Gary Stripling's Blog

I trust you enjoyed your Thanksgiving last week (except for Rohan in India, who never needs a reason to celebrate!). We spent all of last week here in NYC with our daughter Emily. She has a tiny apartment here in Manhattan (”Hell’s Kitchen” area near Times Square – TONS of great restaurants). Her roommate went home to Dallas to spend with her family, so we had the place to ourselves. When I get home I’ll post some photos of our trip so you can get to know my family a little better. Got some great shots of the Macy’s Parade!

Laura and Elliott flew home on Monday and I leave tomorrow morning for Baltimore. I’ll be conducting a mini-consultation with the leadership team of the Mwanda Children’s Choir from Uganda on Friday night and Saturday morning. I’ll be flying home late Saturday night and it will be great to be home for 2 nights before I leave again.

December has turned into quite a busy month! I leave on Monday for a drive down to Tampa for a consultation with a band there. I’ll be back in Jacksonville on Wednesday afternoon. On Friday morning I fly to Wilmington, NC to have a consultation with a gospel singer who is anxious to get her music ministry going! After flying home on Sunday, I’ll be home until we leave for Christmas in Atlanta with my family on 12/23. At least that’s the plan for now.

As I’ve shared with you, between Thanksgiving and about the 2nd week in January is “down” time for artists and bands. This is good for us because we can get a lot done during this period. If your calendar isn’t full of gigs for the holidays, don’t despair! Let’s put this time to good use and get caught up on the plans we’ve established. Plus, you need time to reconnect with your friends and family during the holidays, so be sure to network, network, network!!

Here are some updates on some of our clients:

ROHAN SOLOMON (India) – released single to radio and is getting good airplay in 4 major markets here in the USA. I expect a case of his CDs to be waiting for me back in Florida when I get home. Radio promoters and station managers are asking for it! We released the entire CD to digital distribution back in October, so his CD is now available online (iTunes, Rhapsody, Amazon, etc.).

REBEKAH FAITH (So. Florida) – released her Christmas single to radio 2 weeks ago and received good positioning on the compilation disk that goes out to over 1600 radio outlets worldwide. She’s also in manufacturing, so I expect to see her CD soon. The digital version was placed into distribution this week, so expect to see her on iTunes, Rhapsody, etc. within a few weeks (hopefully before Christmas).

DAVID PALMA (Indianapolis) – we released a Spanish & English version ad to my label and industry contacts in Latin America as well as here in the US. We are following up with them this week, but really expect to start getting feedback for bookings for him after the new year. Marketing & promotions continues to be developed.

SERVANT (Arkansas) – finishing up on their new website, which will be unveiled later this month. We will be promoting their new parody CD after the holidays. It’s in high demand wherever these guys perform, so we believe it will do well in distribution and radio.

UNTO LIFE (Tampa) – these guys have had a rough several months but are on the rebound. They’re auditioning a new guitarist next week and will be rehearsing for live shows we are booking for after the holidays.

DEANNA RANSOM (Delaware) – most of you know that Deanna’s husband unexpectedly passed away two weeks ago. I received an encouraging word from her this morning: “I’m heading back into the studios this weekend to get back on track with the project. I’m looking forward to talking with you soon to share the greater testimony and witness of Christ in my life.” Please remember to keep her in your ongoing prayers!

JESSICA TATUM (New Jersey) – we unveiled Jessica’s new website last month (www.jessicatatum.com) and are now working on getting her in the studio to work on her first full-length CD. The studio demos she sent me last week are awesome, so I’m excited and anxious to hear what she produces!

I realize that, due to my hospitalization and illness in October, my entire life was thrown into turmoil for at least three weeks. It’s taken me this long to finally reach a place of “normalization” so I can resume my normal work load. Again, I thank you for your prayers and patience!

My radio promoter continually asks me “where’d you find these artists?” He LOVES Rebekah and Rohan (and radio loves them, too!) and is anxious to hear from more TMA clients. We are building a “brand” of quality, well-produced TMA artists that will put us into a great position to negotiate with one of the biggest Christian music distributors to place all of TMA’s clients into distribution nation-wide. More about that later.

Later this month I’ll be sharing some of our 2010 plans – dreams and goals – that will bless your pea-picking hearts (yes, I’m from south Georgia)! It’s going to be a GREAT new year!

