Somebody that I used to know, a rubbish mediocre song from Gotye, but even rubbish can be turned around in the right hands.

A parody on banjo by Breeze and Wilson turns it around.

As did a solo improvisation by Mike Dawes on guitar.

• Somebody That I Used To Know – Mike Dawes

Mike Dawes has recorded over half a million hits since released last month, 610,774 as I write.

I’ve just been alerted to a Bing re-upload that has more views than youtube. Basically this song has smashed 1 million views in the first week. Absolutely crazy! – Mike Dawes

Mike Dawes recently got overexcited that the hits for Somebody That I Used To Know, his improvisation of a mediocre Gotye number had passed one million hits. I advised caution.

I do not know where he got his numbers from. When I checked, bing a little over half a million, youtube a little under half a million. If he is adding the two together totally meaningless.

That we place value on the number of hits, number of visits, means they have value. That they have value means they have become a currency, like cowrie shells. If a currency then we have to be alert to fraud, counterfeiting and debasing of the currency.

What do we mean by hits, how do we measure?

This blog counts the number of unique visits. That is if you visit once, twice, ten times or a hundred times, you are only counted once.

I get statistics for the number of visits each day, top articles for the week, top articles of the day.

Twitpic on the other hand counts each and every visit. You visist ten times, you will be counted ten times.

Two weeks ago NeverSeconds was at two million hits and I watched it pass three million. The visits on the count were clicking up much faster than one a second. Two weeks later, now over six million visits, the visits are clocking up at a little less than one a second.

At a guess, the count is of individual visits. This is reasonable as something new is posted every day and there would appear to be a large worldwide following reading the blog.

A new posting on twitpic will immediately pick up a few visits. This appears to be robots following key words and hashtags. Again reasonable as at the end of the line these will lead to humans.

For the record these are the hits clocked up by Mike Dawes on youtube sampled every twelve hours (plus or minus a couple of hours) since release of Somebody That I Used To Know on Tuesday of last week (19 June 2012):

• early hours Wednesday morning 301 hits
• early Wednesday afternoon 5,615
• early hours Thursday morning 22,596 hits
• early afternoon Thursday 114,579 hits
• early hours Friday morning 164,174 hits
• early afternoon Friday 255,524 hits
• early hours Saturday morning 283,113 hits
• early evening Saturday 328,809 hits
• early hours Sunday morning 345,219 hits
• evening Sunday 380,197 hits
• early hours Monday morning 385,177 hits
• early afternoon Monday 409,030 hits
• early hours Tuesday morning 419,657 hits
• Tuesday afternoon 439,208 hits
• early hours Wednesday morning 449,339 hits
• evening Wednesday 466,526 hits
• early hours Thursday morning 487,106 hits

You will see exponential rise until last Thursday. At the weekend it started to level off, but still steady growth.

The very observant may have noticed that the count stuck on 301, then moved forward. There is a reason for this. At 301, youtube introduce checking.

Were Mike Dawes on bandcamp (I find perverse he is not), he would be getting stats on what was happening. Additional benefits, people would be sharing, downloading, gigs can be posted etc. It also provides e-mail address of those who download, very useful for future mail outs.

Had Mike Dawes been on bandcamp and one hundred thousand had paid one dollar each to download Somebody That I Used To Know, that is a cool $100,000 less 15% to bandcamp.

To repeat, it is perverse not to be on bandcamp.

I agree with Steve Lawson when he says it is more important to be on twitter than a record label.

At the weekend Steve Lawson and Andrew Dubber launched a record label, Any And All Records. That weekend alone, over one hundred signings.

Myspace is a waste of space, only be there for legacy reasons. Facebook steals personal data. Spotify follows the facebook model and pays artists a pittance.

• Facebook apps
• Facebook: the most congenitally dishonest company in America

But it is no use simply being on twitter, you have to make effective use.

• Steve Lawson on books, music, communication and sharing
• Paulo Coelho: “Tweeting Is Art”

An example of clueless use of twitter is the West End Centre, a cultural space in Aldershot. They tweet gibberish. A world music festival in Farnborough, Hampshire Welcomes the World , was very poorly attended because they failed to tweet information about it. And they were one of the organisers!

The number of followers is crude if meaningless measure of twitter. A far better measure is tweetlevel.

Tweetlevel gives a rough idea of twitter influence, but should not be taken too seriously, and certainly do not tweet, never tweet, to effect a metric.

• Imogen Heap – @imogenheap – 87.5
• Paulo Coelho – @paulocoelho – 86.6
• Steve Lawson – @solbasssteve – 82.8
• Keith Parkins – @keithpp – 71.2
• West End Centre – @teamwesty – 51.7

Never write, perform music to influence a metric. It will simply produce bad writing, bad music.

