tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-43225531517856257142024-03-12T20:18:43.248-04:00Scott Cooley's BlogA web log by the award-winning Michigan songwriter and solo artist about his passion for writing and recording songs.Scott Cooleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11992512474971171166noreply@blogger.comBlogger97125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4322553151785625714.post-40424144257661985922024-03-02T18:51:00.003-05:002024-03-02T19:18:13.290-05:00 The Big Reveal: Coming Clean About Cheating<p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">(With Songwriting and Recording Technology)</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">There, that catchy blog post title should've gained me more reads than usual, which is borderline deceptive. I'm not a cheater with songwriting (never stealing melodies or lyrics) or recording (although increasingly, I'm letting software do more of the work for me). It can almost feel like cheating for someone who used to do both things the hard way, what is now the old way, and what younger people just getting into recording have no clue about. You get used to the tech available when you start, maybe embrace newer tech as you move forward that makes things easier. Maybe you learn how hard it was for people way older than you, and appreciate how easy you have it, but probably not.</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I don't cheat on my taxes, so let me get those out of the way first, or my wife, for that matter, although pouring my time and attention into a hobby like writing songs and recording music instead of devoting it all to her could be. Fortunately, I have her full support. Being a non-performer, at least I'm not on the road and can do it all from home. Technology is always evolving, and I've used it to cut down on the effort and time it takes to get the songs out to you guys (so I have more time with her), but sometimes using such shortcuts can make what you do feel a little less genuine somehow.</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Being somewhat of a loner lends itself well to being a solo artist, so I have that going for me. Being somewhat of an introvert, however, does not so much. In the few bands I participated in, I just naturally fell into the lead guitarist role. I'm not a natural front man or lead singer, being more inclined toward a behind-the-scenes band leader role. In my day job career as a professional technical writer, I've often been the only person on a team who has that particular role, and I like being a lone wolf. Although I am happy being a team player, I tend to gravitate toward individual sports. I'm maybe an overly-independent person, but I have a great deal of self-reliance. All these traits lend themselves well to being a do-it-all-myself person who writes songs and records myself singing and playing them.</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">As Mac Davis once said, it's hard to be humble, when you're perfect in every way. I do the best I can, yet I "humble-brag" from time to time herein. I'm proud of believing in myself and never quitting with my songwriting/recording hobby and for pretty much totally figuring out how to be a solo artist on my own. Pride is dangerous though, so I've decided to come clean about not doing absolutely everything 100% from scratch. I've mostly done it the hard way, without asking anyone for help, but I have taken advantage of free and low-cost things to make it easier, and sometimes, it almost feels like it's cheating. I'll explain.</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">A Level Playing Field</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The affordability of software tools and how-to information levels the playing field for most, but purchasing power can provide significant advantages for higher quality outputs. Having a budget for booking time in professional recording studios, using better instruments and equipment, hiring top co-writers, session musicians, producers, engineers, photographers, video directors, and marketers are what the major labels have that people like me do not. Their artists have a lot of help, and comparatively, it doesn't seem like fair competition, yet my music is in the same marketplace.</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMtMtgDiVrLSIc1cISV9HGTYq9mia3LaWf-qo-jq0pp6g-A7eMOUwdfu13Sav7eqFU3dD6EXBIVKsftv3XnduNrRQQHRcV7aB-rBGxCJFH9D3R0cpNxWYqDe8aRBLPXmIlCwvgIy_YIJnZ2_ume8jFOwY2_t8AMIKE8tB4yUtDrkTb4Lc-GjoDovvrkio/s2560/Joe%20Schneid,%20Louisville%20Kentucky%20-%202560px-AmishRakingHay.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1517" data-original-width="2560" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMtMtgDiVrLSIc1cISV9HGTYq9mia3LaWf-qo-jq0pp6g-A7eMOUwdfu13Sav7eqFU3dD6EXBIVKsftv3XnduNrRQQHRcV7aB-rBGxCJFH9D3R0cpNxWYqDe8aRBLPXmIlCwvgIy_YIJnZ2_ume8jFOwY2_t8AMIKE8tB4yUtDrkTb4Lc-GjoDovvrkio/w400-h238/Joe%20Schneid,%20Louisville%20Kentucky%20-%202560px-AmishRakingHay.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Amish Raking Hay - Photo by Joe Schneid, Lousville Kentucky</span></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /><span><br /></span></span><p></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">An Almost-Amish Approach</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">While it's still possible for mere mortals to have their music available in the same streaming services as the superstars, you've got to make hay while the sun shines. There's something to be said for taking an almost Amish approach to avoiding technology and working the old-fashioned ways whenever possible, but doing all of that yourself means you must take advantage of modern conveniences, which is not the same as cheating on tests at schools, doping in sports, insider trading in the stock market, gambling with loaded dice, or rigging elections. Making records is not like making furniture, however. You can't really do it without electricity.</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Playing Covers vs. Writing Originals, Never Co-Writing</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I am a completely self-taught songwriter. I've written hundreds of songs totally by myself. In places like Nashville, they can't fathom anyone NOT co-writing. When compared with the many people I've run across in my life who played an instrument, most never write their own songs. They just learn to play and sing covers of songs other people wrote. Perhaps surprisingly, the people I know who took formal lessons as children seem to be even less likely to ever write their own songs. Two things set me apart from the pack a bit - the fact that I write songs at all in the first place, and also that I do it alone.</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">DIY in Singing, Instrument Playing, Home Studio Recording & More</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I am also a self-taught singer, multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, recording/mixing/mastering engineer, music producer, and music video producer. I do my own album cover art. I created and maintain my own musician website. I have my own independent record label and music publishing company. I handle all my own social media. I haven't had the advantage of attending a performing arts high school, didn't get a college degree in music, have had no formal training, didn't take lessons as a kid, learning all of this on my own as an adult. </span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Free Advice On The Internet</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I have, however, searched for and took advantage of free helpful information on the internet for most of the above, and without it, wouldn't be in the position of being a totally self-contained DIY solo artist who has released 11 full-length studio albums of original music over the last 20 years. I've looked up free songwriting advice on the internet, and also various templates like song forms, tools like chord family chart diagrams and rhyming dictionaries, and instructional advice on recording techniques. So, I haven't completely done it all on my own!</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Liner Notes and Questionable Credits</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I have respect for musical artists who write their own songs, without any co-writers. I also have respect for musical artists who play multiple instruments. I'm maybe thinking of artists like Paul McCartney or Prince. The more things they do themselves, the more I'm impressed. I know it's possible to write a song with your voice, hum, whistle or otherwise tell musicians what to play like Michael Jackson did. Other types of artists like Beyonce check a lot of crucial boxes with the looks, dancing skills and singing chops, but sometimes need 20+ people to write her a song, and isn't typically seen playing any instruments. Oddly, she is supported by famous male rappers who seem to get angry she doesn't win more awards, even though she's won tons of them. </span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I never care if an artist I like has won any awards or not, I just like their music, but that's just how I am. I don't care what they look like so much or if they can dance well either, come to think of it. I'm a liner-note reader due to becoming a music fan in the 1970s when albums ruled, and the more credits an artist has listed, the more I'm impressed. Taylor Swift's liner notes show that aside from one album, she co-wrote most songs in her catalog with others, even though being a songwriter seems to be a big part of her persona. I realize there's always been dishonesty in music. Lobbying for awards happens. Elvis got publishing rights he didn't deserve. Payola happened. Paying for fake streams happens now.</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">DIY is Rewarding</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">As an artist myself, I do a lot of things myself because I enjoy knowing the end results are all me. I would be hesitant to give up the control and enlist others to help even if I could afford to hire them, but I can't. It's probably obvious I need all the help I can get! It's really challenging to do it all yourself. No one can be good at all of it. It can be fun to try though. If you like my music, I take all the credit, and if not, I have no one to blame. Except the songs on which my wife Lenore plays accordion, that is. She deserves all the accordionist awards! Otherwise, the results are authentic and (usually) satisfying.