MIKE MOUTOUX

Branding
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CD of the year and Best Song was titled: Jewel of the
West. I’d heard of “Queen of the West” (Dale Evans),
“Sweetheart of the West” (Belinda Gail), “The Prairie
Songbird” (Jean Prescott), “The Gentleman Outlaw”
(Royal Wade Kines). I thought “Jewel of the West” fit
me and you must find the “identifiers” that capture
you and your style.
What is your “uniqueness?” Dennis Knill is a
talented artist. He and his wife, Carolyn, do house
concert where he created ambience by recreating
a Charlie Russell painting on his outdoor shed.
Nancy Elliott is a fantastic songwriter and singer,
but also an excellent seamstress and costume
maker. Her brand of music and clothing help to
keep people “stylin.”
Anita Crane and Lori Faith are both excellent
photographers and are known for their ability
to capture the Western lifestyle in their eyecatching
photography. Lori photographed the
front and back cover of my “Jewel of the West” CD.
Anita is also a great
“
songwriter and is
currently working
on a CD of her
original tunes – right
off the bat she has a
“leg up” because of
her reputation as “Photographybyneets.com”
Are you a great cook? Carolyn Martin is - she
has made some of her uniqueness based on that.
I talk recipes with her and she created an awardwinning
CD called “Cookin’ With Carolyn.” Patty
Clayton lives in Hawaii part time and her music
reflects that uniqueness with songs including
ukulele, and steel guitar.
Stretching Miles and
Miles of Fences.
How do you tell people about yourself and WMA?
Start gathering your fan base of your new best Pards
on Facebook and other social networking sites. Many
of you are already quite good at it: showing pics,
videos, and news on Facebook. How ‘bout face to
face? Start making sure everyone you see face to face
knows about what you do: at your church, service
club, classes, and of course all your Gatherings. I am,
The WESTERN WAY
Having a unique and original
brand is a way ranches define
what is theirs.
as many of you know, a big believer in raising your
visibility through public speaking and also being an
MC or commentator.
Prepare your 30-second commercial: “My name is
LeeLee Robert, I’m a proud member of the Western
Music Association and am known for my “Cowgirl
Jazz” style where I take the colors and textures of Jazz
and blues and combine it with the lyric strengths of
Western Music about love, laughter, and landscape.”
I like to consider what we do as a special form of
“Leadership by Example.” At WMA we believe in
“The Cowboy Code,” where we say what we mean
and mean what we say; where we value the priceless
treasure of our reputation built on honesty, integrity,
and excellence.
Boviner to Headliner
What do you use to “duplicate yourself” besides
CD’s? How about your collateral materials:
postcards, posters, business cards? How about
other ways you attain visibility: articles, interviews
on radio and TV; are you using YouTube to your
advantage? Mary
Kaye has really
“raised the bar”
for us by creating
”
wonderful videos
of her tours on
YouTube, all with
the songs from her new CD, “Ride A Wide Circle”
playing in the background. I
love looking at the videos and listening to her
songs and told her she has to teach us how she
does it. We are all here to help each other “raise
the industry standard.” My Dad used to call it
“Making the Pie Bigger:” instead of fighting over
the slice of the pie in this industry, let’s just make it
a bigger pie so we can all benefit from it! It comes
from an attitude of abundance instead of scarcity.
Five years ago, I didn’t know anything about the
WMA, or much about western music, and how it
was different than country music. A little spitfire
of a Gal by the name of Peggy Malone reached
out to me on Facebook – we ended up writing a
couple of songs together before we’d ever even
met in person. She introduced me to Les Buffham
who is a regular humor columnist for the Western
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