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Just getting started!
(4.02.2010: 9:29 PM) << One of my favorite quotes ever was from the Revolutionary Naval war hero John Paul Jones, whose famous taunt to the British captain, laying waste to Jones' Bonne Homme Richard (Well, it appears to be a bit of a debate whether it was muttered to an aide or actually yelled across the brow at the British. Suffice it to say, it showed some serious brass) was burned into my consciousness at a very young age - "I have not yet begun to fight!" I come from a long line of naval heroes (which I have unceremoniously ended), so the first American Naval hero was someone often quoted by my mom, whose father was a WWII sub commander, earned the Navy Cross and was Director of Athletics at Annapolis. I titled this blogpost "Just getting started!" to mention that today I began recording my first full-length record. I did scratch tracks of 9 songs (a scratch track is basically me playing guitar (or piano) and singing). I'm sure that the album will take shape over the course of its production in a lot of ways. I may not end up doing all the tracks I recorded, I may write/finish a couple of songs we didn't do today. My initial concept is to produce a cause-related CD, with every song being in support of some cause associated with the theme or inspiration of the song. Here are the songs I scratched today: Supernova: supporting meth rehabilitation No Ordinary Daughter: supporting depression research Say Goodbye: supporting grassroots political action on the environment Semper Fi: supporting wounded Iraq veteran organizations Let Peace On Earth: supporting interfaith and multicultural initiatives 88/21: supporting SharedVoice, a not-for-profit cause related music project Nobody said it would be easy: I have an uptempo and a slow version. Haven't decided on the cause. Might be out. I'm listening to the demo's with the thought that I would post these tracks. There are a couple of tracks on the CD that were corrupted, and I want to put 'em up as a group. Once I get the other two tracks from Andy, I'll post 'em. I'm thinking of redoing the "Unamerican" song. The recording that's out there is my first-ever. I think it has a bit of rustic charm, but there are also some wince-able moments. What do you think? |
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Whirlwinded
(1.07.2010: 12:38 AM) << Been singing a lot lately, and by lately, I mean in the last few days since I've been away for the holidays, during which there was very little singing. Or writing of music. I've been writing a lot of email lately, though, and have been on the phone a lot, too, also mostly since I got back from the holidays. Wasn't on the phone so much while I was away. I can say I won't be writing an American Airlines song about my crappy experience flying their airline. I did write American Airlines a thoughtful complaint about my crappy experience flying their airline. But their website wouldn't let me submit the complaint. I kept getting this error message "See below for error", thought there was no error indicated. Just an endless stream of denial of service, which was not unlike the experience of flying their airline. I'm heading out on Sunday to take care of my mom, who's just gotten out of another fckued up back surgery. Which is to say, a fckued up surgery on a fkcued up back. She's been pregnant more times than her ten children have given her grandkids, which is to say, a lot. Anyway, I'm tired and retiring. Thanks for reading my blog. Drop me a line or tweet me or something. Say hi. Would love to hear from you. |
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Another Nashville Discovery
(11.22.2009: 2:09 PM) << So last night, we had a really awesome birthday celebration for Leslie last night at the "Ordway Palace". Speakeasy theme, loads of fun. One of the best parts of hosting a party is getting to meet a bunch of cool new people, as friends bring friends (and so on and so on...). One of the best parts of hosting a party in Nashville is getting to meet cool new people who are also incredibly talented. Rachel Pearl has this way about her that's endearing, smoking sexy and yet totally wholesome and sweet, all at the same time. I'm excited to share her with you, so to speak. She's got a song "Hello, Officer" - think dolled up dame chats up a cop to let her go. Well, while on tour she had an encounter with a couple of cops and sang the song to them. I've not smiled so much in a long time, and certainly not about cops, that's for sure. Here's a link to her latest release: http://rachelpearl.bandcamp.com/album/keepin-it-old-school |
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Reading the Comix.
(10.17.2009: 7:16 PM) << I've been a reddit consumer on and off for about a year, now. I "stumbled upon" it sort of randomly and have intermittent spells of almost obsessive reddit viewing or going long periods without looking at all. Tonight I realized it's tingling the same part of my brain that gets tingled when I look through a paper to find the comics (on Sunday's it's pretty easy). Clicking like a crow on reddit stories and reading comic strips seeking nuggets of pleasant stimulation. Thing is, I've never been much of a comic book reader, though I've many friends who are surprisingly passionate about their books. Looking for a good Far Side or Dilbert was like looking for a jolt of joy. On Reddit I look for positive stories, things people find funny or interesting. Not quite "joy" but mildly entertaining, anyway. With Reddit, there's also a desire to see/feel what other people are feeling and thinking right now. Some of it makes me sad. And there are some that give me a little hope. It all has me feeling more connected to humanity. Though that, too, feels kind of painful as I see what we're putting ourselves through right now. Doesn't have to be that way. It doesn't seem so much when I look around me. I know lots of other people have it a lot worse than I do, so I know they might have a different opinion. I do feel grateful, though, to have wonderful people like you in my life and food on my table. I am in serious need of a sponsor for Generate Kindness. I've now got 119k stickers requested from around the world. How am I gonna pay for that? I know! Have people send an envelope with some postage on it along with your request! That's so easy! Why didn't I think of that sooner!? I should blog more often. So bottom line on the reddit thing - now that I get it's like hitting the comics, I'm gonna put that cracked pipe down and make some music or something. |
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Man...
