Resolved: the Ramble-logue will be used for honest consideration and reflection of where Renegade Minstrels are at as a band--I want this to be genuine and real as the music is, and not an internet ploy that advertises my band. I'm going to bet that the Ramble-logue will be much more interesting and engaging if I tell it like it is, like my great folkster forebears did and do, n' taught me to, than try and sell you on what we want this band to be. This is the Great Compression we're living in--front all you want, the seething webs will ultimately reveal who you are.
That brings me to last night's gig at Virgo & Pisces Restaurant. There was no way to know two months ago, when I booked the show, that the Blazers would be playing a do or die game 6 on Thursday, May 30. But they were, which meant that by 9pm when we were due to play, the place was fairly full of people who had just sat around for 2 hours watching the game on a big projector screen. We started to play, our six friends stayed, and a few strangers stuck around to check us out.
Dang, we're getting paid a percentage of the bar tab, we're not going to make a dime, there's barely 10 people here and few passing through. At least we got free food. The fact that it's a rather nice little place on the corner of a busy intersection that has a stage and its own sound system makes it more painful--"Damn, wish we could had a good night here in order to get asked back." We play our first set, during which my high E string snaps = awkward pause to put on a new string... You probably understand by now that the gig ain't lookin' too good.
Somehow, it turns around. The bartender, Brian, who booked us, is generous and buys us a round of drinks, and at night's end he pays us $20 apiece and says he thinks we rock, he'd like to have us back. I talk to him and we both understand that playing a show on a Last Thursday (meaning big crowds across town up on Alberta St, few folks on NW 21st) the night of the Blazers' last game of the playoffs is less than ideal. We're going to set something up for a weekend gig there in June, and there's even talk of perhaps a monthly Thursday slot.
Now my challenge is to find a clear and concise way to lay out these overlapping stories of the different places we play and how each venue changes the times that we get asked back, how one gig leads to another, how the audience waxes and wanes, the personnel fluctuate, the press won't give us the time of day, rehearsals are never a chore or a bore, the recording studio becomes a mighty frustrator, the interactions between bandmates, the clashing visions, the flashing moments of stiletto harmony... Is that a story you'd like to hear? Because I will tell it true.
Fortune is a strange beast. I love that I never know where our music work will lead.
May 1, 2009
My Love for the Hip Raps
I first got into rap music back in the mid-90's when OutKast's album Aquemini became popular. Since then I've delved a little into underground hip-hop, but I need to expand my ears more into that realm. A few years back my friend Henry Chanin introduced me to Immortal Technique, an artist with a strong vision who is revelatory not just for his fierce conviction and righteous wit ["My metaphors are dirty like herpes--but harder to catch," ... "I leave you full 'o clips like the moon blockin' the sun..."], but also because he samples classical music along with more standard electronic fare in his beats.
Anyways, rap music can be quite devine, and it is the most recent offshoot of our land's blues roots to swell up from underground and explode throughout pop culture, so it's very important to me as a source of inspiration; it has an urgency and ache in it that makes it immediate in the best of ways. Of course, most of what one hears on pop radio is "rap" music that someone forgot to put the "c" in front of. If you hate rap, go back to it and try again, either listen to people like Common or Immortal Technique or go back to the earliest era of the music and hear the buoyant spirits of folks like Grandmaster Flash.
What rap lacks, generally, is highly varied orchestration. When you're building a song on a computer, you have an infinite orchestra at hand--why not capitalize on that? Beat producers need to delve much deeper into what folks like Beethoven and the Duke did to forge masterpieces. Many rap lyricists are highly intelligent, and a few don't let posturing get in the way of their wit n' wisdom.
I would really love to see more live hip-hop, where a DJ and a band are featured onstage backing the rapper.
All of which is to say, I like this song & video featuring Nyle. Listening to it makes me feel good.
Anyways, rap music can be quite devine, and it is the most recent offshoot of our land's blues roots to swell up from underground and explode throughout pop culture, so it's very important to me as a source of inspiration; it has an urgency and ache in it that makes it immediate in the best of ways. Of course, most of what one hears on pop radio is "rap" music that someone forgot to put the "c" in front of. If you hate rap, go back to it and try again, either listen to people like Common or Immortal Technique or go back to the earliest era of the music and hear the buoyant spirits of folks like Grandmaster Flash.
What rap lacks, generally, is highly varied orchestration. When you're building a song on a computer, you have an infinite orchestra at hand--why not capitalize on that? Beat producers need to delve much deeper into what folks like Beethoven and the Duke did to forge masterpieces. Many rap lyricists are highly intelligent, and a few don't let posturing get in the way of their wit n' wisdom.
I would really love to see more live hip-hop, where a DJ and a band are featured onstage backing the rapper.
All of which is to say, I like this song & video featuring Nyle. Listening to it makes me feel good.
Nyle "Let The Beat Build" from Nyle on Vimeo.
April 29, 2009
Upon reading this post by William Brafford, I immediately applied it to my feelings about participating in musical traditions, and found it resonates with those feelings:
"I find myself caught between traditions, and I often wish I could commit to one. In short, I find myself wishing I were a better partisan. When you’re a part of a tradition, you need to commit to it. When I satisfy my doubts about which political tradition I’m entitled to claim, I’ll join the struggle of hashing out the central conflicts of that tradition and arguing for its superiority over other traditions. But contributing to the growth of one’s tradition requires the virtue of proper confidence. We live in a world where many people lack that virtue."
This is part of the reason it's frustrating to be asked "what type of music do you play." I can say "Artful blues for the soul" like Don Campbell called our music, or I can say "Modern folk songs drenched in blues tradition," but few folks want to hear the long answer. They want me to give them a category or three and then leave me there. I have to have something to respond to that question with that sticks in yer head--but it's also got to be special to me, I've got to tell you something that I believe is as much of the whole truth as you're gonna get in under 30 seconds of my talking.
But let's un-digress: I grew up drinking in folk music from live performances and tape cassettes of musicians like Hobe Kytr and Dave Berge. That early influence dissovled without a trace as I listened exclusively to pop and rap music from ages 12 - 16, after which Bob Dylan hit me, and wasn't folk music wasn't really re-activated in my conscious brain until I discovered early rural blues music at age 17. From there I got into early Dixieland music while I was studying classical music in college. The music I make now draws on all of the above in various ways, and I can fit very few of my songs into any one of these genres comfortably.
All of which is to say that I, too, "find myself caught between traditions, and I often wish I could commit to [just] one." Of course, I won't give up any of the traditions that I draw on, not because I couldn't, but because it'd make me lose my deep love for music. The real meat of Brafford's quote comes when he talks of "contributing to the growth of one’s tradition"--I'll have to get to that in a later post.
"I find myself caught between traditions, and I often wish I could commit to one. In short, I find myself wishing I were a better partisan. When you’re a part of a tradition, you need to commit to it. When I satisfy my doubts about which political tradition I’m entitled to claim, I’ll join the struggle of hashing out the central conflicts of that tradition and arguing for its superiority over other traditions. But contributing to the growth of one’s tradition requires the virtue of proper confidence. We live in a world where many people lack that virtue."
This is part of the reason it's frustrating to be asked "what type of music do you play." I can say "Artful blues for the soul" like Don Campbell called our music, or I can say "Modern folk songs drenched in blues tradition," but few folks want to hear the long answer. They want me to give them a category or three and then leave me there. I have to have something to respond to that question with that sticks in yer head--but it's also got to be special to me, I've got to tell you something that I believe is as much of the whole truth as you're gonna get in under 30 seconds of my talking.
But let's un-digress: I grew up drinking in folk music from live performances and tape cassettes of musicians like Hobe Kytr and Dave Berge. That early influence dissovled without a trace as I listened exclusively to pop and rap music from ages 12 - 16, after which Bob Dylan hit me, and wasn't folk music wasn't really re-activated in my conscious brain until I discovered early rural blues music at age 17. From there I got into early Dixieland music while I was studying classical music in college. The music I make now draws on all of the above in various ways, and I can fit very few of my songs into any one of these genres comfortably.
