Why Indie Music (and Musicians) Matters...

Music is a progressive, living experience in the mind, soul, and heart. It presents itself as something that is familiar, or something that is new and different, and sometimes seems familiar - even though it is new.

Music accompanies so many things in so many people's lives - sad things, happy things, awe-struck things, life-changing things, and mind-boggling things. Watch your favorite movie with the sound off, then watch it with the sound on... your ears influence your mind's eye in both subtle and overt ways.

We have greats like Mozart, Mahler, Hendrix, Cash, Dylan, and so many more... but how did they start out? Did they just wake up one morning with a catalog of wonderful music? Did they walk out from the morning's meal with millions of listeners out of nowhere? Each and every composer, musician, and artist (of any kind) has to start somewhere. Each of us becomes familiar with music we like - but only after it is new to us.

Sometimes, the music is like wonderful variations or improvements on traditions from before - and we get many flavors of the blues, or lots of looks at grungy-indie music, or new views on symphonies and sonatas. At other times, our ears are shocked or tilted out: someone has done something different, but in a good way. Seemingly, out of nowhere we get Yes, The Alan Parsons Project, Pink Floyd, The Clash, Modest Mussorgsky, Frank Zappa...

But how did these variations and dramatic shifts come about? They came about because someone allowed imagination and creativity to lead the way to expression. Often as not, innovation comes from the hungry beginner or the as-yet-unknown artist. The clubs, the internet, and the backyard party are rife with hordes of musicians making their sounds. Some are average, but many are really very good.

These not-so-well-knowns are where the genesis of future music often occurs. They start as independents, garage or basement-bound, glued to computers in their homes, making amateur recordings at home or on stages. This is from where a crucial aspect of great music comes. Yes, the vast majority would only have a small following, and not all of them can make the front page of The Rolling Stone or PureVolume.com - but keep your eyes on the folks who are making sounds... don't worry about whether or not they are mega-funded... think about emotion:feeling:sound:reach:involvement.

Indeed, we get awesome sound from so many established artists/recordings... these are the bread and butter of our musical enjoyment. But, the no-so-well-knowns are truly the spice of our musical palette.

When I hit the play button on someone's home site, I expect nothing: but some of the time, I get a great deal more than I imagined.

'Twas the night before MOGmas

A little re-post from my MOG page:
‘Twas The Night Before MOGmas
With apologies to Clement Clarke Moore
By Jimmy Bear, the Old Hippie

‘Twas the night before MOGmas, when all through the house
Not a MOGger was stirring, no click of a mouse;
The pedals were hung by the pedalboard with care,
In hopes that St. Pick soon would be there;
The MOGgers were nestled all snug in their beds,
While versions of Layla it boomed in their heads;
And my Bear in her ‘kerchief, and I in axe strap,
Had just hunkered down for a long record gap,
When out on the driveway there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from the stage to see what was the matter.
Away to the mic’phone I ran without catch,
Popped on the pre-amp and plug’d in the patch.
The amp lights on the threads of the stage rug throw
Gave the lustre of lasers to objects below,
When, what to wondering ears should not belittle,
A little bitty git-player, and eight tiny fiddle,
With the little old shredder, so lively and quick,
I knew in a moment it must be St. Pick.
More rapid than eagles his pick-sweeps they came,
And he pinch-squealed, and up-picked, and called them by name;
“Now, Les Paul! now, Fly-V! now, Tele and Strat!
On, Mustang! on SG! on, Jackson and Fly!
To the top of the neck! pin ears to the wall!
Now thrash away! slash away! thrash away all!”
As tube screams that before the wild pick-flurry fly,
When they meet with an key-change, slip bridge to the sky,
So up to the house-lights the barre chordes they flew,
With the bus full of merch, and St. Pick and Les too.
And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the lawn
The shifting and flanging of each amp not pawned.
As I managed the sliders, and was tuning the sound,
Down the aisle St. Pick came with a bound.
He was dressed all in spandex, his boots they did thud,
And his wrists were adorned with leather and stud;
A bundle of axes he had flung on his back,
And he looked like Keith Richards just smoking a pack.
His eyes—how they twinkled! his callouses cherry!
His moves were all blinding, he chopped like Chuck Berry!
His droll little mouth was drawn up like Malmsteen,
And the leather of his straps were polished to sheen;
The stump of a tube he held tight in his teeth,
And the smoke of it circled his head like a wreath;
He had broad hands and a set of sixed-abs,
That rippled, when he played like a wall full of cabs.
He was skinny and pumped, a right jolly old hippie,
And I hollered when I saw him, in spite of my trippie;
A plink of his finger and a twist of his pick,
Soon gave me to know I had taped sound most slick;
He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,
And filled up the stage; with sounds so berzerk,
And laying a palm-mute aside of his strings,
And giving a nod, his equipment he flings;
He sprang to his bus, to his roadies gave a whistle,
And away they all flew with the smoke of a missile.
But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight,
“Happy MOGmas to all, and to all a good-night.”

Ahhhhhhh, to be a Blue Man Group Musician!

We watched a great television presentation of a Blue Man Group show recently (on PBS/WUNC). What a thrill. These guys define imagination, inventiveness, and musicianship... plus, a Blue Man show will get your feet going right away.

The Blue Dudes are a true bastion of musical and visual creativity. Their musician accompanists look like they're having a blast, and have tons of good sounds.

Look around and about for clips, videos, and presentations. Better yet, if you can get to a show - do. You'll not regret it.

More information: http://blueman.com/.

My family comes first, but if there was time, I'd really jam on being a Blue Dude Group musician!