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Jasco's Jive Dec 2010
There are times in my life I question the path I’ve chosen. I question why I’ve chosen it, and I question if I’ve made a wise decision in my life’s direction. I had a ‘real job’ for 2 ½ days when I was a teenager. I quit in the middle of the third day and didn’t even go back to get my paycheck for the little time I’d put in. I decided at that moment I needed to find a way to make my musical skills pay. Since then all the money I’ve made in my life has been guitar related – gigs and lessons primarily, with some repairing and buying/selling of instruments.
Perhaps if my life’s passion was something other than music I could have chosen a more conventional career path. But the music bug bit me early and hard.
By typical American standards, I’ve lived on the poor side of things all my life. But, I don’t have a lot of material desires. An instrument to play, time to play it, and perhaps someone to listen, are really all I need to keep me happy. As anyone who tries to do music for a living knows, it’s an occupation that has to be a labor of love. And I realize I am one of the fortunate musicians to have avoided a real job.
On days like today though, when I’m figuring out how to pay bills for the month, I can’t help but question a little bit the wisdom of my choices.
More importantly though, might be the why. Almost every reason I can think of points to selfishness. Performing onstage is an instant reward for the ego. Being my own boss means I can use my time however I want. And playing music is just plain fun for me.
My sister, who is a doctor, actually helps people with their health. My dad, who is a toxicologist, helps the environment. My mother, a speech therapist, helps children with speech impediments.
What do I, as a musician, do for others? I wish that my music somehow emotes some positive feelings to others. I’d like to hope that perhaps what I give exceeds the rewards I get back. But perhaps it’s all just a self-deception, or justification, for more instant gratification of my ego.
I’ll be trying to provide some emotive music with The Mighty Jivesters tonight (Dec 3) at the Waterloo Icehouse in Louisville and tomorrow (Dec 4) at El Chapultepec Too in Denver, as well as next week with The Symbols on Friday Dec 10 at the Brook Forest Inn near Evergreen and on Saturday Dec 11 at the CF&G in Ft Collins.
There are times in my life I question the path I’ve chosen. I question why I’ve chosen it, and I question if I’ve made a wise decision in my life’s direction. I had a ‘real job’ for 2 ½ days when I was a teenager. I quit in the middle of the third day and didn’t even go back to get my paycheck for the little time I’d put in. I decided at that moment I needed to find a way to make my musical skills pay. Since then all the money I’ve made in my life has been guitar related – gigs and lessons primarily, with some repairing and buying/selling of instruments.
Perhaps if my life’s passion was something other than music I could have chosen a more conventional career path. But the music bug bit me early and hard.
By typical American standards, I’ve lived on the poor side of things all my life. But, I don’t have a lot of material desires. An instrument to play, time to play it, and perhaps someone to listen, are really all I need to keep me happy. As anyone who tries to do music for a living knows, it’s an occupation that has to be a labor of love. And I realize I am one of the fortunate musicians to have avoided a real job.
On days like today though, when I’m figuring out how to pay bills for the month, I can’t help but question a little bit the wisdom of my choices.
More importantly though, might be the why. Almost every reason I can think of points to selfishness. Performing onstage is an instant reward for the ego. Being my own boss means I can use my time however I want. And playing music is just plain fun for me.
My sister, who is a doctor, actually helps people with their health. My dad, who is a toxicologist, helps the environment. My mother, a speech therapist, helps children with speech impediments.
What do I, as a musician, do for others? I wish that my music somehow emotes some positive feelings to others. I’d like to hope that perhaps what I give exceeds the rewards I get back. But perhaps it’s all just a self-deception, or justification, for more instant gratification of my ego.
I’ll be trying to provide some emotive music with The Mighty Jivesters tonight (Dec 3) at the Waterloo Icehouse in Louisville and tomorrow (Dec 4) at El Chapultepec Too in Denver, as well as next week with The Symbols on Friday Dec 10 at the Brook Forest Inn near Evergreen and on Saturday Dec 11 at the CF&G in Ft Collins.
Jasco’s Jive Oct 2010:
The world can be a really screwed up place. Some of the problems are man made – war, environmental damage, poverty, crime. Some of the problems are natural – hurricanes, earthquakes, disease.
If one pays attention to current events, the scope of today’s challenges can almost be depressing and overwhelming. After all, what can any one person do to solve any one of these problems, let alone all of them. Almost nothing.
Almost.
But does that mean that one shouldn’t even try to help. Of course not. It just means that one shouldn’t expect instant gratification when working for solutions for large problems. A quote by the Greek philosopher Plutarch comes to mind "Many things which cannot be overcome when they are together, yield themselves up when taken little by little."
Many local musicians that I know donate their time and talents to play at a variety of events to benefit worthy causes. There are also people who aren’t performing musicians that donate their time and efforts to organize and host such events, such as Honey Sepeda’s recent Blues for the Gulf jam, the annual food drive concert at Spotlight Music in Ft Collins, or the benefit for MD hosted by The Tavern in Greeley every labor day. All of the musicians and promoters of such events have my respect for trying to make a positive difference in the world.
And while any one event will not be a catalyst for world change, collectively the efforts do make a difference over time. Improvements do not happen overnight, nor do they happen without persistence and focus.
That concepts relates to guitar training. If I set out to become a great guitar player, I’ll get nowhere fast. But if I focus on placing one finger on one fret perfectly one time, then I have achieved taking a tiny step forward. And tiny steps add up. But you’ve got to continue to take them. Focus and persistence.
My new band, The Symbols, has decided that instead of just playing for fun, money, and ego gratification, we want to try to use our talents to make a positive impact in the world. We’ve chosen a specific cause – to aid in the fight against multiple sclerosis or MS. For as long as we are a band, we are going to donate a significant percentage of sales of our music and merchandise to some foundation that is searching for a cure for MS, or providing aid for those with MS. There is a reason we picked this specific cause. If you’d like to find out more about why we picked this cause, and what we intend to do for it, sign up for the monthly Symbols newsletter at our website. I’ll be writing the first essay for The Symbols in mid-October.
My other band, The Mighty Jivesters, will be at Blues and Greens in the Outlook Hotel this Friday October 1st. Honey Sepeda, whom I mentioned earlier in this letter, is in charge of booking acts for Blues and Greens. As a result, she knows not only every blues musician in Colorado, but also any blues musician who comes through Colorado. She has used her energetic personality to build a network of musicians for benefits repeatedly for worthy causes, the latest of which is Blues for the Gulf. While it only takes me a couple hours to drive down, play a benefit, and then drive home, Honey works for weeks or months on these projects. I’m both inspired and impressed by how much work she does and what she accomplishes. In honor of that, on Friday, The Mighty Jivesters will donate all the money we generate from CD sales that night to the Blues for the Gulf Foundation. As AC says, “CD’s are five dollars each, but tonight we’re running a special – 6 CDs for $30.”
