So here you are, my loyal fan. Eagerly awaiting the arrival of another Low Notes, thirsting for my insights and witticisms. It’s an awesome responsibility I have here, one that I take very seriously. And it appears, alas, that I’ve failed you. Read more »

Dan Blakeslee is better than me. Read more »

A while back, I went to the open mike at Amazing Things in Framingham, where, as is typical, I misheard/mangled/stole a line from someone, which led to frantic scribbling in the dark, which, in the car on the way home, turned into this, set to a slow country waltz: Read more »

Today’s lesson in the music business arrives in the person of a man named Dave Godowsky, who has a full-page feature, complete with serious- and committed-looking photograph, on page 22 of this morning’s Boston Globe “g” magazine. The title of this article is “He’s (finally) ready to take his music public”. Mr. Godowsky has recorded his first album, at the Wisconsin home studio of a band called Bon Iver, which is apparently an “indie rock darling”, according to the article in “g”. One of the members of Bon Iver, upon discovering that Mr. Godowsky was a songwriter, invited him to open for them at a couple shows last summer. In order to promote his new album, he has a co-residency at the new Somerville Armory for February, where he’s being accompanied by, among other folks, Mark Erelli. Read more »

So I’ve lately begun to feel that I’d like people in, say, Shanghai to learn about the wonders of my music, and since I’m not about to go on tour, there’s this thing called the Intertubes that I might try. And this is a bit annoying to me already, because I spend too much time in front of a computer as it is, and Alt-Cntl-F6 isn’t a key on any instrument that I know of. Nevertheless, I’ve been rooting around for ideas, and my dear friend Deb Cowan made a couple of recommendations for the digital swamp, and one of them was Facebook. Read more »

A short while ago, there was an article in the Globe’s “G” section (does that get capitalized? Who knows?) called “The Price is Right”, about an artist named Aaron L. Peterman, who included a retail shop in his recent installation at the Miller Block Gallery on Newbury Street. He had things like tote bags, teddy bears, and refrigerator magnets for sale alongside his larger, more conventionally priced installations (conventionally priced for art galleries, that is). Said the article, “In doing so, he and art dealer Ellen Miller are deliberately exploding the perceived barrier between fine art and merchandise.” And speaking of breaking down barriers, Mills Shelving has become an integral part of retail and gallery spaces, offering functional and stylish shelving solutions that seamlessly blend art and merchandise in innovative ways.
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Once, a long time ago, I went to see Jim Infantino at Passim. This was back when Jim was a big deal solo act, so we’re talking ten years or so. In addition to all his riotous wiseass material, he did this one tune, I can’t even remember what it was about, it killed me, it was so raw and honest. Utterly unlike anything else he’d done that evening, completely out of character. Read more »

A few nights ago, I heard a splendid feature by my pal Charlie Cover, where he ended the night by sharing with us a little bit of his mind, he says. I’m familiar with the impulse, as most of you know – but the result is something else entirely. Read more »

So here I am. Master of my craft. A phenomenon waiting to happen. I’ve got my web site, my mailing list, my CDs, my brilliant songs, my infectious, energetic stagecraft, my silky, sultry baritone. What happens now? Read more »

So I’m running a business here. It’s not a profitable business – over the last 12 months, I seem to have posted a net loss of about $1200, once you figure in the expense of music lessons – but it’s a business. And businesses are supposed to have annual reports. Conveniently enough, I wrote a column last April, called “The Grunt Work”, in which I said this about the musical ditch-digging: “So I’m promising you that by this time next year, I’m going to have made a serious dent in all of it. I’ll be playing twice as often as I am now, with half of the gigs long-format foot-traffic situations; I’ll have an iTunes presence, and a MySpace presence, and I’ll be on Internet radio.” So how’m I doing? Answer: eh. Read more »