(10.07.2009: 2:08 AM) << This half minute piece of music was a bitch. Sorta like: I want to play the guitar. guitar won't tune correctly. Replace strings. Plug guitar in, discover that guitar jack is loose and needs to be tightened. Plug guitar in, troubleshoot why no sound is coming out. replace bad cable plug guitar in, Like an hour of that. Here's "Grinder" (just some random name I gave it.). But I will say this - once I got past the bajillion technical hurdles it was a blast writing this snippet. I've thought about vocals for it - might lengthen it to a minute and call it a 1 minute song. Grinder |
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Back from California
(9.21.2009: 12:04 PM) << I spent a rather intense week in California. - 3 days of management meetings to handle some big, transformational issues - connected with my mens circle - stayed with five friends over 8 nights - a community dance - 5 bart trips - dinner with dad - many meals with friends - passed an acupressure oral exam, completing a certification program I'd started years ago. Got back to Nashville, and went immediately to Doak Turner's monthly BBQ - a friendly homestyle networking event for songwriters, where I sang a bunch, came home and sang some more. Met Kyle Brooks at Doak's and really dug his vibe, man. Yeah, getting back to California was good, but I'm also glad to be back home. I'm really eager to get my recording projects rolling forward. Time to start bearing some fruit, y'know? |
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Clarifying a statement I just made
(8.20.2009: 11:09 PM) << on Care2.com, I signed a petition to help end Spinal Muscular Atrophy a disease that affects children causing a severely degenerative debilitation of a human being's ability to function. Cognitively, people are fully developed, except for the fact that they've been unable to move and have required 24/7 care. Last night I watched an episode of "This American Life", (an episode that I've subsequently found out won an Emmy) about this guy, Michael Phillips, a victim of SMA. Anyway, I was deeply moved by his story and struck by how totally normal he seems in every way as a human being except physically. I'd say he's a little dark and morbid in his writing, but he also has moments of elation and delight in beauty, which he also eloquently shares. I guess in some ways, he's more fully self-expressed than most, a striking fact considering his inability to move. Or breathe without a machine. I was also struck by the commitment of his mother, who's attended him 24/7 since his childhood. I was dumbstruck by the life she has had, doing absolutely nothing other than caring for her son. I know that 30 minutes of television reveals only a knothole view into someone's life, but the entire story, the situation - understanding the values and desires of the people involved - it was all quite dramatic, and I was fully taken. I was also struck by how absolutely human and normal this physical anomaly was, whose life has been made possible by innovations in medical technology and the relentless vigilance of a committed parent. There was a moment when I had my "healthcare reform" buttons pushed when I heard that "the state" basically pays for all Michael's (and his mom's) expenses. Of course we should pay for his care. he's pretty incapable (or it would seem at first blush) of making a living, at least in our capitalistic-valuing-productivity-over-health culture. (I personally think he should pursue a life as a writer, something he clearly does rather well) Anyway, I signed this petition and my "customized note" could read like I'm in favor or pulling funding from Michael or families like his. Not at all. I think that finding the cure to this disease means that in the future, children would never be afflicted with this "totally rude" disease (as one commenter to Michaels' blog put it). And that would ALSO mean that we, the general public, would not be paying what must be astronomical medical bills. I'd rather invest 50 million now to find the cure and save hundreds of millions over the years. That's what I was trying to say. |
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Nashville Find: Ron Gomez
(: 9:58 PM) << Turns out this guy is my neighbor. Check out Ghost Town and tell me rongomeznorocks. http://www.myspace.com/rongomezrocks Wish he had more music on myspace, but who am I to talk? Labels: music |
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Discovered in Nashville: Josh Fuson
(8.12.2009: 8:20 PM) << I may have tweeted but not blogged this or blogged but not tweeted or did I even write it? I don't know.... Anyway, I don't remember how we met, but late one night surfing the internet, I came across this guy's website - Josh produces his own music out of his house, and has taken on the ambitious goal of uploading a song a week. It lit a fire under MY ass for one thing, and I was also immediately taken in by the complexity and beauty of his music. give a listen, then: JoshFuson.com (and that's pronounced "Fyoo-sun," for all ya'll Francophones.) |
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This week sucked.
(8.07.2009: 2:46 PM) << I successfully presented a project I've been working on for about 3 weeks, recorded a scratch demo for a song (which I have yet to edit), conceived and mounted a successful campaign for King of the East Nashville Tomato Arts Festival.. I'll be leading a second line parade through East Nashville winding up at a tomato-drenched party. Made a Micro-loan to a woman in Nigeria who reminded me of a niece I miss dearly. Talked to my mom AND dad. Did manage to completely neglect both my music and a few friends. But otherwise, jeez this week blew. by. 
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Something in the air
(7.22.2009: 1:24 AM) << Went to the Commodore in Nashville tonight, and sang "#Neda's song", got a gig in September. Also saw some great songwriters. Josh Case rocked his set with Andrew Duhon, two very different but talented songwriters. Andrew wrapped his set with an almost a cappella song save for a haunting harmonica riff and a slow and steady tambourine. The Commodore was basically a sports bar that has a Writer's night put on by Debi Champion, who seemed quite nice. In fact, pretty much everyone I've encountered in Nashville has been really friendly and open. It's been great. Anyway, Debi booked me for September 8, so now I've got a gig in Nashville! W00t w00t! I definitely come away from these Writer's nights inspired and excited to be in Nashville, that's for sure. One great discovery has been the music of Josh Fuson. Josh is a fellow geek/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist. He's been producing friends EP's and has just started writing and producing his own music. He's signed himself up to write a song a week and post it to his site. Well, I'm doubly inspired. Or triple-y. I'm not sure I could write AND record a new song every week (though I admit I've never tried and will someday) to be honest. I think it's an impressive goal, but not sure if I'd be able to write and record a new song every week. Now recording songs I've already written? That's another story. I've got dozens of songs I've written, but I've only recorded a few. Tonight I set a goal of recording an actual song to be posted, and here it is: "Hold On". It was really simple. Set up mic, plug in guitar, sing. (after hitting "record", that is. My room has a nice natural reverb and I can't wait to play in the bathroom. I mean... record in the bathroom. "Hold On" is an entrant in my Sixty Songs an Hour concept, wherein I record 60 1 minute songs. I'm finding I really like this short form as a way of capturing an idea, feel and/or lyric. Anyway, I'll be posting the few 1 minute songs I've got as well. Anyway, I think I'm going to try to record 3 songs a week. Just set up mic (experiment with various mics and setups), and sing. Nothing fancy. Although I'm itching to produce. Baby steps. So I hope you like "Hold On". |
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Back in Nashville
(7.21.2009: 1:36 AM) << Spent the week in the Bay Area glued to my laptop for a week of management meetings and getting involved with putting together a web strategy for a potential congressional campaign that may or may not be announced this week. I clocked something like 78 hours last week. It was pretty intense. I'm just getting back into the flow. Y'know... writing a blog post at 3:38 am.... Just like old times! Anyway, the weather has been incredible in nashville. 70's and clear. Delicious for juat about anything. Except working. Really hoping to make some progress on the last leg of setting up the studio. Trying to get a foot controller to control Ableton Live to do looping. In the meantime, here's a demo of a new song: |
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Revvin it up
(6.24.2009: 12:31 AM) << I've been getting a bit more into a groove lately. Been having some great creative moments. Had my first co-write last night with our landlord/host, Warren Evans. We wrote a song about Neda, the Iranian woman who was shot this weekend in Tehran. Amazing, the power of the cellphone and the web... Went to a songwriting workshop today at BMI. It was a LOT like a countrified version of the Recording Academy in Los Angeles. Same kind of feeling, design, etc. Anyway, I was joined by 50 aspiring songwriters to listen to a 2 hour lecture from Jason Blume, arguably the world's most well known songwriter/teacher of songwriting. It was great meeting him, for sure. I was not on my "Liz Colton" best (Liz was my mentor in college and taught us to be relentless and unstoppable in Getting Things Done. I had a moment to introduce myself during the break, but didn't want to interrupt the several other people who apparently had the same intention. The lecture was awesome, I met a couple of producers (who are also songwriters) - so leads on the CD project (Did I mention I moved to Nashville to get an album recorded?). Heat Index: not so bad today. Last well, since I got here, it's been HHHHAWT. Damn. Also have a funny post for my work blog about the latest celebrity to join the peace movement: "Perez Hilton." More on that later. Or sooner. Labels: Nashvillian. |
