During my own time at Berklee, I took advantage of everything I could. As a piano player, I spent most of my time playing Hammond B3. While I didn't plant on being the next John Medeski, I welcomed the opportunity to play an instrument I'd like never own on my own.
Legal Music on the Net: Seriously?!?
Making Internet Radio Work …
Internet-only broadcasters will soon be on equal footing with their FM brethren. In order to be successful, the quality of what's being broadcast on the Internet needs to equal or exceed what the big guys are coming up with. Here then, from my experience, 10 Commandments for successful Internet broadcasting...
All the King’s Horses, Part II
So as Ian and I discussed the state of the industry, its cast of characters, and what kind of artists should be using Topspin (or Nimbit ... or Bandcamp ... or Audiolife ... ), it all became re-enforced by what I saw on the tv last night: style over substance, instant over earned, easy over challenging.
All the king’s horses, and all the king’s men…
Sometimes the best laid plans of musicians and men often go awry. As a music industry veteran (and still under 40 years old!), I’ve seen lots of artists and companies emerge with huge plans to revolutionize the industry only to see reality come crashing in. Most of the time it’s caused by a failure to understand the industry or by over-estimating their own abilities. But since not...
Things I learned from a stripper…
OK, maybe stripper isn’t exactly the right word. I think “dancer” is the preferred terminology. Either way, I spent a couple weeks in southern Florida, and the cast of characters I encountered were a unique bunch. One in particular, a young gentleman named Blake, taught me a lot about his chosen profession, and the lessons learned are surprisingly adaptable to musicians...
That one too…
I use Facebook, MySpace, Last.fm, MOG, HypeMachine, LaLa, and a few other music discovery/listening sites. They’re all good for a whole bunch of different reasons. And I was rather surprised when, of all places, I got totally hooked on Muse while watching Saturday Night Live. SNL hasn’t really been a major force in music since … well … ever. They’ve always done great...
Pure genius.
I still love radio…
I just checked the “This Day in History” section of my local (online) newspaper. Two interesting birthdays today: Rodney Bingenheimer and Alan Freed. Both, in their own way, revolutionized radio; they made it into something bigger than themselves. And both ended up in their own relative obscurity. Alan Freed, for those who don’t know, virtually created the term “rock and...
Next phase, new wave, dance craze, anyways …
Here’s the thing. I’m not that old. I’m far from 40, and I continually decline the chance to dine anyplace offering an early bird special. I like to go places, do things, and I refuse to watch Matlock. The Internet has made huge parts of my career possible, but yet, I’m continually finding myself drawn to the “old school” way of getting things done. My friends...