datamusicata

What is happening?

These days I am truly amazed at the amount of ignorance that passes for credible fact in the media.  

Lies about the president’s status as a citizen;  the demonization of anyone of the muslim faith; the crowds that want to deny our constitution and our history of religious freedom; these are all indicators that a population is being kept ignorant, so that they can be led around by the nose.

In the sixties, people like Beck and Palin would not have been given the bully pulpit that they enjoy right now.   They simply would have been relegated to the lunatic fringe.

So my question for today is where are the protest songs, the rallies, the meetings of concerned citizens?   

If you are experiencing any kind of writer’s block, here are some things to consider:

Removing the middle class and keeping everyone scrambling to pay the rent, while the bread and circus distracts them from being actively involved in their own government.

Lincoln called our democracy the “great experiment”.   He wondered whether a people could actually govern themselves.   And watching the revered republican party become the party of the far right, the religious right, the lunatic fringe, you have to wonder if maybe we can’t.

Partisan politics have robbed our representatives of their ability to think, weigh, judge and act according to what they believe is right.   All these bozos are doing is trying to keep their jobs up there in Washington.

Which begs another question.   Given their incredible self serving record, why do we continue to send them back there?  

We have a president that inherited one of the worst shit storms in history created by an incredibly inept regime led by  the dimmest president in American history.

And Obama is being vilified for not fixing decades of short sighted greed and corruption in eighteen months.

And people are actually considering putting the Republicans back in the drivers seat?  

Are Americans turning into lemmings and running right off a cliff that they can see?

Whether you agree with me or not, there’s plenty of material out there for songs and recordings that could and should make an impact.

When I was coming up, an artist was judged on whether they actually had anything to say or not.   Corporations didn’t shove Katy Perry’s down our throats.

Come on, kids, let’s respond to this shitstorm of a world with our art.   It is our responsibility and our duty.

I was at the memorial service for Kenny Edwards (www.kennyedwards.com) yesterday in Santa Barbara.    It was wonderfully attended  by several hundred close friends, family and fans.

Someone read a letter from Karla Bonoff (www.bryndle.com/karla), who was in Bryndle with Kenny and whose first album for Columbia was produced by Kenny.   Then Wendy Waldman (www.wendywaldman.com) gave a wonderful and inspirational eulogy.   There was a calming and comforting meditation by Kenny’s spiritual guide as well as the Unitarian minister.    All in all a beautiful service.

As I looked around at all the faces, I recalled the last time that I saw Kenny perform.   It was at Kulak’s Woodshed (www.kulakswoodshed.com) in North Hollywood, there was a crowd of about 25 people and we were all enchanted with his show.  

I enjoyed it so very much, I actually bought a CD and you know how hard it is for a musician to buy another musician’s CD, when the idea of trade pops into one’s head.

But I wanted to convey my enjoyment and acknowledgement of his work, and the very best way to do that is to actually BUY the CD.

And on the way home from the gig, I listened to the CD in the car and really enjoyed it.  So much so, that I called him from the car and told him so.   He was humble and gracious and, I could tell, pleased to hear the reaction.

But think about the folks that were there.   A Friday night and 25 people showed up to hear him perform at Kulak’s.

Several hundred showed up for his memorial service and Kenny obviously wasn’t there.    So unless there is an afterlife and folks can look down and see that kind of thing, Kenny might not have known how very many people regarded him and his work so highly.

My thought is that, while it is  wonderful to show up at a memorial service honoring someone, how much  more wonderful is it to show up while they are actually here  on the planet performing and demonstrating your regard by your attendance.   The profound gift of your time to an artist you admire.

So whatddyasay?    The next time that a performer you admire is playing somewhere and invites you to the gig, or you just hear about the gig, how about actually turning off the boob tube, getting off your duff and going out there and attending the show.

I have not been to a live concert where I didn’t learn something; where I wasn’t enriched in some way; and where I wasn’t glad to have gotten out of the house and done something.

Think about it. 

I know I usually write about music in some form, but the songs I write come from what goes on in my world   and…

What is going on?   How does anyone decide that their mythology will dictate how other people behave.

This brouhaha over gay marriage has me completely baffled.   My perception is that if you are a member of some religious congregation and you all decide that people of the same sex can’t get married within the confines of your beliefs, that’s okay.   Those folks can’t get married in YOUR church.  

Your church  is like your club, your place where you gather with like minded folks and within the confines of that group, you can call the shots.  You can say that you will be marrying no one of the same sex in your church.   But that’s as far as you can go with it.

Society is not a private club, it’s not an organized religion.  It is, in fact, an amalgam of all beliefs, concepts contributed by every single person in it.

You can’t be calling the shots for society, no matter what your personal religious mythology is.   The faith that you have in God is exactly that.   It’s faith, it’s not fact.    Faith can be a wonderful thing, but it can also lead you right off the cliff.

