Years ago, in a bar in Tokyo, the owner having discovered I was a musician searched me on Spotify, played me, and I got good approval among the patrons who nodded, smiled, and bought me drinks.  All night.

The power of being that accessible on the other side of the world and with such speed is quite underrated.  It’s miracle like.  Of course it comes with costs.  I have a few music buddies who are high ranking on the streaming leader in the 10’s of millions.   They make enough to buy a fancy lunch once a week.  Mind you, they don’t complain as most of them don’t know how much $ you could make printing and selling your own CDs just 10 years ago.  You could pay a mortgage with that.

This isn’t “the old days were better” rant either.  Things, from where I sit, are great.  There have been so many people who have come out of the woodwork to show their support to me and in so many ways.

In a salut to the old days, word on the street is that Grog’s done with music.  Of course, you may remember I stopped playing there in 2017, but still there were a few remaining residency establishments have gone with it….we raise a glass to you!

I started as a guitarist before singing and then eventually writing.  There are many great guitar players spanning many great styles.  This group of ten are interlinked within the jazz and blues world and what that makes them “stand out” is their ultimately unique approach to the guitar.

In no particular order, 10 great guitarists:

1. John McLaughlin
2. Paco De Lucia
3. Kenny Burrell
4. Django Reinhardt
5. Joe Pass
6. Skunk Baxter
7. Derek Trucks
8. Freddie King
9. Jeff Beck
10. Wes Montgomery

I get a bit infuriated at the internet conversations of “who’s better: Jeff Beck or Pete Townsend?”   I think it’s a colossal waste of time.

On the other hand…exploring some of these guitar players…that’ll make your life richer.

A musician I played with used to bring his laptop to gigs and cram business emails in, in-between sets, in a sort of “how can I be as productive as possible” mentality. The downside was that he couldn’t really make the “flip” from closing the computer up and then jumping into a rhythm with the band (nothing to be said for just not being “present” to talk, observe and “hang” with people). He was musically “off” a lot, and in fact I don’t think he’s played out with anyone in a long time now.

Point is, if you’re going to do something, then do it, don’t try to do two things at once and have one of them suffer. ….
I really want to post videos and photos of the recording studio work that’s been happening and culminating this week, but the truth is, I can’t bring myself to do it, because it feels like what I’m describing above: It takes me “out” of that headspace, that personal deep dive, the search, that non diluted focused energy in the attempt to capture something great…

so… no instagram posts …. today.

There’s one in here, listen for it. Greg Toro does it again!

Someone I know in the youtube biz, a former producer/musician, is getting up there in the fame world with a massive amount of Youtube followers and hits.  Now, he’s  adapted to the latest “catch angle” using titles to his videos that are misleading in that the “sales pitch” has nothing to do with the content (attention is $, views is cash for these guys).

You click on it and are disappointed that you wasted your time on it. Still, the older stuff has meaning. There are some parallels with the music business/art relationship. How many times do we find the early work of a band better than the “later after they’re famous” work?  And why is it so often the case?

There’s an internal fight somewhere deep inside an artist, to not sacrifice the meaning for the substance (the message for the dollars) but it can get lost when the social narrative seemingly for everyone these days is to seek fame over meaning.