Greetings!
Sure sign of winter... we went from 30 fests per month down to 2 in Jamaica.
Festivals pick back up in February for Bob Marley's birthday month. In the
meantime, have happy holidays!
--Reggae Festival E-Guide Team
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
* Reggae Festivals This Month
* Recipe: Holiday Ham Curing and Baking Jamaican Style
* Fun & Games: What's Patois for a common Jamaican sugar cookie? (for answer, see below under Fun & Games)
* Band Promotion: The Biggest Reward Your Fans Hope to Receive
* Reggae Biz Marketing Tidbit: Promote Your Business for Free with a Signature File
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Reggae Festivals This Month
Thurs-Friday, December 9-24, 2004
Jamaica Christmas 'Grand Market' Festival
Orcabessa Bay, Jamaica
www.jamesbondbeachjamaica.com
Hotline: 876-975-3663
Saturday, December 25, 2004
Reggae In The Hills
Cathrine, Jamaica
Hotline: 917-294-3183
Festival listings are believed to be correct. Please contact the promoter
directly for more information. Promoters are responsible for making sure their
festival info is correct on www.ReggaeFestivalGuide.com prior to this publication.
Are you a reggae festival promoter? Post your festival at
www.ReggaeFestivalGuide.com/post_festival.html
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Recipe: Holiday Ham Curing and Baking Jamaican Style
Ham Curing Instructions:
Ingredients
1 ten pound leg of pork
1 pound salt
2 tablespoons of brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt petre
pinch mixed spice
pinch nutmeg
1 quart boiled water (cooled)
Directions
Add sugar and salt petre to salt and mix thoroughly. Divide salt mixture
into two parts. Mix on half in boiled water. Add pinch of spice and nutmeg
to other half. Divide remaining salt mixture into two parts. Put away one
part to be used after the fifth day and rub remaining half into pork. Rub
thoroughly into skin and part into the fleshy part. (Use all of the salt).
Using injector, inject meat, with liquid, five times, two in the knuckle
part and three into the fleshy part. Wrap meat into two layers of greased
paper and several layers of newspaper, and tie securely. Tie well to secure
the shape of the ham. After five days open and rub in remaining salt. Leave
for five or six weeks to cure. Smoke slightly.
Ham Baking Instructions:
Ingredients
1 Ham (10 - 12 pounds)
¾ cup brown sugar
1 tin pineapple slices
cloves, cherries
Directions
Soak home-cured ham overnight in sufficient water to cover it to remove excess
salt. Put in cold water in a large pot or pan and bring water to the boil.
Simmer for 2 hours. Allow it to cool in the same water. Remove from water and
take off skin. Score to make diamond pattern by cutting through the fat with
a sharp knife - not more than ¼" deep - in the lean. Stick a clove in each
diamond. Blend the liquid from the pineapple slices with the sugar in a sauce
pan. Cook over a low flame, stirring occasionally until the mixture boils to
form a glaze. Pour this glaze over the ham. Garnish with pineapple slices and
cherries. Put the ham in a oven and bake at 300 degrees F_ for 1 ½ hours, or
until done, "basting" with the dripping from the pan.
Recipe courtesy of (c) 2004 Jamaicans.com.
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Fun & Games
What's Patois for a common Jamaican sugar cookie?
"Bulla"
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Band Promotion: The Biggest Reward Your Fans Hope to Receive
This weekend, we're flying to Hollywood. We are booked to perform at the
Into the West Oscar Party, sponsored by New Line Cinema's Official Lord
of the Rings Fan Club. We are so psyched.
Unfortunately, I haven't done nearly as much promotion for the event as I
would've liked. After five years of promoting day and night, I'm kinda burnt
out. Fortunately, our fans aren't.
So when I got an email last week from Hagar "the Horrible" (he dresses as
a Viking at Renaissance Festivals and kinda looks like the comic strip
character) saying he wanted my permission to email the TV stations about
our Oscar Party gig, I was like, "Hell, yeah! Why didn't I think of that?"