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(6.16.2009: 9:37 PM) << Made it to Nashville! Landed at "The Songwriter's House" - a gorgeous, very large house with 5+ bedrooms that rents (mostly) to songwriters who make their way to Nashville. The rooms are let by the day, week, or month and we've rented 2 rooms for the month of July while we look at places. Which we've done a fair bit of. I think we've looked at all the places that are currently available and that match our criteria - (3+ BR, 2+ BA, within walking distance of the Five Points district, a big porch, and trees in the yard) and none of them *quite* feel like 100% of what we're looking for. I'm feeling inclined to compromise and get 75% so we can get moved in and I can get my studio unpacked and set up and get the ball rolling. And at the same time, I want to have a place that feels like "this is it", which seems to be a recurring theme - that desire to have some internal feeling that guides me. In the absence of that feeling, I get almost overwhelmed with options, details and variations, all of which I tend to mentally extrapolate into a kind of ambiguous nullification. Maybe it's my debate training, but I tend to see/get lost in all the pros and cons which sometimes are like comparing apples and oranges - all of which is to say I have a hard time making a decision. I feel a little crowded in that I find it hard to write and/or rehearse when there are people around, which there almost always are in this current situation. Plus, I've been trying to catch up on a few weeks of pretty sever sleep deprivation. Night before last, I tried sleeping without the AC and just a fan, and wasn't able to sleep at all throughout the night. My thought was to try to acclimate to the hot & humid TN weather a little, but maybe I'll wait on that acclimation until I'm feeling a little more normal sleep-wise. I keep having the songwriting impulse - words, phrases, beats or melodies that come to me when I start singing - and I'm eager to get a studio set up. also, I've been dreaming a lot, and strangely, which I always find unrestful. having said all that I'm going to sleep now. |
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Moving (slowly) to Nashville
(6.12.2009: 10:48 PM) << I made the decision to move to Nashville after going to Tin Pan South and Spring Training, two events put on by the Nashville Songwriter's Association. Pretty much right after making the decision, I started packing and making arrangements, and with an increasing amount of intensity leading up to a state of near overwhelm in the final 2 weeks, I managed to fully pack a storage unit, a trailer and an SUV with stuff I needed to take with me and store for a 6 month Nashville adventure. And just as I was getting ready to leave town, I learned that my mother was getting out of the hospital from her second back surgery, so I made a b-line to Kansas City (taking the southern route to avoid the Sierras and Rockies in a very heavily loaded vehicle and trailer). I drove with Victoria, a lover who's joining me on this adventure, and one of my best friends, Leslie, flew out on Wednesday to help set up base camp Nashville. The three of us will be renting a house in East Nashville and having porch-life goodness, and I hope to start an EcoTuesday chapter, record my first full-length CD, and co-write some country songs with the talented songwriters I'm intending to meet while there. In typical fashion, I'm biting off a huge chunk to chew on. I think growing up in a large family has trained me to put a lot on my plate. That and a desire to save/change the world. Anyway, I need to get better at blogging about the journey. Part of the vision is to share the trip and so far haven't really done much of that. Part of me feels like "who cares?" so why bother writing about it at all. |
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Back from/to Nashville
(4.12.2009: 12:34 AM) << I did a fair amount of Tweeting while in Nashville at #TinPanSouth, a week-long songwriter festival featuring Nashville's top songwriting talent, and weekend-long symposium on the songwriting business. Both were put on by the Nashville Songwriter's Association International. I was blown away by the talent, the community, the cost of living (a ONE BEDROOM Apartment 1 block away from my place in San Francisco rents for $2300, get can rent you 5 bedrooms, a yard and brand new kitchen in Nashville. I had a blast and absolutely fell in love with Nashville. I have a bit of fear that my love is or would be unrequited, though. It's the wellspring of Country Music, which isn't widely known for appreciating "liberal" political philosophy... The city certainly has a constant influx of people wanting to be songwriters, that's for sure. Nevertheless, Nashville has had a deep and abiding allure for some time and my trip there last week cinched the deal. I'm going to move there for a time. I'm excited about living in Music City. It's like a dream coming true that I never knew I'd had. And I'm totally coming out of the closet as a Country Music fan. Hearing the original songwriters sing their songs gave Country Music a depth and complexity I guess I'd never really given the genre before. I've always been a closet country fan, actually. When I was in the Navy, I got turned onto Dwight Yoakum, who still looms as an all-time favorite. Anyway, I'm going to Nashville and taking a couple of friends with me. We're going to find a biggish place for at least 6 months and see where it goes. We're excited about having musicians over, having a giant dining room table, fireplaces, porchswings and barbeque. Nashville, here we come! |
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Out with the old
(1.27.2009: 4:42 PM) << I'm feeling compelled to redesign my website. I think I'm going to crowd-source the design and development. An experiment in "brand being", the Network Economy and the 4 hour work week. Such a buzzword filled idea. Anyway, I'm not digging what I've got up there now, and think I'm going to pull the plug pretty quickly and put up a very basic site for now. One reason is I think the design's gone stale. I want to re-think the ecommerce/eventually-earn-a-living-as-an-artist approach. And along the same vein, make some space for my professional make-a-living-so-I-can-make-music life. |
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HOLY CRAP
(1.16.2009: 2:12 AM) << I can't believe it's been since OCTOBER 6 that I've written anything here. That, I think, was around the time that we launched What Kind of Amazing Grace?. Well, I spent a fair amount of October promoting the video online, and November was kind of like being able to breathe after 8 years, so I breathed a little. Then it was Christmas party this and fundraiser that, and then next thing I know it's New Year's and now we're a few days away from seeing a black man in the White House. I think my ancestors are turning in their graves, but the latest version of the Rhett male is pretty stoked. I was Covered on KFOG, which is probably one of the most popular non-Urban radio stations in the Bay Area. "World Class Music" they say (about their station, not me)... I was honored to be interviewed and to be able to share the idea that following your passion is the only way to live ROOLED. I got a schedule from KFOG about when it would run (ran 7x or 8x over Christmas week) and I went out to my car to listen to it on the first run. Which... I'd promoted to like literally ten thousand people. I was so excited. Then, shortly after the appointed moment, they kept playing music and I started getting inundated with text messages - "What's going on?" "When are you on?" and "Who's this?!" I'm still ashamed that I'd promoted it like mad, and it didn't run. Ugh. still makes me hang my head. But what could I do? I just hate giving people bad information. I'm not sure why I do it so often.... Other news... Um... I've been rehearsing like a LOT for a show on 1/23 at 10pm at the Hotel Utah in SF. It's quite a wonder what a daily practice regimen can accomplish. I got a little lazy over the holidays, but with the stress of a looming Great Depression II, I'm finding that music is actually keeping me kind of sane. It's definitely a cathartic way to work off a lot of that stress. Even though I'm working crazy hours at work right now and hardly sleeping at all, I find that after I sing, I feel just...calm. It's lovely. And my singing voice continues to develop, which I love hearing. I used to hate my voice but now I love what it can do. Especially after it's warmed up and limber. Anyway, happy new year. |
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Wow!
(10.06.2008: 9:18 PM) << Just got a very generous "pay it forward" from the mp3 page. |
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Getting Boo'd singing the National Anthem.
(: 1:24 AM) << I'm pretty sure it had nothing to do with my rendition, but more to do with the fact I dared sing the National Anthem at a MoveOn peace vigil in Union Square in San Francisco last year. Code Pink is an activist organization trying to call attention to, well, something against George Bush. I've been boo'd by rednecks in pickup trucks for singing peace songs in Alabama, and now I've been boo'd by an Code:Pink lady for singing the National Anthem - "a war song". Technically, she's right. It's a rememberence of the domestic battles we fought when our freedom and future literally WERE at stake. And yes, it has nationalistic overtones (duh) and in some nostalgic sense (old) glorifies war (or baseball). But it's also our National Anthem, and as such represents to many people, including me, the promise and values that established our country. I believe, actually, that those founding principles and the vision of positive change both Code Pink and I are persuing are not only aligned, but synergistic, actually. Regardless, as a proponent of free speech, they can do whatever they want, whether it's rude and offensive or not. Technically, they DO have the right to do that. As an activist/someone trying to generate good things in the world - supposedly on more or less the same side of the petro-industrial-defense complex - it sorta sucked. Medea Benjamin was very diplomatic afterwards, explaining her rude Pink friend's behavior due to that "It was, y'know, a war song with 'bombs in the air'... and..." No apology, though. Honestly, I'm not sure I deserve one as "a performer" - we run the risk of being categorically rejected by our audience every time we open our mouths. Honestly, it felt kinda backstabbing to me. Or extremely shortsighted and utterly disrespectful to say the least. And it's not like I'm a huge nationalist, either! That's the irony of it all. My singing the National Anthem is my way of connecting to the only shred of what's left of the America I grew up believing in. And, I believe that in order to change the world, we have to change the hearts of the mainstream. Which you don't do when you're booing their frickin' National Anthem. It's still depressing to think about it, but here it is. Code Pink Boo's the National Anthem. |
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Setting Grace Free
(10.02.2008: 11:10 PM) << I'm pleased to say that "What Kind of Amazing Grace" has been released and set free on the great Sea of Ether, known as The Interwebs. My intentions behind this are to speak to as many people as I can, and ask the question "What Kind Of Amazing Grace will it take?". I'm supporting 4 organizations I feel particularly passionate about and hope that my efforts to inspire people to take action result in more people becoming engaged in some very important conversations. I'll let you know how it goes. |
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Wow.
