Too Much of a Good Thing?

On July 26th, I'll be releasing Winter, a new album of songs I wrote in 1983/84, but didn't finish-they were demos, and at the time I thought it would make a good band album, but that never materialized. So they sat.

That story is here.

Winter is the 9th album release since November of 2015, when I released Apologia. That's 85 songs in 3 and a half years. That's a lot.

And no, that's not necessarily so I can pat myself on the back; it's so they can be out there. For if they are not out there, then they don't exist, and neither do I. That may sound rather dark or flippant, but in truth, if what you create goes no further than your couch or an open mic or two, who's going to know? Who's going to care? And if at some indeterminate point in the future someone wants to hear or read it, where do they go?

Part of the modern conundrum with digitization, and the sea of material out there, is you're going to drown, be lost, or as some would game it, be no more important than a grain of sand. But even a grain of sand is something tangible, is something that can be held and examined and possibly explained.

For me, there is no reason not to release this music. The industry, the labels, are not dependent or interested me; I am of no consequence to them: they can't sell me, I am too old. I see no point in the trail of breadcrumbs approach that is the vogue these days, a tease to keep people tuned in and turned on. I am not the next big thing, nor restless in capturing the ever roving eye of an amorphous public.

As a songwriter, as a recording artist, this is my art, my statement if you will, so as songs and albums are completed, I foist them onto an unsuspecting public.

Now, given all the pitches I've received, I'm well aware that I'm not doing it the right way, not building my email list, or engaging my fans by doing this, which I don't agree with, but I haven't been following industry norms since the beginning simply because it hasn't been that important to me-the music is what I care about and if it is available then it can be found by those who want to hear it.

Simple as that.

And yes, I'm that guy.

©2019 David William Pearce