All of which is to say that I, too, "find myself caught between traditions, and I often wish I could commit to [just] one." Of course, I won't give up any of the traditions that I draw on, not because I couldn't, but because it'd make me lose my deep love for music. The real meat of Brafford's quote comes when he talks of "contributing to the growth of one’s tradition"--I'll have to get to that in a later post.
April 27, 2009
Song Seed #1 continued
In reference to my post regarding Dylan's self-ordained professors Scott Warmuth pointed out to me that what he wrote was actually this:
"Is this where Dylan got the title of the album [Together Through Life]? Perhaps."
I implied that he "was convinced" of the origin of Dylan's source--which was by no means correct. So I will strive to be more accurate in the future when representing other folks opinions. I must confess to writing rather flippantly because after a steady diet of Dylan criticism over a number of years, I cannot believe the size of the army of people that is out there finding the various allusions that are consistently present in Dylan's lyrics.
For adherents like me, it is rather wondrous that, however big his catalogue is, Dylan can cram so many allusions to literature (not to mention other forms of culture) into his body of work while still remaining one of the most resoundingly original artists in the English-speaking music scene. Michael Gray's Song and Dance Man III is the book that first opened my eyes to how deeply affected Bob is by blues music and lyrics. I recommend it to anyone interested in such things.
I value what folks like Scott Warmuth do because, as a songwriter, it is always valuable for me to see new examples of how the greatest songwriter alive digests his sources. The thing that I miss from Warmuth's dispatches is analysis of these references and allusions in the context of the song as a whole. For instance, how does "I'm gonna pluck off your beard and blow it in your face," one of the many lovingly-stolen lines off of Dylan's new album, contribute to the larger themes at work in the song? It's neat to see from whence (some of) Bob's inspiration comes, but it's even more valuable to read someone who is being Sherlock Holmes in his most vital sense--not just gathering the clues but seeing how they fit together in their ever-changing contexts.
"Is this where Dylan got the title of the album [Together Through Life]? Perhaps."
I implied that he "was convinced" of the origin of Dylan's source--which was by no means correct. So I will strive to be more accurate in the future when representing other folks opinions. I must confess to writing rather flippantly because after a steady diet of Dylan criticism over a number of years, I cannot believe the size of the army of people that is out there finding the various allusions that are consistently present in Dylan's lyrics.
For adherents like me, it is rather wondrous that, however big his catalogue is, Dylan can cram so many allusions to literature (not to mention other forms of culture) into his body of work while still remaining one of the most resoundingly original artists in the English-speaking music scene. Michael Gray's Song and Dance Man III is the book that first opened my eyes to how deeply affected Bob is by blues music and lyrics. I recommend it to anyone interested in such things.
I value what folks like Scott Warmuth do because, as a songwriter, it is always valuable for me to see new examples of how the greatest songwriter alive digests his sources. The thing that I miss from Warmuth's dispatches is analysis of these references and allusions in the context of the song as a whole. For instance, how does "I'm gonna pluck off your beard and blow it in your face," one of the many lovingly-stolen lines off of Dylan's new album, contribute to the larger themes at work in the song? It's neat to see from whence (some of) Bob's inspiration comes, but it's even more valuable to read someone who is being Sherlock Holmes in his most vital sense--not just gathering the clues but seeing how they fit together in their ever-changing contexts.
Playin' fer Kids
Every Monday at noon, and every Wednesday at 10am, I perform solo at Airplay Cafe in Portland. This is a blessing because every songwriter should have some spurs a'workin on 'em. Nothing gets a song done like a deadline. I suppose if I had thousands of people interested in my band, I wouldn't need a bi-weekly gig to stir me to action as a songwriter, but so be it--I cherish the freedom of mild anonymity.
Anyways, the Airplay gig is great because I quickly get sick o' singin' the same old tunes every week. I know plenty more songs than you could ever fit in an hour, but that's not the point. The songs I perform have to appeal to the audience that's there, and that audience is interesting. It's all young mothers and their toddling kids. Some days there's no more that eight folks in the joint, some mornings I'm playing for over fifty people, and it gets rambunctious. Generally, young kids are more captivated by strongly rhythmic tunes, so I bring out the fast ones. Here's a typical set list composed of the fast songs I play on a solo day at Airplay:
"Talkin' to You, Mama" - Blind Willie McTell
"Spanish Harlem Incident" - Bob Dylan
"Shake It and Break It (but don't let it fall)" - Charley Patton
"Hard Travelin'" - Woody Guthrie
"Hide Me in Thy Bosom" - McTell again
"Boy in the Bubble" - Paul Simon
"Swing n' Friction" - an original song
"Freeways at 3" - another original
"I Was Made to Love Her" - Stevie Wonder
In between these songs, I'll perform whatever slower tunes I think I can get away with--but the people want to groove and jive, so I've gotta keep them hoppin' beats comin with the strummin.
What this means is that I'm driven to expand my repertoire with more covers (Last week I added Johnny Cash's under-appreciated tune, "Big River") and write more upbeat songs to appease dancin knees and behinds. Thus, a weekly gig is a great spur for new material, never mind that you might premier a new song and no one notices sometimes--whatever. Any chance to perform is a blessing, I'll always believe that.
The less selfish gratification for the Airplay gig is that young kids dig music--I could be up there with just my harmonica and, provided my rhythm was regular, the kids would love it. That's not all though: kids are attentive. I consistently see kids that are still nursing who will watch me for three songs straight without looking away. Their mom's rarely look my way for 1/3rd that long.
Also, I encourage the kids to dance, so when they do sometimes I'll watch and experiment with different strumming patterns and rhythmic styles to see what it makes 'em do.
I'm damned lucky to have such a fun, dependable gig.
Anyways, the Airplay gig is great because I quickly get sick o' singin' the same old tunes every week. I know plenty more songs than you could ever fit in an hour, but that's not the point. The songs I perform have to appeal to the audience that's there, and that audience is interesting. It's all young mothers and their toddling kids. Some days there's no more that eight folks in the joint, some mornings I'm playing for over fifty people, and it gets rambunctious. Generally, young kids are more captivated by strongly rhythmic tunes, so I bring out the fast ones. Here's a typical set list composed of the fast songs I play on a solo day at Airplay:
"Talkin' to You, Mama" - Blind Willie McTell
"Spanish Harlem Incident" - Bob Dylan
"Shake It and Break It (but don't let it fall)" - Charley Patton
"Hard Travelin'" - Woody Guthrie
"Hide Me in Thy Bosom" - McTell again
"Boy in the Bubble" - Paul Simon
"Swing n' Friction" - an original song
"Freeways at 3" - another original
"I Was Made to Love Her" - Stevie Wonder
In between these songs, I'll perform whatever slower tunes I think I can get away with--but the people want to groove and jive, so I've gotta keep them hoppin' beats comin with the strummin.
What this means is that I'm driven to expand my repertoire with more covers (Last week I added Johnny Cash's under-appreciated tune, "Big River") and write more upbeat songs to appease dancin knees and behinds. Thus, a weekly gig is a great spur for new material, never mind that you might premier a new song and no one notices sometimes--whatever. Any chance to perform is a blessing, I'll always believe that.
The less selfish gratification for the Airplay gig is that young kids dig music--I could be up there with just my harmonica and, provided my rhythm was regular, the kids would love it. That's not all though: kids are attentive. I consistently see kids that are still nursing who will watch me for three songs straight without looking away. Their mom's rarely look my way for 1/3rd that long.
Also, I encourage the kids to dance, so when they do sometimes I'll watch and experiment with different strumming patterns and rhythmic styles to see what it makes 'em do.
I'm damned lucky to have such a fun, dependable gig.
Song Seed #2
Here's another idea for a song which I do believe I will pursue. I've been mulling over and thinkin on how to make the songs I write interact with the world as it is reflected online. So what I'm going to do is post intriguing snippets of imagery, conversation, ideology, whimsical flurries, and experience to my Twitter account. After a month or two, I'll cull out the bits that intrigue me and make a song thereof.
