We’re All In This Together

I just found out about Amie St.

Its a site where you upload your songs, they start out for free and increase in price as they gain popularity.

Pretty cool idea.  Check out my profile here. 

The new resources just keep coming.  Bring them on, I say.

I saw T Bone Burnett, Robert Plant and Allison Krauss last night on Charlie Rose. The video isn’t available yet, but when it is you should find it and watch it. I’m interested in hearing Raising Sand - the record they all worked on together.

When asked about the music industry, T Bone Burnett said(paraphrase) that live music is becoming more important than recorded music. He even said he’d like to start producing shows.

Now that would be cool to see.

I recorded a new song in Tuscaloosa, AL at Wildfire Recording Studio on my way through town in October. It’s called My Love Remains. I’d like you to have it, and I like to know what you think of it. You can download it here. I’ll also put it up on iLike, so you can listen on Facebook. It will be one of a few new songs I will be playing on the Pfriends on Pfilm tour in January. I’m meeting with Brad and Pete tonight to work on the tour plans some more. It’s going to be pfun.

Last night, I saw Charlie Rose interview Jay-Z.  It was inspiring and informative.  Check it out. 

Towards the end, they begin to talk about the state of the music industry(about 48 minutes in).  Jay-Z says the majors became ”so successful and full of themselves” that they didn’t see the writing on the wall, bawking at the digital frontier.  Now, they are paying the price.  It’s interesting to me that Def Jam is a part of Universal, which is run by Doug Morris. A while back, I saw this interview on PBS.  I think I blogged about it too. It pissed me off.  He basically said guys like me will always need guys like him.  To me, he is the epitome of the old record company executive that sits in his office, worrying about how to keep the money and power he has collected from slipping through his fingers.  It is inevitable, how ever it happens.  Those things do not last. 

Mr. Morris is in a spat with Steve Jobs and i-Tunes.  Jobs said of Morris, “He’s the last of the great music executives who came up through A&R. He’s old school. I like him a lot.” 

I want to know what he really means by ’special’.

I wonder if Jay-Z ever had a disagreement with Doug Morris.  Maybe they get along.  I don’t know.  It is clear from the Charlie Rose interview that Jay-Z understands everything is changing.  The ship is sinking.  Maybe Morris is like the captain of the Titanic.  He knows they are going under, but he is going to stay at the helm.  Who knows what goes through his mind?  I guess I’d be angry too, if the system my whole career was built on came crashing down. 

My show on Friday at Room 5  with Theft was cool.  Saw some familiar faces and some new ones. 

After that, I headed to San Diego to stay with some friends.  I had a house show in Malibu cancel on Sunday, obviously because of the fires.  Even though I don’t like days off, it was nice to have some down time.  I saw some of the aftermath of the fires while driving around.  It’s pretty crazy how an entire hillside can completely burned and there will be one house standing in the middle of it.  My friend Tad (Disaster Recovery Solutions : First Response Team) drove all the way from Long Island to CA to help.  Right now he’s on an Indian reservation clearing debris so they can rebuild. 

Last night Theft and I played at Greene Records in Santa Ana.  It’s owned by members of a great band from SoCal. I think places like that will ride the wave and still survive the changes in the music industry because it is run by fans of music for fans of music.  They carry a lot of great vinyl too, so when I get around to pressing some records I’ll ask them to carry some of mine.  You should check out their site and buy some music from them.

I’m off to play eVocal in Costa Mesa soon. Gypsy Lounge is tomorrow.