I didn't think anymore of it until a camera crew showed up that evening.
Jim Swift from KXAN News 36's "Out On The Porch" segment saw on our website
that we were playing that very evening and decided to interview us.
The interview went fantastic and ran this past Sunday. It also got me
thinking. Why on this earth does Hagar continually go out of his way to
help us? What's in it for him?
There are many reasons. I hope to go into many of them in future articles.
But let me tell ye, it's not for any financial reward. We don't pay him a
thing. Actually, he won't even accept money or free CDs. He does it mainly
for two reasons.
One, we've educated our fans to promote us. Two, and more importantly,
it allows him to "pay us back" for the joy we've given him.
Hagar isn't so horrible actually. In fact, he's a lot like you and me. All
we want is recognition for what we do. The biggest reward your fans really
hope to receive comes from two emphatic and sincere words: "Thank you!".
Bard Marc Gunn of the Brobdingnagian Bards has helped 1000's of musicians
make money with their musical groups through the Bards Crier Music Marketing
and Promotion Ezine and the Texas Musicians' Texas Music Biz Tips. Now you
can get personal advice by visiting http://www.bardscrier.com for FREE
"how-to" music marketing assistance.
---------------------------
Planning a special event for next summer?
Book your caterer today! The Caribbean Cove is now accepting
bookings for next summer's event season. Spice up your party with
food from the islands - weddings, corporate events, birthday parties,
customer appreciation, moving parties and more. We deliver authentic,
high-quality Caribbean food to your door with a professional and
courteous manner - ask for references or see our customer testimonials
online: www.thecaribbeancove.com
---------------------------
Marketing Your Reggae Biz Tidbit:
Promote Your Business for Free with a Signature File
Email is a great way to promote your business. First, most people read
their email every day. Second, it allows you to send focused messages
to a specific target audience. Email messages travel fast and are often
forwarded to friends, or people that may find your message useful.
You must take advantage of this by creating a signature file for your
messages. If you are using Outlook or Outlook Express, you can easily
create your signature file by opening the Tools menu, and clicking on
Options > Signature. If you're using a web based email service, they
will provide you with instructions.
A good signature file must have your name, your contact information,
and most importantly: a link to your website and a short, catchy tagline.
Remember that for email messages to be an effective marketing tool, you
have to send them to people you know, or who have chosen (opted in) to
receive them. Remember to sign up for discussion groups and mailing lists
related to your business and post regularly.
Finally, a word of caution about Email marketing: don't ever, ever,
send unsolicited mail (spam). This will not only annoy the recipient,
but will most certainly make your marketing efforts backfire, since
those on the receiving end will regard you with contempt. Even when
somebody agrees to receive your messages, use that trust responsibly
by sending only messages that are relevant to the recipients, and
don't bombard them with promotional offers.
Use email responsibly, and your signature file will be one of the most
effective free promotional tools for your business.
Mario Sanchez is a Miami based freelance writer who focuses on Internet
marketing and web design topics. He publishes The Internet Digest
(http://www.theinternetdigest.net), a growing collection of web design and
Internet marketing articles, tips and resources.
---------------------------
Getting Serious About Promoting Your Band?
You love creating music and/or art, but you are bogged down with mundane
tasks of every day business - putting your creativity on the back burner.
Having a manager is essential to surviving the business of promoting your
own talent in this day and age. One burgeoning company based out of
California is ready to take your talent to the next level. Owner’s name is
Amy Shapas and she is willing to negotiate a contract with you that you
are able to afford. Call 831-479-0711 and visit her website at www.soyoucan.com.
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Contact Us
Reggae Festival E-Guide
P.O. Box 10917, Napa, CA 94581
Website: www.ReggaeFestivalEGuide.com
Email: eguideReggaeFestivalEGuide.com
707-257-6652
Please feel free to pass this ezine along to your friends. However, we ask that you forward it in its entirety.
(c) 2004 Reggae Festival E-Guide, ISSN 1551-6121
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