Also: why not incorporate others' posts as well? Well, the problem with that is that few posts I read on twitter are all that enticing to a songster. Perhaps I can get some twitterfolk to get on board? Tell me if you're into that.
This seed fer a song dovetails with my previous post, because I've realized that one of the best ways to take Ulysses like language and make it relevant 't today is a set of lyrics that are fragmented in ways similar to the compression of all that happens online. The challenge to that will be making the song at least mildly poetic, and not dreary and dry as too much of online life can be. I'll seek to capture the excitement of meaningful interactions that the web makes possible, and not drag the song too deep into the mucky gobbledeegook of html...
Also: why not incorporate others' posts as well? Well, the problem with that is that few posts I read on twitter are all that enticing to a songster. Perhaps I can get some twitterfolk to get on board? Tell me if you're into that.
This seed fer a song dovetails with my previous post, because I've realized that one of the best ways to take Ulysses like language and make it relevant 't today is a set of lyrics that are fragmented in ways similar to the compression of all that happens online. The challenge to that will be making the song at least mildly poetic, and not dreary and dry as too much of online life can be. I'll seek to capture the excitement of meaningful interactions that the web makes possible, and not drag the song too deep into the mucky gobbledeegook of html...
April 24, 2009
Song Seed
As reviews of Dylan's latest recording, Together Through Life, begin to spread, lyrics from the album have trickled out. Already, the self-ordained professors of Bob start proposing links and allusions and references. Here is a guy who's convinced that--contrary to what "some have supposed" about a Whitman allusion--the album's title is drawn from a phrase in James Joyce's letters to his wife. This particular blogger, Scott Warmuth, also proposes that Dylan uses the term "whorish" in the same way that Joyce used it in addressing his wife. This brings up the ever-fascinating issue of how Dylan's lyrics address lovers or listeners, which is probably somebody's doctoral thesis by now.
I note this nugget because it gives me the idea to write a song that uses language in a Joycean fashion--not the more standard prose he uses in his letters, but a song with lyrics more like the prose of Ulysses. It'd be difficult to do; but then, why write just another mildly interesting set of lyrics? Why not reach for what you never have heard or through could be in a righteous song?
That, dear reader, is what I want You to expect from my songs as we roll together through life.
I note this nugget because it gives me the idea to write a song that uses language in a Joycean fashion--not the more standard prose he uses in his letters, but a song with lyrics more like the prose of Ulysses. It'd be difficult to do; but then, why write just another mildly interesting set of lyrics? Why not reach for what you never have heard or through could be in a righteous song?
That, dear reader, is what I want You to expect from my songs as we roll together through life.
April 21, 2009
A well said thought
Here is a keen quotation of an (overall) dismissive review, which is quite worth reading:
Often when we think Shakespeare is being original, he is actually voicing the commonplace thoughts of his age. Where he was unique was in the vigor and invention with which he turned traditional "themes" into living drama. He took Palingenius's hint of linking the succession of ages to the metaphor of life as a play. But he was the first to prove the truth of the metaphor by including the discourse within a play as opposed to a treatise or sermon. He was also the first to assign particular dramatic parts to each age. In all versions, the infant cries. Only in Shakespeare's does it do anything so theatrical as puke--indeed, no writer had ever used the word puke as a verb before.... Instinctively, Shakespeare dramatizes, individualizes, converts archetype into image, idea into action.
It matters little how cliched it is to say so: there is no greater invigorator of thought and insight than the Bard. He exerts a greater influence on my song lyrics than any other writer.
Often when we think Shakespeare is being original, he is actually voicing the commonplace thoughts of his age. Where he was unique was in the vigor and invention with which he turned traditional "themes" into living drama. He took Palingenius's hint of linking the succession of ages to the metaphor of life as a play. But he was the first to prove the truth of the metaphor by including the discourse within a play as opposed to a treatise or sermon. He was also the first to assign particular dramatic parts to each age. In all versions, the infant cries. Only in Shakespeare's does it do anything so theatrical as puke--indeed, no writer had ever used the word puke as a verb before.... Instinctively, Shakespeare dramatizes, individualizes, converts archetype into image, idea into action.
It matters little how cliched it is to say so: there is no greater invigorator of thought and insight than the Bard. He exerts a greater influence on my song lyrics than any other writer.
April 17, 2009
Misson Statements
I've been mulling over mission statements for months now, but have done so in more of a rambler fashion than in a focused manner. Currently our website states our mission as "Extending traditions through a musical narrative" and that's just not quite right. I'm going to work on this for seven weeks, and then on Friday, June 5, make a final decision on Renegade Minstrels' mission statement. What do you think of my three current rough-draft ideas, and what do you think I'm leaving out?
Invigorating language through keen lyrical music.
New troubadours forging lyrical blues fervor.
Swinging the blues with troubadour lyricism.
What thinkst thou?
Invigorating language through keen lyrical music.
New troubadours forging lyrical blues fervor.
Swinging the blues with troubadour lyricism.
What thinkst thou?
April 10, 2009
Perspective
This may seem obvious, but I am most engaged as a reader or listener when addressed in the second person (and I'm talkin to You). If you write a song in first or third person, that's swell, it may be a great ballad ("Barbara Ellen" comes to mind) but how is it going to draw me in like what follows?
You walk into the room
with a pencil in your hand,
You see somebody naked
and you say, "Who is that man?" ...
I have to pay attention because this isn't about the singer, it's about Me.
Ms. Dickensen is good at it too,
"Wild nights, wild nights / were I with thee / Wild nights would be / our luxury..."
Or think of Whitman,
"Oh, the hum of your valved voice..."
(I'm quoting from memory, don't quote me, quote them)
Whitman's interesting because he'll address anyone and anything: himself, trees, rocks, nation states, sexual positions, whatever.
What I want to get to though is perspective in general--it's the artist who is highly adaptable that will thrive today. She who is able to look from this side, then through those eyes, then from that hole, then from that plateau all in the course of one verse, or chapter, or song. That is what the internet is giving us--go click through six or seven blogs, reading a few posts in each place, and you've probably encountered more than seven perspectives, because bloggers are constantly citing others past and present.
What is your favorite song that has multiple perspectives projected in the lyrics?
You walk into the room
with a pencil in your hand,
You see somebody naked
and you say, "Who is that man?" ...
I have to pay attention because this isn't about the singer, it's about Me.
Ms. Dickensen is good at it too,
"Wild nights, wild nights / were I with thee / Wild nights would be / our luxury..."
Or think of Whitman,
"Oh, the hum of your valved voice..."
(I'm quoting from memory, don't quote me, quote them)
Whitman's interesting because he'll address anyone and anything: himself, trees, rocks, nation states, sexual positions, whatever.
What I want to get to though is perspective in general--it's the artist who is highly adaptable that will thrive today. She who is able to look from this side, then through those eyes, then from that hole, then from that plateau all in the course of one verse, or chapter, or song. That is what the internet is giving us--go click through six or seven blogs, reading a few posts in each place, and you've probably encountered more than seven perspectives, because bloggers are constantly citing others past and present.
What is your favorite song that has multiple perspectives projected in the lyrics?
April 9, 2009
Two Shows at the Schnitz
By way of random luck and a stupendous Valentine's present, I got to see two concerts in Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall in downtown Portland last week. First, the second one:
Sunday night I went and saw the following pieces performed by the Oregon Symphony.
MOZART: Symphony No. 36 (Linz)
RACHMANINOFF: Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini
LINDBERG: Feria
RAVEL: Bolero
Many will sigh, scoff or guffaw to read me say it, but Mozart usually only captivates for short stretches. I love his playfulness, but he only moves me in short bursts, and with moods that are too gentle for my taste. In the Rachmaninoff, there was some scintillating interplay between the hardcore piano soloist and the symphony, and anyways that composer is always mightily dramatic, which I need in classical music in order for it to keep my attention. The Ravel was just a rather hilarious novelty piece that made middle o' the road rap beats seem complex by comparison--all of Bolero is just the same old melody orchestrated different ways for some 14 minutes while a snare drum plays the same riff the Entire time. It was amusing that such a Serious composer wrote such a piece.
