Chris Chandler's MUSE AND WHIRLED RETORT April 2009

Updated from yesterday, keep reading:

Chris is one of my folk music friends. He always has something fun to report. This month bring some big news for him. We'll need to get him to perform again for us in Pittsburgh.

T.H.E. .M.U.S.E. .A.N.D.. .W.H.I.R.L.E.D. .R.E.T.O.R.T.

April 1, 2009
Vol X Issue vI
Silver Spring, MD

As I am sure by now most of you have heard, things are pretty a buzz here in chandler land. So I want to first say thanks all of the letters of congratulations for my most recent little blip of recognition on the National Radar screen. Thank you Thank You THANK YOU! It has been a trip!

For those of you who don't know, In Barack Obama's recent national town hall meeting, a question was asked to The President of the United States by YES! Little ol me! I couldnt believe it either, I am still kind of in shock. But all the hype at home afterwards made it even wilder.

It was a simple question really. It was about breaking up the banks. I guess that is why they picked it. But still - Wow! Truthfully, I logged on to ask the question more or less on a lark and didn't think much about it. Then I got an email (a You-Tube message actually) saying it was going to be used!

I mean it's not like I asked all of you to go out there and vote for my question like the people wanting him to address Marijuana legalization. My favorite oxymoron BTW: Marijuana Initiative.

Anyway, I digress. I asked that if the financial institutes are too big to fail what steps are being taken to break them up so they will no longer be too big to fail. His answer, you will recall (at least I thought) was pretty lame. Basically he said, "Tougher regulation." At first I was (honestly) kind of pissed. But then, the phone started ringing and emails started pouring in. Sheeze, I have been trying to get national attention for 20, now 21 years (technically 20 years and 11 months, but who is counting?) and I get more attention for this one thing I did as a lark than the 13 albums I have put out combined!

It was nice hearing from a bunch of people I hadn't heard from in a long time. My mother was impressed. I got a bunch of extra hits on my web page (although not as many as you would think after kind of having a conversation with the President of the United States.) OK, it wasn't in real time or linear, and wasn't really even a conversation at all, I just had my name and home town of Stone Mtn, GA read and then a little U-Tube clip of me reading a from a piece of paper in my bed room. But it was on national TV.

Can't I say I had a conversation with the President of the United States? Can't I have my little moment, just for a second? OK maybe not. It is pretty amazing how many people will contact you just from one little blip on the national media.

Three different people went to my website and then telephoned me to ask if we were related because we had the same last name. Really. One of them called at 2 AM in the morning! I am going to have to remove my cell number from my website.

Well, thats the way I thought about it. It was cool. (except for that) But then, I get an email to the chandler.org account from a company called Schwartz and Lowman who handle advertising for Wachovia Bank. They liked the question too.

Ya see Wachovia was recently bought by Wells-Fargo. They want people to know, that they have heard our concerns and they understand. So they are launching an ad campaign. "Wachovia, we are still in the neighborhood!"

These guys had gone as far as researching my past little newsletters and found the one where I talk about the bank account I had when I was a teenager, and how it got bought by someone and then by someone else and then by First Union and then by Wachovia. Now that Wachovia has been bought by Wells Fargo and they received TARP money, AND in the wake of the AIG bonus brew-ha-ha they want to launch an add campaign. That's where the ad company comes in.

They want me to tell MY story in an ad. "Wachovia, We're still the same bank."

They liked me -- Chris Chandler taking his concerns to the president, and They want people to know that they too are listening.

It's cool I read the first draft of the script day before yesterday. They liked the angle, of little ol broke nobody folk singer trying to make a living and taking his little bits of money to his neighborhood bank and then the bank gets bought and sold. So he manages to get on National Television to ask the president about his concerns. There is a shot of Wachovia executives watching in a big board room and then deciding to invest in a play ground at an inner city elementary school. WAY COOL!

I start the shoot in two weeks here in Silver Spring. So, to any of my stage hand friends that are reading this, I know where you can get some work. I kind of have an in!

Twenty years on the road and FINALLY Chandler catches a break. I am going to be featured in a national TV ad for Wachovia- Wells Fargo. "Wachovia, investing in Neighborhoods since 1953." The thing that honestly excites me, aside from a national Bank hearing my concerns and doing something about it, is the pay. I will make more from this one ad than I did in all of 2008 and 2007 combined!

If any of you know any entertainment lawyers out there I could use a hand because honesty I am in a little bit over my head. There is all this stuff in this contract I just got about my likeness being owned, and what happens if there are repeat commercials. Like what happens if I become like the "Mr Whipple." of Wachovia? Or The Maytag Repairman?

