Tune Tag Celebrates #100! Andres of The Vinyl Room Interviews Brad Kyle

Two years ago, the "Baton" was passed, and what started out as a cute little parlor game, has quickly evolved into a thoroughly engaging and entertaining weekly tune-trading Tuesday treat: Tune Tag!

Tan Tag

Sunning poolside at the manse, I took a call from good friend,

Andres

of The Vinyl Room. He’s usually down to come over for a dip, but this time, he had questions. It seems word had leaked that Tune Tag was rapidly approaching its 100th episode, and Andy was keen to get some answers about the popular song’n’artist-matching game.

We did our best to comply, while Andy tipped’n’sipped his tea from his favorite Tune Tag tea tankard! Settle in for the fun!

🎺Trumpeting Tune Tag: “I love Tune Tag, one of the best e-mails I get!”—

Jamie Ward

, creator of SERMONS! on Substack

1. How has Tune Tag evolved and what, in your view, has been the biggest contribution to the format we know and love today?

Tune Tag started as a game called “Baton,” Andy, presumably named and devised by a gal named Valerie Dee aka DJ Val here on Substack. Here is that first “Baton,” which was played and published just a few days after the 2nd anniversary of FRONT ROW & BACKSTAGE, in mid-August 2023:

Tune Tag #1 with DJ Val: "Love in Your Eyes"-Eno, Pond, Frampton, Gabriel

To give it a more memorable and alliterative name, I re-named “Baton” “Tune Tag,” which goes a long way, also, in describing what the game’s all about! Mad props to another great friend of FR&B and Tune Tag,

Steve Goldberg

of the always entertainingly tuneful and funny,

Earworms and Song Loops

, who, knowing my love of alliteration, suggested a Tuesday (Tunesday?) publication day (for a Tuesday Tune Tag)! That helped settle it into a “regular rotation,” if you will!

I think the biggest contribution to the format has simply been its ability to be repeatable and sustainable for going on two years, now! And, the lion’s share of that credit has to go to our dozens of brave, adventurous, and music-adoring guests who’ve played the Tag!

If our two years worth of Tune Tag players don’t come to the fore and generously volunteer, we’re not sitting here today talking about its popularity, much less Episode #100! So, our guest players deserve so much love, appreciation, and credit for the sustainability of Tune Tag to date!

As the “final composer” of the finished product, those players, too, deserve credit for entrusting their writing and creativity over to me to present their work in the brightest and most accurate light possible. And, that’s certainly Job 1 at Tune Tag Central!

Here’s another post, Andy, that helps dissect “our patient” and takes a close look at the little-seen “innards” of Tune Tag:

🎺Trumpeting Tune Tag: “Another great Tune Tag! The wonders of FRONT ROW & BACKSTAGE never cease!”--Michael Elliott, creator of The Mixtape on Substack.

2. How do you go about selecting participants?

I try to ask the people with whom I’ve already become friendly on Substack. If I’ve met them on our social media Notes, or collabbed with them on an article, or “met” them in comment sections, they’re likely to get an invite! I’ve even invited someone to play if I’ve seen an interesting article by them, or been drawn in by something they said on Notes!

Wanna play Tune Tag? Just give me a jingle on DMs! It’s easy, it’s fun, and it’s a great way to publicize your Substack page (especially helpful if you’re new)! If you’re a musician recording and releasing new songs, we’re eager to publicize your links for buying and streaming! Same for you writers, with your books’n’whatnot!

🎺Trumpeting Tune Tag: “The songs in any given Tune Tag are obviously something that never could have been generated any other way: No algorithm, no Apple Playlist Pro, nope. Just that particular Tune Tag!”—Peter C. Baker of

Tracks on Tracks

on Substack

3. How would you describe your ideal participant?

I think our ideal participant would be willing to kind of “go with the flow,” while also being willing to be a bit creative in researching a song and/or artist to tag to a song that came before. Our players love using Wikipedia, Google, and Discogs for most of their researching. But, anything is fair game, when it comes to researching!

It’s less important to “know a lot” about music or the record biz than it is to be willing to dig deeper than one might ordinarily do in their daily music life. If you’ve never looked at the credit list for an album on Discogs, for example, it can sometimes be an eye-opener, and a rich goldmine for great names and little-known factoids!

🎺Trumpeting Tune Tag: “Brad Kyle was one of the earlier people I discovered exploring Substack. An earlier Tune Tag collaboration inspired me to start writing myself; I’m still a fan, and it’s one of the best ways to discover new music writers.”—

NickS (WA)

of Earnestness is Underrated, from his recent “Thanks and Recommendations” article.