</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Taking Advantage Of Tech</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span>Aside from getting people to help you, another thing that can be done is to use information technology and software that makes it easier. </span><span>My first songs were pen or pencil on notebook paper or legal pad, with my brain as my thesaurus and rhyming dictionary, and only way later did I realize a word processor application on a personal computer made lyric editing way easier, and you could look up rhymes for free online with the internet. This was amazing and new-school at the time. Cassette recorders were around in my youth, and then later you could get these 4-track recorders, which opened up a whole new world. Just about the time I got around to trying one out for a couple years, the ability to record digitally on a comptuer with unlimited tracks happened. Normal people who couldn't afford time in a real recording studio could actually afford these. Compare that to paying $100/hr. in a pro studio, and you see how having your own setup for home demos with unlimited free takes was a major time saver.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">What used to take a room full of recording hardware, instruments and various physical equipment, you can now accomplish with a few mouse clicks and key presses. I like to record quickly while the urge strikes after writing a song, and get everything down how I envision it while it's fresh. Anything that lets me do that more efficiently is cool. I have used computer-based tools and music recording technology to save space, time, money, and a lot of labor. Sometimes the use of various software tools can feel like it's cheating, and too much of it can be a bad thing.</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Tools Evolve</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Before all songwriters, singers and musicians are replaced by artificial intelligence robot bands, I wanted to be honest with you about my use of technology when I record songs I write. I'm firmly rooted in the rock era, the album era. The shift to pop and urban music happened along with the digital age, now the streaming age. We're currently and supposedly in a post-album era, but I still release albums, and I still write rock songs, so that makes me a trend-bucker. Isn't every song on every album sort of a single anyway, now that the way we listen is via streaming? We've evolved to having compressed, lower quality MP3 audio streamed to our phones from the cloud, and instead of mixtapes, we have playlists. I just like to wait until I have a bunch of songs and release them together, but I guess that's weird now. Now AI is making the music for us.</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Keeping It Real</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">First of all, it might not go without saying that unless you're an all-acoustic bluegrass band recording live with real traditional instruments without pickups into a single microphone, or even with each player with their own microphone for that matter, live and simultaneously and in real-time with each other, you're taking advantage of some sort of technology to record with that makes it less authentic. I have respect for people who get it done the old-fashioned way like that. Bonus points for doing that direct to vinyl or analog tape, and more bonus points for being a true folkie with the ancient Alan Lomax field-recording style.</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Traditional folk, jazz and bluegrass music, and its fans, especially appreciate minimal usage of technology. Electricity is allowed vs. turning a physical crank on a wax cylinder or something really old-school, and some medium for playback, but as little else as possible preferably. If you've ever been to a place like Preservation Hall in New Orleans, you see (and hear, of course) the best way for live music to be enjoyed, in my opinion, live in a small great-sounding room with no PA or amplification. They offer the real thing with no digital trickery to mask imperfections. </span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Some Music Tech Becomes Unavoidable</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Technology helps musicians sound better than they really are, we all know this. For example, the Beatles recorded several songs per day, all live with no overdubs, on analog gear to tape early in their career, but later on really embraced the new technologies that became available and pushed the envelope with loops and the whole studio-as-an-instrument concept. They originally thought overdubbing was cheating! Digital recording, drum machines, and synthesizers only started being experimented with in the 70s, seeing widespread use starting in the 80s. This is when it really started getting more fake-sounding with arguably too much pristine sonic perfection.</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Too Much Can Be A Bad Thing</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Blatantly obvious mistakes and imperfections and undesirable noise in music can irk your very soul, I understand this. It immediately wrecks the listening experience when the groove you were getting into is interrupted by anything that is noticeably "off". That said, I have a tolerance for the ebbs and flows of music "breathing" in various ways, and the inclusion of happy accidents and pleasant surprises that may at first sound off but take the music in interesting new directions. Technology often removes these aspects that can make music less robotic and more human.</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Do we really need all of our music to be absolutely perfect? As a listener and as a recorder of music, I say no. On the other hand, if you've heard any of my music you likely already know I need all the help I can get. Today's popular, mainstream, major-label music, especially in the pop genres, is a little too overproduced though, a little too perfect, and mechanical. If that's all you know due to your age and exposure, it's a little sad. </span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The Evolution of Popular Preferences</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I suppose the music listeners of the world expect and demand that digital perfection now, which might signal the decline of lo-fi/DIY style music like I specialize in, which would be unfortunate. The younger generations not seeming to have much interest in rock music anymore is scary enough, but the old traditional folk, blues, jazz, hillbilly and bluegrass styles are definitely on the decline it would seem due to the popular present-day preferences for electronic precision.</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">There are modern hybrid progressive sub-genres of them, but the original styles of those all-acoustic, microphone to analog tape to vinyl records have a great sound. We lost something with the evolution from records to cassette tapes to digital mediums like CDs to MP3s, sound quality stuff you could hear then that you can't as much now, a degradation of sonic qualities only people like Neil Young can explain well. </span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The genres from the early days of commercial recording have definitely lost popularity. Probably something similar goes for pre-rock big band swing and classical as well. I don't know for sure, and I claim no expertise in these things. Just a general observation. Electronic drum machines and synthesizers dominate the current popular trends.</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Multi-Tracking</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">When any solo artist has a recording that features more than a vocal and a couple of instruments on a single song, they used multi-tracking to record it, meaning other parts were overdubbed onto what was played live to begin with. The mixing together of multiple, separately-recorded tracks itself is arguably on the verge of cheating.</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Click Tracks / Metronome</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I do sometimes use a click track in my headphones when laying down my first rhythm guitar track, which is usually how I start recording a song. I sort of sing along with the song with the lyrics in front of me in my head as I record it. Because I use an acoustic guitar played into a microphone, I don't sing along with the rhythm guitar track so as not to have bleed, but also so that the lead vocal I record later can be isolated. I then turn off the metronome click track thing when laying down all other tracks, and make them match the rhythm guitar track. This works best for me as far as avoiding lag, delay or latency or whatever that is called.</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">MIDI and Virtual Instruments</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Musical Instrument Digital Interface is I think what MIDI means, and although it used to involve some weird-looking port/plug thing, it now somehow works with a USB cable. Such is the way I plug in my MIDI keyboard to my computer. I bought one a while back, and it's one of the really small ones where you have to press a button to switch octaves because it's like 1/4th the number of keys of a piano. Used in conjunction with my digital audio workstation software, I can make it sound like a piano, organ, electric piano, anything really. Millions of virtual sounds available.</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Single-Key Drumming</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Including drums. I previously blogged about my recording process herein, in which I described how I'm not a drum kit guy, but rather a hand-only drummer with a basic 3-instrument setup of djembe, snare, and hi-hat I use one of those nylon brushes with for my drum sound. I have often recorded each separately. </span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">So, if it's a 3-minute song, that's 9 minutes of listening to the song all the way through while hitting one of them when I thought appropriate. This gave me a way to not have bleed, but also to be able to pan each as desired, and to do the EQ/compression/reverb, etc. on each individually with a single microphone. </span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">For years, it worked. I also have a set of congas/bongos and various other percussion things. One at a timing it, I would give each its own track. I never got a good kick drum sound with that djembe, and the muddiness competition with the bass track, despite trying different microphones and settings, wasting time and money. </span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I have tried out full drum kits before with some success, thought I might get one someday, and still might, but probably not. The coordination with the foot pedals didn't come naturally, but my hands are not bad. Hence, my decision to go with that setup. The drawbacks are many, including a room full of drums that take up a lot of space, albeit a "minimalist" kit of sorts.