IOWA MUSIC SHOWCASE PODCAST - Episode 28: Guest Producer Craig Hlas of The Iowa Made Network, Part 1 of 2

Craig Hlas is the creator of The Iowa Made Network website.

And I am going to le him describe that website in his own words from his website:

"Hi. We’re Craig and Jill Hlas of Cedar Rapids. We started the Iowa Made Network in 2002 as a way to connect producers, growers, and entrepreneurs across the state of Iowa with customers interested in their products. We’re just two Iowans who set this up with a lot of research; visits with Iowa creators at fairs, farmers markets, and festivals; and plenty of love for the surprising and stellar products we’ve discovered along the way.

"Iowamade.net is a great way for people to find quality items created by Iowans! We’re proud of our state, and our mission with this website is to help make that happen.

"We’ll be promoting the Iowa Made Network throughout the year, giving people across the state and around the globe an opportunity to learn more about the exciting, innovative, quality products made right here.

"Iowa Made Network is created and run by Iowans to promote products created in this great state. We welcome any questions or suggestions, and we’re happy to add your listing to the site.

"Email Iowa Made Network"


Craig Hlas has been a big fan and supporter of Iowa Music Showcase. So I'm glad to return the favor and give him a chance to promote his website supporting Iowa producers and businesses in the same way I try to support Iowa musicians.

If you want to support this great state, give his website a look and some love - http://iowamade.net/.


As for the podcast, Craig Hlas has picked some of his favorite tunes by Iowa artists, and we're be playing them on this and the next episode.

On this episode, we feature some of the folkier and more laid back selection. Next episode will have some the poppier, rockier, and more uptempo selections.

Iowa Made Network home page: http://iowamade.net/

Iowa Made Network on Twitter: https://twitter.com/iowamadenet

OTHER SOURCES: Locusic

In this edition of Other Sources, the feature where we show other places you can find and hear Iowa music, we present the website and app, Locusic.


"Locusic is a music streaming service focused on Local Music. There are tons of amazing artists within just a few miles of you. They deserve our attention. You deserve to experience their music. That's why we built Locusic. Based in Des Moines, Locusic is currently live in central Iowa and the Minneapolis area."
- from The Des Moines Music Coalition (DMMC) web site

"Locusic, short for Local Music, is a music streaming service focused on local bands/musicians.

"You open the Locusic web app, pick a genre, and music will start playing from the local music scene – wherever you happen to be (as long as we're live there). We're currently only live in central Iowa and the Twin Cities, but will be rolling out to the rest of the US.

"Music lovers:
Listen to music for free
Discover great local bands

"Bands:
Get FREE airplay in your community
Get exposed to new fans
Sell more tickets to your shows"
- from Locusic's Facebook page


"Think Pandora, but for local music, and you have Locusic. Locusic is an Ankeny-based local music streaming service focused on local bands and musicians and plans to officially launch this weekend in Des Moines.

"'I wanted to do something to help the local music scene and also local businesses,' said Jake Kerber, founder of Locusic. 'I’ve seen great local bands and heard people talk about how great they are, but then they just can’t get any traction. Their music’s better than what’s on the radio, but what can you do? Ultimately I came up with a system where the two groups can help each other.'

"When a listener opens Locusic they are prompted to select a genre. Based on the genre and the listener’s location, Locusic will select and stream music from local musicians based within 50 miles of the listener’s location.

"'I hope Locusic can increase the general public’s awareness of the high quality and vast quantity of music being produced by artists in our area, ' said Kerber. 'When someone’s looking at a list of local shows, they’ll have heard of the bands via Locusic and be able to make a more informed decision of which bands to go see – and ultimately go see more local shows.'"
- from The Dish on Des Moines website

"Locusic is like Pandora in that it is an online site that streams music. However, unlike Pandora, Locusic only plays local bands and artists.

"It has a wide variety of genres—from rock, pop, soul to classical music. There are local artists such as North of Grand, Bright Giant, The River Monks and Dead Horse Trauma.

"Kerber said that it is easy for local bands to upload music to Locusic.

“'If they are within 50 miles of Des Moines they just register for a free account and they go to the account settings link under "My Artists" and they click "Create an Artist Profile" and just start going,' Kerber said. 'They just upload their MP3 files and it is all pretty much just automatic.'

"Kerber has certain expectations for Locusic’s future now that the website is up and running."
- from The Simpsonian magazine

Locusic website and homepage: http://locusic.com/

Locusic's Android app: http://www.locusic.com/blog/locusic-android-app/

Labels: Des Moines, Des Moines area, Jake Kerber, Locusic, Other Sources, Pandora, streaming services, websites

PLAYLISTS: Random Iowa Music Spotify Playlist 1

Been busy, so I'm just putting up a Spotify playlist I made of random music from Iowa.

I won't lie. This will probably become a fairly regular thing.

Labels: alternative music, folk (genre), folk music, heavy metal, metal (genre), metal music, Nadas, playlists, pop music, pop punk, punk, punk rock, Random Iowa Music Spotify Playlists, Slipknot, Spotify, world music

OTHER SOURCES: My Iowa Spotify Playlist

Well, here's another edition of Other Sources, where we tell of other sources where you can find and hear Iowa music.

This week, I'm just presenting my Iowa Music playlist from Spotify.

It features any and all the music I could find from Spotify that comes from Iowa. If it's missing anything, let me know and I will add it!

The link to it is here - https://open.spotify.com/user/127676752/playlist/2m8Gn8ix7rFsDdz0eoNHeP

Below is a playlist featuring the first 200 songs. It's mostly punk and alternative stuff, but actually playlist on Spotify features a greater variety.

Labels: alternative music, electronic music, folk (genre), folk music, Other Sources, playlists, punk, Spotify

OTHER SOURCES: Jazzman Joe's YouTube Channel

Welcome to another of our Other Sources entries, where I let you know of other places you can find and hear Iowa music.

Today, we look at the YouTube channel of Jazzman Joe, a staple of the central Iowa jazz scene for ages. This man has videotaped literally hundreds of jazz performances, from both local and visting acts, in the state of Iowa, including many from various jazz festivals in the state. And you can find these on his YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/user/jazzmanjoe100.