My musical Gearhead thought for the day

A good guitar doesn't have to be anything more than what its player wants. That is what makes a good guitar.

A great guitar doesn't have to be anything more than a fully wonderful sensual experience (sight, sound, feel, smell) that invokes deep feelings about music when it is played.

None of the above is directly related to cost - just great guitar luthiery and great tech work.

I have played beat (but well adjusted) clunkers that play much better than off-the-rack-new awesome high-brand guitars.

How YOU feel a bout the instrument is the most important thing in the world (as it pertains to making music or enjoying gear).

Good Stuff - People Who Know People

Contrary to the mood of one my most recent posts, there are encouraging things about the way the music business works.

I built a super-wonderful custom Stratocaster for a local musician. (You can see it here, opens new window.) As is usual, I couldn't let it go without making it be the absolute best that I could... I buried time and the best parts I could find (in my budget) into the guitar.

I put in quite a bit of extras... quite a bit of love... enough to make this one of the best customs I've ever made. Maybe the best...

What's the point of my post? The local musician who emptied his pockets to purchase the guitar from me spent an hour and a half talking with my (gigging musician) son about local venues, and connecting my son with "people who know people." I didn't ask for the help... the musician absolutely gave of his hard work in connecting people to us in a wonderful act of sharing.

Musicians are great people. I'm so glad to be one, but more honored to spend time with musicians and make guitars for them.

As a plug: please listen to my new customer friend's band! You can find them here: Left Outlet - Give them a listen (opens new window).

Cutting Throats Where No Throats Need To Be Cut

A local band recently had an important (small, but important) gig date "replaced" by another band.

Said another way, the venue committed to the local band a spot for a non-paying, but fun, gig. People drove across the state. Gear was hefted about and around. The local band was excited - they've packed the place several times.

At the door, another band was in their slot. No notice to the original band. No notice to any member of anyone... just a "force in" of another band.

Despite the fact that the "forced in" band was not very good, spirits were not lifted for the original, hard-working local band.

So, the point of this post is this: what part of "promote new music and young musicians" is served by venues changing the roster without notice to the band(s) involved?

What part of "promote up-and-coming musicians by encouraging them to play lots of dates" is served by selfish palm-greasing by an establishment which doesn't even PAY the bands that SELL its alcohol?

None.

So, here's my take:

Promote folks who are working hard. Stay with your commitments (venues, managers AND acts). Have honor and real integrity. Promote the future of our music by complaining to management when bands are "forced in" place of other bands (better bands or lesser bands).

Vote with your feet and your pocketbook when venues (large and small) don't promote the cause of live, local, good music.

I'm unhappy for the band that got forced out. I now have a place I won't patronize in Greensboro, not ever again.

Small Business Help for Guitar Technicians - more important than AIG?

Small businesses generate more cash and more jobs than the big businesses do. There are (literally) billions of small businesses in the United States. This country flows and ebbs on the daily gains and losses of small businesses.

I have one, too (although it is part time and only employs 2). I have a guitar customization and guitar/bass technician business. I also make interstitial, instrumental, and other music that's good for your mind. My little business has grown exponentially from word of mouth, customer satisfaction, excellent affordable guitar customization sales, and from a love of making guitars play their best*.

My little business has $7k debt. This is barely enough for tools, guitar inventory, parts, and consumable supplies (strings, cleaners, files, polishing papers, etc.) I work VERY HARD and can only generate small amounts of money - but it impacts MANY people in my community. Did you know that a decent set of fret files will set you back WAY more than $100 - try $300...

When AIG gets a bailout for billions (twice, so far) to help itself deliver millions in bonuses to employees, it makes a guy like me wonder (BTW, LOTS of AIG employees, I'm very sure, EARN their bonuses)... If the government paid out my $7k of debt and allowed me to make another $3k in investments in tools and further parts and guitar inventory, I could actually pay my second person money. I could actually make a bigger and better impact on my community (helping guitarists/bassists of all stripes). I could actually pay myself something for my work (lots of times I work until 2 or three in the morning and don't see any real pay for my work for a month at a time!)

