It Was as It Ever Was

A year ago, being tugged along by mortality, I decided to get back into that music thing. I had finished the first new recordings in nearly 30 years and felt that it was now or never if I was to ever get them out into the public sphere. So I had the masters copy-written, art work commissioned, and journeyed out among the stars. I have released 2 honest to God albums, one, Apologia, from my Seattle period, 1985 to 1991, and the latest, We Three, from the present, which I refer to as the apocryphal period because it sounds fun. From those who listened I got plenty of likes, which I expected because the music is actually quite good. That may seem big headed, but I'm no rube and after more than 50 years of listening to just about everything I know good from mediocre and bad, and, as they say; if you don't believe in your work; who will.

I started performing again, mostly at open mics, to test the waters and find out if I could breath under water; all in all it was a lot of fun and I found that there a lot of my material I'd like to perform. I also realized that I'm not quite like the other performers and songwriters as far as material goes. That's not to say that their work was somehow lesser; to the contrary, I found it very interesting and enjoyable, just different. I'm not really a story teller as a songwriter. I think a better description is poet/emotionalist; a deeply pretentious way to say I sing to my own heart and and any others that wants to come along for the ride.

That then brings me to the direction of the upcoming year. I have a new group of songs I'm recording, and a whole slew of earlier recordings I desire to foist upon an unsuspecting public. The always percolating question is: where is this all going? If I were younger and had stars in my eyes, the answer might be to become famous and loved and wealthy beyond my wildest imagining, but I'm to jaundiced to buy into that. Yes, I went to Hollywood for the ASCAP conference and had a great time and hung around with all the other artistic types longing for the succor of recognition and acknowledgement, but I learned long ago that I was an uncompromising non-conventionalist in a business that has no time for that because there's no money in it.

At least not anymore. It came and went with the 60's.

I do though have a hunger to be represented in my art, whether in music or word, and without a presence that representation doesn't exist. So I have my website, mrprimitivemusic, as a repository of my work and a deep catalog which I will continue to add to because it's what I am. The problem is the catalog because it is ready to be heard, but there's a lot of stuff there, 8 completed albums, one that needs to be re-recorded, and the new songs; all waiting for me to get to it. There is also the rather daunting task of how or whether to get the word out, and not just a few folks out there would be happy to help for a small fee; results to be determined. Is the shell out worth the price? Will it make any difference? Perhaps we'll see.

The more important point is that there is a place for people to go if they so choose. At some point that's all I can ask, because i know if you go, you will dig it.

Now that I'm famous again!

It has now been about a year since I made my triumphant return to the music business and taken my rightful place among the protean giants, whatever that means. I've released 2 albums, gotten out of my comfort zone and returned to live performing, joined a number of professional associations, songwriters forums and groups, went to the ASCAP conference in Hollywood to hobnob with all the other desperate musical types trying to make good in these very interesting times, and reconnected with those publications, websites, and newsletters that keep me in tune with what I need to do to really get my music out there and make money and accept that statistically I don't stand a chance in hell of ever being anything more than an old guy pumping out very good records that no one will hear.

All very uplifting.

Minus the faux desperation, it has been a lot of fun. If you step back from the idiocy of trying to be a pop star, and, fortunately, most of the performers and songwriters I've meet aren't goo-eyed over becoming the next Taylor Swift, and are making an incredible array of interesting music. It's amazing how many people are out there making music; having fun and making the world a better place. All different styles and playing abilities, youngsters and oldsters grooving to the tunes, and proving that pulling out the earbuds and sitting back and listening to a person or persons playing live right in front of you is the best, whether it's Sting and Peter Gabriel or the kid playing his or her new song for the very first time in front of strangers.

All very uplifting.

I've added a few new items to my recording studio, electronic drums, some new effects, and a deep blue Rickenbacker 12 string. I writing and recording new songs, which is thrilling given how long I went between records, twenty some years, it nice to know that I can still write a song.

Speaking of writing songs, I've so far resisted the idea that I should do anything other than what comes naturally to me; I write what I write; I like what comes out and I know what's good, I'm not terribly concerned if it jibes with what the hit makers say because the hit makers contradict one another and say you should do something that stands out even if everything you hear them make sound depressingly the same. Which is too bad, but there is great music out there; whatever the state of pop music, the rest of music world churns right along, and if you spend a little time out there on the internet, you'll find more great music that you can ever listen to.

There's a lot of crap too, but that's life.