The real thing of interest to me was Lindberg's "Feria," because it's actually a modern piece of music (of which there is far, far to little in classical halls around this country). Not being at all familiar with either the composer or the piece, I was curious to see how the Finnish fella dealt with the everywhere-at-once state of classical music in our day n' age. I was not enthralled by the composition, though it had its moments. Of course, I've learned that I can't judge any music by one listening. Let me hear the piece five different times on days when I am in different moods, and then I'll pass judgement. That said, it was interesting, but not interesting enough for me to seek out more music by this guy who is apparently a big deal in the Finnish classical scene.
The most entertaining part of the concert was the introduction given to "Feria" by the conductor (who I believe was also a Fin), who was funny and set up the audience for the music by talking briefly about the form and ambition of the piece.
The first concert I saw at the Schnitz last week was Merle Haggard & the Strangers onstage with Kris Kristofferson, we were sittin' in the third row. Wonderful show. Merle has written some great songs, no doubt, but I was only familiar with his most popular tunes, and again, he didn't play in anything that encouraged further investigation. What he offers are beautiful melodies and well crafted lyrics that soothe and tickle, but don't transform. No doubt if I was one of the older folks with a thirty year long relationship to his music I would talk different. The Strangers were all clearly fine musicians, but the one who switched between guitar and fiddle shoulda played way more fiddle (who needs three or four acoustic guitars strumming the same chords?). The most striking part of Merle's backup was his 16 year old son who sat on the side of the stage and played a sparkly electric guitar throughout--he could really, Really play for how young he was. I should also mention that Merle got off a few good ones in his own solos.
Kristofferson was onstage the whole night, basically just trading songs with Merle, and occasionally the backup band would join in with Kris. His songs were the ones that knocked me out--he's got poetic candor, elemental imagery, the force of wise simplicity. He's the one that had me walkin' away going, "Ok, I gotta get my ears on every Kristofferson recording I can rustle up." Of course I knew "Me and Bobby Magee" and a few other of the more popular ones, but the man played some ballads that demanded I get to know his work further.
So, the show I just talked about was sold out, and the classical concert was not. That, of course, does not reflect the value of either form of music, it only goes to show who's got more going for 'em commercially. But still--I think you gotta bring in the groundlings along with the snooty sniffers in order to really make an appreciable impact on the culture. The classical music audience is mostly old, except for the students of classical music in attendance. Now, the country songs concert was also very much an older crowd, but I attribute that more to economics than to appeal. You could get a symphony ticket cheaper than a country one.
Ultimately I'm just glad that there's room in the world for both classical and country music, not to mention everything in between the two. But down deep I'm a country boy, especially when the country songs sound more radical than the modern Finnish classical music.
Sunday night I went and saw the following pieces performed by the Oregon Symphony.
MOZART: Symphony No. 36 (Linz)
RACHMANINOFF: Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini
LINDBERG: Feria
RAVEL: Bolero
Many will sigh, scoff or guffaw to read me say it, but Mozart usually only captivates for short stretches. I love his playfulness, but he only moves me in short bursts, and with moods that are too gentle for my taste. In the Rachmaninoff, there was some scintillating interplay between the hardcore piano soloist and the symphony, and anyways that composer is always mightily dramatic, which I need in classical music in order for it to keep my attention. The Ravel was just a rather hilarious novelty piece that made middle o' the road rap beats seem complex by comparison--all of Bolero is just the same old melody orchestrated different ways for some 14 minutes while a snare drum plays the same riff the Entire time. It was amusing that such a Serious composer wrote such a piece.
The real thing of interest to me was Lindberg's "Feria," because it's actually a modern piece of music (of which there is far, far to little in classical halls around this country). Not being at all familiar with either the composer or the piece, I was curious to see how the Finnish fella dealt with the everywhere-at-once state of classical music in our day n' age. I was not enthralled by the composition, though it had its moments. Of course, I've learned that I can't judge any music by one listening. Let me hear the piece five different times on days when I am in different moods, and then I'll pass judgement. That said, it was interesting, but not interesting enough for me to seek out more music by this guy who is apparently a big deal in the Finnish classical scene.
The most entertaining part of the concert was the introduction given to "Feria" by the conductor (who I believe was also a Fin), who was funny and set up the audience for the music by talking briefly about the form and ambition of the piece.
The first concert I saw at the Schnitz last week was Merle Haggard & the Strangers onstage with Kris Kristofferson, we were sittin' in the third row. Wonderful show. Merle has written some great songs, no doubt, but I was only familiar with his most popular tunes, and again, he didn't play in anything that encouraged further investigation. What he offers are beautiful melodies and well crafted lyrics that soothe and tickle, but don't transform. No doubt if I was one of the older folks with a thirty year long relationship to his music I would talk different. The Strangers were all clearly fine musicians, but the one who switched between guitar and fiddle shoulda played way more fiddle (who needs three or four acoustic guitars strumming the same chords?). The most striking part of Merle's backup was his 16 year old son who sat on the side of the stage and played a sparkly electric guitar throughout--he could really, Really play for how young he was. I should also mention that Merle got off a few good ones in his own solos.
Kristofferson was onstage the whole night, basically just trading songs with Merle, and occasionally the backup band would join in with Kris. His songs were the ones that knocked me out--he's got poetic candor, elemental imagery, the force of wise simplicity. He's the one that had me walkin' away going, "Ok, I gotta get my ears on every Kristofferson recording I can rustle up." Of course I knew "Me and Bobby Magee" and a few other of the more popular ones, but the man played some ballads that demanded I get to know his work further.
So, the show I just talked about was sold out, and the classical concert was not. That, of course, does not reflect the value of either form of music, it only goes to show who's got more going for 'em commercially. But still--I think you gotta bring in the groundlings along with the snooty sniffers in order to really make an appreciable impact on the culture. The classical music audience is mostly old, except for the students of classical music in attendance. Now, the country songs concert was also very much an older crowd, but I attribute that more to economics than to appeal. You could get a symphony ticket cheaper than a country one.
Ultimately I'm just glad that there's room in the world for both classical and country music, not to mention everything in between the two. But down deep I'm a country boy, especially when the country songs sound more radical than the modern Finnish classical music.
April 1, 2009
Getting the right photo
One of the most maddening things that's stymied me right now is getting the right band photo. For a while I just tried getting friends & lover to take pictures of us while we played, but that doesn't work, because it turns out we make all sorts of hilarious facial expressions at each and every performance. What it's really going to take is spending a solid three hours somewhere with good lighting and a professional quality camera. Of course, I'd rather not just have yer standard musicians-standin'-there-with-instruments sorta photos like I've got now. We need images that reflect our music in a dynamic way. A rather exciting challenge, but also a blasted headache.
You got any good ideas for a compelling image?
You got any good ideas for a compelling image?
The Online Labyrinth
This may be the way to go about navigating the bewildering amount of possibilities for getting one's music out there online: at reverbnation.com they have some fairly innovative features and options for promotion and networking.
If you want to help us spread our music, please check out the link above, take a few minutes to join up, and tell me what you think of that particular site. Do you know of a better option I should be pursuing?
For instance, reverbnation allowed me to create the widget below:
If you want to help us spread our music, please check out the link above, take a few minutes to join up, and tell me what you think of that particular site. Do you know of a better option I should be pursuing?
For instance, reverbnation allowed me to create the widget below:
March 30, 2009
The Renewed Dylan
One of my favorite lines from Anthony Burgess' novel, Nothing Like the Sun, is when he has WS (Shakespeare) think to himself, "there is nothing new, there is only renewal." One of these days I'm going to work that line into a song of my own, but for now I want to apply it to the song "Beyond Here Lies Nothin'", which Mr. Bob Zimmerman has released today as a download on his website.