How many little businesses would FLOURISH with a little help and with less money than AIG gets? Multi-millions, I'm sure. I know I'd be helping more folks rock and giving myself enough financial latitude to go to bed at 11 a few times a week.

Want to help out a small business - one that is a joy to operate and one that makes lots of good music happen? Drop me a comment about how we can access some of our country's bailout funds. Seriously.


*(Inside every guitar is a fantastic guitar waiting to play!) *(Inside everyone who plays an instrument or sings is someone who makes the world a better place.)

Finding your way with Independent Music

The beauty of the internet age is that people can publish their music from their homes, from their schools, even from the public library. This phenomenon even applies to self-publishing literary works...

The not-beauty of the internet age is that people can publish their music from their homes, from their schools, even from the public library.

Confused? Hang on a minute...

When it becomes easy for people to do something, many more people do it - but this growth in quantity doesn't mean they do it well (quality). So, it becomes a public minefield of music that ranges from the sublimely inspired to the insanely un-listenable.



How do we wade through it? How do we (as listeners) find the nuggets of music we'll enjoy?

There are at least two ways to look at the solution:
1) Look at music discovery as though you're wandering through a YouTube adventure - find some decent music sites, and start listening. Look at the other artists on the pages and listen to them, follow their links, listen to the next, etc.

Let's call it a "music safari." I think music safaris are a blast.

2) Ask friends, family members, co-workers, and people with whom you interact. Every person with whom I converse on this subject always has an opinion. It is not unusual to hear of a band/artist/type of music of which I've never heard... "Yeah, I like Mastodon - have you heard that they just released a new album?" or "I listen to pretty much anything they play on {some radio station}." or "I heard this awesome artist on internet radio last night - I'd never heard of him/her before, but I'm going to find some more! His/Her name is {some name}."

Let's call this one "pimp my ears."


Whether you love to wander through the musical landscape on safari, or if you ask other folks about what they've found, listen! There is a phenomenal amount of great indie (and indie-indie) music out there. It is very much worth panning through bags of dirt to find a ruby or diamond!

It "Bears" Repeating

Tune in
Turn on the music
Be brave enough to like what you like
To love the music you love to hear

Be brave enough to make the music your heart tells you to make
Whether it is singing in the shower, or a nine-track, home-produced requiem
Spread it to the world, infect souls with your sound.

Remember: Everything is musical if you give it a chance...

Making Music - Independent and Dependent

Recent events have reaffirmed my faith in "good musicians who work hard get heard." For quite some time, it seems like only boy- and girl-band spin-offs were able to make money and get tours.


Out Of State has been playing their own material (mostly) to all kinds of small and large crowds. All four musicians are excellent, the singer is a true young phenom, and the sound gets you going in a big way.

Find out about "Out of State." GIVE THEM A LISTEN!!!


They're getting gigs - gigs where they're just having a blast playing - and getting less than a few shekels for their troubles. At the end of the night, ask them how they feel... "The music is alive in me and I love the passion of sharing it."


I'm still worrying about those who can't afford studio time: They are very under-represented in the public for-play world. Maybe survival of the fittest is a good thing in business... just maybe.


How many George Harrisons, Bobby Dylans, and David Gilmours are out there right now recording on home systems - and making GREAT STUFF? LOTS of them are out there.



Listen. Ask around. Don't be afraid to listen to something that isn't "awesome overcooked loudness-clipped radio-playable stuff promoted by someone motivated by something other than the sound."


Have you heard the recordings of the Monterey geniuses like Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, and so many others? How would those acts fare in today's "if it's not in a studio, it isn't good enough to be music" atmosphere.



On a side note: I'm NOT (NOT) knocking studios. Technicians, producers, and professionals all over the world make the recordings we all remember - and make them timeless and wonderful. I'm not digging out against studios: I am saying that music made outside a studio isn't bad because it wasn't in a studio.


Listen, troll online music sites for indies, troll CD Baby (even if you never hear a single tune of mine) and other self-publishers... Therein lies the next Jefferson Airplane and Pink Floyd and Dolly Parton and Nirvana.



Tune in, open your mind, turn off the corporate labels, and set your soul free to some awesome music.


It's not even hard to find.