To Gig, or Not To Gig…

Are all gigs “good” gigs?

(TL/DR: SEND ME GIG IDEAS PLEASE!)

So, obviously, no… some gigs are in places that are hard to get to, difficult to load in, cramped to set up and/or lacking in walk-by traffic. Some places the staff isn’t nice or it’s just not a great experience for the performer for one reason or another.

Many times it’s the fact that it doesn’t pay. Other times, it might pay, but no one is listening, or worse, people are talking loudly over your playing and singing. These are the most common “problems” for a performing artist who is doing their own original material. So…

Is it better to be heard or paid?

Instead of saying this is an intractible debate, I will come down firmly on the side of being heard. Playing 2 or 3 songs at an open mic where there is an attentive audience seems far more personally rewarding than playing 2 hours and getting paid for it, but having no one listen or care at all.

That said, it sucks to play for no money, and tips are NOT typically enough to make it worth it (there are some venues that do more than others to help solicit tips for musicians, through on-table tip containers and reminders for example).

Since I feel that “people hearing the songs” is an important measure of success to me, I guess it makes sense that I feel getting heard matters most.

How does gigging meet your goals?

So, when you talk to a musician who earns their living on the road gigging, they will tell you they are playing well over 200 shows a year. They make a living that way, but they CAN’T reduce that schedule without doing something else to take it’s place: teaching music, etc.

I figure I am not likely to ever make enough money to make a living at this, even if I could get booked for 230 nights in the next year, as my costs are more than just supporting me: wife and two kids, mortgage and credit card debt. Not likely to make enough money as a touring musician at my age.

So, why am I bothering to perform at all? I guess it’s just about trying to communicate with people around me and make some kind of connection to a larger community. I am always hoping people will listen to the lyrics of the song and “get it”. When people do, and they like it, that is very important to me emotionally

Is gigging a worthy goal on it’s own?

Well, in the sense that playing music is good for you and fun, one could suppose that any gig, at least any gig that doesn’t have serious problems or red flags, is better than no gig. Getting practice on stage, even in front of a disinterested room, is still experience and helps make you a better musician.

If the hassle factor of the gig is causing more stress than is relieved by playing music (or getting paid), then it’s probably not worth doing again. If there is no pay and no audience, you may legitimately wonder what is up with the venue. They may just not be “happening” as a business, or it may be they are just developing their local scene, and you can help. Use some common sense: not much will fix a lousy location or no positive proximity to other businesses, institutions and amenities.

Reach that one ear

Many gigs will seem questionable or tiresome, but if you love playing music then you can focus on doing that and maybe, just maybe, if you do a good job and are well-prepared, you will reach one person with one song, even just catching their ear for a few seconds. It probably won’t change the world, or even their life, but then again, when it comes to how songs work, the truth is you never know.

Pay to play sucks

There are some legitimate times when sharing the cost of production makes sense, but for the most part, there are now a lot of “Pay-to-Play” scenarios out there that seem strictly predatory: pay for gauranteed review placement or getting included on a playlist is standard. Paying to play at anything other than an industry showcase is probably a rip-off.

I want gigs

I am open to all kinds of gigs, so send me what you got! Looking for New England, New York, Mid-Atlantic, and possibly Eastern Canada. Ideal: a listening room. Good: a bar or restaurant that pays. OK: a place that pays tips only. Also: I do originals and many songs have political content.

Feel free to leave suggestions in the comments! THANKS!

What’s a NERFA?

Well, according to their website:

“NERFA is the northeast regional afiliate of Folk Alliance International (www.folk.org), a Kansas City, MO-based nonprofit organization that seeks to nurture, engage and empower the international folk music community — traditional and contemporary, amateur and professional — through education, advocacy and performance. Our goal is to provide opportunities for our members to network regionally and advance the overall mission of Folk Alliance International to:

• Increase understanding of the rich variety, artistic value, cultural and historical significance, and continuing relevance of folk music among educators, media and the general public. (Education),
• Provide a bridge to and from folk music organizations and needed resources, and to help those organizations link with their constituencies. (Networking),
• Influence decision-makers and resource providers on the national, state, provincial, and local levels — ensuring the growth of folk music. (Advocacy),
• Support and encourage the development of new and existing grassroots folk music organizations. (Field Development),
• Strengthen the effectiveness of folk music organizations by providing professional development opportunities. (Professional Development).