Like much of Dylan's music since 1997, this song has got a hot groove to it, and not one technical flaw in the performance (as long as you can dig Bobby's vocal aesthetic). The deep bluesiness of the lyrics and the world weariness of the tone nicely offset this skanky groove.
I'm delighted to hear him experimenting a little more with a slightly more varied range of textures--I'll never stop loving guitars/bass/n' drums, but Bob can bring in as many succulent players as he wants, so why not toss in more flavors?
The thing that differentiates this song from the previous three albums of the man's late renaissance is musical texture. This tune has got a little trumpet vamp and an accordion riff jiving inside of it. There was a touch of accordion on 2001's "Sugar Baby," and a bit of it on the most recent edition of the Bootleg Series, but this is the first accordion I've heard on one of Dylan's upbeat tunes. So far as I know he hasn't had a horn anywhere in his bands since the late 70's or early 80's. It's a fresh track, and I'll listen to it more, and savor it.
But, to be honest with you, here's my take: it's hot, but it's nothing revolutionary. Dylan admits in Chroncles (and in an 60 Minutes interview) that he doesn't know how to write "the songs that put a roarin' in your head" anymore. He says he's forgotton how to get to that place, and so he's become a different kind of artist in his late renaissance period. He consolidates blues traditions from the past century, instead of pushing American musical tradition forward as he did with songs from his first three decades of musical & lyrical experimentation. Now, I'm not telling you that all his music from '62 - '80 was revolutionary--no siree, not by any means. But Dylan will be who he is to me for two reasons: his belief in his vision, his lyrical gallantry and the revolutionary songs he wrote.
Those include, but are not limited to "Hard Rain...", everything on Bringin' it all Back Home thru John Wesley Harding, and Blood on the Tracks, and flashes of inspiration such as "Slow Train" and "Blind Willie McTell."
I still get inspired by what Bob does today, it still stirs a sense of the possibility of great renewal, but it rarely puts that roarin' in my head anymore.
Dylan now, as ever, is going a different direction--he still shows flashes of lyrical force and wit, he still makes music that sounds like no one else, but he is not way out ahead of the rest of American musicians, blazing trails.
Someone needs to be.
Like much of Dylan's music since 1997, this song has got a hot groove to it, and not one technical flaw in the performance (as long as you can dig Bobby's vocal aesthetic). The deep bluesiness of the lyrics and the world weariness of the tone nicely offset this skanky groove.
I'm delighted to hear him experimenting a little more with a slightly more varied range of textures--I'll never stop loving guitars/bass/n' drums, but Bob can bring in as many succulent players as he wants, so why not toss in more flavors?
The thing that differentiates this song from the previous three albums of the man's late renaissance is musical texture. This tune has got a little trumpet vamp and an accordion riff jiving inside of it. There was a touch of accordion on 2001's "Sugar Baby," and a bit of it on the most recent edition of the Bootleg Series, but this is the first accordion I've heard on one of Dylan's upbeat tunes. So far as I know he hasn't had a horn anywhere in his bands since the late 70's or early 80's. It's a fresh track, and I'll listen to it more, and savor it.
But, to be honest with you, here's my take: it's hot, but it's nothing revolutionary. Dylan admits in Chroncles (and in an 60 Minutes interview) that he doesn't know how to write "the songs that put a roarin' in your head" anymore. He says he's forgotton how to get to that place, and so he's become a different kind of artist in his late renaissance period. He consolidates blues traditions from the past century, instead of pushing American musical tradition forward as he did with songs from his first three decades of musical & lyrical experimentation. Now, I'm not telling you that all his music from '62 - '80 was revolutionary--no siree, not by any means. But Dylan will be who he is to me for two reasons: his belief in his vision, his lyrical gallantry and the revolutionary songs he wrote.
Those include, but are not limited to "Hard Rain...", everything on Bringin' it all Back Home thru John Wesley Harding, and Blood on the Tracks, and flashes of inspiration such as "Slow Train" and "Blind Willie McTell."
I still get inspired by what Bob does today, it still stirs a sense of the possibility of great renewal, but it rarely puts that roarin' in my head anymore.
Dylan now, as ever, is going a different direction--he still shows flashes of lyrical force and wit, he still makes music that sounds like no one else, but he is not way out ahead of the rest of American musicians, blazing trails.
Someone needs to be.
March 26, 2009
Wake Up Day
It occurs to me that I have done all one kind of writing on this ramblogue, even though I'm always doing multiple kinds of writing. While surely I'll never be foolish enough to post everything I write in this medium--might as well post the freaky fragments that I cull from all my manuscripts for poems and song lyrics.
[ Of course, I won't put everything on here that I think is good, either. I'm like the Beatles when they'd write songs for others--save all the stuff you know is gold for yerself.
But I will say this--you poets or songwriters or marketing advertisers: go ahead and steal freely from me. I believe copyright law has distorted our artistic life beyond measure, and I want you to take ideas phrases paragraphs or what have you from me freely as you care to, since I'll be doing the same from a few of you. What about the lawsuits, you say? Sounds like good publicity to me. Nothing like a juicy controversy about copyright law to draw in the media. ]
Perhaps this requires some meager explanation--one way I write songs, I guess you'd say the usual way I write songs is to write and rewrite ideas until I've found a proper form for the ideas and images at hand. At that point, I get out the guitar and figure out some chords to go along. But long before the guitar's brought in--I type and rewrite (by hand and onscreen) fragments such as the following, synthesizing them anew each time. Here's some samples of stuff I'm inputting into the computer today:
Whores, hip tappers, hustlers, trappers, pimps
loose sailors, cheap players and rich nymphs--
let's put together a grand get together
that drives these sterile blues clean away
and breed a whole new brand 'o blues.
This is not my land we live in now.
It's a flat graveyard that once knew the plow.
The fiery gumption must now blaze anew.
"Let's get lacivious" dull rappers drone today.
The rich man shudders, calls the licentiousness
outta line with the nation's values.
[as if 300 million and counting could ever have one set of values]
So long to your cold, hard hearted cares,
old man. We poor folks rarely were ever
allowed to make much--but still now
we can make light of how you do us in.
Let's do this in New Orleanian fashion
and get the lewd and their lush piano ticklers
roaring forth from out the bawdy doors.
# # #
I believe that if myself and five others took the lyrics above and each made 'em into a song it wouldn't be stealing, it would be glorious, and not just 'cause it's my lyrics. It would be interesting to see how who did what with which of the elements above.
What I've typed above is one half page of a whole (ever growing) stack of handwritten miscellaneous attempts at executing an idea.
I believe in clean and painless execution, but I rarely achive it.
I mean execution of ideas, not humans. I oppose the death penalty.
[ Of course, I won't put everything on here that I think is good, either. I'm like the Beatles when they'd write songs for others--save all the stuff you know is gold for yerself.
But I will say this--you poets or songwriters or marketing advertisers: go ahead and steal freely from me. I believe copyright law has distorted our artistic life beyond measure, and I want you to take ideas phrases paragraphs or what have you from me freely as you care to, since I'll be doing the same from a few of you. What about the lawsuits, you say? Sounds like good publicity to me. Nothing like a juicy controversy about copyright law to draw in the media. ]
Perhaps this requires some meager explanation--one way I write songs, I guess you'd say the usual way I write songs is to write and rewrite ideas until I've found a proper form for the ideas and images at hand. At that point, I get out the guitar and figure out some chords to go along. But long before the guitar's brought in--I type and rewrite (by hand and onscreen) fragments such as the following, synthesizing them anew each time. Here's some samples of stuff I'm inputting into the computer today:
Whores, hip tappers, hustlers, trappers, pimps
loose sailors, cheap players and rich nymphs--
let's put together a grand get together
that drives these sterile blues clean away
and breed a whole new brand 'o blues.
This is not my land we live in now.
It's a flat graveyard that once knew the plow.
The fiery gumption must now blaze anew.
"Let's get lacivious" dull rappers drone today.
