Part One:
I’ve been performing in front of audiences for 31 years. I remember seeing a performance of our school chorus half way through 5th grade. They did a Beach Boys song. I knew immediately I wanted to be a part of that. I sang my first solo in front of an audience during our end of semester choral show that year. I sang “Where Is Love” from the show “Oliver”. I’d never felt anything like that before. It was amazing.
I’ve spent the majority of my life learning how to perform, write and record music. It’s been and still is a gas for the most part. But, I’ve also made a living as a musician. And sooner or later the question of value always arises. What is the value of my skills, my experience, my talent, my voice as an artist? In a world of failed record companies, digital downloads and American Idol it can be a hard question to answer.
Much of my experience comes from playing in nightclubs and bars where the primary goal, from the venue’s point of view, is how much alcohol they can sell. It’s about volume. It doesn’t really matter whether the performer is of a high caliber. What matters most is sales. How many people in the door and how much beer sold. This “volume” model is pervasive in the music industry at large. For the major record labels that still exists it’s always about big numbers. Even at the mid level of touring around Texas, most booking agents run the same bands through the same clubs for the lowest amount of money they can get away with. It’s not about creating an experience. It’s about volume. More bands, more shows = more money.
So what is the value? I meet a lot of very dedicated music fans while traveling with my band the Mystiqueros. People who are moved by music. People who get in touch with how amazing this life really is when they hear music. I know there are people out there who greatly value music and the people who create and perform it. So now the question becomes:
How do we reflect that value in the business itself?
How do we create a music business that honors the value of an authentic and moving artistic expression?
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Oh ya, fifth grade. That’s when I jumped off the cliff from listening to music to trying to play in front of real people. In the fall of fifth grade we lip synched “The Kinks” “You Really Got Me” and by the spring of fifth grade we were a folk trio actually playing Dylan and Peter, Paul and Mary and The Searchers. That magical image has been trampled and tattered by the business of the live music scene today. Oh well, who has the $1.99 longnecks and no cover charge tonight !