Friday, January 30, 2009

There is a lot of hub bub out about the web replacing the traditional music label. This news has been heralded by many indie artists (myself included) as the savior of our kind. The web has leveled the playing field between artist and corporation, empowering us indie musicians to make our own destiny within the music business by connecting directly with our fans. While this is true, and I am a huge fan of the tools the web has to offer, I want to stress something to my indie colleagues - the web, while it offers us a way around the traditional record contract, is no more of a savior than that elusive record deal ever was.

Many of us artsy types aren't so good at the business stuff (or refuse to embrace the mindset as we view it to be too "corporate" or some self-defeating bullshit like that). We think if we are the best at our craft, and stay true to our artistic vision, some suit will swoop down and rescue us from obscurity. We know we will eventually have to fight the corporate machine for our creative freedom, but in that model, the worst case scenario is we come out a martyr for our art, which fits nicely within the narrow confines of our suffering artist self image.

What I am stressing here is this: do not allow a web marketing strategy to become the new savior of your music career. While a web presence is a crucial element, it is just that, ONE element. Endlessly adding friends on myspace does not mean these people will show up at your gig. Spamming every media contact's inbox with press releases ain't gonna do much but piss people off (and so on and so on). See, I write today's little rant because I found myself expecting the same thing from my web strategy as I had of a record deal some years back. I had a great concept album and a cool viral strategy for the video series, time to start printing the tour tshirts. While I am proud of how far things have come over the last year, there is a lot of ground to cover, and I know now I was avoiding some fairly tough decisions (as I had in the past) waiting for my digital ship to come in. Life would be a whole lot easier if we could just be more honest with ourselves from the get go. Stupid brain.

Reminds me of a Langhorne Slim song:

I've always been waiting for something
someone to come pull me through
now I see that it's all up to me
there ain't nothin' no one else can do

Friday, January 02, 2009

January 1 started off with no particular fanfare. I sat, web surfing and watching "Encino Man" while my fellow revelers slept off the myriad poisons we introduced to our systems the night before. Pauly Shore, a master of weezing the juice in his day, does not stand the test of time. Then a google alert popped into my inbox linking me to a "best of" post my friend Baron over at Twang Nation had written. In it, Baron waxed poetically about the many things wrong with the Nashville Pop Country scene, offering a list of artists that are the light in the never ending darkness of Britneyesque fluff being served up by the industry. The top 10, the best of '08, contained some of my favorite artists working today, but it also contained this new kid Hang Jones. I sat there, looking at my name in a list alongside Hank III and Justin Townes Earle, and while the cocky, swaggerin' Keith in me wanted to say "fuck yeah, I deserve to be on that list" I am humbled to think someone out there (besides my family) would not only think
it, but write it and publish it to the magic tubes of the internet websites. So my day was off and running, made even better by the
platter of tacos, rice and beans I enjoyed for supper. And if this day is to be viewed as a sign of things to come in 2009, I am
thinking that sign reads something like "watch out for Hang Jones in '09."

Friday, November 21, 2008

Guns and Roses. Wait, sorry Mr. Rose, Guns N’ Roses. One album that mattered over 20 years ago and a frontman that has become as synonymous with “asshole lead singer” as Yoko has with “meddling band chick.” As if throwing an untold fortune at this prima donna to record, re-record, and re-re-re-record the shit stain that will no doubt be “Chinese Democracy” wasn’t enough, the label’s marketing spend is in full swing attempting to convince us that we’ve actually been waiting for this fucking thing for the past 15 years. I am left wondering if there is any way possible this record could even remotely be considered a success by “industry standards.” The amount of time and money that has gone into it would require sales in the 100s of millions, and the likelihood of that appears slim with Rose doing himself no favors showing whatever fanbase he has left the slightest bit of respect. Yet, there he is, on every banner ad I’ve seen online today. So why throw this thing out there? Why don’t they shelve a man like Axl Rose the way the countless number of great albums we’ve never heard have been shelved by record execs? I miss ya Izzy. Christ I even miss Stephen Adler.

Wednesday, November 05, 2008

MVI_4641
Originally uploaded by *Honeychild*

It's funny how the Republicans claim ownership over the American flag, and conservatives call those of a liberal mindset socialists. Well I've got news for you, I've got a tattoo on my back of the old red, white and blue, and when CNN announced that Obama had won the presidency (about a min after the polls closed on the west coast) my corner bar, right in the heart of Liberal Comie San Francisco, erupted into a spontaneous rendition of the star spangle banner. Today, like everyday, I am proud to be an American; I am just a bit prouder today than I've been in a while.

Monday, November 03, 2008

end scene
Originally uploaded by Hang Jones

One of my favorite still frames from the Caroline video, and if you've watched it you know when this was taken.