To help accomplish these goals, NERFA holds an annual four-day conference where artists, agents, booking agents, venue and festival promoters, recording industry professionals, graphic artists, folk DJs, journalists, photographers, publicists and production professionals get together to exchange ideas, learn by attending workshops, panel discussions and seminars, participate in an exhibit hall, attend formal showcases of juried performing artists, and go to private and guerilla showcases hosted by performers, agents and promoters.  NERFA has expanded its outreach by holding more local one-day conferences within its region, as well as NERFA Showcase concerts at venues around the region and NERFA Presents Young Folk showcases at various festivals in both the U.S. and Canada.”

Guess who went to NERFA for the first time?

Yes, I decided to see if this industry conference lived up to it’s reputation, and found that it does!

Although I was not selected for Formal or Semi-Formal Showcases, there is a proliferation of “guerrilla” showcases that take place in hotel rooms on a designated floor. These are unamplified, acoustic performances in intimate settings for small groups of people. Although I was late to the game, I still ended up with four “guerrillas”, the first on Friday afternoon at 4, the last one “late Saturday night”, really Sunday AM at 2:45. These were fun and well-received.

There was also an “open mic” on Saturday afternoon that I took part in, playing a ukulele on two of my songs, including a new one.

Brushes with fame:

I got to meet the keynote speaker, Dar Williams, and compliment her on her recently published book, “What I Found in a Thousand Towns: A Traveling Musician’s Guide to Rebuilding America’s Communities—One Coffee Shop, Dog Run, and Open-Mike Night at a Time“, and she very politely agreed to take a picture with me!

I met Reggie Harris, a songwriter who is known as an activist as much as a performing artist, and who led a workshop on addressing social issues in music.

I got to meet up with David Amram for the first time in 25 years, and was able to spend time with him working on a new song of mine, a blues song loosely based on “Fanfare for the Common Man” by Copland. He helped me whip it into a 12-bar!

I got to chat with Mike Agranoff, a folk legend to me, who told me about how he ended up on the cover of a famous folk magazine because he was giving Arlo Guthrie an imprompto Concertina lesson.

The Real Treasure of NERFA:

Beyond the opportunity to perform for industry folks and comrade artists, there is the most important part of a conference like this: all the amazing people you meet!

Meeting fellow artists, hearing them perform, talking about all that is happening at the conference and more.. it’s a BIG experience. Meeting people who book or promote folk music was a real treat, and finding out about their role and what they are there for was fascinating and instructive. No matter what the reason for being there, so many people were worth meeting, listening to, getting to know, that it’s “an embarrassment of riches” so to speak. What a great community!

 

 

America Dreams

This was announced in other ways, but with this being my new artist blog…

Let’s make it official:

https://www.reverbnation.com/jbakervt/album/196308-america-dreams

Jason Baker, a Burlington, Vermont-based songwriter, has released a debut solo album entitled America Dreams.

Jason describes his debut album as “Original Folk-Roots Americana”. “Based in traditional Folk styles and a general respect for the roots of American music, I write songs influenced by the deep roots of old-time and acoustic music, but fully modern in lyrical perspective”, said Baker.

The album contains 22 songs and runs an hour and ten minutes. “I believe in giving people value for their money anyway,” the songwriter jokes, “this way if anyone ever does buy a download, they get their money’s worth for sure. 22 songs for 10 bucks!”

Joking aside, the album is intended to make a statement about the current state of the world. “I wrote a lot of songs about a lot of things in the last year and a half, but noticed a group of songs that had topical, political, or existential content that seemed to add up to an assessment and cultural critique of modern America.” continued Baker. “I decided to sequence them in the order written, and it shows both a progression of lyrical concerns and musical and production styles.”

As for the commercial prospects of an album of topical songs, Baker takes a broader view. “It’s my hope that people will like and share the music, online of course, but also in person. I want people to cover and sing these songs. That would be success to me, if the songs get a life of their own.”

America Dreams is available online at all major streaming services and here!