The rich man shudders, calls the licentiousness
outta line with the nation's values.
[as if 300 million and counting could ever have one set of values]
So long to your cold, hard hearted cares,
old man. We poor folks rarely were ever
allowed to make much--but still now
we can make light of how you do us in.
Let's do this in New Orleanian fashion
and get the lewd and their lush piano ticklers
roaring forth from out the bawdy doors.
# # #
I believe that if myself and five others took the lyrics above and each made 'em into a song it wouldn't be stealing, it would be glorious, and not just 'cause it's my lyrics. It would be interesting to see how who did what with which of the elements above.
What I've typed above is one half page of a whole (ever growing) stack of handwritten miscellaneous attempts at executing an idea.
I believe in clean and painless execution, but I rarely achive it.
I mean execution of ideas, not humans. I oppose the death penalty.
March 25, 2009
Diversification
Today each musician who's decided to make music into a full time job probably has got to diversify. So, the jobs I do to make it happen can be broken down thus:
Musician-ing
Playing gigs in the following formations:
Teaching
Anyways, the reason I started this post was to pose this question to you: Should I throw all of this activity under the umbrella of "Renegade Minstrels," as I currently do? Clearly solo gigs don't work so well from a grammatical standpoint--I've had it suggested that I just drop the last "s" and just call the whole thing Renegade Minstrel (even when playing as a full band), seeing as I'm the frontman, not to mention the mover and shaker behind what this band does. But I don't like that because I want this band to be about something that's bigger than me, onstage and off.
But from a brand perspective, it's at best a hassle--and at the worst misleading--to tell you Renegade Minstrels is playing tonight, but you show up and it's a duo or trio deal when you expected the full band you hear on most of our album. But then, I can use the freedom of the our mailing list and other new media to make it clear to everyone what they're gonna see when.
So what route do you suggest? Should I just keep plugging along with all the activities above called "Renegade Minstrels" or should I break it down into the various elements of that entity, and give 'em all another name?
Musician-ing
Playing gigs in the following formations:
- As a solo act - Every Monday at noon and every Wednesday at 10am I perform for families at Airplay Cafe, and make good money just off of tips. It also looks like I might get a private party gig later this year...
- As a duo - This very night I'm playing with my bass player and dear friend Luke Dennis at Backspace in downtown Portland. It looks like we'll play together out in McMinville (still developing...) in late May.
- As a trio - Next month our acoustic trio will perform at a grade school (date TBD) through Young Audiences, featuring our program "Northwest Bedrock Songs" which invovles a slideshow of Erik Sandgrens' and Dee Vadnais' paintings (digitally projected on a screen hung behind the band) that play along to folk n' blues songs written in and about the Northwest.
- As a full band. The next such gig will come in May, when we'll be playing Mississippi Pizza Pub (see myspace.com/renegademinstrels for details).
Teaching
- Guitar Lessons - private lessons and classroom lessons.
- Music Appreciation class - I'll start teaching this class for the first time ever next week. I'm stoked for this 'cause it's gonna be a righteous time for me to convert young kids into disciples of the musical traditions they really should know as upstanding American citizens.
Anyways, the reason I started this post was to pose this question to you: Should I throw all of this activity under the umbrella of "Renegade Minstrels," as I currently do? Clearly solo gigs don't work so well from a grammatical standpoint--I've had it suggested that I just drop the last "s" and just call the whole thing Renegade Minstrel (even when playing as a full band), seeing as I'm the frontman, not to mention the mover and shaker behind what this band does. But I don't like that because I want this band to be about something that's bigger than me, onstage and off.
But from a brand perspective, it's at best a hassle--and at the worst misleading--to tell you Renegade Minstrels is playing tonight, but you show up and it's a duo or trio deal when you expected the full band you hear on most of our album. But then, I can use the freedom of the our mailing list and other new media to make it clear to everyone what they're gonna see when.
So what route do you suggest? Should I just keep plugging along with all the activities above called "Renegade Minstrels" or should I break it down into the various elements of that entity, and give 'em all another name?
March 21, 2009
Music in Public Places
When you're in many commercial spaces--box stores, coffee shops, what have you--music plays at a low volume from overhead speakers. Often, you can make out the vocals and a little bit of the musical textures, but we all automatically tune this music out without even noticing it. I think this is part of the reason live musicians (who aren't the focal point of a concert you paid $50 to see) are so constantly neglected. Not only do music listeners have three lifetime's worth of music available to them in rampant digital formats--they are unwittingly conditioned to hear music as a background soundtrack that simply adds atmosphere.
That is not to say there aren't still dedicated music listeners who focus on the song that's playing Now and nothing else; those folks are still with us, and may they prosper. But I believe that our American lifestyles are conditioning the majority of us to turn music into a mere element of atmosphere and not a source of spiritual enhancement or thought provocation. Do you agree?
That is not to say there aren't still dedicated music listeners who focus on the song that's playing Now and nothing else; those folks are still with us, and may they prosper. But I believe that our American lifestyles are conditioning the majority of us to turn music into a mere element of atmosphere and not a source of spiritual enhancement or thought provocation. Do you agree?
Our First Review
We were lucky that, in the first ever published review of our work, the writer was knowledgeable about where we're coming from. Don Campbell's review in the Oregonian was mercifully accurate compared to many of the attempts I've heard made by people trying to characterize or categorize our music. This, for instance, is right on: "'Frontier Blues' ... borrows from the palettes of rural blues and early New Orleans jazz."
Absolutely true; I but I have to quibble with what comes next: "It paints pictures of longing, heartbreak, and woe in a readily identifiable Northwest setting..." And then the conclusion, "Out of the mossy glop that is a Northwest winter, this is a collection of songs that mollify, wholly befitting our soul-gazing introspection and weather weariness." I like that Campbell thinks the songs "mollify," but don't like that the exuberance heard in many of the songs is nowhere mentioned. The closest he comes to mentioning that element of the music is when he points to early New Orleans jazz as one of our major influences. Sure, there's plenty o' mournful, lonesome sounds and songs on the record, but if I was someone who didn't know the music and just read the review, I wouldn't know about the rollicking, rocking, rambunctiousness heard on many of the tracks.
The most critical part of the review comes in this sentence: "Writer of eight of the songs, Seamons has a voice of limited range but it's one that adequately infuses each song with appropriate pathos." As the singer in question, this begs the question--"Does he mean 'limited range' in a technical sense (i.e. I only span two octaves comfortably on the whole record), or does he mean that my voice isn't as varied as he'd like in some other way?" What do you think about the question, and what do you think he meant? I know I have a voice of limited range technically speaking, but I've also had people with doctorates in music tell me that I have a very resonant voice, and I've had people tell me they like how I sing. The moral of the story for me being--improve your voice. From a personal standpoint I am mollified by the fact that Campbell offset his criticism with the bit about "[adequately infusing pathos]." From a professional standpoint I say, "Well, it's past time to get some voice lessons--better technique can only help you realize yer vision more completely." So I'm doing that. Thanks for the nudge, Don.
Of course, if we got a glowing review that really made me proud, the reviewer would also point out the distinctive quality of the lyrics in that no one else around is attempting anything like them. If you think someone is attempting something similar in their lyrics, please let me know, I'd love to hear their music.
Overall, we were just lucky to get a review by such an acute critic--may all of our reviews in the future contain the same ratio of accuracy to disappointment from my perspective (yeah, right).
You can read Don Campbell's review of our album, Frontier Blues, here.
If you know of another media outlet that has reviewed our music, please let me know.
March 16, 2009
Power & Tradeoffs
Here's the main fault line of the trade off for a bandleader in my position--power vs. group effort.
The first thing I gotta say is that my band mates give me more time and energy than I feel I deserve, quite consistently. Sometimes it's a promotional gig that doesn't pay, and they play it without complaint, play it well, and show no compunctions. Sometimes they have to give up precious precious time for other things--like having lives, doing various sorts of work, playing other music--in order to have an unpaid rehearsal for Renegade Minstrels. And each band member's ego is in a place where they will, in the end, defer to my judgement on most every musical issue. I can't remember ever having a spat with a band mate over music--certainly some creative tension now and then (which is only healthy), but never any sort of personal falling out.
