Dose Of Reality

If anyone reads this blog, they are in for a dose of reality about me in this particular post.  This blog is connected to scottcooley.com, a website I created to make myself out to be a songwriter and recording artist.  The website and blog have been half fantasy in that the content is delivered with a “fake it ‘till you make it” approach.  In some areas of the site, I’ve humorously hinted at the true reality, which is that I’ve represented myself in a favorable light, not unlike people do on a resume.  It’s something I haven’t felt entirely comfortable with, so to alleviate that mostly for myself but also to any potential visitors/readers out there, I’ve decided to more directly explain what I’m all about as it relates to songwriting and recording.

My understanding of the nature of personal blogs like this is that it is an acceptable thing to do to get things off your chest in a somewhat harsh tone as a form of self-therapy, so that’s my new approach.  In this same vein, I am anticipating slowly over time revising the website content using a similar approach.  A secondary motivation is that not only might I feel better about the website content, others might actually appreciate more.  The objective is to be completely honest and get away from misrepresentation.  Here the introduction will end and the blunt explanation of the reality of my situation will begin.

As a songwriter, I’ve written plenty of songs, but never for anyone else but myself.  Not only have I never had a song I’ve written “cut” by another artist, but I’ve also never written one that would even come close to anything a real recording artist would want to record.  If you listen to my music, you’ll be able to tell.  Somewhere in my website I alluded to saving my best songs to pitch to other artists, but the ones I’ve “released” on my albums ARE my very best.  I have pitched some of them before, unsuccessfully, and even though they were among my best, I did end up releasing them myself.

As a recording artist, I’ve recorded myself singing and playing the instruments on original songs I wrote, and then I paid to distribute them in online stores.  I’ve recouped some of that expense, but not all of it, so I’m operating at a loss.  This not only doesn’t really mean I’m a recording artist, but it also doesn’t really mean Scott Cooley Records is a real record company.  I don’t have a tax identification number or a doing business as type of thing established.  I’m not even really a solo artist, since I don’t play music in front of people for money.  I don’t even play in public for free.

Elsewhere on scottcooley.com, I sort of make claims that what I do is special or rare.  It’s not.  There are literally millions of people in the world who have a home computer and microphone who record themselves singing and playing original songs using several instruments they taught themselves to play, and then put the recordings they make in online music stores so people can potentially buy them.  The reality is I can write some words and rhymes, I can play a few chords and riffs on a guitar, I can play some root notes on a bass, I can pound on some drums, I can make noise blowing into a harmonica, I can use a mallet to hit a few notes on a marimba, and I can sing.  If I make myself out to be anything more than that, I’m not.  I am definitely not good at any of the above by any measure.

Setting the record straight,
Scott