10 Ways to Make Your Next Release More Artisanal

Have you been seeing more gals in throwback dresses and guys in suspenders and wondering how you can waltz your band into the current bygone-is-nowtro trend? Fret not, dear reader, for we’ve compiled a list to help your band grab the ramshackle coattails of the movement and ride them to the top.

1. In lieu of a booklet insert, painstakingly etch your lyrics onto thrift store mason jars.

2. Sell your record as a vintage artisan burnt sienna leather satchel handbag where the removable rustic strap doubles as a flash drive with your album on it.

3. Guarantee that every purchase comes with one plank of unfinished reclaimed barn wood.

4. Cross-stich the liner notes onto the back of your cut-off denim jackets.

5. Make sure your adjective/animal band name has a genuine retro craft logo design insignia.

6. Run the tour van on beard oil.

7. Carve your bass player into a solid elm Arts & Crafts style dining chair.

8. Tour on bespoke penny-farthing antique bicycles. Equip them with rusty birdcages filled with sparrows, bees, butterflies, and teacup piglets.

9. Replace all drum stands with hand-crafted mid-century modern Danish wooden legs with brass ferrule tips.

10. All approved press photos must have straight-faced members staggered in a field of tall grass at sunset.


The above is a work of satire. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental … although entirely likely.

Photo credit: eflon via Foter.com / CC BY.

You Need a Costume

It's almost Halloween! If you haven't figured out a costume yet, fear not. We at the BGS have put together eight of the rootsiest Halloween costumes we could think of. So, head to your closet, grab something brown or old or expensive, and get to work!

A Hay Bale 

See above.

A Dustbowler

[Smithsonian Institution / Foter / No known copyright restrictions]

Step 1: Cover yourself in dust. Seriously, get so dusty. Maybe take a Benadryl first, if you're prone to allergies.  

Step 2: Find pre-war boots. The less comfortable, the better — lesser minds will mistake your pain for thoughtfulness.

Step 3: Strap on a banjo and put on your best porkpie hat. Can't play the banjo? Doesn't matter!

Step 4: Tell everyone about your new musical project, Rusty Sunday School. 

Step 5: Spend the rest of the night avoiding the eggs everyone should throw at you, you asshole.

Kale

[B*2 / Foter / CC BY-ND]

Go to the grocery store, buy some kale, and tape it to yourself. Don't have any tape? Just carry the bag around and go on and on about the health benefits of green juice. Punch anyone who says the word "iceberg."

Mumford’s Son

[msmail / Foter / CC BY-NC-ND]

Walk around carrying a hair sample and ask every man of the appropriate age and facial hair if he is your father. Murmur something about how your nightmares are haunted by the same damn banjo roll, and how you wish you knew why suspenders made you cry.

Denim

[Adrianne Behning Photography / Foter / CC BY-NC-ND]

Wear all denim, à la Canadian tuxedo. Cross your fingers a drunk person mistakes you for an expensive pair of jeans and hands you $200. Pass go. 

The Post-#Authentic Man

[JeepersMedia / Foter / CC BY]

Put on an American Eagle polo and some loose-fitting jeans. Openly profess your love for T.G.I. Friday's and your disdain for grammatically incorrect hashtags. Carry around a six-pack of Bud Light Lime-A-Rita and ask who's going to next month's Imagine Dragons concert. Get a Droid.

An Edison Bulb

[Andi Campbell-Jones / Foter / CC BY-NC-SA]

Draw a light bulb on a t-shirt and attach a $75 price tag to it. 

A Fucking Mason Jar

[Eric Kilby / Foter / CC BY-SA]

Stay home and re-evaluate your life choices.


Lede photo courtesy of jc-pics / Foter / CC BY-NC-ND