(9.29.2008: 6:14 PM) << Um... can't believe it's been 28 days since I last blogged. The month has flown, though. It seems like august was just yesterday. I've been racing to finish the "What Kind of Amazing Grace" project, which has been forming quickly. I hope to have something to show you soon. It's been a frantic month with lots going on in both my own world and in the world around me. Lots of change, some of it not so easy. I keep remembering that I'm alive only in this moment, and that what's really being called for from me is trust in God/Life/the Universe/Everything (aka Yahweh). I'll say this - we are in a time of great transformation. I think inasmuch as there is a grave threat to our way of life, there is also an incredible opportunity to do things differently. Indeed, I believe the Internet makes this wholly possible. Anyway, got back late last night from a weekend trip with my Men's Circle to Catalina Island, which was as physically draining as it was uplifting and inspiring. Got back to find that the ceiling over my bed had caved in, putting debris into every corner of my room and all over my bed, comforter and furniture. My housemate, a pro photographer, went to go get his camera to take pictures of the disaster when he discovered that $7200 of camera equipment had been stolen. They've been renovating the upstairs and have had day laborers working unattended, even over the weekend. A ladder had been lowered in the lightwell about a week or two ago, and we thought nothing of it, but now... not so much. Sorry it's taken so long to blog... lots of stuff going on. |
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Off to the races with Grace
(9.07.2008: 9:06 PM) << So it's quite possible that the "Things Have Got To Change" video is going to get pushed past the election. TieDye Kieth says it'll take 1-2 months to complete the recording. Also, since it's a lot faster in tempo than I'd intended (i guess I got a little excited going into the studio) I'm going to see how it unfolds over the coming weeks and months. In the meantime, Grace is a go. A friend in LA is an incredible mixer/engineer/audio wizard, and he's going to fine-tune some of the EQ and mixing. The electric guitar track (WHICH I LOVE) is a bit too hot in this mix, so I'm going to tone it down a bit. |
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Inspired and Impatient.
(9.01.2008: 6:03 PM) << It's labor day, and I'm watching the "I Have A Dream" speech, on PeaceTakesCourage.com. Ava, who runs the site invited me to Alabama to perform at her Sweet Sixteen birthday peace vigil on the Capitol steps in Birmingham Alabama. I sang the National Anthem at sunset and quoted his Riverside Church anti-war speech from the top of the steps looking at his church. An awe-filled moment for me. I've also been watching a lot of what's happening on the political stage right now. One of my roommates is very active in getting Ralph Nader into the debates (he's a third party candidate in 45-or-something states). Lots going on in the world! Times they are a-changing, right before our eyes! So I'm hauling ass on some new music and videos. I'd been working on the Missing project for a loooong time, and deferred working on more social-change kinds of projects. But I've written a bunch of stuff and I'm so inspired by the conversation happening in the world and feel like I need to offer my contribution now. I'm working on three other projects right now: updating the Unamerican video, A video for "What Kind Of Amazing Grace", and recording "Things Have Got To Change." I'm working with Tie Die Keith who is kind of an "old salt" in the local music scene and has turned his peninsula garden home into a full-on multi-room recording studio. He's producing, helping arrange, engineer and generally get this project done quickly. And I'm learning a ton along the way. The man is wise as he is colorful. I hired a couple of really awesome session players to lock in the rhythm section. It's coming out a little faster than the demo, but I'm eager to hear how this process ends up. I've been really enjoying getting to work with different people over the last couple years on projects. "What Kind Of Amazing Grace" is a result of a recording project I did at the Black Cat studios in Santa Cruz. Anyway, I've been working all Labor Day Weekend and feeling good about it. AND I'm feeling impatient. Anxious. Gotta get goin. |
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I got hate mail from Bono today.
(: 1:09 AM) << Something totally bizarre is happening. I got bood by CodePink when I performed the National Anthem at a MoveOn Rally last year. Tonight I get hate male from Bono. Or so it said. Came in from my contact form from one "Bono Vox", and it said:
Maybe "hate" mail is a bit strong for this one but I think it generally falls into the "someone's being a jackass" category. The irony of being snidely accused of being a poser by someone posing to be someone s/he also accuses of being a poser is a little mind-bending, almost to the point of ridiculousness. Should I take this as a kind of doubled-then-halved-twice-negative complement? Is the obvious idiocy of it actually some kind of joke? Does this mean that I actually DO have a public life? I just deleted a couple paragraphs of angry blogging aimed at the anonymous author, figuring that it wouldn't be a very "Generate Kindness" thing to post. The irony of ironies is that I really can't say some of the things I'd really like to say to this person. |
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www.missingproject.org
(8.25.2008: 2:01 AM) << The MissingProject.org website is now live and more or less functional! Check it out: http://www.missingproject.org. Leave a comment on the blog (over there) so the place doesn't look so empty! |
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The miraculous interweb
(7.31.2008: 1:05 AM) << Check it - I got played on KHEN, a community radio station in Salida, Colorado. Cuh-razy as I've never sent this out. Just got played. THANKS KHEN! http://khen.org/2008/07/30/chickenlips17/ |
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Back from NC
(7.01.2008: 6:29 PM) << Spent the last week in balmy Eastern North Carolina visiting friends and family, although the line was pretty blurry between friends and family. I got to see my friend Will's ad business Evolve Advertising continue to grow, and, evolve. He and his son dragged me down the Tar river, literally. Managed to stay on the kneeboard for more than a minute before yet another spectularly funny (apparently) Ian Rhett wipeout. Maybe I should look into auditioning for that show. Thing is, I could easily see myself breaking a finger or something on that show. Cal Ripkin said that the key to his success was minimizing risk. Something about being a piano player and guitarist make me think it'd be a drag to have my hands messed up from being on Television. F that. I also got to spend 4 days in a more-or-less constant state of love and appreciation for my sister and her daughter. I don't get to see family enough, and I'm in love with both of them. She says I should't be worried, but I still dread her getting deployed. San Francisco has changed since I left it a week ago. It's definitely colder than the southeast. Seems a little clearer, but things definitely feel different. The Missing Project is taking great shape. Eager to share it soon. Heard these guys on the interwebs radio: |
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Nomadic Performances
(6.15.2008: 1:18 AM) << Just got back from playing a gig at the Nomad Cafe in Berkeley. It was great to see a bunch of friends turn out and to even have someone travel to see me (Thanks Gwen!) I thought it was pretty good. I'm watching the video right of it right now. I'm going to upload some of the song performances into the video section. I'd do the whole show, but there are a couple of songs where the soundguy has a conversation. And honestly, there were a couple moments I wasn't too proud of. Let's just say I definitely see room for improvement, and places to really focus my rehearsal. Some of my song starts were pretty weak right off the bat. Once I got into them, things seemed to get into a groove of one form or another. Also more than one "pitch" moment. There were no monitors tonight, and I was behind the speakers. It's very hard to stay on pitch when you can't hear yourself. You'd think with all that amplification, that it'd be easy, but the fact is, sound SOUNDS very different when you're behind a speaker than it does when you're in front of it. Anyway, there are only a couple of tunes I'm gonna excise from the record. I also have a video I'm getting ready to upload that shows CodePink booing me during a performance of the National Anthem at a MoveOn rally in San Francisco's Union Square. I was psyched to start the rally with my rendition of the Anthem... well, I'll say more in the blog post that contains the video |
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A Billion Dollar Business:
(6.10.2008: 7:38 PM) << Here's a business someone should do: Software/service that integrates to add video to an email. The email contains everything it needs to play back in an email browser/client. User case - Grandpa wants to send a video email to his granddaughter in college. In Yahoo Mail or Google or anywhere, "Send a Video Greeting" or something. Make it supersimple to send v/e-email. User case - a resume consultant wants to charge a fee for reviewing someone's resume. They do a split User case - musicians selling online videos User case - churches doing remote ministry Make it easy to send and receive v/e-mail, someone, please. If you know of someone already doing this, please let me know - I'd like to start using something like this. Labels: Billion Dollar Business |
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Rough week...
