Checking In, Covers, and Harmonicas

Well, life is crazy. Haven't updated in awhile and thought I'd check in with some videos of what I've been playing.

The Answer to Everything... And it's NOT 42

As a musician, I am often confronted with dilemmas that involve money. I mean, most people find matters of money to be dilemmas, but musicians often find that it takes money to make money.  An artist has to record music, this costs either money for studio time or for the equipment to make a studio. Then, after they get good recordings done, it costs money to design, manufacture, and be able to sell physical CD's as well as music online on such vendor's websites as iTunes and Amazon. Merchandise that an artist sells, has to be first bought.

For a college student, who happens to not have any job at the moment other than making a few bucks here and there where he plays, the costs of such things are far out of my budget. However, there is  a solution to many of these issues. Networking. No, not the kind you do on Facebook or Twitter (although they could potentially be avenues to do what I'm about to explain), but rather the more "professional" kind; let's liken it to a real life Linked In (if you don't  understand this reference, then you probably aren't a "professional").

Mothers, TVP, Broken Down Cars, and Storytelling

The other day, I started watching all the videos I could find of folk artists performing live--to figure out what they do to be such great performers and how I can improve my own stageshow--from TV shows etc (i.e Austin City Limits, Soundstage, etc) and stumbled across a grammy-nominated artist I knew fairly well, Ray LaMontagne, on VH1 Storytellers.

He told a bunch of stories, especially in this clip, about growing up poor and what not. The audience laughed and was really into it, which got me thinking about my own shows.

That Jealous Moon, Reed Foehl, and Inspiration

Well, as not-so-long-time readers, as well as anyone who knows me personally, will surely know, I've been working on writing and recording a five song EP. In December, I released a track listing, but had not finished writing all of the songs. Recently, I finished the last of them. Cue audience clapping and cheering. The song entitled That Jealous Moon, specifically, came out fantastically and I'm extremely proud of it.  However, it took me nearly two months to finish it. If you just read two minutes, snorted, and rolled your eyes in disgust, back up and read that sentence again, for I said months.

See, inspiration is elusive, hard to find, and oft times, rather fleeting.

The Lowdown on Lewiston

Well, I wanted to tell you and show you a bit of what I've been up to, so maybe you'll forgive me for my LONG absence. I think I may just need to create a new label for these last three blog posts, EXCUSES.

So, my dad and I came up here to move me into an apartment before school started. We got in late on a Thursday night. The next morning while eating breakfast, I saw that a coffee shop/cafe was having an open mic that night. So that night, I went over to The Cafe Sage to see how it was, and ended up performing.

For Emma, Forever Ago (Lo-Fi Magic)

For Emma, Forever Ago. Bon Iver.

Musician Justin Vernon, finished recording an album with his band ending in the band parting ways, experienced a hard break-up with his girlfriend, and had an awful battle with mono in the fall a few years ago. Feeling heartbroken, lost, and out of place, he decided to spend the winter alone in his father's cabin in northern Wisconsin. Alone, with all his personal belongings--some clothes, a four-track tape recorder, a computer, a couple guitars, a few microphones and a few other miscellaneous items--he spent a bleak winter there in the cabin cut off from the world. It was there, that he took the name Bon Iver (based on the French Bon Hiver or Good winter) upon himself and wrote songs chronicling his frustration, anger, and resentment towards the painful recent events in his life.

He recorded them himself, with only what he had,... a meager, incomplete home studio. He intended to send these song demos to record labels and hoped get a record deal with one, but when his friends heard the demos, they raved. At the insistence of friends and family, he pressed five hundred copies of For Emma, Forever Ago and had a concert and release party.

A Lesson in Songwriting

There's an old saying among writers that has great relevance to songwriting.  "Less is more." Using this in a story is much easier than in songwriting. When applied to writing, its uses are very obvious. Instead of "The grey dog with a mangy coat and a definite limp walked slowly down the street, full of pot holes and rain." a writer could say, "The mangy grey dog limped down the street, around the pot holes filled with last-night's rain." Its more succinct and really paints a clearer picture. But, applying this is much more difficult in writing lyrics.

Neither of the above lines would work in a song. They're much too long, and laden with awkward words. Sam Beam, of Iron and Wine, recently discussed how he uses well-known religious imagery to clarify and create images and stories.

Announcement and Words

I've been thinking about this blog a lot over the weekend and have decided that three posts a week will be a better plan than posts every weekday. I will be updating this blog on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. This will allow me to write better content and will not cause me to burn out too quickly and hate the whole blogging thing.

Recently, I've been working on the first Sagebrush Rebellion album. So far I have song ideas for most of it, a name for the album (which I am not ready to announce yet), and a couple songs finish. The first song I finished is a rewrite of a song that's been hanging around for several years. I've re-written the lyrics several times since its original version. I believe that I have found the final version now. The new words fit the theme I want the album to follow and are closer to the style I want all the lyrics in this project to be.

Great Performances and Performers in Folk

I was going to write a deep Biblical discussion on whether Jesus was liberal or conservative (because of recent claims by Democrats that the GOP deludes itself with God but denies the true beliefs of Christ in their policies), however, I think this subject is not something to take lightly and post to a blog, so I will not.

Instead, I want to share a few of what I consider the great performances in folk music.

Activism

The first few entries in this blog have been mostly silly, tongue in cheek articles about myself and music, however, not all  entries will be like this. There will be totally random days. There will be angry days. There will be rants on politics. There will be much you have yet to anticipate.

With that in mind, I want to transition into something a little more serious, but keeping with the folksy theme.

Activism in music.

How To.... Be a Modern Folk Artist in 5 Easy Steps!

Being a musician is getting easier everyday it seems. With home recording become a very viable solution, and sound equipment becoming more affordable all the time, music is becoming easier to invest in.

In the past ten years, a new, lo-fi brand of folk music has become very popular in the U.S. and folk musicians are becoming respected and adored once again. This resurgence has brought with it many different artists playing very different types of music, but there are a few simple steps to becoming successful just like them. We've collected a few you may not have thought about. Things like learning to play the guitar and such are pretty obvious, but there are some other things it will take to become successful.

Here's our top five ways to become a folk artist :