Uncle Seth Set to Invade Boston Podcast Meeting

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When Toronto band Uncle Seth began submitting their songs to a music podcasts in 2005 they didn't realize that less than a year later they would be making friends and fans of podcasters across North America and beyond. Now they'll get the chance to meet and play live for many of these same podcasters when they attend the first ever "PodCamp" in Boston early in September. Uncle Seth's growing reputation in the Canadian podcasting community recently earned them the chance to play at the inaugural Podcasters Across Borders conference, which took in Kingston, Ontario this past June. Podcasters from across Canada and the U.S. grooved to the band's high energy pop-rock sounds at a post-conference party that went on well into the next morning.

"We knew very little about podcasting, except that it seemed to be a way to get some online exposure for our music, " says lead singer Tara Thompson. "I don't think any of us realized there was this amazing community we're now a part of."

In the wake of the Kingston event, Vancouver radio personality and podcast pioneer Tod Maffin called Uncle Seth his "favorite band" on CBC Radio One, and Mark Blevis and Bob Goyetche of the flagship Canadian Podcast Buffet named Uncle Seth "the official band of Canadian podcasting" on their show.

But it isn't just Canadian podcasters who are excited about Uncle Seth. In the last year, the band has been played on many popular international podcasts including Adam Curry's Daily Source Code, Brian Ibbot's Coverville, Jason Evangelho's Insommnia Radio. They have also been featured on popular websites About.com, BlogCritics.org and IndieMusician.com.

One podcaster, Phil Coyne in Birmingham, UK even devoted an entire 70-minute episode of his show Bitjobs for the Masses to Uncle Seth.

"That was when we really knew we were onto something amazing" says bass and harmonica player Jay Moonah, "When a guy in England who we've never met talks to us on the phone for an hour, and dedicates a whole show to our music, we knew we'd become part of a really special community. That's why we're so excited about PodCamp in Boston."

It's not often podcasters, musicians and podcast listeners get the chance to meet face to face, but that's what the members of Uncle Seth and hundreds of others will be doing at PodCamp. The grassroots event is being called an "unconference" -- there is no registration fee, but all attendees are expected to help by offering peer training sessions or by participating in panel discussions. PodCamp takes place September 9th and 10th at Bunker Hill Community College in Boston, Massachusetts. Details can be found at http://podcamp.org/. Uncle Seth will be playing live on the first day of the event.

"Boston has become something of a hub in the podcasting world." says Moonah. In fact two of the band's biggest supporters in the podcasting community, C.C. Chapman and Christopher Penn, both reside in Boston.

Penn works in student financial aid and produces a daily show for U.S. college students with news about bursaries, scholarships and other funding opportunities. He also features an independent band in each show, and has played Uncle Seth on a number of occasions. Chapman hosts a music show called Accident Hash. He has played Uncle Seth music on both the podcast and his Sirius satellite radio versions of his show. "We're really excited for the opportunity to meet and play for these guys, which is why we jumped at the chance to attend!" says Thompson.

Encouraged by their success with the medium, Uncle Seth decided to launch their very own podcast this past spring. "Basically, it's us talking and being ourselves, and playing interesting live or acoustic versions of our songs that our fans won't have heard before." says Thompson. "It's a way for people to get to know the band, to hang out with us. It's really fun, and we already seen thousands of downloads, which is amazing!"

Moonah, who is the band's tech guru and an Internet music business consultant, is convinced that podcasting is becoming an important means for independent artists looking to build their audience. "What's great is Uncle Seth have exactly the same distribution channels for our podcast as established acts like Barenaked Ladies or They Might Be Giants. You don't need label support or big time marketing, you really just need Internet access and some basic recording equipment, which many indie bands already have. There are lots of free software tools and sites that you can use to use to set things up for yourself. Podcasting lets a band find their audience no matter where in the world they live. If your songs have appeal to hardcore punk fans or modern jazz fans or whoever, there's probably a podcaster who will love your stuff. There's probably a bunch of them!"

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