(5.15.2008: 10:13 PM) << It's been a rough week. A breakup, work pressure is huge, a misunderstanding with a key partner for the Missing Project, realizing I've pretty much entirely cut myself off from connection with community and I found out tonight that The Missing Song didn't even place for the FindGINA Missing singer/songwriter contest. I felt/feel really proud of it and I guess there is part of me that wants my music to be recognized and acknowledged. It's kinda like feedback from the Universe/God that I'm on the right track, doing what I'm supposed to be doing. Otherwise, why would "the right path" seem to be so challenging and slow? That's how it's felt lately. Of course, I also haven't taken a vacation or really more than a day or two off in probly the last... um... Could be something there. Thing is I find it hard to not be either thinking about or doing something towards making my dream real, living my purpose and having some positive impact in the world. Since choosing music and committing to making a difference, I kinda can't turn it off. Pretty much every news story is like pouring gasoline on the fire under my ass. And I should also shut the hell up. There are a lot of people who are actually doing the fighting of an insipid, seemingly endless war who aren't getting the benefit of pursuing their dream right now, and won't for at least another 5 years. Thousands will never. At the same time, I feel patriotic - i love my country, I love the people in it and fighting for it, and I feel like the freedoms it embodies are being restricted and I feel I have a duty to say and do something about it. But how does one do that in today's world? Indeed, we live in different a new time calling for a new way. I chose songwriting. I hope someone chooses speechwriting, and I hope someone chooses producing films and that lots of people choose to run for first-time office in their communities. I hope lots of people start or volunteer for non-profits. There are so many great organizations doing great things in the world and they all need help in one way or another. I hope someone chooses to write poetry only a few people see, but who are then inspired to write songs and make movies and enjoy freedom in all its forms. I hope someone chooses to write a blog only a few people read. I hope someone chooses to create a website that totally revolutionizes the way we connect to one another, socially. I think the possibilities to make a difference are endless, and that what it's going to REALLY take is everyone doing something. So do something! Tell me what are you up to? /ian |
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Haunted by Music
(5.14.2008: 11:43 AM) << My upstairs neighbor has been blasting his/her stereo a lot lately. The other day, Chris Isaak was on repeat for like 2 hours. I like Chris - I've even played music with him (granted it was at a private party and we were the backup band for an 8 year old lead singer - I played the pots and pans. Chris was on guitar, natch). But two hours of the same music was a bit... unnerving. Today it's the theme song for Friends. Over and Over... I like the Rembrandts, too - I interviewed them for a TV show I hosted back in the day. But I think they've got a lot better music than the overplayed Friends theme. So I'm blasting SomaFM to drown out the muffled "I'll be there for youuuuu, nuh nuh nah nah nah..." Curious that I've had some personal interaction with the artists that are now occupying my space rather uninvited. |
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Be The Change
(4.24.2008: 12:23 AM) << I got the National Center for Missing Adults' latest newsletter and was struck by a number of things. The fact there was a newsletter at all was like getting a jolt of oxygen. The Center has been threatened with closure as they wait for the government to pay the promised staffing costs to respond to Katrina. In one of the disaster's brighter moments - the National Center for Missing Adults helped resolve 99.8% of the missing persons cases it responded to. They've been waiting for $4 million from congress for I don't know how long. I think that's about 12 seconds in Iraq. Maybe if everyone could just take an couple of deep breaths... The Executive Director, an abduction survivor, had mortgaged her home and the Center was working on an all volunteer basis. All the news about the Center was from October/November last year, when it seemed like they were going to have to shut down their doors. Anyway, that's why it was so refreshing to see a well-produced 4 page newsletter. Not to mention, the content was moving and inspiring. The other thing I was struck by was the choice to include a quote from Mahatma Ghandi, "Be The Change Ypu Want To See In The World" I'm 100% down for that, but for some reason a National Center of anything quoting Ghandi, caught me a little off guard. On the other hand, it was just perfect (except for the typo), totally spot on. Yes. Be The Change. I got all inspired (again) by that. Gets me every time, actually, thinking about Ghandi. Or Dr. King, or Jesus or John Lennon, for that matter. There was another quote on the back that also struck me: "Working together, incredible things can be achieved" down with that, too. |
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'Nother Fillmore Gig in the bag and lessons learned
(4.11.2008: 1:55 AM) << I dunno - there's a way that feels really good to write. I just played my 4th Fillmore gig, this time at Poster Room at the Ani DiFranco show. It was, like most of my music stuff lately, kind of intense and wonderful. I played a decent first set, but was in a totally whacked headspace. First, I'd eaten very little all day. I was sorta frantic getting a CD of The Missing Song printed. I burned the song onto CD and the label was a recent studio shot with a few sentences about the project. I felt it was pretty alright for a rush job. But my cheap-ass printer couldn't manage to correctly or consistently print a single one of 20 sheets of high-gloss cd-labels. Frustrating to say the least, when you're packing your gear for a gig you've been looking forward to for a long time, and you can't get a single decent CD printed. Over and Over.... OMG. I really, really wanted to give one to Ani - who I've long admired for her musical activism, her truth-speaking and her independence as an artist. And I'm eager to share the project with anyone I can. Especially other cause-related musician types. Especially well-connected ones. I'm clearly not as deep into her has the fans who were at the Fillmore, though. It was inspiring and really kind of heart-rending, too, to see her totally owning that room. It was insane. Girl power, indeed. I had a "Golden Opportunity" to give my CD of the song, too. I'd just put all my stuff down on the stage in the Poster Room, which is where the Fillmore feeds the band, the crew, the roadies, the drivers and the cleanup crew. (But not the Lounge Act, which made my low blood sugar even more depressed.) Anyway, Ani was there with her family and band, and I totally did not want to intrude. But she was like 10 feet from me and my CD. I heard her say she was going to warm up, she stood and left the table to go back to her dressing room. My golden moment shined for a few seconds and then disappeared into the shadows of the Fillmore balcony. I honestly don't know what happened. On the one hand, I was there to do a job, literally - play my best set ever. I had 20 minutes to set up and sound check, and the guy who ran the room was sitting right next to the stage. I also felt apprehensive about being an opportunistic self-promoter. I definitely did not want to "barge into her space." I froze and that was that. I tried a few other trajectories throughout the night to cross paths with her, but it didn't happen and I left the Fillmore with the CD I'd signed for Ani DiFranco. I was bummed. Anyway, the first set itself was OK. I was already exhausted from