Many blessings,
Gary Stripling
President/CEO
The Management Agency, Inc.
www.themanagementagency.com
C – 904.571.9593 | F – 904.485.8822
Twitter – @tmainc

“Gary is an innovative and creative manager with progressive ideas. I recommend his forward thinking company for anyone looking for artist management.” — Kathy Douglas, CEO, Indie Extreme.

“Gary’s consultation was very beneficial. He is very laid back, which makes it comfortable, and he knows the business very well. He is extremely honest, and very patient with answering questions that you may have. As for working toward our goals, he was very helpful and informative. Gary sat us down for about 8 hours and started building a customized schedule with goals to accomplish. He was straight forward with us about our strengths and weaknesses. We look forward to working with Gary and The Management Agency and are excited about the future.” — Nathan Lauderdale, Skyline Circle, Enid, OK.

“I have been in this business for 20 years and I must say, I was amazed at the information I obtained from Gary. The details regarding branding, marketing, distribution, booking and various other facets of the business were so organized and quite easy to understand. I will use this information to take my career to the next level. Thanks Gary for sharing your time and knowledge.” — Wes Johnson, Madison, WI.

“I think that a consultation with Gary Stripling will help you carefully think through your career objectives, assess your true desires, strengths and weaknesses. If you’re not sure how you plan to get from where you are to where you want to be, a consultation will help you identify those steps.” — Lynn DeShazo (Integrity Music), songwriter and composer (”More Precious Than Silver” and many other popular worship songs).

It’s a beautiful fall day here in Northeast Florida. A slight chill is in the air (okay, it’s 57℉), the sun is bright and my bird feeder is full. Hopefully the redbirds will return and enjoy autumn in my backyard.

The past 4 weeks have probably been the most challenging of my life personally-speaking. It all started with a little gout flare-up, for which I went to a local walk-in clinic on a beautiful Tuesday morning much like today. Since I don’t have a “regular” doctor and have rarely been sick, a friend recommended this place since it’s a national chain of emergency-care type clinics. They were nice, professional, very clean and helpful.

At least until their doctor saw me. After asking a few questions about my condition he wrote a script for Prednisone, charged me $89 and sent me on my way. It never occurred to me that he had not read my family history in all the paperwork I had to fill out before I even saw him.

If he had read my history, he would have known that I am at high risk for diabetes since close family members have it, and he never would have prescribed Prednisone for gout. But he didn’t read it, or didn’t pay attention to it. And that started me on a downward spiral for the next 5 days that almost put me in a diabetic coma.

Like a good patient I filled the prescription and started the medication. That evening I started getting hoarse and by Wednesday morning I had laryngitis and bad vertigo. On Thursday my vision went terribly blurry to the point I couldn’t even drive or read. Friday and Saturday nights were the worst nights I’ve ever had. I couldn’t sleep, I was drinking huge quantities of water, and feeling absolutely horrible. Plus the gout wasn’t any better (I could hardly walk), I was dizzy, and I could barely see anything. Oh, and I was passing kidney stones like Tebow on a good day during all this. Ouch!

By the following Sunday afternoon my wife had me in the ER, not sure what was going on but certain something wasn’t right. I had returned to the walk-in clinic twice earlier in the week but they missed the signs AGAIN and, on the third visit sent me to the ER.

As we sat in the ER I told Laura we should probably go – we had already sat there 3 hours without seeing a doctor. Being a good wife with keen intuition, she insisted we stay until I could see a doctor. Finally, we were ushered back into a room and the fun began.

Blood work – lots of it – family histories, chest x-rays, an EKG, etc… the works. About 45 minutes after all this, the ER doc walked in and informed us that my blood sugar was well over 500 and that they would be injecting me with lots of insulin and I’d be on fluids for several hours. (I found out later that you can slip into a diabetic coma at 600). My ER doc – great guy, Dr. Blake – told me the Prednisone opened a Pandora’s Box inside my body and caused all kinds of things to start going wrong.

After several hours of testing, injections, and IV fluids, it was apparent that the glucose wasn’t responding as quickly as the doctor preferred, so at 2:30 AM on Monday morning I was admitted to the hospital as a dehydrated Type 2 diabetic with dangerously high glucose levels. I didn’t even know I was diabetic to begin with, but the Prednisone pushed me over that proverbial edge, thank-you very much.

