Ah, music, washing away the dust of everyday life from the soul. Music, developing the societal structure through seemingly innocuous tugs at our ideas, like etheral wallpaper that can be the foundation for the mood of persons in a room. Music, direct communication with universal consequences; a language of represented emotions rather than representational symbols.
Ah, dear music, I hate you….but I hate you on my knees.
If it were as easy to communicate vast amounts of information with words as it is with music, despite the ambiguity of interpretation, this would be the one post relating to music. Alas, though, this will need be the first of three relating to the insurmountable power of music.
And where to start, one may wonder.
Do I start with the latest news regarding Cyrus, Montana, or Simpson? Do I coo about Mayer, or The Killers? What is a good representation of modern music in America? Of course the best selling works must denote a quality of musical communication, but does it really convey the message(s) or the musicality that we would find respectable?
I may need to remind you that America, although able to produce the big pop stars (with much more efficiency now thanks to the Pop Idol - Americanized TV show) and keep things popping around those celebrated, we also manage to produce lunatics like John Zorn, Frank Zappa, Stanley Jordan and Victor Wooten. Those composers, each one American musical genius embodied, lend some class to our somewhat shallow mainstream culture of musical icons. And, believe it or not, there are some of us Americans who know of these guys and respect their works with fervent regard to how their works compare to the rest of what is pumped out by the U.S. manufacturers of musical commodities. We are not all barbaric consumers of whatever the catchy incarnation of “happy” melodies happens to be this week.
In that light the musical community that holds to the shadows begins to appear more savory, more deep and substantial, and perhaps requires a closer look. So here’s some of the grassroots artists. Get a glimpse of them now as they are rising.
Sarah Donner (www.sarahdonner.com) is aptly referred to as the Princess of Princeton, not because that is from where she hails, but where she set up shop. A folksy guitar player with a serene voice, she founded her indie label, Reluctant Cat Lady Records, after taking leave of the Westminster Choir College in Princeton, NJ. I’ve had the privilege to share a stage with her on more than one occasion, and still hold onto her debut release “Reluctant Cat Lady” because some of her songs are so good that I find myself humming, whistling and even singing them. Her next release “The Sleep You’ve Been Missing” is due out in December of this year and she is worth listening to. Although located in New Jersey, Miss Donner performs in New York, Connecticut, New England and has even ventured a little further West. For the insightful, feel good sounds of urban hope, I recommend her music.
Rafe Sweet (www.rafesweet.com) is a master of musical talents. Residing in Flagstaff, Arizona, Rafe not only blends the jagged tenacity of modern rock and metal music with the resoundingly recognized classical works of the past two hundred plus years, but he also has the wonderful affinity and habit of teaching others how to play, create and write music. With scores of students and former students, Rafe founded “Stepping Stone Records” and continues to produce music of his own, performing the larger shows with his main band, “Burning the Bridge” and fine tuning the presence of music as it exists in our world.
I would be remiss if I did not mention a band I am currently courting for my own little record label Decapitated Records Inc (www.decapitatedrecords.com) to supplement our roster of artists in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. While searching for a new genre in the Southern States, I came across the fun-loving wild party sound of “Two Story Double Wide” and will relate to them more later in time.
To continue the trend in this post mentioning lesser known grassroots artists as I go along, I will bring up Mr. Scott T. Webster (www.myspace.com/scottwebster0027) because of the erratic energy, engaging as it is, that arises from his performances and recordings. He is an all American cat one could easily picture fifty years ago wearing a leather jacket and riding his motorcycle at a hundred miles per hour with a copy of Kerouac in his back pocket and his hair greased back. In the twenty first century, though, he performs where and when he can, and writes for a small musicians’ trade paper published and distributed in the towns along the Atlantic coastline of New Jersey, stoking the fires of interest in the local music scene.
I am trying to convince Scott and Two Story to become the vanguards of a larger movement for the ‘underground’ arts communities. I am trying to put together the “America Needs Me” tour circuit of smaller venues (about 200 person capacity) that grassroots performers could utilize. The first rendition of it would be the “Trailblazer Tour” as Two Story Double Wide heads north and Scott Webster heads south, meeting up at a mid point where they could exchange information about good venues at which to play.
What I have learned of artists, even the grassroots ones with their invigorating sounds and high energy personalities, is that they are not that willing to travel unless they know there is a light at the end of the tunnel, so to speak; the big pay off at the end.
I try to convince them that the travel to perform is the goal in and of itself. That, when living with the spirit of creative genius writhing through your being, goading you to the multivalent poesis of conjuring new and enlivening presentations of human existence, the desire to express the artistry to the world is self evident and should be cultivated by travel, honed with repetition, and attenuated through self reflection.
Maybe I will just have to do it myself.
May be.
NEXT UP: the relentless composers continuing to conjure new aural visions to enhance the dignity of our species.
All good things.
Jo
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