For those of you interested in reading any of my previous writings, click here:
Additionally, these essays are about to picked up as a regular feature on the English music site Artist Launch.
Musically,
Jasco
Sept 2010
At gigs, I often get asked about how whatever band I’m playing with was formed. Some bands I’ve been in were intentional creations. Some just kind of fall together accidentally. I’ve also noticed people interested in how bands break up.
One band I was in was the product of 4 musicians intentionally trying to form a band that could play outside of the small town we live in. The first gig that band got was a 60 day over seas tour that had us playing in Israel, Egypt, Turkey, Germany, Greece, Italy, and Spain. That band lasted twelve years, and was finally done in by personality conflicts after over 600,000 miles on the road together.
Another band I had formed via a connection on craigslist. The singer and I then met for a coffee shop jam and found rhythm section players on craigslist as well. That band lasted a few years, before the members naturally drifted different ways musically, and I still occasionally work with the singer when she needs a substitute guitarist.
I got called once as a last minute fill in for a group which then continued to hire me for the next four months. I got fired from that group, along with the bass player, for refusing to go to rehearsals wherein we played "shuffle in E" for several hours.
There was one band of mine that formed from an acoustic gig at the Budweiser Events center in Loveland, Colorado. It had a lot of promise, but character flaws outweighed the talent potential and tanked that project in less than a year.
One of my current bands, The Mighty Jivestsers, came into being when AC happened down to a jam I was hosting at Ziggies. He was just too talented with his singing, harp, and piano chops for me to ignore. So I had to turn on my faux charisma and convince him to form a band to gig with. Luckily he didn’t need much convincing.
My newest band, The Symbols, was formed unintentionally during a rehearsal I was having with some rhythm section players I use for my instrumental trio gigs. A young lady named Mer Sal was watching the rehearsal, as her boyfriend was the bassist. I’d met Mer a few weeks prior and had written her off as a cute, talkative, possibly stoned, airhead. Just the type of girl I’d have been looking for 20 years ago.
Between songs, she made a claim that she could sing a lot of the songs we were playing. “Yeah right,” was my first thought. Over the years I’ve encountered so many people who think they can sing, (or play harmonica) well, that I’m naturally a bit skeptical when I hear such claims. But, since it was a rehearsal, and since her boyfriend was playing bass, I decided to humor her and give her five minutes on the mic. I was pleasantly surprised to say the least. Even more surprising to me was the fact that no one had Mer in a gigging band already. Once again, time to turn on my faux charisma and convince her to join a band with me. Luckily, once again it didn’t take much convincing, as I’ve now learned that she is far more serious about music than my initial impression had led me to believe.
The Symbols will be doing our first gig in Denver tomorrow night (Tuesday Sept 14) at Ziggies as the host band for their open jam, so if you’re in the Denver area, come on down to listen to us.
So what will become of either band I’m in at the moment? How long will they stay together? What level of success will be attained? Perhaps great things will come. Maybe a band breakup is only a month down the road. Maybe I’ll get killed in a car-wreck on the way home from Tuesday’s gig.
No one really knows.
And the not knowing, for me, is possibly the most exciting part of the whole game. “It’s not the kill, but the thrill of the chase.”
Musically,
Jasco
Complete gig listings can be found at www.thesymbols.net/shows and Concert Dates
For previous newsletters, see Jasco's Jive
The Symbols will have a separate newsletter each month. To sign up, enter your email on The Symbols website. www.thesymbols.net
Bonus question: Anyone who emails me the correct names of all four defunct bands I spoke of in this newsletter will recieve a free download code for a tune from my website.
At gigs, I often get asked about how whatever band I’m playing with was formed. Some bands I’ve been in were intentional creations. Some just kind of fall together accidentally. I’ve also noticed people interested in how bands break up.
One band I was in was the product of 4 musicians intentionally trying to form a band that could play outside of the small town we live in. The first gig that band got was a 60 day over seas tour that had us playing in Israel, Egypt, Turkey, Germany, Greece, Italy, and Spain. That band lasted twelve years, and was finally done in by personality conflicts after over 600,000 miles on the road together.
Another band I had formed via a connection on craigslist. The singer and I then met for a coffee shop jam and found rhythm section players on craigslist as well. That band lasted a few years, before the members naturally drifted different ways musically, and I still occasionally work with the singer when she needs a substitute guitarist.
I got called once as a last minute fill in for a group which then continued to hire me for the next four months. I got fired from that group, along with the bass player, for refusing to go to rehearsals wherein we played "shuffle in E" for several hours.
There was one band of mine that formed from an acoustic gig at the Budweiser Events center in Loveland, Colorado. It had a lot of promise, but character flaws outweighed the talent potential and tanked that project in less than a year.
One of my current bands, The Mighty Jivestsers, came into being when AC happened down to a jam I was hosting at Ziggies. He was just too talented with his singing, harp, and piano chops for me to ignore. So I had to turn on my faux charisma and convince him to form a band to gig with. Luckily he didn’t need much convincing.
My newest band, The Symbols, was formed unintentionally during a rehearsal I was having with some rhythm section players I use for my instrumental trio gigs. A young lady named Mer Sal was watching the rehearsal, as her boyfriend was the bassist. I’d met Mer a few weeks prior and had written her off as a cute, talkative, possibly stoned, airhead. Just the type of girl I’d have been looking for 20 years ago.
Between songs, she made a claim that she could sing a lot of the songs we were playing. “Yeah right,” was my first thought. Over the years I’ve encountered so many people who think they can sing, (or play harmonica) well, that I’m naturally a bit skeptical when I hear such claims. But, since it was a rehearsal, and since her boyfriend was playing bass, I decided to humor her and give her five minutes on the mic. I was pleasantly surprised to say the least. Even more surprising to me was the fact that no one had Mer in a gigging band already. Once again, time to turn on my faux charisma and convince her to join a band with me. Luckily, once again it didn’t take much convincing, as I’ve now learned that she is far more serious about music than my initial impression had led me to believe.
The Symbols will be doing our first gig in Denver tomorrow night (Tuesday Sept 14) at Ziggies as the host band for their open jam, so if you’re in the Denver area, come on down to listen to us.
So what will become of either band I’m in at the moment? How long will they stay together? What level of success will be attained? Perhaps great things will come. Maybe a band breakup is only a month down the road. Maybe I’ll get killed in a car-wreck on the way home from Tuesday’s gig.
No one really knows.
And the not knowing, for me, is possibly the most exciting part of the whole game. “It’s not the kill, but the thrill of the chase.”