an insane month at work, on an empty stomach, and having just failed to act decisively at a moment I'd actually manifested/imagined prior coming to the Fillmore. Oh, and I forgot my set list. This all does not add up so well for a rockin show. But my friends were there to support me (paying $54 for tickets!), I wolfed a very tasty burger between sets and kicked ass for all three songs of the second set, if I don't say so myself. I was one line away from finishing Unamerican when a tattooed dude walks in from the hallway crossing his throat with his hand and hyper enunciating something I couldn't quite make out, but it was clear enough between his gesture and the rising sounds of a roaring crowd in the main room. I didn't finish the song. (Mustn't upset the authorities!!!) I had one of those after-the-fact epiphanies today that I should have just stood up and sung the rest of it a Capella. But I didn't... Guess what I'm gonna do next time someone cuts my mic in the middle of "Unamerican?" All respect to not bleeding into Ani's set, which had already started, but I could've finished the song. I don't really feel guilty about that (anymore). Instead, I feel optimistic and grateful for the learning/growing experience as a musician. Like I said, it was intense and wonderful. Lessons Learned: - eat before a show/bring food - don't work so hard at work to the exclusion of music - have a songlist of all the songs I know ready. Ideally a fakebook or something. - checklist of "everything Ian needs for a gig" - when the moment comes, stand up and say something, even if you feel stuck, scared, or unworthy. - everything is continually perfect. |
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New Content
(4.06.2008: 2:52 PM) << I just uploaded some photographs from a portrait session I had with my roommate, Michael Rauner. I'm also doing an editing pass on a video I just saw for the first time - me getting boo'd for singing the National Anthem at a MoveOn Anti-war rally. I'll have an introduction to the video posted shortly and the video itself as well. Total trip. I just got a new MiniDV video camera, so I'll conceivably be able start uploading performance bits and home movies and such. |
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The One Two Punch, Divine-style
(4.04.2008: 11:00 AM) << I guess I broke a promise to myself about not getting on the computer tonight, but I've got to share a couple of experiences that happened to me tonight. I've been spending a LOT of time online, for work, and I've really been needing to prepare for the Ani DiFranco show on Tuesday. I'm really looking forward to it, and work has had incredible demands on my time, energy and focus. As a partner in a company doing great work in the world, I feel like my time, energy and focus are still pointed in the same general direction as my music, and consequently, I'm feeling like I'm doing the best I can to make a difference in the world, one way or another. Anyway, tonight I had two incredible, mind-blowing experiences I'm still trying to wrap my head around. #1 In the park near my home, they were having "Movie in the Park" (Big Lubowski) and there were about a hundred people. I was actually walking home and happened to walk by the park, curious to see what the hubbub was all about. So anyway, as I walked up to the alfresco theater, I sorta walked up to this short, stocky black girl, probably in her 20's. She was really sweet, had on some delightful perfume and at the same time she seemed really lost. There was something both attractive and tragic about her. Our conversation was clear and direct and deep and connected, an atypical meet-a-stranger-for-the-first-time encounter. She was new in town, homeless, had been abandoned by some travelling partners who'd taken her blanket - she had no idea where she was going and wanted to go walk on the beach, which way was it? We talked a bit more, and she mentioned she was lonely and wanted to know if we could go for a walk and hold hands. I told her I had a girlfriend and that I'd just dropped her off at the airport (which is true) and that I was going to walk home. She asked if she could walk with me and be romantic, just for the night? I told her no and rubbed her back and generally loved on her. My mind started cataloging all the things I could do for her, posessions of mine I could give up. She asked for a backrub, which I gave her. I happen to give really good backrubs being a trained (but not yet certified) accupressure therapist. She didn't seem to care about my credentials. She was muscular in a feminine way, but with lots of tension I helped dissolve a little. She asked for a bear hug to crack her back, and I gave her a good Ian Hug. She said "I'm just going to walk away from all this negativity". I said "yeah, walk into the positive" and I just hugged her and stroked her back and loved this total stranger for a minute. By now I totally smell like some kind of magnolia perfume and she pulls away and looks up at me with this beautiful almond eyes and says "I was thinking about going out there and killing myself, but you saved my life." I had no idea what to say. As I was thinking and trying to feel what was the right thing to do, her attention shifted and she started talking to a more punkish looking kid about something, sort of like the fragments of conversation I hear from streetpunks on Haight Street. Disjointed, kind of rambunctious and tough. It was clear they were familiar with one another, but I didn't turn to engage in their conversation. I had to decide in that moment if I were going to get pulled further into something I ultimately couldn't do more to help with. The decisive moment was feeling like I'd done what there was for me to do, anyway, and i quickly left and walked home. #2 Meanwhile, before leaving for the airport, I'd had an IM exchange with a guy I'd interviewed for a job at CivicActions. The big push lately has been to find web developers for change-the-world projects and it's absorbed an incredible talent search that's had me working 75-85 hr weeks. The interview guy was pinging me to say hi and follow up on the referral. The conversation quickly turned to music, and I shared Unamerican with him. He liked it, gave me some feedback that made me feel like "yeah, actually, I AM on purpose with this stuff." It felt great. I asked him if he'd seen my next trick: The Missing Song. He was stunned. This guy he'd referred had told him a very similar story about his friend who'd passed away in this totally tragic way and thought for sure his friend and my song were talking about the same person. Neither of us could believe this was possible, so he left a message for his friend. Fast forward a couple hours - I come home to an IM from this friend of "Robert John" - the subject of the song, the "boy who died, becoming a man". In fact, they were very close friends. In fact, he'd played the guitar I wrote the song on. He used to jam with the former owner of this exquisite instrument I play at performances and has known the current owner, "Robert John's" sister, for years. We had a mind-blowing IM exchange. I had my breath taken away as we had convulsion after convulsion of divine enormity about talking to someone I'd randomly met through the course of doing what I'm on the planet to do about a person who's become very much a part of my life even though I'd never met "Robert John" in person. I hear him playing guitar once in a while, though. |
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Confirmed AniDiFranco show at the Fillmore April 8
(2.15.2008: 10:36 PM) << I just booked the Ani DiFranco show at the Fillmore in San Francisco on April 8. I'm the "lounge act" for the Ani DiFranco show. How 'bout that. Very excited. If you're in town, get your tickets right now. Ani shows sell out fast. It's gonna be a great night if you're into having great nights of music, that is. |
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Wow.
