most likely just my name

What’s your question?

i really enjoy their songs and they are definitely talented songwriters. It wasn’t so much the fact that he didn’t sing it well that bothered me, it was the fact that so many listeners have come to expect that singer’s don’t sound as good live, and they’re ok with that. We’ll see about a cover of the song.

What’s your question?

Don’t know that one, but thanks for the suggestion. I will check it out.

What’s your question?

you’re welcome, glad you are enjoying the videos! I will continue with them. Just a little busy at the moment but I’ll get back to it soon.

What’s your question?

At some point during the day I usually check my twitter feed and try to keep up with the happenings of the day.  Many of the accounts that I follow are more like music sites and blogs that post articles about the new music business, what’s changing, and how to market yourself in this do-it-yourself music world.  So yesterday I was reading an article about a 40-something year old woman that has successfully created a career for herself in music by utilizing social media.  This probably isn’t a shock to anyone that musicians are using social media, but as she says, her age is usually what gets the attention.  Anyway, link is here:http://www.musicdish.com/mag/?id=12796

The story was fine but what she had to say about how she used social media wasn’t really anything groundbreaking to my ears.  I did, however, find something that struck me when I got to the last few paragraphs.  It’s something that I’ve obviously heard before (from other success stories) but something about this one just hit home with me.  Read on below. 

One of the last things Walker shared was how she spent each day. She worked a 9am - 5pm job, went back home and got on the computer to do social media networking, went and boxed at the gym, and then back home for more social media networking before going to sleep/passing out. Behind her busy daily routine, there was something which has kept her working so hard. On January 1st, 2009, her life got changed when her mother passed away. Her mother was the person who always created music with her and knew that Walker wanted to be a recording artist. When her mother was gone, she thought, “She is not going to see me successful.” Something clicked and she developed a new level of determination. “I am done. I am done with pretending that I want to be a recording artist, and instead, I am going to be a recording artist. I have nothing to lose because I just lost everything.”

It was probably this “turning point” in her life which caused some personal changes within - all for the better, and led her to work so hard, dig into social media, and come out on the winning end of it with a record deal.

So what’s the moral of Ms. Walker’s story? You can wait around for someone to come and find you because you think you’re that good, or you can save your money and not invest in your music because you’re still waiting for that someone to find you, and you can even do what the masses do - go to the same social networking sites with the same strategies as everyone else and take a number. Or, you can decide to do things out of the ordinary. See yourself as an artist instead of someone who wants to be an artist. Invest the money in your music as if you believe in yourself, because after all, if you don’t, why should anybody else? Find non-traditional means of getting media and press exposure. Learn how to work the system, and think outside of the box. There are opportunities out there to be successful, but unless you want to wait until you’re old and gray (and they may not come even then), you’d better roll up your sleeves, network, put the time in, and become someone that people notice because you are finding new and innovative ways for them to notice you. Don’t be afraid. Empower yourself and watch the rewards follow.

The line I really liked was “See yourself as an artist instead of someone who wants to be an artist.”  There are so many “musicians” out there today that when I tell someone that I’m a musician, they sort of give me that look like, “yeah, and so is everyone and their brother.”  It’s become so easy to make an album, so easy to start a facebook fan page, and so easy to record a video for youtube that everyone is doing it. 

I guess I am realizing that I do put myself and my music out there, but I could still do more.  I constantly am thinking of new ideas to grab new listeners, but I could still do more.  This outside of the box thinking isn’t easy to do, but it is what I’m striving to constantly achieve.  So I will continue to take those paragraphs to heart and continue to work hard.  As my friend told me the other day, “you have to continue on the path of greatest resistance.”  I know I do, and I will. 

well, there isn’t a single approach you can take to writing music. I have a hard time answering this question because I honestly don’t know. Songwriting amazes me and the process feels as if it is something sort of like magic. For me I start with the music portion. A chord progression on the guitar or something I’ve come up with on the piano. After that if I’m being inspired by that music, it will spark something in my brain and a melody and lyrics will start to follow. I usually write everything down that is coming to mind and sift through it later on. Things usually seem to form from there and I have an idea of what the song is about and what I am trying to say. So that’s how I do it. It takes a lot of practice and sometimes a little luck. Keep working at it.

What’s your question?

umm, i don’t know that one off hand but I will look it up and see.

What’s your question?

i haven’t had a chance to send a message to her yet.

What’s your question?

I’m usually trying to keep up with the trends in the new music world and since I do a lot on youtube, I’m paying attention to comments and what listeners are saying about different songs on there.  Today I stumbled upon something that was of interest to me.  I heard the new song by The Script called “For The First Time.”  I instantly felt like this song is probably going to be a huge hit for them and they continue to write songs with mass appeal.  But what I really love about youtube is the fact that it shows the true colors of a musician. What I mean by that is that the live performance videos don’t lie.  They show the viewer whether you’ve actually got what it takes and can perform the music, or whether the studio and its trickery helped you out more than you wanted folks to know about. 

So here is the case I bring against The Script.  I have absolutely nothing against the band and have enjoyed their songs quite a bit actually.  But what bothers me is that when I’ve listened to those hit singles being performed live by them, I’m hearing something other than what is on the recording.  The vocals are all over the place and to me it just seems like the lead singer doesn’t in real life have a great sense of pitch. 

The other thing that bothers me is the reaction of viewers on youtube.  Many have commented that “the singer doesn’t sound good”  or “he’s flat” or whatever the comment may be.  These people are correct in what they are hearing, but they are getting screamed at by other saying “At least he sing’s live” and “his voice is tired.” So you’re telling me his voice is tired in every single video I watched? 

It saddens me that this is what we’ve come to expect from live performances today.  It seems that even if you’re horrible at singing live, but your album sounds great, well “at least he’s singing live at all.”  The Britney Spears of the world and all of those with the auto-tuned voices have made it so fans expect that the singer isn’t really going to be singing.  Since when was this ok?  Since when did this become the norm?  “At least he’s singing live” isn’t a valid excuse at all.  Maybe his voice is tired, but a total lack of pitch is not just a tired voice. 

So I’ll end this rambling and let you decide for yourself.  Below you will find two video links.  The first one is the studio recording of the new song by The Script.  The second is a live video with the singer playing and singing the song in acoustic form.  Notice also that on the second video he has moved the song down what seems to be one step from the original key.  This would usually be done so he could hit the high notes with ease, but the guitar is also out of tune so it’s hard to tell what’s going on with the overall pitch there. 

Here’s the studio version of the song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RpvYL_lqwbg

Here’s the live version: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYT11JvLbHY