</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">When I discovered my keyboard could be configured to have the keys make any drum sound in the world practically, I realized it was something that would offer improvement in my sound, ease of use, and take up less studio space. I now 1-finger tap a key for each drum sound, which still takes the same amount of time. I've tried using multiple fingers at once and essentially playing a full drum kit with kick, snare, toms, hi hats & crash, but that gets a little more complicated. </span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">It takes more coordination and timing, precision suffers, and you can't route each to its own track for panning purposes. I've released some songs where I did it that way, and it was fun, but I just centered the drum track in the mix, and the relative volumes of each were not great in the mix, despite having the velocity-sensitive feature. So, I went back to the one at a time, single-finger, single-tap technique, which takes the length of the song for each still. Since I was already familiar with recording this way with actual drums, it came easy.</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">There are virtual drummer software applications and drum loops out there that I've played around with briefly, but they are a little too perfect and fake sounding. What I do is still me. It's still me physically pressing down on keys with my fingers when I think I should while listening to my other tracks. You don't need headphones for any MIDI keyboard recording either, no mic bleed possible, which is awesome. I just like speakers better when possible.</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Single-Key Chord Playing</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Another arguable cheat is I list myself as the keyboard player on many of my songs, which is true for the right-hand melodic and solo stuff, but the left-hand chord stuff is 1-fingering. My keyboard, in conjunction with some software I have, lets you configure a single key to play a whole chord. Since I haven't taken the time to learn piano chords - not sure if I ever will or not - it's so easy to lay down a rhythm piano or organ track for a 3 or 4 chord song by hitting 3 or 4 keys, which I usually nail in one take.</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I free up space that pianos, organs and drums would take up. These "virtual instrument" sounds a key on my keyboard can be configured or "patched" as they say to play are seemingly endless. I can get violin sounds, horn sounds, anything. Pretty cool. They are very realistic sounding, and how hard you press on the key affects the sound, if you want it set that way. </span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Keyboard Bass</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">On many of my songs lately, I even use the keyboard for playing bass. Dial up the sound and walk it with the fingers instead of playing the actual bass guitar. The sound is more pristine anyway. Figuring out what notes to play is equally time consuming on a real bass than on a keyboard, and I don't have to pick it up, plug it in, and/or tune it, so less prep time.</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Efficiency Enhances Creation</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Once I have a song written, ideas of how to arrange it and fill out the sound with instruments immediately occur to me. The faster I can get it recorded, the better. I'm all about speed and convenience and keeping the work area uncluttered. Less instruments, less cables, less hassle setting up microphones or amps or plugging in, etc., and then unplugging after and putting it all away, whatever. </span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">So, if I can do bass, drums, keyboards, etc. all on a handy little keyboard already attached to my computer and ready to go, the rest is all just selecting the right sounds in the software with a few mouse clicks, and I'm ready to go. Get it down quickly while the idea is fresh, I say. Why not?</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I always try to nail each track all the way through live, and usually do. It's a fun challenge to get it right in one take. Sometimes I've tried splicing in a fix, and although I figured out how to do it with the software, I usually delete a mistake track and totally do-over for the satisfaction. A weak area is knowing when to place the crash cymbal. I can get the math right counting in my head, but I never quite know where they should go. If you determine what you want to do before hitting record, it's usually all pretty easy. </span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">"Comping Vocals"</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Except for lead vocals, that is. I also try to nail my vocal takes all the way through, and often take the same approach, but I have way more do-overs. I have tried to "comp" the best parts of multiple takes before, but the selection and bounce mouse clicks involved are cumbersome to the point that it's easier to just start again fresh each time, and it sounds more natural and cohesive if all in one take.</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">It's Not Really New</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I'm talking about all these things as if they're new, but they're not. Today's young superstars may not have any idea music used to be made live in studios with giant physical mixing boards with knobs and dials, and real instruments played into microphones, and tons of hardware equipment taking up warehouse-size rooms. Most people record the way I'm describing here now, and have for a long time.</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">It's All Good, Except</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The following can sound great, but are arguably a little closer to cheating on the spectrum:</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-size: medium;">Quantization: They also use quantization which matches up everything to a tempo, which I've experimented with, but don't do. Hard to get the math right with that latency thing happening in a multi-track situation when most tracks are not MIDI. </span></li></ul><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-size: medium;">Auto-Tune: They also use auto-tune, which again I've experimented with, but don't use. Sounds too fake, plus you have to actually know what notes you're singing to use it right, and I have no idea. </span></li></ul><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-size: medium;">Auto-Harmony: This is probably also why I'm completely dumbfounded when attempting harmony vocals - not easy at all. I know they have software that can create harmonies for you as well, but require music knowledge and math skills probably, so I haven't checked them out yet. </span></li></ul><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-size: medium;">Auto-Drummers & Loops: Most people probably also use the full virtual drummer and drum loop software, I suspect. At least keyboard drumming requires timing and precision and physical interaction, and even though it's fake, it sounds real. I did use a fake drum loop on my rap song once.</span></li></ul><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-size: medium;">AI Mastering: Although I haven't tried it, I might someday. Machine learning does the mastering automatically to some degree now. This also seems like cheating, but if it's accurate and you like the results, it's faster than constant tweaks, knob-turning, fader-sliding, patching in racks of hardware equipment and multiple playback testing. I have however, created my own automation scripts to run for various mastering steps like EQ and compression processing.</span></li></ul><p></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">"In-The-Box" Recording</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Entire songs can be done with a MIDI keyboard and a vocal, especially the mainstream commercial major label pop stuff. These modern Swedish pop producer/engineer/songwriter dudes like Max Martin likely use 100% virtual everything, taking full advantage of tech to fully produce entire songs for artists where everything is done in-the-box except lead vocals and maybe a guitar, then they just bring in the female pop star to do lead vocals into an actual microphone they later automagically make perfect. Send them off to do their dance video, and good to go.</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Outright Theft</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I haven't covered sampling or just straight-up song stealing, but you've all read the copyright lawsuit news involving famous artists. Seems to be on the upswing. Sometimes it can be accidental, but as someone who takes great pride in my original creations, I struggle to understand why anyone would want to intentionally rip off someone else. Yes you might make some money, but you'd feel no satisfaction. The satisfaction of knowing you did it yourself (and knowing you taught yourself how to do it) is the greatest reward of all.</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Summing Up</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">When you have a day job, a family, a personal life, other interests, etc., you need to maximize your hard-earned free time for your songwriting/recording hobby. There's something to be said for people who knew how to do something the old way before a new technology made knowing how to do it obsolete. </span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">As everyone's mom told them, just because everyone else does it, doesn't mean you should, but new tech becomes commonplace, and it's not so much to keep up with the Joneses out of a sense of competition, it's about making things more convenient. </span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Few chefs make their own croissants anymore because it's so time consuming. Google that to verify, then Google the Julia Child show of the from-scratch way - it's fascinating and deserves respect, but no one does it anymore. Although it's more pure and rewarding to do things from scratch, you can give yourself advantages to save time.</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Therefore, I'm "cheating" (leveraging technology) in several ways out of convenience and lack of skill and/or owning instruments. Using free online advice and tools, software, software instruments, effects processing, automation, etc. are things I've slowly embraced, but sometimes it feels wrong or too easy. In the near future, if not already, there will be popular songs people pay to listen to that did not involve any human beings at all, which is scary. That said, I like to be transparent about taking a few shortcuts in my music making.