When someone here on our little planet tells you that he knows what God wants, means, says, he is simply wrong and probably insane.   That’s my first clue that a person is completely full of it.   When they tell me what god means.    That will buy you a ticket right out of  my world.

You can certainly say that from reading the scriptures, this is YOUR interpretation of the words, but that doesn’t make it fact.   It makes it interpretation. 

One you are welcome to, but it doesn’t make it fact because you believe it.  It’s just what you have decided to believe so that you can get through the maze of life.  But it’s your mythology.  Further, believing it doesn’t give you the right to impose those beliefs on anyone else.

You are welcome to your beliefs.   And so is EVERYONE else.

If two people want to create a civil union in this society of ours, they have exactly the same rights as anyone else.   Any body can marry anybody.

Nothing bad will happen to the American family if there is more love and more commitment in the world.

Get over yourself.

So last Wednesday night I saw Cheryl Bentyne (www.cherylbentyne.net / www.manhattantransfer.net ) and Mark Winkler (www.markwinklermusic.com ) at Catalina’s in Hollywood.    And what a time it was.

As a musician/performer/composer or music lover, you owe it to yourself to see professionals such as these two work.   It reminds you of what is supposd to happen up there on the stage in the spotlight.

First of all, these two were utterly prepared, so they could relax in that knowledge and just be themselves, know full well that they were going to deliver the goods.

Be prepared.  It’s a big deal.   And it makes your shows so much fun…for you.

The other night, I went to a little gathering here in the valley.   I was told to bring my instrument and I thought we would be sitting around playing with each other, so I didn’t warm up, didn’t prepare in any way, and, if the truth be known, I’ve been in the studio recording the All Wood and Doors project for months and just haven’t kept up my practicing routine.

Well, they had a stage set up on the tennis court and a simple sound system and one light that was just to the right of the performers area.   When I went to perform, that light reflected into my glasses from the side and made them essentially opaque.    And because I hadn’t practiced, I needed to see the neck for the intricate stuff I was doing (probably another bad choice) and I flubbed some crucial guitar lines.  I was mortified.  I know that I play better than that, but I had let my routine slip and it showed.   Practice, dammit. 

Every day.    But I digress.  Back to Cheryl, Mark and the band.

Secondly, they had a stellar band, the Eli Bruggermann Quartet,and tho I didn’t get to talk to the piano player or the bass player, I did speak with the drummer, Steve Barnes, and the sax player, Kim Richmond (www.kimrichmond.com ), who could probably tell you the names of the bass player that I embarrassingly am omitting here.

But they played with such finesse, joy and chops that I knew that I had to go home and practice.  

The thing about great playing, great performing, great anything I suspect, is how easy it looks when it’s done by a pro.   It doesn’t seem like they are struggling on any level, just playing, not TRYING to play, but just playing.

All intent and execution seasoned with spontaneity and surprise.

You must go and see people perform.  It is as important as practicing; as important as performing yourself.  When you see and hear great artists, they inspire you to get better.  You suddenly aspire to do THAT yourself.

Go see live music.  Go to art galleries.   Expose yourself to art.  The rewards never stop coming.

Tonight I am going to Catalina’s Bar and Grill in Hollywood to see Cheryl Bentyne (www.cherylbentyne.net/) and Mark Winkler (www.markwinklermusic.com/ .    Cheryl is in the jazz singing group, Manhattan Transfer (www.manhattantransfer.net/)  and Mark, a recent acquaintance of mine, is a NYC type caberet singer of note.

My reason for going is twofold:  I want to support my new friend, and I have written a song that would be perfect for the Manhattan Transfer.   I determined that this song would be perfect for them by listening to a number of their cd's.   Always do your homework, so that you are pitching the right song to the right artist.   You don't want to try to sell computer chips at the fish market.

Getting songs to specific artists is, I believe, the best way to pitch a song.    Taking it to a publisher and hoping that they pick your song out of the thousands that they represent is just not the way to go, unless you already have something of a track record and there is some interest in your catalog.

My plan is to burn two copies of the song, one for Mark, one for Cheryl, and print out the lyrics and make a package for each of them.

I am going to go backstage before the show, just to announce that I am there and then after the show, present them each with a package. 

I have sent songs to artists before with no luck.   I have gotten with agents, song pluggers, and music directors but the only time I have had my songs recorded (and I have mainly four songs that have been bonafide hits and still make me money), is thru personal contact.

This is not to say that song pluggers, publishers and music directors don’t do their job.   They do.  But competition is fierce and the numbers are against  you.

So the personal contact gives you a leg up, and that goes for personal contact with the aforementioned song pluggers, et al.    You need to develop personal relationships with these people.

And I am not recommending faking it.   Find people that you genuinely like and want to work with.  It’s easy to develop a relationship with someone if you are actually fond of them.

So the short answer is develop personal contacts with people that you like who work in the areas of your expertise.