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Thanks for reading my press release for my debut solo album! Please have a free listen!

Songwriting goals

A lot of us have broad musical tastes, and like different kinds of music at different times. So, it makes sense that songwriters might like to write different kinds of music at different times as well.

The music industry does not really reward this behavior, to put it mildly.

So as a songwriter, you come to a significant question: why are you writing songs?

What do you want to happen with these songs? Are you writing for your own pleasure and enjoyment alone? Do you even want to share them? Do you want to record them yourself as a performing artist? Do you want to pitch them to other artists to record?

Your goals will define what kind of songs you write, or at least choose from what you write.

If you like writing songs for the fun of it: write whatever makes you happy.

If you want to use your own songs as a performing artist now you have questions to answer: what is your brand? What songs fit the brand and image you have chosen? You will need to write or at least focus on songs that work for your audience. Who are they?

If you plan to pitch songs for other artists, now ask all those questions about them: what is their brand and image? What do they sing about generally, and what would not work? Are they looking to stay true to the brand for the next project, or do they WANT to try something new? What do they have already, and what can you offer that compliments that material?

If you plan to pitch songs for placement in TV, films, commercials, or the like: now you need to write as universally, or generically, as possible, so that material is not only inoffensive to marketers, but can be re-used for similar calls for material.

I know what it is, I just don’t have a name for it yet.

My goals? I am trying to focus on my personal satisfaction as a writer and performer first, while pursuing as many opportunities to collaborate as possible. I don’t know what to call my “brand” yet… “socially-conscious Americana” doesn’t exactly trip off the tongue, but I know these are the songs that I enjoy singing the most. I also feel a sense of responsibility to comment on our current political, social and cultural situation, and have a suspicion that people out there are looking for authentic viewpoints along with authentic music.

So, what’s your songwriting goal?

 

 

The Satisfaction Of Being Understood

Why write songs for yourself?

Theoretically, we write songs either for ourselves, or for an audience, but to some extent that narrative precludes it being both. To write for commercial airplay, one should be studying recent musical trends, following closely the songs and artists at the top of the charts, and thinking about clever audio production. Lyrical meaning… not so much.

Don’t kid yourself

So a lot of people write songs that are really written for themselves, which is logical: make the music you want to hear if you don’t hear it. Professional songwriters will invariably say that is not how to get a cut, and they are probably right. This really points out the problems of the music industry more than a problem with songwriters. One thing that IS something songwriters should really get to understand though: the song you love will likely not be loved by a music industry that values broad appeal above all else, and you need to stop complaining about that. If you want a cut, write what you think they want to hear, not what you think is good.

Somebody is better than nobody

If you want to write what you want to say, be ready for a limited audience. But there CAN be an audience for it. Just be realistic, you are unlikely to become famous or rich.

So why write songs for yourself at all? Well, because there will be SOME audience, and the quality of that audience may make all the difference.

The payoff

Twice this week, people who are essentially total strangers expressed how they liked the ideas in 2 different songs I wrote and added to my website and ReverbNation profile, in anticipation of releasing a digital album.

Basically, they made it clear they listened closely enough to hear the lyrics, and that they UNDERSTOOD what I was saying, AND liked it! One lovely person said: “I get you!” Wow!

If I can reach a couple people this week, maybe I will reach more people with these songs, and these ideas will be transmitted, and these thoughts will be felt, and will not die, but become part of the world community.

Friday Finds February 2 2018

Stuff I found this week that would be of interest to songwriters!

A big step in the right direction for songwriter royalties:

Nashville songwriters rejoice increase in pay from music streaming companies

This is very, very cool… the nerdy technicians of songwriting! My kind of people:

Chartmania!! I Broke Down Every Song That Reached the Billboard Top 5 in 2017

First in a series that you, as a songwriter, need to read, and then seek out anything on here you haven’t heard:

The 50 Best Post-Punk Albums Ever: Part 1, Gang of Four to the Birthday Party

This one speaks for itself:

Woody Guthrie Lyrics

And the power of group singing…listen, and feel this, then think about it:

Friday Finds January 19th 2018

Stuff I found this week that would be of interest to songwriters!