</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">In your head, you can run through the alphabet to find the right rhyme, but a free online rhyming dictionary is so much faster, so I use one. I sometimes listen to a click track when recording my first rhythm guitar track instead of going with my natural timing to make it easier to follow when laying down bass, drums & other tracks later. I not only record in a multi-track environment and do overdubs, I've also spliced in fixes, and have done comping on lead vocal tracks. I get the sound of a piano or an organ without needing to buy a piano or organ. I get the sound of chords by pressing a single key without needing to know how to play chords. I get the sound of drums by pressing a single key without needing to know how to play or own drums. </span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">It's one of the reasons I prefer being a recording artist only and not a live performer: I can make myself sound a little better than I really am! That said, I prefer to keep my studio recordings as real as possible so that if I ever do play them live and solo with just an acoustic guitar, they're not drastically different than how they sound on the record. Attending and remembering live shows is great. However, the prominent way you enjoy your favorite artists is listening to their studio-recorded music, which is more likely to be available in the future. As a music fan, some live versions on live albums are great, but it's the studio albums and songs that have the real staying power. </span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">As you can now understand, I'm all for taking advantage of tech for convenience and efficiency in recording music, and I'm slowly teaching myself to embrace some of it. I use noise reduction software, for example, just because it really makes stuff sound better to not have as much microphone noise. On the other hand, I try to not use much reverb or other effects. I come at this from a perspective the old folk people have in wanting to capture everything as clean and pure and real as possible without cheating. That's one of the reasons why I intentionally stick with acoustic guitar as opposed to plugging in with an electric and using a bunch of effects. </span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">There are grey areas with the use of effects and digital processing, and soon if not already, AI is going to be churning out hit songs without human beings. That is truly scary, and truly cheating if any humans take any credit for it. What I do now is all about maximizing the efficiency of time spent writing and recording. I don't go overboard, and what I do is far from actual cheating. I take advantage of far fewer tech tools than most artists these days, I suspect, so I'm far from cheating on the spectrum. </span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Glad I'm not too tempted by these newer technologies and prefer a sound that is as real an organic as possible, while still keeping my hard-earned free time spent of these things as efficient and as easy as I can. I like to make it sound analog even though it's mostly digital. Hope you appreciate this. I do it because of my own style preference, but also because I know my listeners like it that way. I'm glad you do! As always, thanks for listening, liking my throwback style, being patient with me as I slowly embrace newer tech, and thanks also for reading this blog.</span></p>Scott Cooleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11992512474971171166noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4322553151785625714.post-10986536382099346482024-02-24T22:00:00.001-05:002024-02-24T22:00:33.235-05:00How I Became A Songwriter/Recording Artist & My Subsequent Half-Hearted Attempts At Self-Promotion<h3 style="text-align: left;">A Songwriter Is Born</h3><p>Elsewhere on this blog and in scottcooley.com I’ve covered this, but I’ll quickly reiterate my start. I took Intro To Guitar and Intro To Poetry as “blow off” classes my senior year in college in 1989. I learned more about guitar from my friends than in the class, but these gave me a foundation. A year or so later, after learning covers of blues and classic rock songs, I wrote my first song. </p><p><br /></p><p>Don’t know why, but I just decided to try writing a song, and I liked doing it. Friends heard some of my early songs and said they indeed sounded somewhat like real songs. Hot babes hanging out in the living room at my 20-somethings ski bum parties as I played them were impressed. It’s possible they liked other things about me and were just humoring me, but it no doubt helped spur me on to continue.</p><p><br /></p><p>I did solo open mic nights in bars, a few paid gigs as part of an acoustic duo doing covers in an apres-ski setting, getting even more attention from hot babes as a result. Lots of fun acoustic living-room jam band situations with impromptu groups of crazy characters as well. However, I quickly realized I wasn’t a great singer, didn’t want to just be a lead guitarist in a cover band, so I slowly phased out of live performance situations, decided I wasn’t cut out for it, but kept up with the songwriting hobby. </p><p><br /></p><p>My friend’s band got really popular, and they learned and performed a couple of my originals, which people loved, and the lead singer announced me as the songwriter and pointed me out in the audience, and this also got me attention from hot babes. <b>Hot babes</b>, that’s what it was always about for everyone, wasn’t it? ☺</p><p><br /></p><p>So the songwriting has continued, and that hobby evolved into being a recorded songwriter and solo artist with released music you can get on the web. In between, there was an interesting progression of related things I got into learning about that led to this, and a lot of significant, rapid change in the music industry that all happened at a good time for me. Since about 2005, when it first became possible for regular people to distribute their independent, home-recorded music online to music streaming services like iTunes, I’ve been one of them. </p><p><br /></p><p><b>The years leading up to that</b> were a fascinating time for someone with a songwriting hobby, when I experienced first-hand what it was like in a perfect storm of the combination of affordable personal computers, home recording software and hardware, and the internet. Things evolved quickly. Keep in mind that when I got my college degree in 1989, the world wide web didn’t exist yet, and no one had their own computers. </p><p><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">How I Started As A Recording Artist </h3><p>In the late 90s, I pawned my portastudio 4-track cassette recorder for a USB audio interface to use with my windows 95 laptop. Then I bought an AKG condenser microphone. Then I bought an acoustic bass guitar and a djembe, a snare drum, and a high-hat cymbal. I already had an acoustic guitar, a few harmonicas, a tambourine and a shaker. The audio interface came with a free trial light version of Cubase digital audio workstation software, but I quickly found another software application I liked better called Cool Edit Pro, which was later bought by Adobe and renamed Audition. I still use Adobe Audition 3.1 today. Later I added a CD burner – one of the first external ones that was gigantic and heavy. </p><p><br /></p><p>With a computer, an audio interface, a microphone, recording software, and a few instruments, it was all relatively affordable. Over the course of a few years, by the time Y2K came around I could multi-track record rhythm guitar, lead guitar, bass, drums, percussion, lead vocals and backing vocals, then mix them all down to a stereo song. It was a lot of fun being able to write a song, and then record it as if a full rock band played it. </p><p><br /></p><p>I could also master it and burn it to CD, share with friends & family. I could also save songs as MP3s and share electronically. This was all really cool. This all happened after I taught myself to play guitar a few years earlier in the early 90s, and then for some reason, thought I could make up my own songs. I found the songwriting part to be a lot of fun, but also the ability to multi-track. </p><p><br /></p><p>Just when I started to get fairly good at making my own music this way for a few years, in the mid-2000s, mp3s were a thing, Napster piracy happened, the iPod and iTunes all happened. Web sites for amateur musicians popped up where you could send your song and make it available for free web streaming. MySpace was one of them. I uploaded my MP3s of my original songs to various places online (most of which don’t exist anymore), and some of which I still have links to on my website here: <a href="https://www.scottcooley.com/links">https://www.scottcooley.com/links</a>. </p><p><br /></p><p>This was kind of cool, you could make your songs be available for people to stream for free online. Then I heard about the idea of a digital “aggregator” serving as a way unknown amateurs could get their music onto iTunes so people could download it on their iPods, and around the same time, make your CDs available on Amazon. I decided to go for it. After a while, they would send your albums and songs to a bunch of music download stores, and I signed up for them all. Some folded, got bought out, got renamed, etc., but I’ve preserved the old links to a lot of them as well here: <a href="https://www.scottcooley.com/mp3s">https://www.scottcooley.com/mp3s</a>. </p><p><br /></p><p>A few years ago, Amazon stopped offering their burn-a-CD-on-demand service, but it was cool while it lasted. I actually made enough money for several years to cover the cost of the distribution service! Just having your album available in the same places people go to buy a Led Zeppelin or Beatles album or whomever, was very awesome. </p><p><br /></p><p>The downloads thing has slowly been phased out as well, but all this is still possible today with web streaming. Last year, my royalty check from the distributor CD Baby was about the amount it cost for distributing the last album (which admittedly wasn’t one of my best), so I pretty much broke even (minus my sweat equity, instrument & home studio equipment upgrade costs over the years). </p><p><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Albums Available, Now What?