From Mike Dawes web site:

Mike Dawes has helped spearhead the current wave of UK fingerstyle guitarists.

Years of collaboration and touring have provided him with a unique and varied approach to performance, utilising all aspects of the guitar to reference celtic, jazz, rock, and experimental music.

Mike’s debut single with CandyRat Records went viral instantly, with the likes of Gotye, Andy Mckee and Eric Whitacre reposting the video.  Mike takes an active interest in his audience, frequently teaching fans from his Facebook page over Skype.

Now how cool is that,  getting guitar lessons from Dawes on fingerstyle.

‘Astounding Virtuosity’ - Gotye

‘Incredible’ - International Guitar Foundation

‘Mike tears it right up, his hand looks like a creepy spider!’ - Andy Mckee

‘Beautiful and sensitively played arrangements and compositions’ - Acoustic Magazine

Since discovering the music of Pierre Bensusan at an early age, Mike has been completely dedicated to the guitar (along with the more obscure music that comes with it)

Currently residing in the South of England, Mike has been stunning audiences and critics with his guitar playing since 2008. His music often defies description, taking influence from Celtic, Rock, World and Popular music.

Mike Dawes site

Video uploaded by U Tube user rpoland

Impressive eh?

(via)

Mike Dawes and Amy Turk

This just completely blows the mind away!

Mike Dawes improvisation of Somebody That I Used To Know by Gotye. Far, far better than the original.

I saw Mike Dawes a couple of years ago when he and Amy Turk performed together. He was good then, but this is in another league altogether.

• Mike Dawes and Amy Turk at the West End Centre
• Mike Dawes and Amy Turk at the Farnham Carnival

He is performing with Nick Benjamin’s 100th guitar (Alpine Spruce/Cocobolo).

On iTunes and Amazon, but why not bandcamp where a far better deal and for download far better sound quality? This cries out for FLAC download. [see mp3 v FLAC]

We need an album, or at the very least, an EP.

Steve Lawson has a successful career as a solo bass player. Mike Dawes as solo guitar player?

Released a couple of years ago, Reflections, an EP Mike Dawes and Amy Turk.

Wow! As I said in the early post, sooner or later I was going to here about it… Cyndle just happened to claim it with world fishing famous Dawes. I was working and got “The Text”… I cracked a beer open and turned it upside down.

This kicks it off! I expect to see one of the best seasons of fishing here in the Tetons in some time. Right now the game is on with Salmon flies and a cold beverage!

Damn, Ma Nature always wins. Just when you think you have it figured out… No, you don’t. Great day and some great moments but, we are still some hours away from someone telling me “should have been there”

So, here you go today… H.F 2,450 CFS. High, bit off-color and perfect for a hatch… ? Teton, blowing out slowly… Looking like it could be over soon and fishable by early June. S. Fork… WTF? Years of nothing at this time other than spankings and now some kind of Skwala hatch that no one has heard of… Fishing well.

Fishing, love it!

O.k, after waiting for some time now and that would be a whole lot of some time now. I would like to thank Dawes for the photo… I am going to crack a tall one and think about this…

Still thinking… and I’m gone fishing!

Time.

We took MSD on a float this last Friday with a few of his closest friends. Rain, pouring rain could not stop the fun. Philly Dog on the grill for lunch, good company, beers and some trout.

After more than a couple of years of dating Jenn… Well, they finally got married. Jesus!

Congrats!

Lord Pierre Bensusan’s ‘So Long Michael’ performed by Mike Dawes on Nick Benjamin’s 100th guitar.

This song features on Pierre’s fantastic ‘Intuite’ album and is a tribute to Michael Hedges, one of the most innovative and influential guitar players.

Mike Dawes is one half of Mike Dawes and Amy Turk.

For Jane, Elaine and Sian.

Mike Dawes (one half of Mike Dawes and Amy Turk) performs the fantastic Tony McManus arrangement of ‘Goodbye Pork Pie Hat’, originally composed by Charles Mingus in 1959.

Mike Dawes on acoustic guitar, one half of Mike Dawes and Amy Turk.

Mike Dawes and Amy Turk performing their own composition ‘The Violet and the Bee’.

To welcome in the New Year, Mike Dawes and Amy Turk launched a new website today.

For my lovely friend Sian. Fond memories of two concerts we attended last year by Mike Dawes and Amy Turk.

Also see

Mike Dawes and Amy Turk at the West End Centre

Mike Dawes and Amy Turk at the Farnham Carnival

Amy Turk – Sydney Opera House audition

Mike Dawes – Boogie Shred

Mike Dawes – DADGAD Jazz

Mike Dawes – So Long Michael – Pierre Bensusan

Amy Turk (half of Mike Dawes and Amy Turk) performs Handel’s Harp Concerto (1st Movement), Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake Cadenza (3:40) and Verdi’s Force of Destiny Overture (5:30) for the 2011 YouTube Symphony Orchestra competition to play at the Sydney Opera House.