Musically,
Jasco
Complete gig listings can be found at www.thesymbols.net/shows and Concert Dates
For previous newsletters, see Jasco's Jive
The Symbols will have a separate newsletter each month. To sign up, enter your email on The Symbols website. www.thesymbols.net
Bonus question: Anyone who emails me the correct names of all four defunct bands I spoke of in this newsletter will recieve a free download code for a tune from my website.
August 2010
Blues festivals.
A quick search on the internet will uncover more than you can count. Almost anywhere you are living in the United States, you could go to a regional blues festival every weekend of the summer if you desired. Since there is nothing stopping anyone from calling any size musical gathering a ‘festival’, it has become kind of a music marketing buzzword to hype almost any event. In this region, there are only a few people with the means to put together a true large-scale festival.
One of those people is a former bandmate of mine named Carl Gustafson. He is hosting the Snowy Range Music Festival in Laramie Wyoming again this year, featuring big name performers on two main stages. Carl’s always had a flair for big productions. One of his inspirations for this festival is the legendary King Biscuit Blues Festival that takes place in Helena Arkansas every October.
I remember the first time we played the King Biscuit Blues festival in the mid-90’s. They had recently expanded the festival to a fourth day, and on that day they featured some younger unknown blues bands that the festival’s directors thought had a chance to make it big in the blues world. In addition to our band, they had Sean Costello ( www.seancostellofund.org/ ), Mark May and the Agitators ( www.markmay.com/ ), and Susan Tedeschi ( www.susantedeschi.com ). You know of course which one of those four bands went on to 'make it big'. It was the first large scale festival we’d played, and it left quite an impression on both of us.
After the main stage at that festival had shut down, I managed to get in on a jam that included both Junior Kimbrough and Billy Branch. Carl wrote an interesting tale about that particular festival and that particular jam. Here’s a link to it.
www.blinddogsmokin.com/talestoldwell/#_26
Carl is bringing some of that atmosphere to this region this year. I’ll be playing on Friday Sept 3 there with the “Colorado Allstars” featuring Hazel Miller ( www.hazelmiller.com/ ) , Lionel Young ( www.myspace.com/lionelyoung ) , Tempa Singer ( www.myspace.com/tempaandthetantrums ) , and AC (who plays with me in The Mighty Jivesters www.themightyjivesters.com ). I’ll also be accompanying Gretchen Troop ( gretchentroop.com/music.html ) on the acoustic stage at 2:15 on both Saturday and Sunday.
The full festival lineup is at the Snowy Range website:
snowyrangemusicfestival.com/
Hope to see some familiar faces there.
Also, for anyone wanting a preview of some of tunes AC will be singing at the festival, come down to El Chepultepec Too (3930 W 38th Ave, Denver, CO) tonight (Friday Aug 27th) to listen to The Mighty Jivesters.
I’ll also be playing with my trio, and some special guests, as part of a multi-band fundraiser for MS at The Tavern in Greeley (2504 6th Ave Greeley, CO) on Sunday Sept 5th around 6pm. Good cause, good music.
Musically,
Jasco
Blues festivals.
A quick search on the internet will uncover more than you can count. Almost anywhere you are living in the United States, you could go to a regional blues festival every weekend of the summer if you desired. Since there is nothing stopping anyone from calling any size musical gathering a ‘festival’, it has become kind of a music marketing buzzword to hype almost any event. In this region, there are only a few people with the means to put together a true large-scale festival.
One of those people is a former bandmate of mine named Carl Gustafson. He is hosting the Snowy Range Music Festival in Laramie Wyoming again this year, featuring big name performers on two main stages. Carl’s always had a flair for big productions. One of his inspirations for this festival is the legendary King Biscuit Blues Festival that takes place in Helena Arkansas every October.
I remember the first time we played the King Biscuit Blues festival in the mid-90’s. They had recently expanded the festival to a fourth day, and on that day they featured some younger unknown blues bands that the festival’s directors thought had a chance to make it big in the blues world. In addition to our band, they had Sean Costello ( www.seancostellofund.org/ ), Mark May and the Agitators ( www.markmay.com/ ), and Susan Tedeschi ( www.susantedeschi.com ). You know of course which one of those four bands went on to 'make it big'. It was the first large scale festival we’d played, and it left quite an impression on both of us.
After the main stage at that festival had shut down, I managed to get in on a jam that included both Junior Kimbrough and Billy Branch. Carl wrote an interesting tale about that particular festival and that particular jam. Here’s a link to it.
www.blinddogsmokin.com/talestoldwell/#_26
Carl is bringing some of that atmosphere to this region this year. I’ll be playing on Friday Sept 3 there with the “Colorado Allstars” featuring Hazel Miller ( www.hazelmiller.com/ ) , Lionel Young ( www.myspace.com/lionelyoung ) , Tempa Singer ( www.myspace.com/tempaandthetantrums ) , and AC (who plays with me in The Mighty Jivesters www.themightyjivesters.com ). I’ll also be accompanying Gretchen Troop ( gretchentroop.com/music.html ) on the acoustic stage at 2:15 on both Saturday and Sunday.
The full festival lineup is at the Snowy Range website:
snowyrangemusicfestival.com/
Hope to see some familiar faces there.
Also, for anyone wanting a preview of some of tunes AC will be singing at the festival, come down to El Chepultepec Too (3930 W 38th Ave, Denver, CO) tonight (Friday Aug 27th) to listen to The Mighty Jivesters.
I’ll also be playing with my trio, and some special guests, as part of a multi-band fundraiser for MS at The Tavern in Greeley (2504 6th Ave Greeley, CO) on Sunday Sept 5th around 6pm. Good cause, good music.
Musically,
Jasco
July 2010
Last month I discussed conservative listening habits among music fans. Everybody has their personal favorites and there is nothing wrong with liking or disliking certain styles of music.
If one is a musician however, I think it is imperative to be not only open minded in one’s listening habits, but to take an active role in exploring as much music as possible. Anything less would be doing a disservice to the craft of musicmaking. Listening is an often undervalued part of musical growth.
In my own musical journey, I often remember exactly where I was and what I was doing when I discovered some great new (for me) music. Here’s the story of one such moment.
The road band I was in at the time had just finished playing a show in Butte Montana at a packed club in uptown. A local music hipster, who we’ll call “Frank” for the sake of this tale, was hosting an after gig party for the band. Many band after parties are designed to be alcohol binge sessions, but Frank had a whole spread of great food laid out. Being a musician himself, he understood road musicians.
After feasting on some of the main course items I turned my attention to the dessert tray. The cookies there were great, I probably ate a half dozen of them. After a short while, life turned surreal. I found out later that all the locals know never to eat more than one of Frank’s cookies, as they contain more than just flour and sugar.
During my episode of altered reality, some amazing music came on Frank’s stereo. It had a funky groove to match anything I’d ever heard, lyrics that sounded both nonsensical yet poignant at the same time, and ethereal samples of everything from seagulls to urban noises to out-of tune saxophones. It was truly unique compared to anything I’d heard before. The skill of this band was obvious even through the whimsical soundscape they painted. At the time, I figured a lot of the unusual sounds I was hearing were really just hallucinations in my own mind.
