Where Are The Rebellious Indy Musicians?

Sep 252011
 

Recently a friend and I were talking about how brilliant The Clash were. Those guys made music that was smart, tough, and constantly new. The Clash are an example of a band that held its artistic ground while fighting against a rigid music industry and a stifling society.

To me, it seems that rebellious artistic spirit is harder to find in today’s music. In many ways, the musicians finally won. The music industry is no longer overpowered by a few large record companies. Most of the money is still there with those companies, but today we see musicians making their careers work as independent artists. Being indy wasn’t as viable a generation ago.

Being indy means that the musician is her own tour manager, producer, public relations department, and stage designer. OK, not always. Many indies hire a great team to handle those business matters. In any case, being an independent artist means you aren’t fighting someone else for creative control. It means you’re not fighting someone to get more money. It means you are the one trying to make some money while putting together some good music.

When I read blogs and articles for songwriters and indy musicians, it seems that the most popular topics are promotion and marketing. How to use social media, how to bring the crowds to your gigs, how to woo them to your merch table once they’re at the gig. I guess a lot of people are more interested in having the baddest email list around rather than writing the baddest songs around. That trend is logical–musicians more than ever need to have skill and savvy to put together a tour or a radio promotion campaign. But sometimes reading article after article about business strategies and kick-starter campaigns leaves me longing for someone to write about the music itself.

I imagine a restaurant that has a great location and ad campaign, but the food is a mediocre afterthought. Then I imagine a restaurant that has fabulous food but is tucked away in a quiet spot that doesn’t get much notice. I’d rather be that uncelebrated chef with an unshakable vision and passion for his food and his customers. Hopefully there’s still room out there in music for the wonderful unknowns to have a little space for themselves.

Writers Who Protect Their Darlings

Sep 062011
 

The cliched advice for writers is to “murder your darlings.” I won’t get into the origination and historical background of this quote here. You can Google it up for yourself. The principle behind the cliched quote is that if you like a piece of writing, you cannot judge it objectively, and thus you cannot improve it or know when it is ready for public consumption.

I take the opposite approach. I write what I like, and I have to like something for it to feel finished and ready. If I find something I’ve done entertaining or touching, that is one step toward being a solid piece of finished work.

Here’s a blog entry where writer Wendy Palmer agrees with me on this.

I must admit that the cliche is partially valid–you do need to balance your personal feelings with objective evaluation by yourself and by others. For example, Frank herbert used some form of “elfin features” a zillion times in his classic sci-fi novel Dune to describe one of his main characters. When I read this novel for the first time, I giggled every time I saw this pathetic darling phrase show up. herbert needed to murder this lame phrase and find five other ways to describe this characters face. The novel really needed to do without referring to the vague qualities that “elfin” tries to convey.

It’s a good question for any artistic work. Where is your balance between pleasing yourself and creating something with objective quality?

What do you think? Leave a comment to let us know your experiences with your darlings.

For The Love Of Music: An Interview With Stacey Earle And Mark Stuart

Aug 242011
 

Stacey Earle and Mark Stuart are hard-working songwriters and musicians from Tennessee. They tour extensively, bringing their polished songwriting and personal warmth to their audiences with just their voices and acoustic guitars.

I interviewed Stacey and Mark via email about their work as musicians and life on the road. You can read more about them and purchase their music at their website.

How do you see your distinct personalities complementing each other in your
work?

MS: When we met in 1992 I was spending more time with musicians (although I was also a songwriter). Stacey led me down a path where I was putting more time in to songwriting circles, most of them not being strong players. This helped me to emphasize the writing more in my career. Stacey did a stint as a staff writer, so, we were in that camp for several years. I probably helped steer her in to being a stronger musician.

How do you approach practicing? Do you take a spontaneous approach, or do you use scales, exercises, warm-ups in a more systematic way?

SE: We are onstage most of the year and that is our practice! But, it is a natural thing to pick up a guitar when we are home.

MS: I play when not on tour, but, other music and other instruments. I never really played scales as a practice method, just songs.

What is the most fun part of touring? What is the most fun part about
finally getting back home?

SE: The fun part is everything we see, persons we meet, and moments we experience from point A to B (show to show). When I get home I am playing “house” and gardening.

Where’s the best food in the U. S.? Europe?

SE: My favorite is San Antonio, TX (carne gasada!). In Europe it is Spain.

Have you experienced creative block or other obstacles? Where do you find
creative renewal during down times?

SE: I have for the first time in my life as a result of the loss of my dad. The renewal? I don’t know-I guess it will come with time.

MS: Booking dates, driving to them, and performing so much has taken up a lot of my creative space. I will have to fight my way out of it.

What went into the decision to sell your entire catalog with unreleased
tracks on the flash drive? How’s the reception been for the new medium?

MS: We had a lot of material that had never been heard by our audience. We thought it would be a great idea to couple that batch of songs with all of our CDs. And, this is seemingly the new age we are in.

SE: The reception has been great. It has brought an MP3 option to our merch table (vs. folks going home after a show and purchasing it on Itunes!). Where downloads are a great store, it has hurt merch sales at shows. This is money artists need for tour support.

What advice would you give to someone who admires your music and wants to build a musician’s career?

SE: Be prepared to give it 100%. That means you live on the road, away from your family and friends. And, you quit the security of your day job. It is all a great risk for the love of music.

MS: All of what Stacey said is true. You will not likely be a good plumber if you spend all of your time as a banker. This is a business, not a hobby, and has to be treated that way. The first time I went on tour at age 18 it was so liberating to be in a van all day and at a hotel and venue at night with several other people who were full-time musicians. We talked about it all of the time and did not have other influences pulling our energy away from our dream. There is no room for me to do this part-time because there are thousands of others doing it 24/7. I cannot compete with them unless I am serious about my career.

It’s been great having you come through northern VA the past few years.
Hope to see and hear you again very soon. Thanks!

Insanity Sings: I Changed My Mind And Read The Warren Zevon Book

Aug 182011
 

As a huge fan of Warren Zevon’s early records from the late 1970s, I was eager to get into the oral history written by his ex-wife a couple years ago. I knew little about the man, just his melodies, arrangements, and lyrics were sometimes just perfect. I want to use the word “brilliant” here, but that word isn’t strong enough for his Warren Zevon and Excitable Boyalbums.

I hit the intro section of the book, and I put it down. I just didn’t want to read another book about another terrible person who did great art. Zevon was violent toward others, a lousy dad, and someone who probably Squandered a lot of his musical abilities and artistic opportunities. I just didn’t have it in me to go through a book like this. I’ve read enough about Jim Morrison, Jimi Hendrix, and so on over the years, and stories like this can really bring you down.

I had an audio version of this book lying around in my pile of stuff to read, and I just went back to it a few days ago. It is a great compilation of oral history, diary entries, interviews, little notes around the house, all kinds of primary-source and first-person stuff. And I took on the fascinating and disgusting story of an insane genius. Mental health is a messy and overwhelming problem to read about, and addictions and financial problems and a fickle music industry go all through this book.

I never met the man, so I don’t have any like or dislike for him as a person. I find the terrible parts terrible, the sad parts sad, and the joyful parts joyful. If you’re not familiar with Zevon, check out the albums I mentioned above. If you are a fan and haven’t grabbed this book, well it’s pretty good writing and a huge dose of real insane life in America that a lot of us know something about.

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