Real folks.
Real people have been in my life lately. It’s been nice. I even got to jam with a real person recently. I think they’re coming to me. I’ve always been looking for them. It’s nice to meet and play with them.
I think folks are looking for something real like them. Everything out there on the market that entertains does not come with enrichment. It’s not enough for me as a musician to occupy someone’s time. Sorry, I’m picky. I’d like to occupy their minds. I’d like to be giving something to them they can use. I think folks are more receptive to that today than ever.
(Being Frank was a true story a friend asked us to write. We recorded it live at night in a church with gorgeous room sound.)
Options.
When you get online or on socials you’re confronted with a blistering amount of options. Every service wants to cater to your preferences. That’s where we differ. I’m not trying to tell folks what they already think is cool. I’m telling them what I think is cool in a way they might think is cool too. I feel it’s part of my job as a songwriter/producer to do that. I’m on the forefront of “cool,” for me. But not anyone else.
What are we doing here?
Music allows me to present my interpretation of cool things. You aren’t telling me what to play like a jukebox. I’m telling you what I think folks should hear.
That’s real to me. How could I even possibly like what everyone likes, anyway? I might like being popular. Or I might like making a buck. But artistically speaking, I am the one who tells folks what I like. They decide to take it or leave it.
Social media and reality.
Social media presents life like a menu. But it doesn’t work that way. Life is more like everyone eating out of the same bowl. No menu. Take what you can get. All these choices everywhere are an illusion. People I meet sense it. They may not even know what they’re after. But it has to do with experiencing “real.”
An inside job.
I find my music inside myself. It comes out. I feel like I learn something from it. So, I share it. No one had anything to do with changing me to that channel on any given day. So while I may forgo choices and options, I did manage to choose something real for the day. It’s real to me. I release it, in case it’s real to anyone else and to show off a little bit. Hey, I’m human.🤷
Talking with Dad.
My father and I were talking about the inability to entertain yourself. Many folks have it. It is indicative of psychosis to me. At least in my past, it’s indicative of my psychosis. I feel healthy when I can conjure whatever I need to keep myself busy. It doesn’t work picking it out from a list of options. I tried. It works when I practice or write. The doing of that stuff entertains me like nothing else. No one even has to be here. It’s tapping something within myself. It’s being self-sufficient. When it feels too good to keep to myself, I share it.
Even famous musicians often give me the sense they’re after something everyone wants. I am not. I’m after what I want. I think trying to make something everyone wants dilutes my messages. But I think if you agree with my taste in music, we’ll probably get along.
My Dad has a blog too. He’s into protest art at the moment. I have a protest band. So we have been talking. Not that we need an excuse to do that.
Contributing something..
For me, contributing artistically doesn’t mean making something that’s popular. It means making something somehow true. Funny we have to go to art for that nowadays. But hey, that’s where we are at, (the way I see it).
(Kentucky is a positive song we wrote about the story of Diane Crump. She is the first woman to jockey in the Kentucky Derby. Our friend, bkbirge AKA “The Doc” joined us. He is also part of our protest band, Boots on the Ground.)
The good news!
The good news is I am talking to music fans and music makers nearly everyday looking for someone like me. I’m very happy, musically. I pour myself into it. It occupies my time. It keeps me out of trouble, still. My whole life, being into music has spared me from being into other things that aren’t as cool. Thankful to music for that. I want to give back to music. I hope to support kids out there who are like I was. This applies even if they’re grownups now. Staying out of trouble is a noble cause. Obviously (*gestures around).
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