I must have asked Frank the name of the band a dozen times, but for some reason – probably the cookies – I couldn’t remember what he said for more than about 10 seconds. He must have finally got tired of my asking because he burned me a copy of the CD. However he didn’t write the name of the band on the CD.
In the following days, as our band traveled off to other towns, I listened to that CD repeatedly. To my amazement, it was just as weird and cool when I was in my right mind as it was at Frank’s party. I really wanted to know who this band was. I played the CD for everyone I met who I thought might have a chance of identifying it for me. For a long time, I just called it “Frank’s Magic Cookie Band.” (Note that this was back in the days before itunes was around to give you artist and title information of any CD you put in your computer.)
I have since learned the band is Soul Coughing and the CD was titled Ruby Vroom. If you’re feeling like taking an interesting listening adventure, check them out.
Musically,
Jasco
Last month I discussed conservative listening habits among music fans. Everybody has their personal favorites and there is nothing wrong with liking or disliking certain styles of music.
If one is a musician however, I think it is imperative to be not only open minded in one’s listening habits, but to take an active role in exploring as much music as possible. Anything less would be doing a disservice to the craft of musicmaking. Listening is an often undervalued part of musical growth.
In my own musical journey, I often remember exactly where I was and what I was doing when I discovered some great new (for me) music. Here’s the story of one such moment.
The road band I was in at the time had just finished playing a show in Butte Montana at a packed club in uptown. A local music hipster, who we’ll call “Frank” for the sake of this tale, was hosting an after gig party for the band. Many band after parties are designed to be alcohol binge sessions, but Frank had a whole spread of great food laid out. Being a musician himself, he understood road musicians.
After feasting on some of the main course items I turned my attention to the dessert tray. The cookies there were great, I probably ate a half dozen of them. After a short while, life turned surreal. I found out later that all the locals know never to eat more than one of Frank’s cookies, as they contain more than just flour and sugar.
During my episode of altered reality, some amazing music came on Frank’s stereo. It had a funky groove to match anything I’d ever heard, lyrics that sounded both nonsensical yet poignant at the same time, and ethereal samples of everything from seagulls to urban noises to out-of tune saxophones. It was truly unique compared to anything I’d heard before. The skill of this band was obvious even through the whimsical soundscape they painted. At the time, I figured a lot of the unusual sounds I was hearing were really just hallucinations in my own mind.
I must have asked Frank the name of the band a dozen times, but for some reason – probably the cookies – I couldn’t remember what he said for more than about 10 seconds. He must have finally got tired of my asking because he burned me a copy of the CD. However he didn’t write the name of the band on the CD.
In the following days, as our band traveled off to other towns, I listened to that CD repeatedly. To my amazement, it was just as weird and cool when I was in my right mind as it was at Frank’s party. I really wanted to know who this band was. I played the CD for everyone I met who I thought might have a chance of identifying it for me. For a long time, I just called it “Frank’s Magic Cookie Band.” (Note that this was back in the days before itunes was around to give you artist and title information of any CD you put in your computer.)
I have since learned the band is Soul Coughing and the CD was titled Ruby Vroom. If you’re feeling like taking an interesting listening adventure, check them out.
Musically,
Jasco
June 2010
A few days ago, someone emailed me a link to an article in the Wall Street Journal by Jim Fusilli titled “Lamenting the Future of the Blues”. It stated that blues is essentially a dead art form due to the conservative listening habits of blues fans. He made statements such as “If you can sound like Stevie Ray Vaughan on electric guitar, you can find a place in today's blues world.”
While I generally agree with him, I think he missed a couple other factors.
To begin with, conservative listening habits are widespread among the general public, not just in the blues world. If I go to a gypsy jazz festival, I’ll be hearing a lot of the same Django Reinhardt tunes all festival. When I play at classical guitar night at Spotlight music ( www.spotlightmusicstore.com ), there’s a moderately narrow range of what will be tolerated. Although I do plan on testing those boundaries soon. When I turn on the radio, I essentially have only two choices: modern country or classic rock.
I think most people, not just blues fans, have a somewhat narrow stylistic set of audio forms they’ll tolerate. So in my opinion, that can’t be the sole reason the blues market is not a major player in the music business.
While blues record sales and radio play are virtually non-existent, there is one place that blues beats all other forms of music in popularity. The Blues Jam.
Look your local entertainment magazine. How many rock jams do you see? Country jams? Classical jams? Pop jams? Metal jams?
None.
You might find a bluegrass jam or jazz jam, but predominantly you will find blues jams.
Why?
Most blues songs are written on a variation of a simple 12 bar chord pattern. It allows players from a wide variety of musical backgrounds and vastly different skill levels to all communicate together musically. This creates the perfect environment for socializing, networking, and learning among musicians. In this sense, blues simplicity is its strength for the sake of hosting open jams.
However, blues jams are a double-edged sword. What hurts the blues world, is the following phenomenon: Some part-time players with marginal skill sets start to frequent jams. Their drunk buddies begin to tell them how great they are. As their egos bloat, they decide to form a band and start to book gigs. While they may draw a lot of people to shows at first because they are a novelty to friends, family, co-workers, anyone outside their social bubble who pays to see them play has a good chance of leaving the show with a bad impression of blues in general because of the blues-jam-hack-band they’ve just endured.
I know one prominent local businessman who has a blues band as a part-time hobby. His band plays out a only handful of times each year. I overheard him pontificating about how dumb full-time musicians are because they always killed their draw by overplaying. I’ll admit there is some truth to this statement, and one has to be strategic as well as creative playing music full time. However, I wonder if it occurs to him that bringing a part-time skill level band to play public shows might hurt the overall blues scene. But who really cares as long as you have a couple good parties with your co-workers each year. Right?
If you were in a part-time amateur basketball league after work, would you talk about how dumb the Denver Nuggets are for training and playing full time? Would you want to play against them? Would you go down to the Pepsi center and try to convince the people there to book your team on a given night instead of the Nuggets? Perhaps, instead, you might respect and honor their hard work by becoming a fan yourself.
However, the blues jammer inflated ego knows no bounds and often imagines itself on the coat-tails of Stevie Ray.
My friend Bobby Walker ( www.bobbywalkermusic.com ) and I often have debates about the good and evil of blues jams, neither of us necessarily taking one side or the other, but rather playing devil’s advocate against each other for the sake of entertainment mostly.
Another downfall of blues with regards to record sales and radio play is the lack of originality in song writing. It seems that many people writing blues songs have adopted the 12 bar blues simplicity to all aspects of their “songs”. A lot of folks in the blues world seem like they are just trying to put some catchy words to a good beat. But not really trying to write a song.