</h3><p>So, now, fast forward to present day, and with a large and growing catalog of studio albums available, how can I make the next one make more money? If my next batch of songs gets more popular, it would also make the back catalog more popular, and then maybe I could reach some level of profitability someday soon. </p><p><br /></p><h4 style="text-align: left;">Free Record Industry Expert Advice On The Internet, That’s What</h4><p>At this point, one looks up advice about what an independent DIY solo artist with no money can do to make their music more well-known. </p><p><br /></p><h4 style="text-align: left;">Be Better</h4><p>They tell you – of course – first and foremost, write and practice more, have better songs, be a better player, singer. Again, voice or instrument lessons are not something I’m willing to pay for. I know I could get better at guitar if I shelled out for lessons, but there’s probably not much a vocal coach could do to help me improve. Just guessing, but I know I’m not naturally gifted. So, those are out. </p><p><br /></p><h4 style="text-align: left;">Pay For Someone Who Is Better – Session Players, Studio Pros</h4><p>The next thing would be to get better players to play on your records. I’m not going to pay session musicians to play on my albums because they cost money I don’t have, but also, it wouldn’t be me, and I wouldn’t be the DIY solo artist I am today. I love doing it all myself. The end results of my songwriting and recording are all me, like it or not, and I prefer it that way. Some artists just sing and dance, and have pros literally do everything else for them. Then the final thing would be to pay for studio time in a real professional recording studio with a pro engineer, maybe even a producer, and then also pay for pro mixing and mastering. Once again, these are out due to my nonexistent budget for such things, but also because I don’t have the desire. </p><p><br /></p><p>I truly love doing it all myself and enjoying the results that I know were the best I could do at the time. A part of my appeal is that I’m obviously not an expert in any of these things, with zero formal training in any of them, and yet somehow, I find a way to figure out how to do it all by myself anyway. I get a big kick out of that, knowing the finished product was all me without any outside assistance from anyone for any of it. </p><p><br /></p><h4 style="text-align: left;">Play Shows, Duh</h4><p>Getting that out the way, what else? If you don’t play live shows like me, that’s automatically ruled out as well. Experts always advise you to go out and ask venue owners to let you play, then play, then build a following that way – the old-school approach. Then you make enough to hire a manager to do the asking for you and get you more gigs, take it from there. The approach I take to a music “career” does not involve any of that. Not about “getting discovered” by a record label rep at a live performance venue at all. Recording artist only, no marketing budget – that’s me. I need my recorded music to get discovered more on streaming services. What now? What else can I figure out how to do on my own, that is free, and that I don’t mind doing? </p><p><br /></p><h4 style="text-align: left;">The Dreaded Self-Promotion Thing</h4><p>Now you’re talking about self-promotion, having a website, a blog, photos, videos, social media, branding, getting on playlists, getting people to write about you, etc. Creating a buzz, asking others to help create a buzz, paying others to create a buzz. I have so far refused to ever pay for anything, have refused to ever ask for anyone’s help, preferring the joy of knowing I did it all myself, and just hoping it somehow magically gets popular through word-of-mouth recommendation alone. This is obviously not the best strategy. </p><p><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">The Stuff Record Labels Do For Artists</h3><p>Marketing, promotion, advertising, publicity, creating buzz. This is what record labels do for music artists, but now that they let you in the record store without a label, you’re on your own to figure out the rest. It’s a blessing and a curse that cheap DIY distribution is possible. Great, your album is available for people to find and stream in Apple Music or Spotify, right there where you can find and stream Bob Dylan. Now what? You’ve got to do all these other things to get noticed. You ask Google what you could be doing, and the results from supposed experts all say the same stuff, and most of it requires a budget for such things. </p><p><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Focus On The Free Stuff – My Motto So Far</h3><p>Some marketing-related things they say solo recording artists should have or do I’ve found can be done yourself at no cost other than your own effort. I’ve tried some of it, but it doesn’t come naturally to try to get attention and sell yourself, for me anyway. This blog is free, for example, and my website was free for about 10 years, but now I pay a little bit, but it’s nominal. Making my own music videos I figured out how to do only because they say you should have some. They’re not professional, they don’t feature videos of me, but at least they do feature my studio songs, and I used free tools. I’m not into having a bunch of photos of myself, but there are a few, mostly because I don’t like my overweight, elderly appearance. I’ve never asked any tastemakers or music journalists to write about my music, probably because I’m scared of negative reviews, not so much because it would not attract new listeners, but mostly because of the anticipated ego bruise. It also seems like a Soup Nazi situation as far as the hassle goes for following the ultra-strict submission policies of these music bloggers. Asking friends to spread the word about how awesome my music is goes against my grain. I don’t have it in me. Asking for fans, plays, likes, follows, subscribes, shares, etc. is just weird. It’s hard enough for me to get up the courage to post a simple release announcement on social media when I have a new album available. There isn’t any free online music advertising I’m aware of, and I’m not willing to pay.</p><p><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Going Viral Sounds Great To Everyone</h3><p>There’s always a chance. You can’t win if you don’t play. The Great One said you miss 100% of the shots you don’t take and I agree. At least I’ve continuously taken my shots and put the music out there. You need a perfect storm of stuff happening for something to catch on. In my case, I’m in it for the long haul. It actually took years before I built up over a thousand annual streams for my “hit” Mackinac Island, so it was a slow-building appreciation for my most popular song. Nothing went viral. Just uploaded the music video for it a few years ago, even though I first released the song in 2006 I think. </p><p><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Long-Tail? Not So Fast</h3><p>I’m maybe more of a slowly-growing, back-catalog type of artist. There was this theory I read about a few years ago called The Long Tail – a concept that 80% of all digital music listened to would be from established artist’s existing back catalogs vs. new, current popular artists. This contributed to a bunch of speculation and investment in music publishing rights. We all read in recent years about famous artists selling their publishing rights for millions of dollars. The trend tapered off. Now they’re realizing most people listen to the hits of the day, and the hits of older artists, but not so much the “deep tracks” of any of them, after all. Not sure if any of it is true or not.</p><p><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Fan Engagement and Other Stuff They Say You Should Have</h3><p>So you have recorded songs, you tell a few people they exist for streaming, and that’s it. Then you wonder why they didn’t just start getting popular. Without anyone telling you how bad you are, you just keep doing it because it doesn’t cost much. A cheap, fun hobby you can do on your own. You hear music on the radio that is wildly popular and you don’t understand why. You think your own songs are better than theirs. What do they have that you don’t? Way better singing voices, better session musicians, better recording engineers, and a whole lot of marketing dollars. Supposedly their record labels do a lot for them. They also make their artists do a lot to get more popular. Getting in the public eye, having interactions with fans in person and online. Those types of activities they call “fan engagement” nowadays.</p><p><br /></p><h4 style="text-align: left;">What’s The Deal With Fan Engagement? Why Is It So Important?</h4><p><br /></p><p>There’s this theory that if you have a fan, and then make some sort of personal contact with that fan, they think it’s so awesome that they tell more people about you, and that gets you even more fans. Something like that, but I don’t really know.</p><p><br /></p><p>As a recording artist, I might be described as “emerging” or “developing” or “undiscovered,” although some people have discovered me. I had one song last year with more than 1,000 streams, the perennial favorite “Mackinac Island”. </p><p><br /></p><p>Otherwise, I don’t stand to make much money with my music being available for streaming, particularly the other 143 songs I’ve released on my 11 albums. There’s a ton of music out there. Too much probably. I would love to have more interest in my music, and there’s just so much competition for your attention.</p><p><br /></p><p>When I first heard there was a way to get my music in iTunes and on Amazon, and decided to try it out, I did have the thought that maybe there was a slight chance some of it would catch on. “Going viral” was a new thing at the time, and I thought to myself “you never know”. Now there are 100 billion new songs every day – I’m exaggerating, I know – but I was among the first to go for it.</p><p><br /></p><p>How to make yourself stand out – without record label support – is a gigantic challenge. “They” say “fan engagement” is crucial to getting more listeners. Reaching out, interacting somehow, exchanging messages with people I guess, letting them get involved somehow. It’s confusing. <b>I’m a fan of a lot of music and bands and solo artists, but I don’t have some yearning to connect with them in any way or become pen pals.</b></p><p><br /></p><p>I had a KISS poster on my wall when I was about 10 years old, but that was 1977. Otherwise, I’ve not ever been a merch purchaser, never wanted backstage passes, never been to any band convention, let alone join any mailing list or fan club. I subscribed to someone’s YouTube channel once, then got bombarded with stuff, and then quickly unsubscribed. Did I mention my channel is <a href="https://www.youtube.com/scottcooley">https://www.youtube.com/scottcooley</a>? Ha ha. Wink wink. So, I understand how the notifications you get from subscribing to anything can be annoying.</p><p><br /></p><p>I followed the Grateful Dead around for a few shows one summer while in college – 1986 I think – the memories are a bit foggy. To this day, I still love and listen to their studio albums Workingman’s Dead, American Beauty, Reckoning, and Almost Acoustic by the Jerry Garcia Acoustic Band is one of my top 3 favorite albums of all time. Yes, I’ve checked out some of the billions of live recordings that are out there, totally understand the appeal, but still like the studio albums more. The scene was fascinating, but not for me. I’m not a joiner by nature.</p><p><br /></p><p>So, you can tell I’m not fanatical about any musical act enough to go beyond enjoying their albums and attending a concert once in a great while. I’ve bought a concert t-shirt or two over the years, maybe a baseball hat, but I have a huge body and head, and their largest sizes never fit me. Nothing wrong with showing your favorites with pride, but I’m just not into it myself. I like a wide variety of different kinds of music. The point is I’ll never be a super fan of anyone, but I understand it. I’m not an engager, but I guess if you want to be with me, you can.</p><p><br /></p><p>I put together some potential “street team” resources on my website once a long time ago, because I read advice that it was something an “aspiring” artist should do. You can check it out if you want to here: <a href="https://www.scottcooley.com/volunteer">https://www.scottcooley.com/volunteer</a>. I’m not going to do much to turn any of you into super fans, and you’re probably like me: you just like the music part, and not all the other hoopla. </p><p><br /></p><p>You don’t hop on a bandwagon and become a cheerleader for your favorite band or solo artist. Realistically, you might tell some people you know that you’ve found and enjoyed some of my music, tell them it’s on all the streaming platforms, and that’s about it.