Please take a moment to read an article by my friend Dave Hahn, also the co-founder of MusicianWages.com, on the topic of health care reform. Towards the end of his contract as a cruise ship pianist, Dave got sick. It turned out he had cancer at 26, and one of the first things he did was research how much it costs to treat cancer.
We ought to question the morals of our society when treatment for the sick is marketed as a scarce resource. Imagine the amount of talent and critical thinking that is wasted when people are dissuaded from their passions because they can’t afford basic medical treatment.
Musicians and Health Care Reform
Dave has provided some useful links to the to help you take some action. At the very least, please leave a comment to voice your support.
Dave also kept an inspiring and well written blog during the year he was fighting cancer. To learn more about his story, visit Chronicles of a Cancer Patient Survivor (also available as an eBook).
There is a fine line between transparency and creative integrity. It’s one thing to pull the curtain back and allow fans to see your works in progress, but it could be a problem if you feel like you must perform at all times. To achieve greatness, failure is a necessity. Much of the creative process involves trial and error. To do this publicly is incredibly difficult. The pressure to be perfect compromises your ability to grow.
There is a rising amount of pressure today to be plugged in and have a constant public (or online) presence. Many musicians feel the need to constantly share something to stay in the minds of their fans, but to do this we also run the risk of lowering our standards. We occasionally hit prolific strides and have a lot to share, but during dry spells it’s best to stay tight lipped.
Reality is quite a different story. The music we love actually has little to do with the person who made it. We love the music because it speaks to us in an elevated manner. By association, we start to feel connected to the person who made it. But if they hadn’t written their song, would we be curious about their lives in the first place?
Many musicians, including myself, use their internet presence to occasionally reverse that trend. By creating a multi-dimensional online personality it is much easier to connect with others, and more importantly, for others to connect with us. Generating interest in who we are as people, not just musicians, will lead to an interest in what we do.
But at the end of the day, it’s still about being really, really good at what you do. You don’t need to pull the curtain back during the process to appease anyone. The artists I love never compromised. They honed their craft in isolation. Charlie Parker did not bring a webcam into the woodshed. I admire artists uninfluenced by popular opinion. To be outstanding you have to break from the crowd. That means concentrated, unfettered personal development. When in doubt simply unplug, log off, and close the curtain.
When I get into an album, I listen to it repeatedly for a few weeks. Here are the albums I’ve been listening to most in June.
Nebraska – Bruce Springsteen. This CD has been on constant rotation in my car. I’m trying to learn how to sing, and most of these songs are in my range and easy to just pick up my guitar and play. It also gives me an excuse to play some rack harmonica. This album appeals to me because it’s got an unpolished raw quality about it and a classic Springsteen lyrical narrative. It was originally recorded as a demo, but everyone involved in the making of the full album with the E-Street Band decided the demo better captured the essence of the music, so that was what they released.
Abbey Road – The Beatles. One of the first songs I learned when I was taking guitar lessons as a kid was George Harrison’s “Here Comes The Sun” but at that point I hadn’t really developed a taste in music, it was just a song my teacher decided to work on. 20 years later I’ve finally really dug into the music of The Beatles, and Abbey Road is currently my favorite album (subject to change next month).
Hoodoo Man Blues – Junior Wells. Junior Wells has gradually emerged as my favorite blues harmonica player, and Buddy Guy who plays sideman here, has always been a favorite. As a guitarist, listening to and learning to play blues harmonica teaches me a different way to develop and phrase melodies. As Wells demonstrates on these cuts, it’s not about how many notes you play, it’s about how you play those notes.
If you’re curious to see what I’m listening to right now, head over to my Last.fm profile, which tracks all the music I listen to from my computer.
The internet and news will be flooded with tributes to Michael Jackson over the next few weeks, but I need to use my own space here to share my thoughts.
I can’t remember a time not knowing the sound of Michael Jackson’s music, but it wasn’t until college that I figured out Michael Jackson was truly a genius. He single-handedly changed the way pop music was created and performed. I think we’ll learn through various tributes that virtually every musician since the late ’70s has been influenced by this man.
If there’s one thing I learned from his career, it’s that there is no substitute for hard work. He was a perfectionist, and every detail played an important role in his music and performances. In my lifetime, I don’t expect to see another artist like Michael Jackson.
When I kept a running journal to log my mileage, I ran more often and ran more miles. Keeping an active blog about what’s going on in my life as a musician has the same effect. If I set a goal for myself and then write about it, I’m more likely to follow through. Creating substance for a blog requires creating substance in your life.
For me, the topic is music, but you can blog about anything. What you write about helps readers relate to you, how you write it can create more attention, but why you write about it is what keeps things interesting.
Tags: blogging, motivation