To me, the most important identifying feature of a song is it’s melody. If I were to play you the first few notes of The Star Spangled Banner, or the Flintstones theme song, even without the words or other accompaniment, you’d identify the tune almost immediately. Try that test with some blues tunes. Just play the vocal melody with no accompaniment or words and see if anyone can guess the tune. Try this with tunes you know the listeners already know.
The songs that become true classics and live on from century to century are the ones with great melodies.
Now before anyone thinks I’m knocking the blues too hard, I would like to reaffirm that I personally love blues – both playing it and listening to it. I’ve also done a lot of thinking about blues musically and music business-wise. So I just thought I’d share my thoughts relating to the article I mentioned at the beginning of this essay. The link to the article is here, by the way:
online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704002104575290532300233738.html
Musically,
Jasco
A few days ago, someone emailed me a link to an article in the Wall Street Journal by Jim Fusilli titled “Lamenting the Future of the Blues”. It stated that blues is essentially a dead art form due to the conservative listening habits of blues fans. He made statements such as “If you can sound like Stevie Ray Vaughan on electric guitar, you can find a place in today's blues world.”
While I generally agree with him, I think he missed a couple other factors.
To begin with, conservative listening habits are widespread among the general public, not just in the blues world. If I go to a gypsy jazz festival, I’ll be hearing a lot of the same Django Reinhardt tunes all festival. When I play at classical guitar night at Spotlight music ( www.spotlightmusicstore.com ), there’s a moderately narrow range of what will be tolerated. Although I do plan on testing those boundaries soon. When I turn on the radio, I essentially have only two choices: modern country or classic rock.
I think most people, not just blues fans, have a somewhat narrow stylistic set of audio forms they’ll tolerate. So in my opinion, that can’t be the sole reason the blues market is not a major player in the music business.
While blues record sales and radio play are virtually non-existent, there is one place that blues beats all other forms of music in popularity. The Blues Jam.
Look your local entertainment magazine. How many rock jams do you see? Country jams? Classical jams? Pop jams? Metal jams?
None.
You might find a bluegrass jam or jazz jam, but predominantly you will find blues jams.
Why?
Most blues songs are written on a variation of a simple 12 bar chord pattern. It allows players from a wide variety of musical backgrounds and vastly different skill levels to all communicate together musically. This creates the perfect environment for socializing, networking, and learning among musicians. In this sense, blues simplicity is its strength for the sake of hosting open jams.
However, blues jams are a double-edged sword. What hurts the blues world, is the following phenomenon: Some part-time players with marginal skill sets start to frequent jams. Their drunk buddies begin to tell them how great they are. As their egos bloat, they decide to form a band and start to book gigs. While they may draw a lot of people to shows at first because they are a novelty to friends, family, co-workers, anyone outside their social bubble who pays to see them play has a good chance of leaving the show with a bad impression of blues in general because of the blues-jam-hack-band they’ve just endured.
I know one prominent local businessman who has a blues band as a part-time hobby. His band plays out a only handful of times each year. I overheard him pontificating about how dumb full-time musicians are because they always killed their draw by overplaying. I’ll admit there is some truth to this statement, and one has to be strategic as well as creative playing music full time. However, I wonder if it occurs to him that bringing a part-time skill level band to play public shows might hurt the overall blues scene. But who really cares as long as you have a couple good parties with your co-workers each year. Right?
If you were in a part-time amateur basketball league after work, would you talk about how dumb the Denver Nuggets are for training and playing full time? Would you want to play against them? Would you go down to the Pepsi center and try to convince the people there to book your team on a given night instead of the Nuggets? Perhaps, instead, you might respect and honor their hard work by becoming a fan yourself.
However, the blues jammer inflated ego knows no bounds and often imagines itself on the coat-tails of Stevie Ray.
My friend Bobby Walker ( www.bobbywalkermusic.com ) and I often have debates about the good and evil of blues jams, neither of us necessarily taking one side or the other, but rather playing devil’s advocate against each other for the sake of entertainment mostly.
Another downfall of blues with regards to record sales and radio play is the lack of originality in song writing. It seems that many people writing blues songs have adopted the 12 bar blues simplicity to all aspects of their “songs”. A lot of folks in the blues world seem like they are just trying to put some catchy words to a good beat. But not really trying to write a song.
To me, the most important identifying feature of a song is it’s melody. If I were to play you the first few notes of The Star Spangled Banner, or the Flintstones theme song, even without the words or other accompaniment, you’d identify the tune almost immediately. Try that test with some blues tunes. Just play the vocal melody with no accompaniment or words and see if anyone can guess the tune. Try this with tunes you know the listeners already know.
The songs that become true classics and live on from century to century are the ones with great melodies.
Now before anyone thinks I’m knocking the blues too hard, I would like to reaffirm that I personally love blues – both playing it and listening to it. I’ve also done a lot of thinking about blues musically and music business-wise. So I just thought I’d share my thoughts relating to the article I mentioned at the beginning of this essay. The link to the article is here, by the way:
online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704002104575290532300233738.html
Musically,
Jasco
May 2010
Over fifteen years ago I and the other members of my band at the time owned a small bar in Laramie Wyoming. We had music five to six nights per week. It taught me a lot about the music business. I learned how to make and lose money on bands. I learned how bands treated clubs, from the booking process through promotion of a show, to the gig and afterwords.
The first band we had was a group of punk rockers called Dumpster Juice. I remember the lead singer repeatedly spitting on our newly carpeted stage between vocal lines. Our second act was a really good blues guitarist from Sweden named Anders Osborne ( www.andersosborne.com ). We saw him again a few years later when we played the King Biscuit Blues festival.
We had a few great bands that would pack the place, like the Psychodelic Zombiez. They would usually defile the bar with permanent marker and skip out on their bar tab, but they were such a great band, and made us enough money that we didn’t care. Once I even got a marker and slipped out while they were playing to defile their van with the same pornographic stick figures they would draw on the walls of our bar. They thought it was funny.
We had a few crappy bands that would pack the place because they had a lot of hard partying friends. We had a few great bands, like Fourth Estate, that wouldn’t draw anyone. I’d lose several hundred dollars every time they played, but I kept hiring them because they were so outstanding musically. Mostly we had decent cover bands that would allow us to break even on the show.
I turned down a trio of female country singers for a gig once because we weren't a country bar and I'd probably lose most of the $1500 they wanted as a guarantee, as no one had heard of them at that point. Little did I know the Dixie Chicks would get so popular.
One time we had a band who got really pissed off at the end of the night, because they were playing for the door and they were sure we ripped them off. I didn’t take any money out of the door charge. Perhaps the doorman did. Perhaps not. Either way, the band leader was livid and delivered a scalding beratement to me and the other owners about the value of honesty and integrity in business deals.