</p><p><br /></p><p>It's not a situation where I play in your favorite local bar and you come to watch me play a lot, and you want to help me get famous because you’re 21 years old and having fun and drinking and are excited and passionate about it all. <i>My fans are older and less enthusiastic, I suspect</i>. People in general are less likely to volunteer now than back in the late 80s when I was that age. </p><p><br /></p><p>Gone are the days of needing to be discovered and signed by a record label to make your music available to people, but “breaking” yourself with zero budget is tough. You’d like to think the cream rises to the top naturally, but major labels have no doubt always manufactured successful artists through their machinery that might not have risen on their own.</p><p><br /></p><p>Why should you listen to my music? I don’t know. Wish I could entice you somehow. I’ve tried, but it feels wrong. I don’t even know how to describe what I do, but “<b>acoustic guitar</b>” needs to be in the description, “<b>quality songwriting</b>” should be in there, with “<b>amateur-quality performance and production</b>” thrown in. I’m being boastful about the songwriting, and honest about everything else, I guess. <b><i>You have to like that kind of thing. </i></b> </p><p><br /></p><p>You either like some of it, or you don’t. Chances are you won’t like all of it, if any. I’m in the latter stages of a music journey that has advanced slowly, but I think <i>it’s possible my best is yet to come</i>! According to my own definition, I consider what I’ve done so far to be successful. People who have interacted with me socially might think otherwise, but I’m not an outgoing person, and I have some humility. <i>In lieu of marketing, I blog about how great I am a few times per year</i>. Not the best strategy, I know, but it’s all I can do besides writing songs, recording songs, and making a few music videos.</p><p><br /></p><p>Constantly trying to figure out what to do to make it catch on with more people, and then constantly doing whatever those things are, is not something that appeals to me. I have a mild curiosity, but I’m not a pitch man, and I’m not out to constantly make contact with my existing fans to ask them to help me spread the word about my music.</p><p><br /></p><p>One could argue if anyone were going to be that passionate about my music, they would’ve shown it by now. If I were ever going to get popular, it would’ve happened already. He has not risen, indeed. Not the cream near the top, highly unlikely to ever rise much more.</p><p><br /></p><p>I’m embarrassed about marketing myself as a singer-songwriter. It’s uncomfortable putting on a salesman hat and telling people how great I am and finding publicity and attention to “get my name out there” more. I don’t try to cultivate an audience. I just make music, make it available, and hope people find it and like it.</p><p><br /></p><p>I’m glad when people do find it and like it, but even making people aware it exists is a challenge for me. <b>I have to muster up the courage to announce an album release</b>. I know I could and probably should be doing a lot more to get more fans, but I only like the creative part. As an indie artist, it’s all I have time for. You can’t be great at everything.</p><p><br /></p><p>I don’t like asking people to help promote my music. Asking them to tell their friends about it, etc. I assume that will just happen naturally. I don’t like bugging people, and fortunately, I’m not desperate for greater popularity, although I wouldn’t mind it. Aside from making the music, the only other way I like to offer information is via this blog. Feel free to comment, by the way, but know I probably won’t reply.</p><p><br /></p><p>I might have a few superfans out there, but none that I know of, and I like it that way. Not that I wouldn’t interact with them if they reached out, but it might be weird. <i>People with excessive or obsessive interest in a particular music artist scare me a little</i>.</p><p> </p><p>Audience engagement seems to be something that music industry experts advise artists to focus on, and they don’t get into specifics, so I struggle to understand it. Both what it is exactly, and why it's so important. I'm talking about music makers when I use the word artist here. I think "engagement" means the artist should communicate with fans in some way, and do it regularly. Presumably social media is involved, which I don't really get into.</p><p><br /></p><p>A part of that might be a meet-and-greet situation before/after shows, but I don't play shows. I'm available for shows, and might be willing to do a more intimate house concert that would offer in-person hand shaking and more banter between songs, but thus far have received no such requests. I haven't actively pursued live performance opportunities at all, like ever, but I have done a few before, and could and can do more. However, I prefer being a recording artist only.</p><p><br /></p><p>You can reach out to me directly via multiple options on my Contact page here any time: <a href="https://www.scottcooley.com/contact">https://www.scottcooley.com/contact</a>. I even have a group forum email list thing you can participate in if you want to here, although no one hardly ever does: <a href="https://www.scottcooley.com/mailing-list">https://www.scottcooley.com/mailing-list</a>. I have a facebook page here that I sign in to and check a couple times a year: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/scottcooley/">https://www.facebook.com/scottcooley/</a>, which seems to be best for my audience demographic. I have profiles on a lot of the other social media sites too, but don’t use them very often. </p><p><br /></p><p>I make available a bunch of ways fans can connect and interact with me and get involved and even participate, but no one hardly ever does any of the above. I wouldn't mind attracting more interest in my music, and I'm willing to communicate, offer the options, but no takers. I think my fans are like me, they just like the music and don't necessarily want to get to know me better somehow.</p><p><br /></p><p>Hardly anyone has ever signed up for my mailing list, for example. Another thing "they" tell you that you should have. I've had one for years, and even had newsletters ready to send, but people can just read my blog and my website and get the same information I would've sent them. My fans know that, probably. They're not the types who would want my autograph or anything, but maybe they'd like to hang out and have a drink sometime, and I could arrange that I suppose.</p><p><br /></p><p>As a music fan myself, even though I'm of a certain age, I discover several new artists per year. Sometimes they get recommended to me by friends, sometimes suggested by the streaming service, but mostly from me doing my own web surfing research. Likely, my fans are not the superfan types who would want to pay extra for some sort of VIP treatment from me, although, hey, I hereby announce it's available.</p><p><br /></p><p>One thing I could offer if any of you are of the VIP mindset about my music is that I have tons of original songs I've recorded and not released. They're previously weeded out and unreleased for good reasons, but if you want to pay to hear them, I'll send those over right away. I admit I've bought a few t-shirts at concerts before, but I'm not ever thinking I'd like to hang out with the band afterward.</p><p><br /></p><p>I guess I could put the Cherchez La Femme album cover art on a t-shirt and see if anyone would buy one. I drew it with pen on paper with my wife. It's my only album art that is actual art I created as opposed to a photograph, and I don't think it's very good art, but I could throw that on a shirt for you if you want one. Or, you can go ahead and just do it yourself, have it made, wear it with pride, you have my permission.</p><p><br /></p><p>For artists I really get into, I check out their websites, which are usually underwhelming, and then I check out their wikipedia pages. That's all I ever do, just find out a little bit more about them if I'm really curious. That's it. If I really like an artist a lot, I might buy a ticket to see them go play live once in a great while. </p><p><br /></p><p>I never subscribe or comment or follow or like or share or post or join fan clubs or mailing lists for new artists I like. Or existing artists I already like. None of that. Or artists who don't exist anymore that I like. I'm not the type of person to visit a dead musician's grave. I tell friends verbally when I see them about new artists I've discovered and liked, but otherwise, I don't ever want to talk about artists online or buy their merch or get exclusive stuff or pre-order anything. </p><p><br /></p><p>I'm not that kind of a music fan. Like all of us, I have my favorites. I love the Beatles and Led Zeppelin for example, but just their music. Mostly just their studio albums. I don't really care much about what kind of people they were/are. I like the Grateful Dead too, but again, not into the whole tape trading thing. Not ever going to collect memorabilia or go to fan conventions or anything.</p><p><br /></p><p>So, yeah, I like Neil Young's music too, and I've liked it since I bought Live Rust when it came out in the late 70s, but I don't want to send him a text or an email or whatever. I bought several of his albums, tapes, and CDs over the years, seen him in concert several times, but beyond that, I'm not out to interact with him in any way. I just like streaming his music.</p><p><br /></p><p>I guess I just like the recorded music, and don't need to engage with artists I like in any way. I've met a few celebrities in my life, and each time it was a combination of being a little bit excited and then a realization that they're just people too and not a whole lot different than anyone else. If I got introduced to Neil, although he seems like a cool guy to hang out with and all, I'm sure it would be the same. </p><p><br /></p><p>I watch videos on YouTube all the time - some music videos, some live performance videos, but mostly to learn things, and one of my biggest pet peeves is that a lot of them spend the first 5 minutes going on and on about asking you to subscribe and like and follow and share and all that. You want them to just get to the point. For a similar reason, most of the time I turn on my TV I'm watching Netflix because there are no commercials. So much better that way.</p><p><br /></p><p>I don't like being begged to buy stuff, or to "engage" in any way. I'm not sure if that makes me a passive type of music fan or not, because I'm a huge fan of certain artists, some of them from recent times, and not just the ones I liked in high school. I'm passionate about listening to their music, maybe reading a bit more about them online, and then I'm good. </p><p><br /></p><p>I don't need automatic notifications when they have something new. I find out about it eventually anyway when I get around to it. Sometimes a favorite artist came to do a concert nearby where I live and I find out about it after the fact, and I just think oh well, missed out on that one, no big deal.