i'll make you famous

you can't get by with anything anymore, thanks to the irresistible fetish of instantaneous posting to twitter, facebook, younameit.  this affliction runs rampant throughout our world.  you can find out what's going on with your interest du jour at any moment.  hell, even my mom comments on my occasional status updates within the hour.  my MOM.

good old iowa has made the front page again.  a guy drove his zebra and macaw parrot to the local watering hole, went inside to get loaded, and got pulled over on the ride home with his pets buckled in next to him.  you can't write this stuff.



i am sitting here at my bar chugging a mug of coffee, rocking some serious bedhead, listening to pete rock & c.l. smooth, sporting a beater & basketball shorts, posting my thoughts with accompanying images, and broadcasting it to the entire world.  the internet has managed to shrink our world into a 15" screen while expanding our minds directly beneath our fingertips.  shit is crazy.

kevin mahogany and his big self came through iowa city back in grad school.  i remember that during his masterclass, me & my friends immediately dismissed the giant crooner and swung our antennae towards his trio; kenny barron, ray drummond, and ben riley.  kenny said something about how, if you want to make it in the music business at any level, you need to end up in new york city.  all of us iowa kids felt pretty lousy about that, but saw his point - how are we ever gonna meet more people who are like minded?   the assumption was that all things at the cusp of newness take place in metropolitan areas, and the only way you could achieve viability is to live the dream in the big city.  cue the slow exodus of uhaul trucks to either coast with "art or bust" written on the windows.

music has certainly changed with the internet.  streaming audio, digital distribution, webcasting, apps, electronic press kits, facebook events, blogs, and (the big kahuna) youtube.  creative minds can now put their noggins together in the virtual world.  i recently worked with my friend marcy on a project, and technology saved the day.  after finishing one of her arrangements, i fired out pdf copies and audio scratch tracks from my office - me in ames, she in new jersey.  she stuck music in dropbox for the entire band and emailed links to other stuff. we were able to put this all together quicker and cheaper, and the worldwide web helped make it happen.

my buddy ryan plays fiddle with the indie folk band trampled by turtles.  they played a show here in town about a year ago, and he told me then that the band was slow-going and on the verge of taking a hiatus of undetermined length. they booked a couple of bigger festivals in their swan song and posted some new music up on soundcloud.  they advertised their tour online, got a couple videos up on vimeo, fans snapped pics on their phones and posted them to their respective social networks, and suddenly the band's popularity rose to epic proportions.  their most recent gigs have been on letterman, craig ferguson, and atop the cnn news tower in atlanta.  



i am proud to be an iowan and, at the same time, am sheepishly thankful for the internet.  my priorities have changed since that decree from mr. barron, and they continue to evolve.  i like having a university gig.  i like having a house.  i like raising my kids, mowing my yard, sticking a quarter in the meter for an hour of parking, watching the sunset over the cornfields, and listening to the quiet.  i am blessed to play shows with very talented musicians here in iowa, hidden gems.

dave king once told me, amidst my anguish and disgust with moving to a smaller community like ames, that it's one thing to move to a scene and another thing altogether to move and make a scene.  i assume he wasn't insinuating that i throw a tantrum, so i decided to be a part of the solution to creative musical thought in the heartland of america.  i do like to go to metropolitan areas and get my batteries recharged. there's really no substitute for that.  but my desire/need to relocate has fizzled.  i guess the great philosopher treach was right - wherever you go there you are.  0:58, baby.

not a game, not a game

i'm not a big sports memorabilia guy.  remember those sports illustrated posters from back in the day?  i used to have a couple hanging in my room; dwight gooden, walter payton, and magic johnson.  i collected a ton of baseball cards but, at some point, became disenchanted with sports fandom.  i'm a casual fan of cardinals baseball, vikings football, and cyclones basketball.  i quit throwing my money at all that collectable stuff.  the few sporty things on display in my office are a signed 5x7 picture of andy van slyke, a ric flair figurine, and a rookie card of my namesake.

i own a couple of jerseys that i never wear anymore.  i strutted around in them while i taught inner-city middle school music in the twin cities, in an effort to garner and retain any ounce of juice with the kids. i looked ridiculous, but i've still got 'em.  they represented two of my favorite ballers -  kevin garnett for the timberwolves and allen iverson for the 76ers.  both of these former mvps switched teams long ago.  k.g. won his ring with the celtics, and a.i. swam around the league before ending up broke and now playing for a team in turkey (with an eye on china).

the big ticket was stricken with the curse of the t-wolves. we could never put people around him that could get us over the hump.  on the other hand, a.i. was pure domination.  flashy, mouthy, irrepressible.  he was thrilling at georgetown, could score at will in the nba, and rose to elite heights, starting with this killer crossover on mj.



yesterday was the 10 year anniversary of allen's tirade on practice.  he was criticized for not going to shootarounds, and responded with the insinuation that the games were far more important.  i'm in the quartet workshop, a great band that plays original tunes and creative treatments of other stuff.  i like playing in this band for two reasons: 1) the players are great.  strong musicians, devoted to thinking outside of the box, and cool guys.  2) we rehearse.

i want to be involved with projects.  rehearsing strengthens interplay and trust, solidifies song choices, and quasi guarantees that the ensemble members are invested in the final product.  i prefer to play in a BAND.  most of the leaders in my field have working bands.  potter underground.  the bad plus.  keith's trio.  brad's trio. fellowship.  human feel. masada.  metheny.  charlie. dave.  don't get me wrong - i will continue to do pick-up gigs, because that's often the nature of this beast, yet i'm smitten with that feeling of rapport and inside joke-like understanding between musical minds.  in order to accomplish this, ya gotta practice as a group. individual work, although vital, is no substitute.

the art of the band is becoming extinct.  it's tough to find time to get together, space that will allow for it, and finding the right formula of players so that 100% of them are down with rehearsing.  i'd rather not get hung up on money and, instead, swing my energy towards a stronger and collaborative goal.  yes - it takes more time, is often a hassle, and may even prove to be less financially fruitful. however, that pot o' gold at the end is totally worth it.



this is where a.i. and i split up.  gotta go to practice.
for the record, iverson totally owns westbrook, paul pierce, and the mailman.  kd?  well that's another story...