During those 3 days in the hospital I saw dietitians, several different endocrinologists, emergency-care physicians, and was subjected to more needles and blood tests than a drug addict in detox. My glucose levels began responding and went from well over 500 to under 200 in about a day and half. That drop – plus dealing with this new diagnosis – put me on an emotional roller-coaster I’ve never experienced before. I felt like a basket-case!

I had told my wife many times before that, since I was at high risk for diabetes, I never wanted to cross that bridge and have to deal with this. Then suddenly, without warning, I’m in the hospital slowly making my way back from the precipice of going into a diabetic coma. It was very sobering to say the least.

So for the past three weeks I have seen the doctor weekly, had another EKG, had an MRI of the brain (yes, I have one), am learning how to cope with living on less than 1700 calories a day, injecting myself with insulin every morning, pricking my fingers every 4 hours, reading food labels for sugar content, and learning a new way of life. I am determined to drop at least 30 lbs. since my doctor tells me I can regulate my diabetes with diet and exercise and probably stop the insulin altogether – if my pancreas decides to play nice and cooperate. My vision and vertigo have cleared up, the gout is gone and I’m slowly feeling normal again (though I doubt I had felt normal for quite some time before all this happened).

I share all of this as an admonition to those of you who are overweight and not taking care of yourselves. I thought that because I didn’t eat fried foods (okay, at least not regularly), somewhat watched my sugar intake, and stayed relatively active (a very subjective state of being) that I was immune from being afflicted with something other people have. Boy was I wrong.

For some guys in their 50’s (yes, I hit that mark earlier this year) it takes a heart attack or other major life-threatening event to get their attention. For me, it was a trip to the ER that I almost didn’t make. I’m grateful that God kept me in the palm of His hand and allowed me to see how fragile life is if we take it for granted. My wife and children need me around a lot longer and I intend to be here for them. But it means I have to make major life-adjustments to do that. But they’re worth it.

I’ve heard many hard-luck stories from artists who had bad experiences with managers. Yet many times the bad experiences were precipitated by a misunderstanding of “who does what” and why. That’s why the writer of the following submitted this to the blog of an industry website popular among “indie” artists and bands:

You first need to have a Band Business that is financially solvent and making money to attract a real manager who knows what they are doing. Treat your band like a business with a real business plan and a road map as to where and how you plan to get there against the thousands of others trying to do the same thing.

Set your sights realistically and take it one day at a time and grow your business and if you do it correctly you will be noticed and seen and approached by a good honest business-minded manager. You may also be approached by a few sleazebags too, but YOU have to know the difference to avoid getting ripped off. Something from nothing still leaves nothing. Chances are you will rip off his/her time, which translates to their being ripped off for trying to help you.

I keep hoping any day now that I’ll wake up and this will have been just a bad dream:

• The new Secretary of State tells a congressional hearing, when asked about former VP Cheney, “”It won’t surprise you that I don’t consider him a particularly reliable source;”
• President Obama’s national intelligence director told colleagues in a private memo last week that the harsh interrogation techniques banned by the White House did produce significant information that helped the nation in its struggle with terrorists – but he ordered their release anyway;
• A gay man asks – against the rules of the pageant – a politically-charged question in a direct effort to derail a potential winner he disagrees with;
• Seventeen-year-olds will soon be able to buy the “morning after” emergency contraceptive without a doctor’s prescription, after the Food and Drug Administration bowed to a federal judge’s order Wednesday;
• In less than 100 days, our new president has apologized on three continents for what he views as the sins of America and his predecessors.

Everyday we are bombarded with decisions by incompetent politicians, rogue social activists who think they speak for people they don’t, dictators whose threats go unchallenged … and where is the CHURCH? Where are our religious leaders? Why are they silent? I understand that pastors can’t risk their non-profit status by preaching politics from the pulpit. But our religious leaders need to step up and join the fight by identifying the playing field … and get in the game!

Well, you know what they say: “The best laid plans …” or something like that. Anyway, yesterday (Sunday) was a bust for me. Seems that pain in my right lower side/back was another kidney stone lurking around. By late Saturday night I was in immense pain. By Sunday early morning I was moaning and groaning and praying hard that it was “just a kidney stone” and not my appendix or something worse. I’m sure the medical facilities here in New Delhi are marvelous, but I didn’t want to find out.