(: 9:53 PM) << Wow is Mom spelled upside down. I had a pretty intense week last week with my mom going into the hospital. Although I've often lamented in a kind of self-pity how sad I'd be if she were to ever go. I've done that since I was a kid. Gets me all worked up and sad and full of love for my mom, I'll say that. It's also been an intense week or two with work and life in general. Not bad, necessarily. Just surreal and intense. Life's kicking my butt. Work is rocking. I'm being challenged in ways I've not been challenged in a long time. The Missing Project is moving forward apace. Very nice. I definitely have a lot to do, though, so I'm gonna get to it. Oh, here's a portrait by my friend and housemate, Michael Rauner. He's a brilliant artist and a deep, eloquent man. I'm really pleased with the overall quality, but I look like I'd been up all night (I was, actually - doing budgets for my day job). Michael says that definitely expresses part of who i am right now - the tired warrior. Don Quixote after a few windmills, maybe. Anyway, here's the photo:    Gracious courtesy of Michael Rauner |
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It's 3:33 on 2/1 = 333 days left in the year!
(2.01.2008: 3:34 AM) << I just had to say that. |
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So many things to do!
(1.31.2008: 3:57 PM) << I feel such urgency to get everything done at once! Obviously I can't do that. I have been really productive, though, updating this website, upgrading another (Generate Kindness.org) and launched a third (The Missing Song), not to mention a fulltime job at CivicActions. And there's still a ton to do! I'm focusing on completing the music bundle for The Missing Suite, which looks like is going to require more recording and production ahead. I also am going to spec out some phase II functionality and budget for empowering this project to the next order of magnitude. |
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January is a ramp
(1.27.2008: 1:12 PM) << Things have really picked up this month. I've taken a few steps back from mainstream media consumption, instead focusing my time and energy on creating and connecting bits. This month I've launched the Generate Kindness Blog, as well as re-enabling an online request form for free stickers, which right now sends me an email when anyone requests stickers (I've been having database problems, so I get an email instead of the intended storing in a db). Anyway, about a hundred a day now. Woo! I've set up digital distribution through e-junkie. It's an online shopping cart and digital delivery management thing. I'll be revamping my music store next. The Missing Song project is rolling ahead. Expecting final, final mix in the mail from Will in LA. I've finalized the track listing for the bundle: _ The Missing Suite _ I. The Missing Song II. The Ballad of Robert John III. Unexpected Turns (bonus preview track: "What Kind of Amazing Grace?" from upcoming July release.) I've got a short list of big production tasks on each of these, and am shooting to have the Missing Suite bundle wrapped by March 4, my birthday. I'll be in Boston for the Drupal Community Conference. I'm proposing a panel called "Using Drupal to Save the World," featuring people in the Drupal community who are using the platform for sites like Amnesty International and The Witness Project and The Missing Song. Business has picked up quite a bit. January was like this big gust of wind that picked up the kite and let it soar after a rather languid holiday season. It's been lot of fun being a business guy again for a group I really believe in. That's it for now. Tons to do. |
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Intense and excited
(12.19.2007: 12:56 AM) << Lots of heavin' up going on in the world. I've landed in a huge room in a new pad in San Francisco. Rumor has it the landlord's getting ready to sell the building so I don't think it's a permanent place, but I hope it'll at least last me 6 months, enough time to get my next two recording projects out. Putting the finishing touches on the final mix of The Missing Song, which I recorded last weekend and had such a brilliant, incredible, awe-inducing and productive weekend recording and mixing it. I'm incredibly pleased with the result. I had no idea it would turn out like this, and I'm amazed, and moved to have the project start to gain some real momentum. I'll share more about it later, and the song, too, when I get the final mix back from the Magic Gadget Studios (what a great name for a recording studio, huh?). In the meantime, I've gotten a commitment from CivicActions to build the technical infrastructure for this viral project designed to find missing children and adults around the world. Over 200,000 children and 80,000 adults are reported missing each year. Most of the time, they find granny wandering in the backyard or Saralyn asleep in a big linen drawer, but often times, the reasons a loved one goes missing is more tragic. More tragic still is the possibility that lost loved ones might be near you right now and you wouldn't know it without happening to go to the post office or getting a half-gallon of milk. Anyway, I've got to get back to making the final notes for the mix, and then work on the trailer for the project, a 1 minute video explanation of how it all works. I don't know if this is realistic or not, but I'm going to release the project on Christmas Eve in some form or fashion. |
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Empower the Artist
(11.17.2007: 4:47 PM) << I was at a friend's house last night, hanging out with a bunch of people connected to the music industry and I heard this guy John, whose irish surname I don't quite remember. He's apparently a heavy 'cause he listed off some of his clients and they're all top of the entertainment industry. Anyway, he said something that catalyzed something for me. He's got a commitment to giving artists total freedom - as a producer, he knows that in that space, artists radiate. Anyway, what he said was that he's about empowering the artist, and the words were exactly the phrase that's been banging around in my head for the last several weeks. I've been composing a blog entry about empowering the artist, because I think that's where the future of the music industry lies, not to mention a total transformation of the way music is created, shared and consumed. And that really turns ME on. Artists have more access to audience than ever, and audiences have more choices for delightful sensory experiences than ever. The Music Industry Establishment (The Endustry) needs to control access to their content. But content is simply information, and as we well know Information wants to be free.. The winners of music 3.0 (which is about to emerge) are going to be the people who empower the artist. Intermediation is increasingly irrelevant - the network routes around inefficiencies and breakdowns. The internet is an inversive force - and by that I mean, it's not just disruptive, but it completely alters the ratio of control from centralized, tightly controlled (and profit-driven) entities to the single thriving entity of the Network, the sum of all its parts, which now numbers in the billions. From content providers to content producers, which are anyone with a computer, camera and connection to the net. Google sees the immensity of the opportunity. the tendency of information is to be networked and "free" (or I should say, "accessible"). How do you find things in an infinite information universe? Google. The industry is trying to figure out how to mold it's model of limiting supply and increasing demand into a world of decreased (relatively) demand and infinite supply. By decreased relative demand, I mean, the demand for Industry product (CD's from major label acts) has fallen, as record sales numbers show. But people are still listening to more music than ever. They're just not paying for it, currently, and because they don't really have to - it's pervasively available. Wrong or right, it's a fact that if you can hear it in real life, you can hear it on the net. So the Music Endustry is trying to figure out how to stop something that is inevitable and unstoppable. Kinda like the war on drugs, or the war on terror. Except that record companies don't have the bank the US government has, so this one will be relatively short-lived. The Music Industry Establishment, a Music 1.0 legacy operating system, is about to be made obsolete in a networked world. The Industry is right to be in panic - it's not that the money is going to go away - it's just going to be dispersed. That principle of inversion. The music 1.0 nightsky had a few thousand stars. the music 3.0 nightsky will have millions, selling directly to their fans. The economic question isn't how to capture the revenue by exploiting intellectual property. I believe the economic question is how to empower the artist to more effectively reach their audience. And the companies that develop models that empower artists to deliver directly to their audiences could, I believe, usher in the era of music 3.0. We used to say that the winners of the 90's dot com phenomenon were the people selling picks and shovels to the Gold Rushers. The principle still applies - empower the artist, recoup a reasonable commission on each sale. What if a record company had a million street team members who were REALLY motivated to poster, flyer, promote their record? There are something like 1.8 million band pages on myspace and every one of those 1.8 million accounts are connected to hundreds of millions of people. Add facebook, band websites, and all the other things bands do to promote themselves, and a few million musicians have access to the discretionary income of a hundreds of millions of people. That's the music 3.0 marketplace in a nutshell. Empower the artist. |
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What happens when you have a great idea but don't act on it...
(11.14.2007: 10:46 AM) << Someone else does: http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,,2209957,00.html?gusrc=rss&feed=technology |
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No way...
