“Congress shall have the power … To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries.” Thus does the Constitution empower Congress to establish copyrights and patents, and thus create a means of livelihood for everyone from Thomas Edison to Jackson Pollock to Michael Jackson and Norman Mailer. (And, of course, me, if somehow the world would discover my genius.) But lately, it seems the Internet revolution has accelerated a siege on copyright by a rogue’s gallery of bad actors, attempting to convince the world that copyright is in crisis, and needs to be, depending on whose side they’re on, (a) dramatically toughened, or (b) tossed. In this tirade, I’m going to try to lay out the real story, which makes it kind of not a tirade at all. But I still think you may find it informative. Read more »
Behind the Scenes
This past Friday, I went off to Steve Friedman’s recording studio to mix down a live recording of the feature Dave and I did in April at Emack & Bolio’s in Roslindale. Steve records the open mike there, and I slipped him a few extra bucks to record my whole set. I thought I’d give you a little peek behind the curtain, into the process. Read more »
Instant Feedback
So I’m hangin’ with my homies a couple Fridays ago – Steve Rapson had asked me to stop by his studio and do some keyboards for John Gerard‘s upcoming CD – and we were just chewing the fat, and Steve says, “Sam, you know what your act needs?” And since Steve is the author of a very, very valuable book on solo performance skills, I say, “What, Steve? What does my act need?” And Steve says, “You should tell more stories. You have such a commanding voice. Spaulding Gray is dead. Someone should take his place. Why not you?” He went on to emphasize that these stories would need to be carefully crafted, but he thought they could add a great deal to the show. Read more »
In the Blood
I had a couple of conversations this week that were meaningful to me, and I thought I’d take some time to share them – you’ll see why. The first was with a friend whose family has had some significant health issues over the last year or so. I wrote him to check to see how he was doing, and the health problems are abating, and he speculated about whether he was going to start playing again. “I did get my guitar overhauled recently with that in mind”, he said. The second was with a musical acquaintance who reappeared after a relatively long absence, who commented to me that she had been derailed by “life changes”, which were now concluded, and so it was time to stop procrastinating and start playing again. Read more »
Big Pond
The other night, I was chatting with one of my favorite performers after a show, and this performer made a comment about how hard it is to keep a toehold in the Boston music market. “I’m huge in five other markets, but here, I can barely make a dent”, or something to that effect. It’s true, and a shame, but I’m not sure it’s avoidable, and I’m not sure we’d want to avoid it if we could. Read more »
The Grunt Work
So much of life amounts to ditch-digging, doesn’t it? Even when you have this crystal-clear vision of what you want to do. The plan always looks lovely when you write down the high-level goals, like, say, finishing a marathon; it’s only when it turns out that the plan bottoms out to, oh, waking up at 5 AM and running 10 miles in the rain, that you start to think through gritted eyebrows, “This had better damn well pay off somehow.” But of such tiny actions, larger accomplishments are made. And so it is with my music. Read more »
A Song For My Father
After my mom died in 2006, my father said, “Write me a song before I’m dead.” This degree of bluntness might be startling to those who don’t know him, but it’s not even remotely out of character – when it comes to family, diplomacy is just not part of the equation. What’s even odder is that it doesn’t bother me in the least – but, of course, I’m not the most tactful of people myself, so I doubt any of you are surprised. Read more »
A Kinder, Gentler Brand of Extortion
This tale is about the inside of the music business, which, for audience members, is sort of like seeing how sausages are made – it might not ruin your appetite, but you really have to forget about it to enjoy your meal. So I apologize in advance for anyone whose appreciation I might diminish – you’re welcome to skip ahead to the gig listings :-). But if you’re interested in what the sausage looks like from the ingredients’ point of view, read on. Read more »
I Can’t Juggle, Either
I’ve always wanted to be able to juggle. When I was in college, I had a roommate who was an amazing juggler – he did devil sticks and four balls and all sorts of stuff. I could watch him for hours. But I never learned to juggle myself. So a couple of years ago, I decided to try it. I took some books out of the library, and bought some supposedly helpful books on-line, and went out and purchased a set of three leather balls specifically for juggling, and set out to, well, throw these balls spastically around my living room. I am, as far as I can tell, hopeless. I understand the principles, but I’m still in that Helen Keller phase; the lightbulb just hasn’t gone on yet. Read more »
Song Stories
It’s the end of the year, and time for reflection, and perhaps a dose of humility. So I’m in the mood to make a belated apology. Read more »