The next time we booked that particular band, we did a flat rate deal with them for $300. We also decided to conduct a little experiment regarding the value of honesty and integrity. At the end of the night I took $310 in small bills up to the band leader to pay him. I asked him to count it to make sure it was all there, then made some small talk with his other band members while he was counting. After he finished I asked if the amount was correct. I could see a half-second glint of hesitation in his eye before he answered yes. We found it amusing that his honesty and integrity were worth less than $10. We never told him about our experiment, as the purpose wasn’t to trap him. I also didn’t hold it against him, as I’ve been overpaid by clubs and kept the difference. I wonder if those clubs were giving me the honesty and integrity test too?
During our time running the club, we noticed that people were willing to pay $10-15 cover charge for “name” acts, but they wouldn’t pay anything for acts they hadn’t heard of. In fact, it almost seemed they’d be mad at suggesting they pay anything at all to hear a band they weren’t familiar with.
One night we had an ‘average’ band and ‘average’ attendance early in the night. When there was a break in the action, we decided to place a $1 cover charge on the door to see what effect that would have on traffic. One dollar.
The first couple that came to the door after that seemed quite offended that we wanted a buck each for them to get in. The guy slung a few cuss words our way and stormed off with his date. I often have wondered how long she continued to date that cheapskate. Anyhow, as you may have guessed, traffic coming into the club ground to a halt, and we eventually conceded defeat and lifted the cover, again quite amused with the results of our experiment.
Currently, I’m conducting another experiment relating to the perceived value of music. About a month ago I put all six tunes from the new Mighty Jivesters CD on my website for mp3 download, with the option to pay whatever you want, including nothing. I got 31 downloads during that time. Every download used the ‘free’ option. I put no promotion at all into this, not mentioning it in my last letter or anywhere else. This month, I’m going to slap a 1 cent minimum on mp3 downloads to see what happens. I’ll do a little bit of promotion for the one-cent sale. I have a hypothesis, but I won’t share it with you so as to not influence the experiment. Besides, you can probably guess my theory anyway. The Mighty Jivesters
Thanks for reading.
Musically,
Jasco
Over fifteen years ago I and the other members of my band at the time owned a small bar in Laramie Wyoming. We had music five to six nights per week. It taught me a lot about the music business. I learned how to make and lose money on bands. I learned how bands treated clubs, from the booking process through promotion of a show, to the gig and afterwords.
The first band we had was a group of punk rockers called Dumpster Juice. I remember the lead singer repeatedly spitting on our newly carpeted stage between vocal lines. Our second act was a really good blues guitarist from Sweden named Anders Osborne ( www.andersosborne.com ). We saw him again a few years later when we played the King Biscuit Blues festival.
We had a few great bands that would pack the place, like the Psychodelic Zombiez. They would usually defile the bar with permanent marker and skip out on their bar tab, but they were such a great band, and made us enough money that we didn’t care. Once I even got a marker and slipped out while they were playing to defile their van with the same pornographic stick figures they would draw on the walls of our bar. They thought it was funny.
We had a few crappy bands that would pack the place because they had a lot of hard partying friends. We had a few great bands, like Fourth Estate, that wouldn’t draw anyone. I’d lose several hundred dollars every time they played, but I kept hiring them because they were so outstanding musically. Mostly we had decent cover bands that would allow us to break even on the show.
I turned down a trio of female country singers for a gig once because we weren't a country bar and I'd probably lose most of the $1500 they wanted as a guarantee, as no one had heard of them at that point. Little did I know the Dixie Chicks would get so popular.
One time we had a band who got really pissed off at the end of the night, because they were playing for the door and they were sure we ripped them off. I didn’t take any money out of the door charge. Perhaps the doorman did. Perhaps not. Either way, the band leader was livid and delivered a scalding beratement to me and the other owners about the value of honesty and integrity in business deals.
The next time we booked that particular band, we did a flat rate deal with them for $300. We also decided to conduct a little experiment regarding the value of honesty and integrity. At the end of the night I took $310 in small bills up to the band leader to pay him. I asked him to count it to make sure it was all there, then made some small talk with his other band members while he was counting. After he finished I asked if the amount was correct. I could see a half-second glint of hesitation in his eye before he answered yes. We found it amusing that his honesty and integrity were worth less than $10. We never told him about our experiment, as the purpose wasn’t to trap him. I also didn’t hold it against him, as I’ve been overpaid by clubs and kept the difference. I wonder if those clubs were giving me the honesty and integrity test too?
During our time running the club, we noticed that people were willing to pay $10-15 cover charge for “name” acts, but they wouldn’t pay anything for acts they hadn’t heard of. In fact, it almost seemed they’d be mad at suggesting they pay anything at all to hear a band they weren’t familiar with.
One night we had an ‘average’ band and ‘average’ attendance early in the night. When there was a break in the action, we decided to place a $1 cover charge on the door to see what effect that would have on traffic. One dollar.
The first couple that came to the door after that seemed quite offended that we wanted a buck each for them to get in. The guy slung a few cuss words our way and stormed off with his date. I often have wondered how long she continued to date that cheapskate. Anyhow, as you may have guessed, traffic coming into the club ground to a halt, and we eventually conceded defeat and lifted the cover, again quite amused with the results of our experiment.
Currently, I’m conducting another experiment relating to the perceived value of music. About a month ago I put all six tunes from the new Mighty Jivesters CD on my website for mp3 download, with the option to pay whatever you want, including nothing. I got 31 downloads during that time. Every download used the ‘free’ option. I put no promotion at all into this, not mentioning it in my last letter or anywhere else. This month, I’m going to slap a 1 cent minimum on mp3 downloads to see what happens. I’ll do a little bit of promotion for the one-cent sale. I have a hypothesis, but I won’t share it with you so as to not influence the experiment. Besides, you can probably guess my theory anyway. The Mighty Jivesters
Thanks for reading.
Musically,
Jasco
April 2010:
I’ve been writing these monthly newsletters since September now, and have over 1,000 people on this mailing list. Each time I send one out I get a lot of email responses. Comments, questions, compliments, and people just saying ‘hi’. A few people drop off the list each time too. However, after last month’s article, I received my first ever ‘hate-mail’ from a keyboard player in Kansas City named Tommy , although interestingly, he didn’t drop off my list.
It read:
“I have 15 GOLD & MULTI-PLATINUM CD"S to my credit..why would I give a rats ass about some lounge lizard!www.myspace.com/tommyxxxxxxxxxx
I have REAL MUSICIAN FRIENDS WITH THE SAME PEDIGREE AS MINE LIVING IN COLORADO..NO ONE SEEMS TO KNOW WHO OR WHAT YOU ARE.
sickstring_slacker@ohboy.com lol
LATER.........................Much!!!!!!!”