(11.12.2007: 4:10 AM) << I can't believe it's been almost SIX MONTHS since I blogged. Well, fact is, I'm not a blogger. Maybe that'll change in the new year. Big changes afoot. I quit one of my part-time jobs to make my other part-time job a full-time gig. I'm now a professional do-gooder. Woot. Also, I'm moving. I've been in a sweet rental situation for the last couple of years which has been a nice dose of stability after a harrowing 2005. And it's time to move on. I'd found a perfect place, and at the last minute, a friend called with an even perfecter place for half the cost. I'm moving this week. The video project for "Missing" is picking up momentum and I couldn't be happier and more excited. This project has been waiting to happen for a year now, and the pieces are finally coming together. I think it's going to be huge. I plan to take *this* blog private, keeping the details of my personal life to my friends and family and early-adopters. In addition, I plan to have a kind of "backstage" area that will have live video performances, demo Mp3's, discounted recordings and such like that. For the time being, it'll be free for the asking, but as I add content and value, I'll be considering offering access via subscription. So let me know if you're reading this and want to be "in" and not, y'know... out. Speaking of out... |
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snocapped my cdbaby
(5.30.2007: 1:06 PM) << I uploaded my new tracks to snocap intending to offer them for sale. A few weeks ago, I got an email from cdbaby saying "One click adds your snocap store to myspace". I clicked the link and presto - my cdbaby catalogue on myspace. Magic. Except that the snocap account I had prior to the cdbaby email is/was different than the one they "magically" added to myspace. Worse, snocap is saying that cdbaby owns the rights to the music I put out for digital distribution through cdbaby and consequently I can't sell it on my non-cdbaby snocap account. I'm in customer "service" email hell between snocap, cdbaby and myspace. Yeah... |
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Demo's almost done
(5.25.2007: 3:39 AM) << So the demo's almost done. pretty stoked, 'cause it's been a longtime coming. Way more time and money consuming than I thought it would be. Actually, if you want to hire professional musicians and have a set of sharp, creative ears behind the board, y'know... artists deserve to get paid, if ya know what I'm sayin. I think the plan's gonna look like this: a) 3 song demo for booking b) 5 song EP for sales at shows and online Then start working on a 7 song topical (peace, justice and the American Way?) disc I'd like to release by Nov 7 (Veteran's Day), which is actually 107 days away. At first, i thought - man, there's no way I'm gonna record, mix, master and press 7 songs and get them out to publications who need a 3 month lead time. I had a moment of being upset at myself for not thinking ahead further and taking more action sooner. If only I'd... Then it kind of occurred to me, that is so not the way of the new world. So I've decided I'm gonna just go for it. Have the record pressed and ready for online release (meaning physical discs in hand ready to ship) by Veteran's Day blog/vlog and post all along the way. Learn some more stuff. I've already learned a TON from producing these 3 songs. Seeing the process through once from start to finish sure makes it a lot easier to do it again more efficiently. I started the sessions for this demo on March 22, I think? So it's been 2 months for 3 songs. Hm. 3 months for 8 songs? I do have a few aces up my sleeve... a new recording strategy (which I'll talk about later). I also just bought a copy of the music creation software that gets used where I've been recording, so now I can do a lot of the time-consuming work myself. No more driving to Santa Cruz to do what I could be doing at home. I also have a bit of a headstart recording, I definitely like releasing the record on Veteran's Day. I've been working on a version of the National Anthem, too, which I'll be posting as soon as I get around to recording it. I got some really great feedback at the Montgomery, Alabama vigil. I'll tell ya! So much music to make! The album won't be ALL anti-war, but that sure is what is up for me right now. 'Nother 120 billion dollars and more human life thrown into that gaping hole. When will it end? I'll post a tentative track listing and some lyrics later on. |
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The Song Doesn't, Actually, Remain the Same
(5.07.2007: 3:18 AM) << Well, it's been a long time smooshing around in the chrysalis. I've been churning and recording and writing and stewing and planning and getting excited and feeling frustrated and working my ass off and I think I have a plan. First of all, this is going to become a private blog, available by invitation only. I should say, this is eventually going to become a private blog! Fact is, the point of doing that would mean having a private area on ianrhett.com, which I plan on having for the i-Team and friends and family. I've been sharing a lot of private stuff in a rather public forum, and I've learned already how easy it is to misunderstand/misinterpret things, and I think I'd prefer to know who was getting to see an inside glimpse into my life. I've always been attracted to living a life online - but in point of fact, i've learned that I actually DO value my privacy. The second reason for doing this is to provide some focus to the blogging. I'm really interested in taking people along for the journey of becoming an artist, a writer and a performer. So the blog's going to focused more on the process of planning, writing, recording, performing, inspirations and pointers to my latest work. One of the things that's really been hammered home for me is "get it out there". I'm often reminded, sometimes painfully, that it's not about me (Ian Rhett), either. I keep wanting to be impressive with my voice ('cause I'm excited about being able to actually sing, I'm eager to keep pushing the limits of my range and control) - I have this aspiration that I want to be a soul singer. But really, what's underneath all of it is the desire to plant a seed in the new terrain that is this connected consciousness - to get a message out, to promote positive change, to do everything I can do to make a difference in the world. 'Cause my point of view suggests that things aren't as rosy as they seem to be on TV. So the new blog is going to have new, rough hewn music, which I'll be releasing with increasing frequency this year. I'll be honest, I'm really reluctant to put out work that isn't 100% finished and perfect. I want my art to be exemplary and perfected. I want to master the process of writing and producing music. And... I have a LONG way to go. I keep forgetting that I just started. (Actually, I'm reminded every time I listen to a recording of my voice) But I'm also interested in trying something different. The web has become our marketplace - our commons. And the old rules of commerce, especially with respect to music are in flux, to put it lightly. On the one hand, I don't have a choice. I'm clear this is my path and an inalienable part of my being. I will be writing music until I can't breathe anymore. So in that sense, the "economics' of all this don't really matter. I have a deal with the Deity that I'll just concentrate on doing my job, and let the rest happen as it is meant to. I've never starved or found myself on the streets yet, so I'm just gonna keep on truckin, so to speak. On the other, I want to do this (make music) all the time. I just can't afford to, yet. I think the new market for music is going to continue to have its megastars and its smash hits - any company (like Viacom, Fox, etc) that has reach across television, film, radio, print, outdoor, etc... will be manufacturing stars like Brittney Spears and N'Sync forever. But I also believe that there is a whole new music reality emerging online. More people are connected, able to share their discoveries with social networks, direct distribution to fans gives any artist an unprecedented opportunity to make a living making music. Or so I believe. This might be like a speech before one of those old-time movies of people strapping on their flying contraptions and plummeting into obscurity. And, maybe it's the start of something big. Time will tell. |
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Suddenly Sullen
(4.18.2007: 12:43 AM) << I started writing a blogpost about my crazy weeks and how frustrated I am with the slogged pace of production on my record, and feeling like I'm so far from where I want to be in so many ways. Feeling resentment for paying my taxes (a duty I dread performing). Then I had this moment where i started thinking (again) about the shootings in Virginia and I instantly felt both a heavy sadness and a stinging shame for feeling so much about something so relatively insignificant. And, y'know? I'm upset and scared. And I'm intermittently hopeful and frequently inspired by what others are doing in the world. And then again the cycle repeats. This time they called him the Question Mark Kid. |
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