It’s not about the music. It’s about how many people you bring in the door. It’s about how much the sales are at the bar. It’s about your latest reviews. It’s about where you’ve played. It’s about how skinny you are and how tanned you look. It’s about if anyone’s recorded your song and where it went on the charts. It’s about superficial buzz.
It’s about things that 100 years from now, NO ONE will remember.
But sometimes – sometimes you get lucky and it’s about the music. That feeling in the studio of laying down a great sounding track – you listen to the playback and get chills. You play a festival and the audience is screaming after every song (and they’re not even drunk yet). A DJ calls you because they just got overcome by the album you just sent them. You play a song onstage and get lost in the sounds coming out of your body and the feelings coming out of your soul.
I’ve gotten a little lost in the past year. OK maybe personally, but I won’t go into all of that. . . . except that maybe that’s echoed in my music. I went to the UK and Norway in July and after receiving encouragement to play MY original tunes in Norway, I realized that I’d lost my way a little.
The traditional country music crowd in Texas loves covers. As a friend in Bandera told me, “I can walk into a bar and tell you already what the setlist is. Doesn’t matter who the band is.” Don’t get me wrong. I’m a classic country music superfreak just as much as anyone is. Some of those songs are powerful and stirring. But as an artist that writes songs, there has to be a balance. You have to find a way to be yourself both through those covers as well as finding that way to present your own music. I don’t claim to be Harlan Howard, but I’ve written some songs that deserve to be heard.
Because those songs are who I am. I didn’t write the songs to play in my living room. I wrote them so that they could be heard. I wrote something that I wanted to connect with someone else.
THAT is what music is about. Connection. Sharing. Giving. Receiving. It’s a 2-way interaction of artist and audience. If it’s one-sided, it’s probably a private party that pays well. Money’s good, but music is better. It’s fulfilling, thought-provoking and even life-changing.
Today is a day of affirmation for me - a reminder that I’m in this for the music. No, I’ll probably stay this Unknown Artist in your mp3 player, but that’s ok. It’s not really about me – it’s about the music. . . but then again, my music is me.
So I’ll give a shout out today to 2 places that revived my soul lately – www.tommyalverson.com and www.doseydoe.com. Tommy Alverson is a super guy and great songwriter and singer. The folks over at Dosey Doe are part of the same group of people as Tommy. They get it. They just get the music.
Thanks to both of them for including me in what they do.
This Blog is absolutely "Right On"> this is something I've been frustrated with for years. This music Biz will SUCK the passion out of you if you let it; if you forget why you wanted to pickup the guitar and sing in the first place>"PASSION for Music". Being able to come to terms with it being "About the Music" for an artist is a HUGE mogal. Sounds like you Leslie are there and for me; that is a great feeling to hear you speak about what moves you. SO FREAKIN WHAT; if one ever becomes a huge hit; because more than likely you became that huge hit because of many other things that have NOTHING to do with the actual music/song. This Biz is about everything else "BUT" the music....> so being able to be about the music is a very real ,grownup, centered characteristic that few have.
Ricky
Posted by: Ricky Davis | October 14, 2011 at 08:05 AM