</p><p><br /></p><p>I can only imagine how it must be for the artists signed to record labels. They would constantly have people bugging them to engage, engage, engage with the fans. All the time. Never stop. Sending them messages constantly, checking inboxes constantly. I don't get it. </p><p><br /></p><p>Does it make people feel more special somehow if they make contact with a musician they like? I guess I can understand it a little. I imagine they become bigger fans as a result, and they tell their friends, and there's some potential exponential growth in the fanbase. It's not the kind of music fan I am.</p><p><br /></p><p>Your music listening preferences are often a personal, private thing. Whether when home alone, with headphones/earbuds on at work, alone in your car, etc., you probably spend more time enjoying music that way than you do with other people. You might enjoy certain bands or solo artists that you don’t necessarily want anyone else to know about. When people ask me what kind of music I like, the less I know them, the more I tend to go with a safe answer. We all have our guilty pleasures that we’re maybe hesitant to admit we like, knowing it can give people a certain impression.</p><p><br /></p><p>I appreciate all kinds of music, like a lot of you do. Everyone has surprises in their record collections (or playlists now). People know that when my high school friends were getting into Journey and Van Halen, I was leaning toward REM and Tom Petty. What they didn’t know was that I also liked John Denver. </p><p><br /></p><p>Now I’ll readily admit I’ve always loved the Carpenters, but it wasn’t cool back in the day. I still listen to them fairly regularly, but never around other people. I assume my Deadhead friends or Headbanger cousins are not going to get into it, if you know what I mean. So, yep, we have our secrets. I love more of the Beatles and Led Zeppelin catalogs than other bands, but have obscure favorite songs by lots of artists, whether they were famous or not.</p><p><br /></p><p>I’ve never loved music by one artist so much that it becomes a big part of my lifestyle. I’ve never wanted to get involved in any kind of scene. I guess I understand why people become superfans a little, but assume most people are like me and are fairly private about it. As a solo artist myself, I know recommendation is how I have fans, particularly since I don’t perform live shows. </p><p><br /></p><p>Replying to anyone who comments on my music or reaches out to me in some way sort of freaks me out a little, but I’ve done it. I’m not really out to converse with strangers, it just feels uncomfortable. I am sincerely thankful there is interest though, of course. The more popular someone is, the less feasible it is, and the more ridiculous it would be. You can’t send a thank you note to everyone who likes your song or your post or whatever.</p><p><br /></p><p>If you are one of those people who like my songs and want to let me know about it, you can. Some of you have before, some of you will again. Know that I appreciate it, even though I haven’t sent you a personal reply. </p><p><br /></p><p>We all have limited free time. As a DIY solo artist, mine is best spent writing and recording more songs for you to enjoy, which I’m sure you understand. I’m not a natural engager. I am a loner, an introvert, someone who really has to psych myself up for going to social functions. I used to be a frequent “partier” and my inhibitions were eased by alcohol, but I don’t drink anymore, so those situations are no longer my cup of tea. When forced, I drink tea. Non-Long-Island.</p><p><br /></p><p>I always appreciate the listener support. I’m not much of a public thanker or acknowledger either, and am not into social media much at all, so I hope you understand why, but I hereby thank you all and promise to keep at it so there’s more music for you to listen to in the future.</p><p><br /></p><p>This blog is how I engage, I guess. They said I should have one, and turns out, I like blogging about myself and my hobby several times per year. It’s how I keep readers updated on what I’ve been up to and what I think about being a solo artist. I’d like more of a following, but guess I’m not willing to do a whole lot to get it. I’m somewhat of a slacker. It’s the ski bum mentality I haven’t been able to shake since my wild and crazy youth. </p><p><br /></p><p>In a good way, that’s probably reflected in my music and my alter ego as a singer-songwriter. I work hard at the day job to pay the bills, but in my hard-earned free time, I just want to do what I enjoy, like we all do. I wouldn’t even call this a side hustle really. It’s good I haven’t pursued music as a way to earn a living. I’m doing it with no pressure…but limited time (or desire) to self-promote or advertise or do any more of the dreaded “engaging” they say I should do.</p><p><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Other Stuff They Say You Should Have</h3><p><br /></p><p>As many of you already know, I am just one of millions of other people in the world who like to write and record and release songs. Most of us are men, I’ve recently learned. The music world needs more women! A lot of currently-popular mainstream artists did in fact go the DIY route to start, but then got “discovered” and subsequently “broken” by the big-budget marketing machines of record labels that picked them up after they gained some traction on their own. This is what I’m trying to do. Gain traction on my own.</p><p><br /></p><p>The past 20 years happen to have been a really great time for someone with this hobby (man or woman) because it's relatively inexpensive to get started, record at home and then distribute to streaming services. Especially great luck for someone like me who would never have had a chance to have my music alongside the superstars before this all became possible. I do not have their level of talent or skill, but I’ve been allowed to have my creations alongside theirs.</p><p><br /></p><p>You put your music out there next to Elvis, Bob Dylan, The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Madonna, etc. and obviously don't expect much, but you wish it would at least get a little more popular over time. You wonder what else you could do to help things along, and predict it will be overwhelming hard work that doesn't sound like much fun. </p><p><br /></p><p>So, despite your fears, you Google advice on what else you need. I’ve made small attempts to “have” some version of most of the other things they say might help the fanbase grow, but I can only handle so much. The "experts" say you should have things like these: </p><p><br /></p><h4>Photos</h4><p>Big ones. Hi-res. People want to see what you look like. I don't like how I look. Embarassed about my appearance, I've let myself go. If I can admit that in a blog, why not show the proof and own it? Can't bring myself to go there. Like the non-famous actors in movies who won't ever be stars, they are necessary. I'd like to think of myself that way a little bit, only as a music person. We all want to represent ourselves in the most favorable light, but photoshopping and touch-ups are not going to help me much. I want people to enjoy the music and that's it. Unfortunately, I know the experts say you have to have an Instagram account and post pictures of yourself constantly. Not for me.</p><p><br /></p><h4 style="text-align: left;">Merch</h4><p>I’ve done a whole blog post about my dislike of the word ‘merchandise’ being abbreviated like this, but other than that, I understand the appeal. You want to show off to passersby who your favorite musical act is, whether via a bumper sticker, shirt, hat, button, patch, whatever. All those can be cool. You have to be famous though. You need some measure of celebrity I would think before you have those t-shirts or coffee mugs with your name on them made up. </p><p><br /></p><p>I know that if you have the up-front money for it, which I don’t, you can upload pictures of yourself to these online services and design the items on there, then you can sign up for Shopify or some similar place to sell stuff, even use it as a page on your own website. I could pull it off if I had the photos of myself I liked to begin with, the money to begin with, and the belief I would sell any in the first place. I currently have none of these.</p><p><br /></p><h4 style="text-align: left;">Playlist Adds</h4><p>As far as I knew a few years ago, my music hadn't been added to any people's playlists at all, except my own. Now, I guess I’m included in some, according to the streaming service dashboard stats some make available. There are whole branches of music marketing focused on how to get these, but you have to either pay for them, or reach out and pitch yourself. I won’t be doing either. Let the people add who they want, if it’s me, great.</p><p><br /></p><h4 style="text-align: left;">TikTok</h4><p>One somewhat related cool thing I recently discovered is that people have used my songs in their TikTok videos. Like 20 people or something, so I doubt that will be financially lucrative in any way, but maybe the exposure will help? Somehow somewhere I opted in to some license thing to make my songs available to add to their short videos. I have a TikTok account, and got a notification that I qualified for long-form music videos, but the software doesn't work - I tried unsuccessfully to upload my music videos there and the videos are there, yet the sound won't play. I then made a video demonstrating my frustrating experience and uploaded that <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@scottcooleymusic/">https://www.tiktok.com/@scottcooleymusic/</a>video/7258730171031719211, which didn’t accomplish anything.</p><p><br /></p><h4 style="text-align: left;">Press Coverage</h4><p>I haven't had any press coverage whatsoever. I not only don't pay for these, but I don't do anything at all to seek them out. I guess I could look up how to type some perfectly worded email to music review bloggers to let them know about my new album releases, but it's like ordering soup from the Soup Nazi on Seinfeld - if you do one little thing wrong, they're easily offended and weed you out so I've heard. They'd probably weed me out anyway. I'm sure they get gazillions every day. </p><p><br /></p><p>Yeah, and the other thing is - I'm a non-performing solo artist - no shows, gigs, tours, etc. ever except the occasional family/friends get-together, so I'm intentionally out of the public eye in that regard. Songwriter/recording artist only. This fact wouldn't help bloggers decide to write about my music I suspect. The other thing is, honestly, I'm sensitive, and don't really want to know what people think of my music unless it's all 100% positive compliments of course. I'm not into criticism. I can dish it out, but can't take it.