I’ve x’ed the last part of his myspace address out, as I don’t have any interest in getting anyone to send him any return emails. Nor does it concern me that someone doesn’t like the art I’m creating, be it musical or written. Everybody has different tastes, and if you’re in the business of creating art to please people, you’re probably diluting the true message your creations are meant to convey.
What does concern me, however, is the logic implied by the message: Fame, measured by record sales or concert ticket sales, is a barometer for talent.
This type of thinking is unfortunately the rule and not the exception among most people. Concerts of aged famous classic rock bands are selling out shows with ticket prices of $50-200 per seat, while many equally talented musicians have trouble getting gigs that pay $200 for their whole band.
Am I to think that a group like the Spice Girls is more talented than any of Miles Davis groups just because they have had higher record sales and concert attendance? Is the all-time best selling harmonica soloist Alanis Morisette a better harmonica player than Billy Branch, just because she’s sold 33 million copies of an album which the she played harmonica as the sole lead instrument? Is Nirvana better than The Jeff Beck Group because of greater record sales?
There was an interesting experiment done by the Washington Post a couple years ago in which renowned violinst Joshua Bell played incognito in a Washington DC subway to try to see if people would really recognize and appreciate musical talent, or if preconceptions of him being an unknown street musician would color people's reactions.
The whole article is here: www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/04/AR2007040401721.html
To sum it up, Bell, who regularly sells out venues such as Carnegie Hall with tickets priced upwards of $100 each, was largely ignored by passersby in the subway and made only a few dollars in tips, thus adding to the notion that people listen with preconceptions of believing someone is talented because they are famous, or because they’ve been told that the musician in question is good by some outside authority.
This letter could sound like I’ve got a sour-grapes attitude and am trying to justify something like “Hey I’m as talented as the famous guys.” However, I could name off many musicians in the Colorado area who have much more talent than I do who all have trouble finding more than a half dozen bar-level gigs themselves each month. I think it’s a real shame when I meet great players who can’t even make a modest living with their music.
Unfortunately, I don’t think there is much that can be done about changing the way people listen and think. However, each one of us can do a little bit in changing other’s preconceptions.
How? If you hear a musician you like, spread the word. This especially helps ‘unknown’ talents, trying to parley their talents into a meager living. And there has never been a time in history that it’s been easier to tell lots of people about music or other art you like, thanks to telecommunication technology. You can call, email, post blogs, reply to e-forums, twitter, and so forth, to let folks know about music you like. Think of it as your chance to vote, to change the musical ‘landscape’ to your liking. Because when you tell someone about an unknown artist, then that artist is no longer ‘unknown’ to the person you told. Plus, because of human nature, that artist is now validated to them by an outside source (you).
So my challenge to anyone reading this is get in the habit of telling lots of people about ‘new’ music they like. Send me any links to artists you like too – I’m always seeking new listening material. The more word of mouth you spread about music you like, the more music you like will played. It’s the best thing you can do to support music other than actually going to shows and buying recordings.
So for my part, this month, I’d like to highlight a longtime friend and influence, guitarist Dave Beegle. www.davebeegle.com Many Colorado area folks may know him already. Whether he’s playing rock on electric guitar, classical or flamenco, or open-tuning steel string, his music has inspired me now for two decades. Dave was the first guitarist I met who could play multiple styles with the authority and conviction of someone dedicated solely to each style. Additionally, he has some really great original music that melds many of those stylistic influences into unique sounds. If you haven’t heard him, check him out. He comes with my highest recommendations.
Musically,
Jasco
I’ve been writing these monthly newsletters since September now, and have over 1,000 people on this mailing list. Each time I send one out I get a lot of email responses. Comments, questions, compliments, and people just saying ‘hi’. A few people drop off the list each time too. However, after last month’s article, I received my first ever ‘hate-mail’ from a keyboard player in Kansas City named Tommy , although interestingly, he didn’t drop off my list.
It read:
“I have 15 GOLD & MULTI-PLATINUM CD"S to my credit..why would I give a rats ass about some lounge lizard!www.myspace.com/tommyxxxxxxxxxx
I have REAL MUSICIAN FRIENDS WITH THE SAME PEDIGREE AS MINE LIVING IN COLORADO..NO ONE SEEMS TO KNOW WHO OR WHAT YOU ARE.
sickstring_slacker@ohboy.com lol
LATER.........................Much!!!!!!!”
I’ve x’ed the last part of his myspace address out, as I don’t have any interest in getting anyone to send him any return emails. Nor does it concern me that someone doesn’t like the art I’m creating, be it musical or written. Everybody has different tastes, and if you’re in the business of creating art to please people, you’re probably diluting the true message your creations are meant to convey.
What does concern me, however, is the logic implied by the message: Fame, measured by record sales or concert ticket sales, is a barometer for talent.
This type of thinking is unfortunately the rule and not the exception among most people. Concerts of aged famous classic rock bands are selling out shows with ticket prices of $50-200 per seat, while many equally talented musicians have trouble getting gigs that pay $200 for their whole band.
Am I to think that a group like the Spice Girls is more talented than any of Miles Davis groups just because they have had higher record sales and concert attendance? Is the all-time best selling harmonica soloist Alanis Morisette a better harmonica player than Billy Branch, just because she’s sold 33 million copies of an album which the she played harmonica as the sole lead instrument? Is Nirvana better than The Jeff Beck Group because of greater record sales?
There was an interesting experiment done by the Washington Post a couple years ago in which renowned violinst Joshua Bell played incognito in a Washington DC subway to try to see if people would really recognize and appreciate musical talent, or if preconceptions of him being an unknown street musician would color people's reactions.
The whole article is here: www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/04/AR2007040401721.html
To sum it up, Bell, who regularly sells out venues such as Carnegie Hall with tickets priced upwards of $100 each, was largely ignored by passersby in the subway and made only a few dollars in tips, thus adding to the notion that people listen with preconceptions of believing someone is talented because they are famous, or because they’ve been told that the musician in question is good by some outside authority.
This letter could sound like I’ve got a sour-grapes attitude and am trying to justify something like “Hey I’m as talented as the famous guys.” However, I could name off many musicians in the Colorado area who have much more talent than I do who all have trouble finding more than a half dozen bar-level gigs themselves each month. I think it’s a real shame when I meet great players who can’t even make a modest living with their music.
Unfortunately, I don’t think there is much that can be done about changing the way people listen and think. However, each one of us can do a little bit in changing other’s preconceptions.
How? If you hear a musician you like, spread the word. This especially helps ‘unknown’ talents, trying to parley their talents into a meager living. And there has never been a time in history that it’s been easier to tell lots of people about music or other art you like, thanks to telecommunication technology. You can call, email, post blogs, reply to e-forums, twitter, and so forth, to let folks know about music you like. Think of it as your chance to vote, to change the musical ‘landscape’ to your liking. Because when you tell someone about an unknown artist, then that artist is no longer ‘unknown’ to the person you told. Plus, because of human nature, that artist is now validated to them by an outside source (you).