According to Mike Dawes this evening, this was the 25th best rated video on YouTube today!

Go through to YouTube and click ‘like’ to make Amy’s dream come true.

Amy Turk is one half of Mike Dawes and Amy Turk.

Also see

Mike Dawes and Amy Turk 2010 Tour

Mike Dawes and Amy Turk at the West End Centre

Mike Dawes and Amy Turk at the Farnham Carnival

So, here it is.  It came into the shop this afternoon carried by a large hangover.  Team Debauchery did the deed and put a can of whoop ass out on the competition of the world famous One Fly Comp with some good old fishing knowledge…. Have fun!

Rumors are circulating on the teams late night practice sessions and the events that followed.  The team gets the highest honors from the “Reef” for being booted out of the “I’m not a real Cowboy Bar”   I have found myself in that position a total of 3 times.  Nice, job guys.  The rest of the night is just rumors and the team could and would never be capable of any of it….

Anyway, WorldCast Anglers did what they do best….  went fishing, drank some beer and kicked some ass.  Wow, no wonder I work with these guys.

Also see

Mike Dawes and Amy Turk at the Farnham Carnival

Mike Dawes and Amy Turk at the West End Centre

You don’t know unless you’ve been there. Not a thought in the world, years of “experience” or a line quoted from a book can explain what it’s like to REALLY be there.

Today, we let the river run under the boat and thru our toes.  This trip I thought about the power of a river - the strength to move earth, the flow that takes it all away, the journeys and endless memories created for a father and son.

Today, Dawes was in the boat as we drifted into another epic journey…

catching the shit out of trout on dry flies.

Following on from Julia K, Mike Dawes and Amy Turk, Mike Dawes on acoustic guitar and Amy Turk on harp.

An eclectic mix ranging from New Age, to almost medieval, to blues.

The setting was intimate, a few tables in the Studio in the West End Centre in Aldershot.

Signed copies of Reflection were picked up after the performance.

Mike Dawes and Amy Turk are mid-way through a UK tour. They will be appearing at the Farnham Carnival at nearby Farnham on 26 June 2010 and at Fahrenheit 55 in nearby Guildford 28 July 2010. An act well worth seeing.

The West End Centre is a little cultural gem, a cultural oasis in an otherwise cultural wasteland.

An absolute must for the West End Centre: Socos Duo, Mechanical Bride, Jacob’s Stories, Lucinda Drayton.

Also see

Mike Dawes and Amy Turk at the West End Centre
Mike Dawes and Amy Turk – MySpace
Mike Dawes and Amy Turk – Facebook
Mike Dawes and Amy Turk – YouTube

Why would you want to fuck this up?  Make, that twice….  Keep your ears open on this and your guns loaded.  This WILL NOT happen.

Mike Dawes just reminded all of us that the fight is not over.  Battle on! AND check out Dawesflyfishing.com to remind yourself that you love the adventure of the outdoors.

Just a little bit proud of this photo.  It appeared in latest issue of Sleeping in the Dirt.  A big thanks out to Dawes, Otto and WCA.

Habitat,  is about a mountain lifestyle and giving it 11o%…  No, fucking around.

Yes, this is an original S. Fork Skiff and YES, I did have one before Dawes.

At some point in your summer as a guide you call “peace” and fish thru your client.  This works most of the time but, not all the time.   Sooner or later you want to be the one dropping the dry fly on the water, you want to be out from behind the oars and up front searching the water with that faithful Bud Light right in the corner pocket waiting for that special sip.  It is at this point you gather a friend, equipment and beer.  Mike Dawes and I tailored up and went looking for browns deep in cowboy country.

    We found ‘THE’ water on this trip but, the only problem was that it went on and on to a point that we broke the No.1 Guide rule…”THE COOLER SHOULD NEVER BE EMPTY BEFORE THE  TAKE OUT”  Well, we F’d that up and rationed as good as could be expected some 20 miles into the river of no return.  No truck or trailer in sight and the beer numbers down into the single digits things got quiet on the boat until Mike hooked the beast.  The middle of absolutely nowhere holding a 27 inch Brown Trout.  Lucky?  Not really, the bastard finds a way to pull this off about every trip.

We did eventually find the truck and yes, the cooler was empty.

Something I learned growing up in South Dakota…. Gravel roads will always take you to the best hunting and fishing spots and the pavement road at the end of the gravel will always lead you to the best tasting beer.

              Trigger trying to figure out what the hell just came out of the water.

Mike Dawes lost and loving over 20 pounds in hand.