That said, there is a price for the creative freedom that my band mates give to me. Beyond to occasional contributions like Luke putting up a few posters, Jon facebooking or handing out fliers now and then, it all comes down to how much work I put into it. I maintain the website, book the gigs, call rehearsals, write the songs, pay for studio time, pay for printing and promotional costs, network with other bands, and so forth. All the thousand things you have to do if you ever hope to be making a livable income off of your music.
Do you think the trade off is worth it? I do at least 90% of the time, usually more. For now at least, there is balance in this band, and that is a happy, and lucky thing to have.
The first thing I gotta say is that my band mates give me more time and energy than I feel I deserve, quite consistently. Sometimes it's a promotional gig that doesn't pay, and they play it without complaint, play it well, and show no compunctions. Sometimes they have to give up precious precious time for other things--like having lives, doing various sorts of work, playing other music--in order to have an unpaid rehearsal for Renegade Minstrels. And each band member's ego is in a place where they will, in the end, defer to my judgement on most every musical issue. I can't remember ever having a spat with a band mate over music--certainly some creative tension now and then (which is only healthy), but never any sort of personal falling out.
That said, there is a price for the creative freedom that my band mates give to me. Beyond to occasional contributions like Luke putting up a few posters, Jon facebooking or handing out fliers now and then, it all comes down to how much work I put into it. I maintain the website, book the gigs, call rehearsals, write the songs, pay for studio time, pay for printing and promotional costs, network with other bands, and so forth. All the thousand things you have to do if you ever hope to be making a livable income off of your music.
Do you think the trade off is worth it? I do at least 90% of the time, usually more. For now at least, there is balance in this band, and that is a happy, and lucky thing to have.
Why Blog
I'm doing this blog for diverse and sundry reasons. One of the main reasons is that I've got a suspicion, nay, a hunch, that there is a way to use this forum to find folks whose aims align with mine and reel 'em in for us to join forces. So you ask, "What aims are those?" And I answer ye thus:
Renegade Minstrels are on a mission
1. to reinvigorate both language & popular music through the use of riveting, crystalline words in moving songs.
2. to contribute to the mighty river that is blues music by bringing new innovations to the form--by acting as a transformative agent in American music (which, at its core, IS blues music), and not simply being a modern culmination of what's come before.
3. to make music that helps folks hold on and hold up throughout those low down and lonesome days that most everyone seems bound to face.
Now, you being a rational & practical being, may say, "Whoa, there, Joe--ambitious, aren't we, why don't you tone it down to something more achievable?" Whereupon to you I say: I'd rather try to do too much and fail than be so cautious that someday I end up looking back and saying, "Why did I only reach that far?"
So one reason I'm blogging is because it's one of the best routes available for building a fanbase and for tapping into potential for collaborators.
There are other reasons too, which I may write upon some other day.
Renegade Minstrels are on a mission
1. to reinvigorate both language & popular music through the use of riveting, crystalline words in moving songs.
2. to contribute to the mighty river that is blues music by bringing new innovations to the form--by acting as a transformative agent in American music (which, at its core, IS blues music), and not simply being a modern culmination of what's come before.
3. to make music that helps folks hold on and hold up throughout those low down and lonesome days that most everyone seems bound to face.
Now, you being a rational & practical being, may say, "Whoa, there, Joe--ambitious, aren't we, why don't you tone it down to something more achievable?" Whereupon to you I say: I'd rather try to do too much and fail than be so cautious that someday I end up looking back and saying, "Why did I only reach that far?"
So one reason I'm blogging is because it's one of the best routes available for building a fanbase and for tapping into potential for collaborators.
There are other reasons too, which I may write upon some other day.
March 13, 2009
What it Takes: Making a Performance an Event
Making a show a success takes six weeks of sustained effort if you are where Renegade Minstrels is in the live musicians spectrum (that is, young and capable of getting a crowd excited about the music, but so little-known that getting a crowd of people to show up is all too rare). The ingredient I've been missing for far too long is collaboration with other bands with a bigger following, so I'm working on booking gigs that feature other bands that play music from a similar sphere of influence. You may ask, "Jeez, Joe, why didn't you see years ago that you have to get crowds in front of your band somehow before you're ever going to go somewhere?"
Well, I always did what I could--some posters, telling friends, getting my bandmates to invite friends, encouraging friends to bring friends--but it just ain't enough. All of which is to say: making this band worth something to someone besides a few friends and family takes work and work and work--here's what I do now for each major performance I book, please at least scroll through the list to get an idea of what's involved. Then, come to our show tonight at Airplay Cafe and see how it is or isn't working for us. If you can't do that, look over the list below, and then write to me and tell me what I'm leaving out, under-doing, or overlooking.
I. Publicity - The earliest step I take is to send out a press release 6, 4, and 2 weeks prior to the performance. Then I call up the media outlets to make sure they got the PR, and then I try to keep in contact with any actual human I can reach at their organization to try to wheedle some radio play, newspaper inches, screenbound pixels, or what have you.
The press releases I write look like this:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 20, 2009 - Portland, OR
RENEGADE MINSTRELS CD RELEASE EVENT
Frontier Blues: Music with a Wry and Jovial Spirit
When: 8:00pm - 10:00pm. Friday, February 6, 2009
Where: Airplay Cafe / 701 E Burnside Street / Portland, OR 97214
Admission: $5 for singles, $10 for families [open to all ages until 9:00pm]
Renegade Minstrels will perform original songs at their CD release party on Friday, February 6 at Airplay Cafe. Rollick and swing across America's musical landscapes with the quintet's vocals, trombone, upright bass, mandolin, guitar, and harmonica. Bandleader Joe Seamons crafts lyrics that play off his bandmates' sprightly rapport. Together they tickle out epiphanies from each listener.
Renegade Minstrels formed in Portland in 2003, and have evolved into a five band cast of musicians whose tight arrangements use unique combinations of instruments to accompany the lucid lyrcs of original songs. Drawing on poetry and traditional song, the lyrics suggest connections between many blues-inflected styles, from the folk ballads of Woody Guthrie all the way to jazz ballads of Duke Ellington. Many songs feature hip-swinging beats that break down the DNA of jazz to its cellular elements of blues and Western harmony.
The opening act will begin at 7:00pm, featuring the talents of several precocious young guitar students currently taught by Seamons in middle schools around Portland. Families are encouraged to attend the event, which will be open to all ages until 9:00pm. Admission for families of any size is $10, and individuals pay $5 at the door.
Listen at www.renegademinstrels.com
Contact Joe Seamons at (971) 533-6299
rminstrels@gmail.com
# # #
II. Brainstorming - Every time I try to think, "What is unique about this gig that I can capitalize on to make it jive with who we are as a band?" So the PR above shows you that I invited my guitar students to open for us at that show (which worked, and so I'll do it again sometime), and this took having a venue that was kid friendly, and so all my guitar students stuck around with some of their parents, and one school where I teach even brought a van load of kids to come watch, so that drew in at least 20 more people than we would've had otherwise. Of course, there's no limit to the amount of brainstorming you can do for ideas like this--preferably, I'd have three or more such tricks to draw in unsuspecting customers, but so far my bag of tricks is sadly limited.
III. Radio Play - The only way I've found to get radio play is making a personal contact with someone at the station. I've walked in to Oregon Public Broadcasting and asked to see the music folks there, and I wasn't allowed to talk to anyone. All I could do was leave the CD in hopes that someone heard it and liked it. But, unsurprisingly, no one ever contacted me about our music. I also email music@opb.org every couple months with a track attached to the CD (which they ask musicians to do on their website), but I haven't receieved a response that way in over a year. So far as I know, our music has never been heard on OPB radio, which is frustrating, cause I know it's got a large listenership in Portland that would respond well to our music. If you agree with me on that assertion, please email music@opb.org and let 'em know that they should feature local bands more on their station.
