Solovox just grabbed the blue ribbon, and won five grand in the "Intuit's Turbo Tax Rap Competition on YouTube" (recently retitled, "Who Knew?"). Check it out, y'all.

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5b7KhvQSNcY

And since Carl is a man of many talents, including making darn good press releases, here's the straight dope from the horse's keyboard.

April 16, 2007

PORTLAND, OR:

 

             

April 16, 2007

 

PORTLAND, OR: 

 

Local Music Producer Solovox (aka Carl Tietze) has won 1st Prize and $5,000 with his video "Turbo Tax Master" for Intuit's Turbo Tax Rap Competition on YouTube, it was officially announced today. 

 

Selected from 370 nationwide submissions, Solovox's catchy and comedic 2-minute short was the Top Pick among the Intuit Turbo Tax judges, who selected their favorite.

 

Even before winning the First Prize, the local performer has been swamped with emails and phone calls for the past two weeks after submitting his video for the competition. 

 

"I uploaded the video 30 minutes before the deadline on Friday, and by Tuesday I was receiving about one email per minute from people who were incredibly enthusiastic and complimentary", says Tietze, a popular musician and performer working under the stagename "Solovox" in Portland since 2001.

 

"It was the most fun I've had in years making the video, and it just seemed to make everyone who watched it really happy...even though the reality is that it's a video about tax software.  Nobody seems to even care about that.  They just seem to respond to it." 

 

Tietze also says he's heard from ex-Portlanders across the country who loved the video and it's frequent use of local sights and landmarks.  "My girlfriend and I drove around town trying to find good spots to shoot the video.   We ended up showing the Willamette River, Big Pink, the Steel Bridge, Pioneer Place, and downtown all in 2 minutes."

 

As Solovox, Tietze performs as a solo keyboardist and electronic musician, both in downtempo settings and as a dance artist for festivals and clubs.  But "Turbo Tax Master" was a complete surprise to many of his fans.

 

"So many folks just weren't expecting me to put out a video where I'm singing and dancing...much less rapping.   I can't wait to do it again.  Frankly, if this were my fulltime day job I'd be very happy.  It just came out of pure joy and silliness.  Given the positive response, I might soon have a career that pays me for silliness.

 

Carl's website, www.solovox.com , keeps fans appriased of his upcoming performance dates and all related news.  His upcoming  shows are listed along with his contact information.  

 

TURBO TAX MASTER:

On YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5b7KhvQSNcY

 

link to the "official version" (slightly less quality)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXLgFgxF_PM&mode=related&search=

 

the hi-res file for download:

http://www.solovox.com/freedownloads/Turbo_Tax_Master.wmv

 

 

UPCOMING SHOWS:

THIS FRIDAY!

April 20

HIGHER
An All Dance Odyssey 
  Outlaws (the old Bossanova Ballroom)

722 E. Burnside Dr, Portland OR.   $12, $4.20 after 1am, 21 and over

Performing a solo set, and also performing with Late Night Freakout Odyssey.  Washington's Flowmotion headlines!

 

April 25

JAZZTRONICA
A completely improvised downtempo set with one of the Northwest's premier trumpet players, Derek Sims.

The BLUE MONK, 3341 SE Belmont Ave, Portland OR.   $5, 8:30pm, ALL AGES until 10pm, 21+ after

 

May 11-13
LIGHTNING IN A BOTTLE
A sustainable energy music festival--SANTA BARBARA, CA.  Performing a Solovox set, as well as with The Mutaytor.   www.lightninginabottle.org   

 

May 19

FRIENDLY FIRE
A Fundraiser for the Mobile Groove Bomb--this is the bus that Solovox performs from atop the roof at Burning Man.  Show is at ACME here in Portland, featuring MARCH FOURTH MARCHING BAND and many others.  Solovox will also MC this all-day all-night event.

NEWS FLASH:
PURCHASE Solovox tracks directly from the source at

http://www.myspace.com/solovox

Unreleased tracks and brand new songs for 99 cents per download...available only here

____________________________________________________________________________________________
 

SOLOVOX RADIO is on the air
FIVE HOURS of FREE listening enjoyment...shuffling through Live Tracks, Album Tracks, Ambient and Demo Tracks
at

www.solovox.com

 

BUY the album, Break Out Of Prism at www.solovox.com 

 

REVIEW the album!  Anyone who wants to add their thoughts about Break Out Of Prism is cordially invited to do so.  Just go to http://www.cdbaby.com/review/solovox and tell the good people on CDBaby what you think. 

 

For more info...stay tuned to:

www.solovox.com
www.cdbaby.com/cd/solovox