So my challenge to anyone reading this is get in the habit of telling lots of people about ‘new’ music they like. Send me any links to artists you like too – I’m always seeking new listening material. The more word of mouth you spread about music you like, the more music you like will played. It’s the best thing you can do to support music other than actually going to shows and buying recordings.
So for my part, this month, I’d like to highlight a longtime friend and influence, guitarist Dave Beegle. www.davebeegle.com Many Colorado area folks may know him already. Whether he’s playing rock on electric guitar, classical or flamenco, or open-tuning steel string, his music has inspired me now for two decades. Dave was the first guitarist I met who could play multiple styles with the authority and conviction of someone dedicated solely to each style. Additionally, he has some really great original music that melds many of those stylistic influences into unique sounds. If you haven’t heard him, check him out. He comes with my highest recommendations.
Musically,
Jasco
March 2010
When you read information about a nationally known band or singer, they are referred to as “recording artists”, not “live music performance artists” or something similar, even though nearly all “recording artists” are musicians who also play live shows. In fact, most recording artists spend far more time playing live shows than actually recording.
Live music has a magic to it due in part to the interaction between musicians onstage, as well as the interaction between the audience and the musicians. However, even the greatest live performances gradually erode in our memories, eventually fading into shadows of the actual event.
The power of recording lies in its ability to capture a facsimile of a live music performance that can then be replayed as often as the listener likes. For every band I like that I’ve seen live, I’ve listened to recordings they’ve made dozens or hundreds of times. Even for someone like Chris Duarte www.thechrisduartegroup.com/ for whom I’ve attended maybe 20+ live shows, both as a fan and often being booked on the same bill, I’ve listened to his recordings many more times.
Recordings can also function as a time machine, transporting listeners back in time to experience the sounds of previous generations of musicians. Before recording, one could never hear what earlier musicians sounded like.
True, I can play a Mozart score and hear his compositions, but I will never really know what Mozart himself sounded like. However, thanks to recordings, I can actually hear what Robert Johnson sounded like playing the guitar.
Furthermore, as a musician, recordings are an invaluable educational tool. At every live show I attend, I manage to steal a few licks. But the ability to listen repeatedly to a recording allows me to lift more material more accurately. It’s hard to imagine what my musical life would be like without recordings.
A few years ago, after touring non-stop for over a decade and rushing through a few recording projects, I made the decision to become a recording artist first and foremost. While I still play a lot of live shows, my focus now is on composing and recording as much quality music as I can, both on my own and in collaboration with others.
From an artists perspective, live shows bring instant ego gratification from throngs of applauding fans. The satisfaction from recording is different though. It stems from knowing you’ve created something. Because one never knows what will happen to a recording after it’s completed. Who will hear it? What will they think of it?
A couple days ago, I received a phone call from a stranger from Canada who had recently heard a cheap demo from a band I was in 20 years ago. He’d liked what he’d heard and somehow managed to track down my phone number to call and ask if I had any copies left of that recording he could buy. I didn’t even have a copy of that recording left for myself, so he was out of luck. However I was again reminded of power of a recording to travel to places and times the creator of the recording can’t foresee.
So, with this month’s newsletter, I’m including a song I recently recorded. It’s a free download you can get by clicking the button included with this email. I originally wrote it as an instrumental tune, then my friend AC put lyrics to it for use with our band The Mighty Jivesters.
It was recorded in the living room of my house – although my living room is not typical of what you might imagine one to be: I’ve had many well known blues personalities over to record in my living room - Bobby Rush, Zora Young, Bobby Walker, Miss Blues, and Delores Scott.
For those who choose to listen to the song I’ve included, note that I’ve intentionally mixed the first 8 bars of the song unconventionally. Hope you enjoy it.
When you read information about a nationally known band or singer, they are referred to as “recording artists”, not “live music performance artists” or something similar, even though nearly all “recording artists” are musicians who also play live shows. In fact, most recording artists spend far more time playing live shows than actually recording.
Live music has a magic to it due in part to the interaction between musicians onstage, as well as the interaction between the audience and the musicians. However, even the greatest live performances gradually erode in our memories, eventually fading into shadows of the actual event.
The power of recording lies in its ability to capture a facsimile of a live music performance that can then be replayed as often as the listener likes. For every band I like that I’ve seen live, I’ve listened to recordings they’ve made dozens or hundreds of times. Even for someone like Chris Duarte www.thechrisduartegroup.com/ for whom I’ve attended maybe 20+ live shows, both as a fan and often being booked on the same bill, I’ve listened to his recordings many more times.
Recordings can also function as a time machine, transporting listeners back in time to experience the sounds of previous generations of musicians. Before recording, one could never hear what earlier musicians sounded like.
True, I can play a Mozart score and hear his compositions, but I will never really know what Mozart himself sounded like. However, thanks to recordings, I can actually hear what Robert Johnson sounded like playing the guitar.
Furthermore, as a musician, recordings are an invaluable educational tool. At every live show I attend, I manage to steal a few licks. But the ability to listen repeatedly to a recording allows me to lift more material more accurately. It’s hard to imagine what my musical life would be like without recordings.
A few years ago, after touring non-stop for over a decade and rushing through a few recording projects, I made the decision to become a recording artist first and foremost. While I still play a lot of live shows, my focus now is on composing and recording as much quality music as I can, both on my own and in collaboration with others.
From an artists perspective, live shows bring instant ego gratification from throngs of applauding fans. The satisfaction from recording is different though. It stems from knowing you’ve created something. Because one never knows what will happen to a recording after it’s completed. Who will hear it? What will they think of it?
A couple days ago, I received a phone call from a stranger from Canada who had recently heard a cheap demo from a band I was in 20 years ago. He’d liked what he’d heard and somehow managed to track down my phone number to call and ask if I had any copies left of that recording he could buy. I didn’t even have a copy of that recording left for myself, so he was out of luck. However I was again reminded of power of a recording to travel to places and times the creator of the recording can’t foresee.
So, with this month’s newsletter, I’m including a song I recently recorded. It’s a free download you can get by clicking the button included with this email. I originally wrote it as an instrumental tune, then my friend AC put lyrics to it for use with our band The Mighty Jivesters.
It was recorded in the living room of my house – although my living room is not typical of what you might imagine one to be: I’ve had many well known blues personalities over to record in my living room - Bobby Rush, Zora Young, Bobby Walker, Miss Blues, and Delores Scott.
For those who choose to listen to the song I’ve included, note that I’ve intentionally mixed the first 8 bars of the song unconventionally. Hope you enjoy it.