I mean stranger things have happened. But I can't think of any. Wow what a weird two weeks!

Yes, I am still doing the tour in May with Danny Dolinger. I don't think it is going to change that much its just I will be able to make a bit more of a comfortable living for this one commercial. YAY! To comfort. But, don't worry. I will still be keeping it on the road. Speaking of such I will see you between the white lines!

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A.n.n.o.n.c.m.e.n.t.s.

The TV commercial should be running by late spring. I hope to be able to put an advance copy on my web site!
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As part of my contract Wachovia has agreed to forgive the $800 in bounced check charges was complaining about a few months ago. In exchange I have agreed to run an ad for them in this news letter for one year.

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Danny Dolinger and I are STILL doing the NE tour in May. We have some holes in our calendar and would be willing to extend the tour on either end. See dates below.
In particular we would like something in Baltimore and DC.

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Paul Benoit and I are looking for dates on the West coast for July for the Wachovia in your neighborhood House Concert Tour.
I haven't posted much but we have a lot of irons in the fire. We are looking for shows anywhere from Santa Cruz to Courtney, BC.
As well as a date in DC/Balto/Philly June 13 14ish He will be playing with me at X-Fest.

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Paul Benoit and I are looking for dates in England and or Holland for August. Again, nothing is posted but We have some irons in the fire. If you can be of some help here please let us know.

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The Box set continues to do well. If you are interested in obtaining a boxed set featuring the best of the past twenty years on the road click here.
I can still sell the ones I have before I have to add the Wachovia Logo to it.

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I hope to have a book out for the summer that is a compendium of the best of the past ten years of this news letter. T.H.E. .M.U.S.E. .A.N.D. .W.H.I.R.L.E.D. .R.E.T.O.R.T.

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I have a different featured video on my home page each month. I have not completed a new one since the last George Mann Project. I am still working on one for Anne Feeney.

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T.H.A.N.K. .Y.O.U.!
Edward Lowman and Neil Schwartz at Lowman and Schwartz, Barack Obama for answering and staff for picking my question, Jill Hirshorn at Wachovia, Shirley Myers, Anne Feeney, Celene de Loach, The Baltimore Poetry Slam, Brian QTN, Joe and Jay, EEQ, Pat Barnes, CD Baby

H.E.R.E.S. .D.A. .D.A.T.E.S.
(see comments)

http://chrischandler.org/

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Here is the update:

The April 2nd Edition of The Muse and Whirled Retort from Chris Chandler
T.h.e. .M.u.s.e. .a.n.d. .W.h.i.r.l.e.d. .R.e.t.o.r.t.

The April the 2nd edition
April 2, 2009
Vol X Issue vi supplemental
Silver Spring, MD

APRIL FOOLS!

No, ladies and gentlemen - I am not now the Mr Whipple of Wachovia. But thanks so much for believing I was (those of you who did)

I am not sure if I enjoyed the letters of congratulations or the lengthy multi-paged screeds on the evils of Wachovia and how I am a major sell out.

Or even the little walks down memory lane from April Fools 5 years ago when I managed to convince many of you that I was now a motivational speaker for Lockheed Martin and would be opening for the Charley Daniels Band at the Paul Wolfowitz theatre in Langley, VA.

This time around, I managed to fool some of the smartest people I know. Zoinks!

I think my favorite might have been my own entertainment lawyer writing me asking, "What do you mean you need an entertainment lawyer?!"

Someone told me they had read it out in the blog-o-sphere first. HA! I have trouble traversing the Chandler-o-sphere so I will just imagine that part to be true.

OK OK. If any one of you had written me to say you asked a question in Barack Obama's town hall meeting I would have bought it.

Maybe I would have bought that anyone of you was becoming a spokes person for Wachovia. Where my BULL SH@#%*! Flag would have gone up is the fact that Wachovia Bank would hear our concerns and start investing in neighborhoods.

Now that IS a Whopper .

Well, in any event, I felt a second E-Mail is in order. Feel free to reply.

OK OK - I promise not to bug you guys with two E-Mails in a row like this often. I really try to make this strictly a once a month thing. I really do appreciate your kind words and thoughts.

I am going to wait to unsubscribe those of you who did so until after tomorrow in the hopes that this note will at least change some of your minds.

I won't bore y'all with another newsletter - other than to say

THANKS for all the responses.

I swear the people on this list are the absolute coolest folks on the planet!

And since so many of the coolest folks on the planet have asked -I

will give you a few highlights of what is really going on.