town known for the big Scranton face lift, to a town known for bus trips Wilkes-Barre, PA or for eyeglasses Wilkes-Barre and continuing south to Hazletown where the most asked question is why illegal immigrants come to America? Continuing on and putting the pedal to the metal will take you to Harrisburg, the capital of PA and soon to exit the state but not before asking the name of the President who created the interstate highway.

Parents Beware Of Online Predators

Parents, beware of online predators is the message that northeastern pensylvania studio band Seven South is sending in tribute to the Megan Meier tragedy.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megan_Meier_suicide_controversy
http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Story?id=3882520

The public service announcement created with the help of Maryann Hovan and guitarist George Stuscavage's daughter is featured on the band's Alblumo Duo and serves as a warning for all parents to wake up to the real danges waiting to snatch our children from the safety of their homes.

It is not the internet that is bad. The internet is just technology, it is just a tool. It is the lack of social responsibility that allows this technology to be used for harmful intent.

In an effort to focus attention on this growing problem and shine the light on child predators everywhere we must be aggressive in getting the word out in our schools, communities and even in our own families.

This PSA is provided to all radio stations without charge by simply requesting a copy from: se7ensouth@gmail.com