4. Could you run us through your process of putting it all together and writing the final piece?

Once I’ve secured a willing participant, I’ll make sure he or she is comfortable with the entire process (basically what you’re asking)! We’ll do all this on Substack’s Notes’ DMs. I’ll also direct them to peruse a couple of past Tune Tags to get familiar with the flow and the final product. This is where they can ask me questions, too.

The guest DMs me the first song (any genre/any decade/any artist/any song). As we go, they’ll want to keep “secret” notes on an e-mail draft, so they don’t forget why they sent a song, or what and why they’re linking with a song I’ve sent. I do the same on a Substack post form, where the actual Tune Tag will be assembled and from which it’ll be posted on a given Tuesday. It’ll be e-mailed to all FRONT ROW & BACKSTAGE subscribers (paid and free), and will then appear, published, on the FR&B front page.

The guest and I will DM each other 8 songs total, 4 apiece, alternating. There’s no deadline and no hurry. We could trade our 8 songs in an hour, a day, or a week…matters not. Tune Tag isn’t a race, nor is it a trivia contest.

Once the guest has finalized his/her notes about each song, they’ll e-mail me those notes. I’ll cut’n’paste ‘em onto the new Tune Tag post form I’ve started, assign them a Tune Tag #, and DM them the Tuesday date their Tag will be published. I like to stay about 3-5 weeks ahead. In other words, the Tune Tag I may be playing now with a guest won’t be published for about 3 weeks to a month from now.

It’s only the week before a particular TT drops that I’m putting it all together…finding the opening cat’n’dog playful gif, researching/finding extra music videos, photos, and other adornments to fill it all out. I like to “keep things moving” within the Tag, but challenge myself to keep these added things all relevant to the songs and artists being presented!

So, as I’m getting the Tune Tag ready for the coming Tuesday, I’m reminded of the songs the guest and I traded as much as a month ago! It’s fun re-visiting that which we played a few weeks ago, but, also making it all coherent, fun, and factually accurate!

🎺Trumpeting Tune Tag: “Tune Tag is honestly one of the best gifts a music writer on Substack can get. Brad’s not only one of our finest writers, he’s also just a great guy. But above all, Tune Tag is so much fun…an essential read (and listen)!”—Pe Dupre of The Twelve Inch

5. What has been the biggest lesson you’ve learned doing Tune Tag every week so far?

“The biggest lesson”? Probably the biggest challenge I aim for is to strive for shining a complimentary light on the music-loving history of each guest. We all have different musical tastes, different eras in which we grew up, and different and valid reasons for loving the music we do! I try to celebrate that, and make sure I’m clearly highlighting that for each guest!

🎺Trumpeting Tune Tag: “Really, the only reason I get out of bed on Tuesdays!”—Chrs Bro of

Chris’s Shaped By Sound Substack

6. What's in store for Tune Tag in the coming months?

Celebrating the 100th Tune Tag is pretty special! In fact, here is the 100th:

Tune Tag #100 with Flipped Out Phil: Beckies, Chris Stamey, Other Side, Micky Dolenz, Montage, Lemon Twigs, Bongos, Mark Eric

And, I appreciate this interview, which fits well within that celebration (especially as we’re not planning a parade, potluck, shrimp-shuck, quilting bee, pie exchange, or formal banquet)! I’d love to do a TT with one of the “name” musicians who also write on Substack.

With at least two of them, we’ve gotten a Tag started, only to then be told they’re in rehearsals for a new album and/or tour, and they’ve got to put the Tag on hold (which I certainly understand). I hate to pester them as they’re in the middle of doing their career, so I wait ‘til they might get back to me “when they’re ready,” but I certainly understand it’s unlikely they will. And, as you know, I’m not one to pry.😁

I suppose I could reach out to one of the “legacy” artists on here whose major label recording careers are winding down a bit, just due to age, but I’m kinda bashful!

🎺Trumpeting Tune Tag: “Tune Tag: This was the most fun writing-related thing I’ve ever done. Thanks, Brad!”—

Colin Cerniglia

, creator of CERNIG on Substack

Celebrate #100, and take Tune Tag with you! The Tune Tag Gift Shoppe is now open! Perfect for gift-giving…even to yourself!

“As Dylan would sing, ‘Well, it’s time for my bootheels to be wanderin’!” Yours truly in front of “Quanah,” my trusty 2010 Chevy HHR, summer of ‘23. Thanks for tuning in for this Tune Tag #100 celebratory interview…and, thank you, Andy! Hop in, won’t you? We’ll be tooling around town looking for wandering tunes to tag!😁👍We’ll see you this coming Tuesday, July 15 for Tune Tag #101!📸Jhovany Lopez