So I talked with my wife on Sunday afternoon and she – who has a certain “anointing” for praying away kidney stones (I stopped counting when I passed the 22nd one last fall) – prayed for me, I went back to bed, and at 4AM this morning the stone indeed rolled away (or right out). So, needless to say, Day Two of my India trip didn’t go as planned.

Today, however, was a new day and I’ve felt like a new man! After getting back to sleep around 4:30 AM this morning, I was finally able to sleep until about 8AM. I waked up feeling great – no pain and with an appetite (I haven’t eaten much since arriving on Thursday night due to the nausea). I showered and headed down to one of the hotel’s restaurants and had a wonderful American breakfast of scrambled eggs, bacon, wheat toast, pineapple juice (fresh squeezed, no less!), awesome Indian coffee, and fresh fruit.

Rohan sent his driver to pick me up around 10:30 AM and within 7 minutes we arrived at his gated home. For the next 6 hours or so we discussed his new CD release and all of the marketing and planning that goes into that venture. I met his parents (he’s only 24) and answered their questions – lovely people!

For lunch, Rohan had warned his chef that I was not fond of spicy food – and everything here is spicy! But, alas, Chef prepared a feast of Indian dishes, of which I sampled 2 or 3. Finally, Rohan’s mom realized that I wasn’t enjoying my meal too terribly much and ordered the chef to prepare me homemade chicken soup and a bacon/cheese/tomato toasted deli sandwich. Wow! What a lunch! So, yes – I chickened out of jumping right into the local delicacies, but after the way I’ve felt for the past 4 days I didn’t want to take any chances and ruin the rest of my stay here. And Mrs. Solomon is SO accommodating!

After lunch, we sat at the huge dining room table and munched on fresh fruit (the Indian grapes here are divine!) and talked about their customs, food, shopping, etc. Mrs. Solomon and her daughter-in-law made some great recommendations for where to find some authentic Indian teas and coffees, as well as gifts for my family and friends back home.

Since I’ve had such an issue with curry – American curry powder makes me violently ill – I asked the question “is everything here made with curry powder?” My hosts, with the utmost in graciousness, corrected my stupid American thinking and educated me on the topic of curry. Apparently curry here in India refers mainly to a type of gravy or standard sauce dishes are cooked in, or is ladled on rice. There’s not a spice called “curry” (thank-you, Steve, for providing your geeky definition of curry – see his comment to the “India – Arrival” entry). Curry is a gravy. And it is spiced up with many different spices including turmeric, peppers, saffron, etc. So, for Indians, curry is whatever you flavor it with. Whew – glad I got THAT cleared up! So, my friend Nick will NOT be getting a bag of curry powder from India when I return home later this week!

Tomorrow we will resume our music consultation, working on a developmental budget (including production costs for the CD), and a timeline for all of this to occur. We will discuss the numbers and timeline with his dad (the business owner) and brother (his business partner). On Wednesday morning I will be visiting Rohan’s office and meeting his staff (his family owns a very successful land and commercial development company here in New Delhi) and we most likely will do a bit more shopping (provided Mrs. Solomon accompanies me, according to Rohan). I will update this blog nightly, so “stay tuned.”

Blessings from New Delhi,
Gary

It’s been an interesting day here in New Delhi. After getting 4 hours sleep last night, I woke up at 5:30 AM this Saturday morning fully awake though physically tired. So I sat in bed and wrote about my travels here. After posting that blog, I went back to sleep and finally slept 4 more hours until 10AM.

When I got up at 10AM I realized that breakfast would be ending in 30 minutes, so I threw on some clothes and raced downstairs to the “Yellow Brick Road” restaurant for breakfast. It’s a very nice place where the staff wait on you constantly. I took advantage of the breakfast buffet and had a “made-to-order” omelet, a dish called Idli (steamed rice & lentil dumpling with spicey tomato sauce), juice, and coffee.

Later this morning Rohan and his driver picked me up for some site-seeing in the city. We went to the Khan Market where there was all manner of shops, vendors, etc. and crawling with people. I picked up a few souvenirs and we headed to the India Gate. As you may know, India’s movie industry is huge (”Bollywood”) and while we were there a film crew was filming a movie!