This is not whining or moaning, do not mistake me--I'm simply seeking to illustrate the manifold avenues, outlets and frustrations involved in promoting a single show. That is, of course, just one radio station, I've had much more success with KBOO and KMHD here in Portland. When I say "much," I mean that KMHD's Mike Meyer had me on for a quick interview (again, to promote the show in the PR above) and played one of our songs off of our first CD. It wasn't much, but much more than I got elsewhere, so I was grateful to Mike for giving me the time. As it turned out one of the owners of the venue had a friend who heard me talk about the upcoming gig on the air, and that friend mentioned it to the owner, so that's extra points for me in his mind, because I'm getting the name of his venue out there and he didn't have to do anything. In the end, it's largely a whole lot of little things like that that build up to make an event successful.
In a vague and general sense, I know how advertising works, and the only way that one single instance of airplay is going to do our promotional efforts any good is if the people who hear that one song like it, and then they see a poster or flier sometime (not too long) afterwards: reinforcement equals effective advertisement. Which brings me to our next item,
IV. Paper Promo - Posters and handbills and post cards are all I can think of for this section. All such items must be in line with the story you want people to know about your band (more on this later). Generally I'll put up posters and fliers 3 weeks prior to the performance--both in the venue and in likely spots in the general vicinity of the venue. Of course, they should be eye grabbing and also a little engrossing. Ideally, our posters make you stop and look twice before drawing you in so that you go, "Hmmm, that looks rather intriguing, I'd like to make time for it." That, of course, being the optimal response. If I put up 100 posters, I'm ecstatic if 5 people have that response to the imagery and info thereon.
V. Word of Mouth - Again, when you're a largely unknown group such as ours, word of mouth is yer best bet for anyone showing up. I call everybody in my phonebook who lives in the town where the gig is 2 or 3 days beforehand, and let 'em know what's going down. Also, I give fliers to whoever seems genuinely interested.
Later, I'll do a post on crafting a band's story, wherein I'll also entreat you for your help and ideas. Until then, go listen to Renegade Minstrels or Roof Access or Fruition so you can know the music being made in our lil' fracture of a fraction of the globe-o-sphere.
Well, I always did what I could--some posters, telling friends, getting my bandmates to invite friends, encouraging friends to bring friends--but it just ain't enough. All of which is to say: making this band worth something to someone besides a few friends and family takes work and work and work--here's what I do now for each major performance I book, please at least scroll through the list to get an idea of what's involved. Then, come to our show tonight at Airplay Cafe and see how it is or isn't working for us. If you can't do that, look over the list below, and then write to me and tell me what I'm leaving out, under-doing, or overlooking.
I. Publicity - The earliest step I take is to send out a press release 6, 4, and 2 weeks prior to the performance. Then I call up the media outlets to make sure they got the PR, and then I try to keep in contact with any actual human I can reach at their organization to try to wheedle some radio play, newspaper inches, screenbound pixels, or what have you.
The press releases I write look like this:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 20, 2009 - Portland, OR
RENEGADE MINSTRELS CD RELEASE EVENT
Frontier Blues: Music with a Wry and Jovial Spirit
When: 8:00pm - 10:00pm. Friday, February 6, 2009
Where: Airplay Cafe / 701 E Burnside Street / Portland, OR 97214
Admission: $5 for singles, $10 for families [open to all ages until 9:00pm]
Renegade Minstrels will perform original songs at their CD release party on Friday, February 6 at Airplay Cafe. Rollick and swing across America's musical landscapes with the quintet's vocals, trombone, upright bass, mandolin, guitar, and harmonica. Bandleader Joe Seamons crafts lyrics that play off his bandmates' sprightly rapport. Together they tickle out epiphanies from each listener.
Renegade Minstrels formed in Portland in 2003, and have evolved into a five band cast of musicians whose tight arrangements use unique combinations of instruments to accompany the lucid lyrcs of original songs. Drawing on poetry and traditional song, the lyrics suggest connections between many blues-inflected styles, from the folk ballads of Woody Guthrie all the way to jazz ballads of Duke Ellington. Many songs feature hip-swinging beats that break down the DNA of jazz to its cellular elements of blues and Western harmony.
The opening act will begin at 7:00pm, featuring the talents of several precocious young guitar students currently taught by Seamons in middle schools around Portland. Families are encouraged to attend the event, which will be open to all ages until 9:00pm. Admission for families of any size is $10, and individuals pay $5 at the door.
Listen at www.renegademinstrels.com
Contact Joe Seamons at (971) 533-6299
rminstrels@gmail.com
# # #
II. Brainstorming - Every time I try to think, "What is unique about this gig that I can capitalize on to make it jive with who we are as a band?" So the PR above shows you that I invited my guitar students to open for us at that show (which worked, and so I'll do it again sometime), and this took having a venue that was kid friendly, and so all my guitar students stuck around with some of their parents, and one school where I teach even brought a van load of kids to come watch, so that drew in at least 20 more people than we would've had otherwise. Of course, there's no limit to the amount of brainstorming you can do for ideas like this--preferably, I'd have three or more such tricks to draw in unsuspecting customers, but so far my bag of tricks is sadly limited.
III. Radio Play - The only way I've found to get radio play is making a personal contact with someone at the station. I've walked in to Oregon Public Broadcasting and asked to see the music folks there, and I wasn't allowed to talk to anyone. All I could do was leave the CD in hopes that someone heard it and liked it. But, unsurprisingly, no one ever contacted me about our music. I also email music@opb.org every couple months with a track attached to the CD (which they ask musicians to do on their website), but I haven't receieved a response that way in over a year. So far as I know, our music has never been heard on OPB radio, which is frustrating, cause I know it's got a large listenership in Portland that would respond well to our music. If you agree with me on that assertion, please email music@opb.org and let 'em know that they should feature local bands more on their station.
This is not whining or moaning, do not mistake me--I'm simply seeking to illustrate the manifold avenues, outlets and frustrations involved in promoting a single show. That is, of course, just one radio station, I've had much more success with KBOO and KMHD here in Portland. When I say "much," I mean that KMHD's Mike Meyer had me on for a quick interview (again, to promote the show in the PR above) and played one of our songs off of our first CD. It wasn't much, but much more than I got elsewhere, so I was grateful to Mike for giving me the time. As it turned out one of the owners of the venue had a friend who heard me talk about the upcoming gig on the air, and that friend mentioned it to the owner, so that's extra points for me in his mind, because I'm getting the name of his venue out there and he didn't have to do anything. In the end, it's largely a whole lot of little things like that that build up to make an event successful.
In a vague and general sense, I know how advertising works, and the only way that one single instance of airplay is going to do our promotional efforts any good is if the people who hear that one song like it, and then they see a poster or flier sometime (not too long) afterwards: reinforcement equals effective advertisement. Which brings me to our next item,
IV. Paper Promo - Posters and handbills and post cards are all I can think of for this section. All such items must be in line with the story you want people to know about your band (more on this later). Generally I'll put up posters and fliers 3 weeks prior to the performance--both in the venue and in likely spots in the general vicinity of the venue. Of course, they should be eye grabbing and also a little engrossing. Ideally, our posters make you stop and look twice before drawing you in so that you go, "Hmmm, that looks rather intriguing, I'd like to make time for it." That, of course, being the optimal response. If I put up 100 posters, I'm ecstatic if 5 people have that response to the imagery and info thereon.
V. Word of Mouth - Again, when you're a largely unknown group such as ours, word of mouth is yer best bet for anyone showing up. I call everybody in my phonebook who lives in the town where the gig is 2 or 3 days beforehand, and let 'em know what's going down. Also, I give fliers to whoever seems genuinely interested.
Later, I'll do a post on crafting a band's story, wherein I'll also entreat you for your help and ideas. Until then, go listen to Renegade Minstrels or Roof Access or Fruition so you can know the music being made in our lil' fracture of a fraction of the globe-o-sphere.
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