Mike Gentry and I drove to an open mic in Ohio a few weeks ago, discussing the oddities of the music business during our commute.
“A lot of it is massaging the fantasy,” Gentry concluded.
What a quotable notable!
My wife Natalie told me how there is a bigger business in being a writer that tells amateur writers how to make a career in writing, as there is in actually being a writer.
Basically, people make a living in helping creative folks massage the fantasy.
Are you spending more time and money researching how to do the thing you want to do?
The best way to massage the fantasy is keep your goals realistic and actionable; then get working.
You might not play Carnegie Hall, but you can play the best 200-400 capacity venue in your town if you get creative. You might not be picked to win a Grammy, but if you work on your songwriting every day, you are going to change someone’s life.
Your creativity probably doesn’t need another masseuse; it needs your own hands to get working.
As reported by Hypebot, one study shows that using emojis “increases engagement on Instagram posts 33%” and that “emojis are used in 50% of all Instagram uploads.”
The current social media trend is obvious: use emojis to increase comments.
However, substituting emojis for articulate writing comes at a price, a price of losing your unique writing voice; and what are we offering that increased engagement if we negate our own voices with cliche pictures of faces?
The power of the emoji is a fun fad, but it also borders on laziness, a race to be like everyone in expression…The power of your own writing cannot be replaced.
Setlists – Folk Alliance Feb 17-20, 2016
Folk Alliance, Kansas City, MO
Feb 18-20, 2016
Thursday: Access Film (RED Room): 3:40-4 PM
Damn Fine Day
Only the Rain Knows Why
Change the World* (Clapton/Tommy Simms)
Mahogany
Friday: 7 PM Taping of “A World That’s Bigger” for 90.9 FM The Bridge
Thursday: Anderson Fair Room, 10:30-11 PM
with Mike & Amy Aiken & host Ken Gaines
A World That’s Bigger
Burning Bright
Change the World*
Only the Rain Knows Why
Friday: Sugarbaby Room 732, 11:40-12 AM
Girl on the Mountain, Boy on the Beach
Don’t Mess Around with Jim
Damn Fine Day
One Way Road
Saturday: Access Film (Blue Room)552: 1 – 1:30 AM
with Randy Brown and Stuart Markus
A World That’s Bigger
Burning Bright
Saturday: Bottomland Showcase Room 713- 2:30 – 3 AM
A World That’s Bigger
Don’t Mess Around with Jim (Croce)
Burning Bright
Change the World
Made a Mess (with hosts Drew da Man!)
New bandmate
Saturday: Main Stage Ballroom C
American Folklife Center 40th Anniversary Showcase/Taping
Alan Lomax’s field recording of “Don’t Judge a Man by the Clothes that He Wears“
Saturday: First Timer Room I (FAI Room 725): 11:30-11:55 PM
Girl on the Mountain, Boy on the Beach
Damn Fine Day
Change the World
A World That’s Bigger
#BuskingWiththeBridge 90.9 FM Video Sessions
I met some wonderful musicians while we were waiting to tape sessions for the Bridge 90.9 FM. The videographers had worked a long shift, and asked us if we’d wait through their lunch break.
The break turned out to be valuable because Plu, Cameron Calloway, Sonia and I got chat for an hour and chill during the hectic FAI conference. Cameron, Sonia and I ended up hanging out most of the night at Folk Alliance.
Here’s our #BuskingwiththeBridge 90.9 sessions!
My session – “A World That’s Bigger”
Cameron Calloway – “April 23rd”
Sonia Seelinger – “Cinnamon Skin”
Sarah Clanton – “Stormy Baby”
Plu – “[Losing Touch] title translated from Welsh]
(Yep, that’s my Taylor 514ce guitar in the session!)
You can watch the rest of the Bridge’s sessions here, including Bobby Long who taped right before us! #BuskingWiththeBridge – watch here
Band Links:
Cameron Calloway | Sonia Seelinger | Plu
90.9 FM The Bridge | bridge909.org | kcpt.org | eightonesixty.com
Ginny approves of these video sessions.
Video Session with The Bridge 90.9 FM
The Bridge 90.9 FM from Kansas City posted a video session we did together at Folk Alliance last weekend. Watch out for student loans in verse two, Ginny!
#BuskingWithTheBridge at Folk Alliance International 2016.
90.9 FM The Bridge | bridge909.org | kcpt.org | eightonesixty.com