After leaving India Gate we went to the Lotus Temple, an architectural masterpiece of a modern worship place for the B’Hai faith. We had to remove our shoes to enter, but it was worth it. The building itself is enormous and beautiful. The gardens surrounding the temple were flourishing with beautiful flowers, well-kept gardens, and mowed green lawns.

Afterwards we headed to a popular shopping district and grabbed some lunch (barbecue chicken pita wraps with Lebanese dipping sauces). After sitting at lunch talking about everything from Rohan’s CD to what bands we listen to, we decided that jet lag was calling me to a nap, so we departed and they dropped me off at my hotel for some much-needed rest.

So, after a nice long nap I’m feeling better. Tomorrow we’re leaving early (9AM) for Agra to visit the Taj Mahal. Can’t wait to see this incredible place – one of the Seven Wonders of the World. More blogging tomorrow night after I get back.

Enjoy your Sunday!
Gary

After a LONG flight, I finally arrived here in New Delhi, India on Thursday night around 8:30 PM. With the 9 1/2-hour time difference, it seemed as though we were in the air over 23 hours, though the flight itself was only 14 hours from Newark. I left Jacksonville yesterday morning at 11AM and sat in the airport until departing 2 hours late at 4:30 PM. Air traffic in Newark caused backup’s, so all the flights were delayed.

Arriving in Newark, I quickly connected with Emily (my 22 year old daughter currently living in NYC), who took the train over from Manhattan to spend a few minutes with her dad. It was great seeing her since it had been close to 3 months since she was home last. We grabbed a bite in the food court (gross food at too high a price) and sat and talked for about 45 minutes before I needed to get back through Security and to my departure gate.

While we were waiting at the gate, several ICE (Immigration officials) escorted a handcuffed Indian past us on their way to our airplane. When they got to the gate, the illegal alien started fighting with the armed ICE guards, screaming “I don’t want to go back” causing a major caufuffle at the gate in front of us all. That was quite unnerving, as none of us wanted an angry handcuffed illegal alien on our flight. Several airport policemen arrived and, to our relief, escorted the man off the plane and out of the area. We didn’t see him again.

The flight from Newark departed around 9:20 PM last night. and, thank God, I had a great seat. Having checked in at home early the day before, I snagged an aisle bulkhead seat with an empty seat between me and the window seat. Fortunately, it stayed that way and the gentlemen from LA traveling to Delhi sitting in the window seat was a good seat-mate who didn’t talk too much but was cordial and considerate.

The flight itself was about 14 hours long. Having traveled a number of times to Africa, London, and all over Central America, this was by far the longest nonstop stretch flight I’d ever traveled. The plane wasn’t full to capacity, but sitting in a semi-inclined position for that long is hard, especially since just 12 inches away was business first class where the service was 5-star and the reclining bed/seats incredibly inviting! We were served dinner after reaching altitude, which consisted of baked chicken marsala, rice, yogurt, bread, and some kind of veggies I avoided. I must give Continental Airlines kudos for taking such good care of us! It equalled my experiences with British Airways, which was always impeccable on every flight! Breakfast was served an hour before we landed in Delhi and consisted of eggs, fresh fruit and – hallelujah! – coffee!

The Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi is a very modern building inside, with a spacious Immigrations and Customs area for arriving international flights. After retrieving my luggage (which made it!) and clearing Customs, I made my way to a very crowded lobby looking for my host. Rohan Solomon was waiting, holding a sign that read “TMA – Gary Stripling” and, before long we were off in his car to the hotel.

I had forgotten that, since India is a former British colony, everything is backward here (of course, to the Brits and Indians, it’s the way it’s supposed to be). I was ever so glad that Rohan picked me up and drove. Not since El Salvador or Nigeria have I seen so many drivers all over the road at once, beeping each other, cutting in front – it was a terrifying 20-minute ride to my hotel not for the weak of heart!

We pulled into the hotel – The Taj Ambassador Hotel – around 10:30 PM last night. In order to pull into the property itself, the car was stopped by armed guards, searched (underneath with a mirror on a pole & in the trunk), and the heavy gate was pulled back so we could enter the property. I suppose since the attacks in Mumbai last November that security has been beefed up. Rohan remarked as we were pulling in that I should be glad no terrorists would be able to get in!

