When it’s a lie
A guitar player bought himself ad space on a NYC billboard and proclaimed himself the “greatest living blues guitar player.” He’s not.
The White House announced earlier last week that a recession is no longer a recession (quickly followed by wikipedia readjusting their definition as well). Sketchy.
And even the term “sold out” doesn’t seem to have much gravity anymore as you look around and see some empty seats at the show.
Marketing? Misleading? Lying?
If words don’t have meaning then eventually we’re all going to stop listening. Or caring.
Or both.
X
I’m a fan of Twitter and I’m on it to relieve people of the all the things they generally talk about.
You know, political mayhem, injustice, talking heads, lot’s of people talking about the talking heads. So, I generally post music clips.
“Say It” Anniversary
After the “Say It” release party at the Regent Theater in Arlington MA.
L to R:
Phil Antoniades, producer Fran Flannery, myself and John Cooke.
What would it be like to hear the final note
Many brave things were done that night, but none were more brave than those done by men playing minute after minute as the ship settled quietly lower and lower in the sea. The music they played served alike as their own immortal requiem and their right to be recalled on the scrolls of undying fame
Throwback to when there was no sleep (2005)
This is an excerpt from the “24 Hours” movie that was never completed (for lots of reasons which I won’t go into here). In short, the band tried to make an entire album in 24 hours, without sleep, and managed to get 9 out of 13 songs done.
It’s fun to come across the snippets and post them.
What is the battle against the Nothing?
I’ve seen people play the most popular playlists (the ones artists pay $ to be on) from Spotify and not remember a single song title or artist.
It’s background nothing.
I’ve seen a 15 year old go into a 10 minute trance on tiktok with his eyes to the screen completely galvanized, 30 second videos one on top of anther. When he was done I asked him, “what did you see?” He couldn’t say.
It’s background nothing.
I’ve asked some people about their Netflix choices and someone told me about their favorite actor.
You know the one that’s been in everything. I can’t remember his name now they say.
It’s background nothing.
The battle in the Never Ending Story has a lot of metaphorical layers, one of them being the “nothing” as a representation for the “absence of meaning” (and the eventual takeover of the Nothing representing the end of life itself).
If you don’t remember the taste of the dish you ordered at “Tavern on the Bay” or the name of the movie that you cherish so much, it’s quite possible you’re losing the battle with the nothing.
But it’s no too late to change it.
We’ve always played
Playing in the park for Malden Overcomes Addiction.
Internet Deep Dives
I used to book and run a nightclub in Lowell MA called the BackPage, which after 6 years is now reopening. As a result I’ve been going through some internet “Deep Dives” and that’s led me to other places…such as:
I found a French group covering “When I Come Back To You”
Pictured below, the original Lowell gang at the club.
And of course there’s more of these floating around.
Paying for popularity
The music at the top of the Spotify playlists are all paid for. And if they’re paid for then they arrived there from the origins of the most money. Which may indicate why they may not be very popular, even though they’re Number #1.
They weren’t chosen by demand and listeners, but by payment.
You know this scenario:
It’s the movie that’s won all the awards that no one you know has seen
It’s the pop song that has no meaningful lyrics and no one remembers the title or the artist.
It’s the story on the news and everyone is talking about someone else’s reaction to it and not the actual story.
Below is a small example of it. My class of musician get advertised to a lot under the brainwash that you have to pay money to look popular until you actually become popular. May have worked for a very small few but it’s just advertising revenue until people wake up to it, stop doing it, and everyone goes somewhere else.
Played with (and for) a lot greats
Jimmy Buffett played with the band from 2007-2016 but there’s a lot more.
Here’s a partial somewhat list:
B.B. King, G.E. Smith (Saturday night live band), Buddy Guy, Rusted Root, Robert Cray, Blood Sweat and Tears, Squirrel Nut Zippers, Eddie Money (yes, unlikely match but it happened).
So, I’ve met some folks.
Jimmy was the kindest.
Who is he?
I posted this photo on Facebook and while most knew it was Jimmy Buffett, some did not. I had consolation texts and messages asking me if he were my uncle or something. Note to self: write in the name of the deceased next time.
I suppose all too often we get comfortable and just assume that everyone knows, when it’s clear that it isn’t always the case.
Like that time I posted this photo with the lyrics of “I Remember Your Name” and I had the same kind of disconnectedness. There were many who just didn’t know, but once they did the lyrics started to make more sense.
I was there and I watched it on a screen
All your plans and dreams cut off at the knees
And it looks like we watch in silence but we remember what they did
We won’t forget your blood on their hands
I remember your name
We remember your name
They remember your name
I remember your name
When a man decides to
tell it like it is he paints a target on his back
He does it for his children
that’s what it means to live free
When you got to put bars on your windows
because your neighbors have nothing
bad things are going to happen
they’re going to happen
I remember your name
We remember your name
They remember your name
I remember your name
who stands behind every lie they told
and who ran off with all the money
and who decides if death will come today
when it could have been another way
everyone will see the why
when they know
I remember your name
We remember your name
They remember your name
I remember your name
Remembering Jimmy (Christmas babies alike)
There’s a lot to say about the many times I played with Jimmy Buffett. He was first and foremost a very cool guy, and I think that had more to do with his success in life more than anything else. In the times I played with him from 2007-2016, in St. Barths, we were always surrounded by crowds and so there were only a handful of intimate one on one conversations. Despite the gap between us, him being a billionaire superstar and me being an unknown soul musician from Boston I’m happy to say that he treated me like an equal when we simply talked about things.
I spent an afternoon at his house in St.Barths helping him set up pro tools on one occasion, had restrung his guitar with my signature “Tone Rocket” strings another time.
We had lunch once and got into some serious conversation about Daniel Ek and Spotify and what that would do to the music world, and he was right about everything he told me.
One of my earlier blogs “Jimmy’s got soul” (written just after I met him) was published by his parrothead newsletter, had a 350,000 physical circulation in print and they put it on page 3.
We’re both Christmas babies.
On Christmas Day 2010, on a boat racing around the island I had the crew of the boat I was on, sing him happy birthday. That’s a memory.
And of course, we played a bunch together.
He’ll be missed.
The voice
The shaky unsteady voice is ok with me, the vulnerability in it actually makes it shine
Lack of conviction and/or no real message or meaning and intent in singing can be
Masked by flawless vocal technique.
It was also be quickly forgotten because no matter how polished it is, it just isn’t true.
Big thanks to Portsmouth NH
Portsmouth is kind of like home. I’d take drives up there to clear my head, play guitar on park bench somewhere.
It was great to play for the Portsmouth Music Hall. Look for the recorded bootleg of the set on my YouTube page.