James Jackson Toth tries to manage music consumption in the age of streaming:

Too Much Music: A Failed Experiment In Dedicated Listening

Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys got an “F” from his music teacher for “Surfin'” before it was a huge hit:

After 59 Years, Beach Boys’ Brian Wilson Finally Gets The ‘A’ He Deserves

Article about Bob Dylan’s use of verbs to tell a story:

Bob Dylan’s Verbs… and What I Learned From Them

New Video and tour dates from indie art-punk genius Kristin Hersh (!):

Video Premiere: “Wonderland” by Kristin Hersh

 

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“I think the trick for any songwriter is authenticity. For the young songwriter coming up who is connected to his generation, as I was connected to mine, write honestly about what’s going on in the center of your life… I think that any time we write authentically and honestly about what’s going on in the center of our chest, because people are so much alike, there’s a big a chance that it’s going on in the center of your chest, too.”

Paul Williams, President and Chairman of the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP)

Authenticity and popularity

When studying the origins of anthropology in college I learned that the origins were not necessarily lofty and academic.

Early ethnographic writings arose out of what were called at the time “travel writings”: personal accounts by Victorian-era travelers of their encounters with different cultures around the world.

One important element of this was the notion that authenticity was derived from the ability to say that you were there: authorship and authority are one. Early travel writings were fairly straightforward, chronological accounts, but later ethnographic writings tended to push the subjective portion of the narrative to prologues and afterwords, or even entirely separate books detailing the personal experience of encountering and living in another culture. This is because ethnographic writings were supposed to be science and therefore objective, and subjectivity needed to be pushed to the margins.

In that context, more modern ethnographic writing takes into account the power dynamics involved in the negotiation between cultures that is part of ethnographic and anthropological study, and makes space for it.

Street credibility

In songwriting there is a similar principle at work that says that in order to have authenticity or credibility one needs to have been there, seen it, done it… lived a real authentic life.

However there is an alternate force in action: accessibility of the product or artifact. This is true in ethnographic writings as well: there are “hits”, books that even become popular outside of the field of anthropology.

Yet these books also receive criticism from within the field of anthropology for being unscientific and/or targeting a popular audience, not unlike music artists who are viewed as being overly commercial, or worse, selling out after having street credibility.

So it seems that there is a general tension in the whole business of writing between Artistic Integrity and Commercial Appeal.

Truth

On the one hand, one wants to be true to oneself, and true to the song and true to the truth itself.

On the other hand, what good is a truth if nobody hears it? Could this be the real meaning of “if a tree falls in the forest and no one is there to hear it does it make a sound”?

Like everyone else I want to change the world with my songs, but I have to gain their ears first.

Artistic Integrity and Commercial Appeal

So can one balance being true to the message of the song and the idea that you’re trying to convey yet putting it in a fashion that can be easily digested by the masses?

Should one even try to do that? I think the answer for me is: sometimes.

This first week of my blog I posted a link to a somewhat irreverent yet truthful and I feel empathetic Christmas song, written in response to a prompt to write a holiday song. I resisted the standard approach to Christmas music, which is to say a commercial approach, yet in my opinion the song could be enjoyed by a lot of people.

Our first musical quotation for this Monday was a lengthy one from Woody Guthrie regarding his feelings on commercial music. He felt that it was the content rather than the genre or style that determined if a song was worthy or not, in his view.

My taste in music are not particularly unusual or extremely eclectic, although it is very broad. I have a great love for pop music and I think it’s important for anyone composing music to understand a variety of genres.

So in that context if the truth of the song is best expressed with an easy to digest pop melody or simple three chord structure, so be it: I’ll follow that where it leads.

I think I have to draw the line at writing a song that has no real meaning in the lyrics and just a catchy hook with nonsense words or something like that.

I also agree with Woody that too many pop songs express unhealthy ideas, and I don’t want to participate in that either.

However if you are a pop songwriter or someone who needs to write commercial songs all the time I do believe it can be done with Artistic Integrity. If you have something real to say….just make sure your lyrics ring true. 

A big part of that is making space for subjectivity: trying to tell a story “objectively” will leave your audience cold, but showing what it really looked and smelled and felt like is what people respond to, in my opinion. People can feel the truth… that’s authenticity.