The hotel itself is part of a large, 5-star chain of business hotels around India. This particular property is older, but very nice inside. We pulled up to the entrance and porters immediately opened our doors, retrieved my luggage and ran it through airport-type luggage scanning machines while we walked through metal detectors and went into the lobby to check in. The porter brought in my luggage almost immediately.

The Ambassador is a British-colonial style hotel with very properly trained employees. After taking me to my room and giving me a brief tour of my huge room, the porter left me to my own. My room is the size of a large business suite with king bed, sitting area with fireplace, flat-screen TV, large desk, mini-bar with tea service, large bathroom with the biggest tub I’ve ever seen, and a walk-out balcony overlooking … a large pit being excavated for a new hotel. Oh well, can’t have everything!

I ordered dinner in and was very pleasantly surprised at the service, speed, and quality of food. The dinner tray arrived in about 20 minutes – complete with a fresh rose on the tray. The porter offered to serve me, but I politely declined, tipped him and dug into my Chinese lemon chicken with fried rice and Seven-up. The food, while not spicey, had a yellow tinge I wasn’t sure came from curry powder or from the lemon. You see, when Laura and I were first married (28 years this June!), she served a Charleston favorite – chicken curry – and I immediately discovered that I’m allergic to curry powder. So, all these years I have avoided anything remotely flavored with curry powder, in spite of how great it smells. However, I’m not sure my Chinese lemon chicken didn’t have a bit of curry in it since I’ve been just a bit upset in the tummy since dinner. But the food was great and much needed after eating only airport/airplane food for the past 24 hours!

After a hot bath, I took a sleeping pill and crawled into my large, down-covered bed and fell fast asleep. Now here I am, at 5:30 AM and totally awake, writing this blog entry, wondering if my sleep patterns will adjust anytime soon! I fixed some Earl Grey tea, and will go downstairs for the breakfast (included with my room) in a couple of hours. Hopefully the laundry will return my shirts and pants – all pressed and ready to wear – before I need them!

I am excited about the next 6 days here in New Delhi. My client is finishing up on a Gospel CD, which he played some for me on the car ride here last night, and we will be jumping into business on Monday with a 3-day consultation to plan the final mastering of the project, its release in Hindi and English both in the UK and US, marketing, promotions, and a tour. His music is well-produced and quite good! Watch for great things from this break-out Indian artist!

Later today Rohan will show me the city and we’ll chill out and rest. Tomorrow we are going to Agra – a day trip to see the Taj Mahal! Other than the car ride, I’m sure the weekend will be great fun! I’ll keep my postings current as time allows, so check back here often for updates. And of course, your comments are always welcomed!

Blessings from New Delhi, India,
Gary

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Originally uploaded by garystripling

We had a wonderful dinner at Bistro Desaret in the Mid-town East area of Manhattan!

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Originally uploaded by garystripling

We had a GREAT time this past week, spending the holiday in New York City. Thanks to the realtor for which Emily works as a nanny for his daughter, we were able to get a one-bedroom flat on the upper East Side (63rd & Lexington) for the week. It was small, but bigger than a hotel room, newly remodeled with a full kitchen.

We (Laura, Elliott and I) flew to NYC and enjoyed every minute of the non-stop “touristy” types of things we did. The photo here was taken at about 7AM the morning of the Macy’s Parade. We staked out this spot early enough to get a “front-row” view of the parade as it passed us at 67th & Central Park West. What an AWESOME way to kick off Thanksgiving!

Later after the parade, we walked through Central Park enjoying the crisp, cool fall weather in the city. After brunch at an fabulous French bakery next door to our flat, we rested a bit during the afternoon. That evening, we taxied over to Bistro Deseret for a wonderful 4-course Thanksgiving dinner. After dinner we went to Times Square to take in the sights and sounds of the bustling city.

During the days before Thursday’s turkey day, we crammed a lot into the hours – ferry over to Staten Island (right past the Statue of Liberty), lots of window-shopping and gawking at the windows at Macy’s, Lord & Taylor, etc., watched the balloons being blown up the night before the parade, went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art (awesome!), and ate a lot of great food (NO chain restaurant food!).

We were blessed to spend 5 days with Emily and enjoy a bountiful time together in NYC. We pray that your Thanksgiving was filled with enjoyable times with your families as well.