</p><p><br /></p><h4 style="text-align: left;">Website & Blog</h4><p>I update stuff on my website a couple times a year, and I average about 1 blog post every two months. I can see that I have visitors to my website every year, from many places (mostly Michigan), and I see that way more people read my blog posts than I ever imagined, like sometimes over 100 readers for a single post. I have no idea who they are, but it's cool.</p><p><br /></p><h4 style="text-align: left;">Mailing List</h4><p>As aforementioned, literally no one ever signs up for my Email List at all. If people would sign up for it, I would send them awesome emails with updates about my songwriting and recording a couple times a year, and it would be similar to what I post on my blog anyway. Here that is again: <a href="https://groups.google.com/g/scottcooley">https://groups.google.com/g/scottcooley</a>. </p><p><br /></p><h4 style="text-align: left;">The Dreaded Social Media</h4><p>It can be exciting. I get it. I posted a “short” video my friend took of me skiing moguls once to the YouTube Shorts area of my channel (which I think is here: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@scottcooley/shorts">https://www.youtube.com/@scottcooley/shorts</a> ), and it immediately got thousands of views – way more than any of my full song music videos. I know that’s the rush of TikTok too. The virality potential is there and enticing.</p><p><br /></p><p>I'm on Facebook, but my actual family and friends are on there, and I've friended them, and I'm embarrassed to ever post anything promotional about myself. Plus, my mom will scrutinize anything I post, whether its about my music or not, so I avoid it by not ever using Facebook. I log in every couple years and thank people for wishing me a happy birthday and that's about it. </p><p><br /></p><p>Sometimes people tell me someone else posted some old childhood photo of me or something on my feed or whatever and tell me I should log in and check it out, so I do, but that's only a couple times a year. I'd say for the last 10 years or so, I sign in about 3 times/year on average and rarely post anything myself. I used Twitter for a while, sharing my blog posts on there, but that Elon Musk guy really made it way worse in many ways, so I rarely use it anymore. </p><p><br /></p><p>I don’t have money to pay someone to manage my socials, but I’m aware there are such services. Must be nice for the famous artists to not have to deal with any of that. For now, I’m on my own to announce stuff on Facebook or Twitter, tell you about my new album or whatever.</p><p><br /></p><p>Feel free to follow me on either of those, or any others I might have a profile on that I've forgotten about. It can only improve your reputation, I assure you. I've checked out most of the socials, and don't really like any of them, especially the ones that are all about photos or dance videos. I don’t like how I look, and I can’t dance, so Instagram and TikTok are out. I guess my Blogger is social media, and so is my YouTube channel, and I do like those.</p><p><br /></p><h4 style="text-align: left;">Music Videos</h4><p>Speaking of YouTube, over the last few years I decided to create and upload music videos that feature my studio recordings of my songs mixed with lyrics, photos, and free video footage. I don't like the way I look, so there's no lip-synching. I'm not a dancer either. They've had a few hundred plays or streams, so maybe that has helped awareness a little. I try to get people to subscribe, but I only have about 30 at last count. </p><p><br /></p><p>What's a little disturbing is that it seems like every time I post new music videos on there, someone un-subscribes and the count goes down, which is also hilarious. I've subscribed to both mailing lists and youtube channels before, and know the overwhelming feeling when people bombard you, so understand wanting to bail out. But I assure you, I only post about 3 new videos per year on average. Here's that subscription link again, just in case: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/scottcooley?sub_confirmation=1">https://www.youtube.com/scottcooley?sub_confirmation=1</a>. </p><p><br /></p><h4 style="text-align: left;">A Backstory</h4><p>If you read my last post before this one, you know I’ve tried, exhaustingly. I like a lot of artists’ music, but I don’t want to know a lot of personal details about their lives. I just like listening to their songs, and that’s good enough for me, but a lot of people need the background info to really get into an artist. They say you should offer up some intimate details about your life, and that will make people become more of a fan.</p><p><br /></p><p>My story isn't that interesting. For example, I don't have a beard, I don't write an album in some remote cabin up north while snowed in for a whole winter, I don't write a song of anger about rich men in some county in my state, etc. I am fed up with things in the world, but don't like to get political or controversial in my songs (or in my blog) with the hope of going viral. </p><p><br /></p><p>There are a lot of ways you could spin my story, but none would appeal to a pro marketer. I'm a late bloomer, I'm a slacker, I have a ski bum mentality, I grew up a lawyer's son and country club kid, yet haven't come anywhere close to the standard of living my parents afforded me as an adult on my own. I've hung around lots of trust fund kids in my life, but I'm not one of them myself. </p><p><br /></p><p>If you really want to know more about me, I’ve provided a ton of information on my website and in these blog posts. Everyone’s favorite topic being themselves, of course. I don’t mind revealing details, even things most people do not know about me.</p><p><br /></p><p>For example, my parents' generation had a now-archaic way of describing someone like me who lacks ambition as a "ne'er-do-well" and relatively, I probably am one in a conventional sense. I didn't get sober until age 50 with the help of a 12-step program. I'm obese, I'm old, I'm poor. My teeth are way more yellow in recent years, and my hair is almost all grey. I'm average in many ways. I haven't saved for retirement and I have trouble holding down a job for very long because I get frustrated and quit a lot. I've never found a job I liked, have never known what I wanted to be when I grow up, but now I'm on the brink of senior citizen age. There, I admitted stuff most people don’t know about me.</p><p><br /></p><p>What else? I like skiing and tennis and sailing, but can't afford to do any of them very often. I don’t play live, don’t use real recording studios, don’t get pros to help me, and am opposed to getting my picture taken. A marketer's dream, I know. There's a lot to everyone's backstory, but how to spin that in a way that makes people want to stream your music? No clue. I know how to ride a unicycle though, and here's proof:</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhSNABQk5iMFxZL7dOfzLCpDmqqrjgZK4krSyOCwdnBJ8O2GsMr1aXUMOSbd_j-62P9wuLIuURfDCU79rzd6Ldm4iH54np578QGpgIY1vU_iS5hfmkFVhN9-t6Vqg03oMsng8u4GtpkJTQLDjk_CorfI7SPifMmLqpu857xetQ76ob8aqEO4wqKXpfR8tw" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="3840" data-original-width="5760" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhSNABQk5iMFxZL7dOfzLCpDmqqrjgZK4krSyOCwdnBJ8O2GsMr1aXUMOSbd_j-62P9wuLIuURfDCU79rzd6Ldm4iH54np578QGpgIY1vU_iS5hfmkFVhN9-t6Vqg03oMsng8u4GtpkJTQLDjk_CorfI7SPifMmLqpu857xetQ76ob8aqEO4wqKXpfR8tw=w640-h426" width="640" /></a></div><p><br /></p><p>The self-taught thing started early for me. Get the unicycle first, then teach yourself how to ride it. Get the instrument first, then teach yourself how to play it, get the recording equipment, figure it out on your own. Nerd glasses, cowboy hat, cutoff jorts, high-calf gym socks w/ stripes, riding around your neighborhood, smiling, waving at you. What would you think of this kid riding down your street?</p><p><br /></p><h4 style="text-align: left;">Mainstream Commercial Appeal or Being Radio-Friendly</h4><p>Nope, none of those. Never had them, never will. I intentionally leave in minor mistakes in my released songs, I have no idea what I'm doing with the arranging/producing/recording/mixing/mastering, let alone the instrument playing or singing. I'm completely self-taught in all of it, with no formal training in any of it, and you can tell. I don't use auto-tune or quantization or other digital perfection trickery. I don't even use reverb very often. </p><p><br /></p><p>I have a somewhat clean analog sound using real acoustic instruments played into microphones, and no one tells me what to do, and I like it that way. I don't follow trends, I don't copy popular artists, I don't even listen to the radio except NPR once in a while. It's far from major-label, far from perfect, far from what's popular today, and that's all good.</p><p><br /></p><h4 style="text-align: left;">Synch Placements</h4><p>That's why you'll never hear any of my songs in a movie or tv show. Maybe if some other artist does a cover, but not mine. They want pristine quality for those synch licenses, and my music is nowhere close. I do, however, have a page for that: <a href="https://www.scottcooley.com/licensing">https://www.scottcooley.com/licensing</a> on which you can access a handy form to request a license to place my songs. Just in case, you never know. Someone might want intentionally imperfect sloppy lo-fi amateurish music for their project.</p><p><br /></p><p>I'll be a home recording guy for life I suspect, so the sound quality, the production quality isn’t what you hear in the background of shows and movies. I do everything myself, and have never paid for studio time or hired anyone or collaborated with anyone. Unless someone out there just gives me money that is...here's my paypal for your donation by the way (thanks in advance): <a href="https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/scottrichardcooley">https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/scottrichardcooley</a></p><p><br /></p><h4 style="text-align: left;">Streaming Stats</h4><p>I'm not an artist with any “trajectory,” but my streaming stats keep going up a little bit every time I check them over the last few years. I'm talking in the hundreds of streams, not thousands or millions, across platforms. That's my reality: there are some streaming stats, not many, but I'm not going to buy them -to look more popular-in order to get even more popular. </p><p><br /></p><p>I want it to be real, not purchased popularity. Supposedly there are a few people who get enough streams and follows and likes and subscribes, etc. to grab the attention of record company people who then sign them. You’ve heard of the now-famous Soundcloud rappers who started that way, and like The Accidentals or Prince, some that go the opposite way and ditch the labels and go DIY independent again.</p><p><br /></p><h4 style="text-align: left;">A Fanbase</h4><p>I'm not building my fanbase in any way that I'm aware of, and I'm not doing anything toward such a goal. It is a goal, but I just hang out hoping for word-of-mouth recommendation, I guess. I don't play live, don't advertise, don't market, don't publicize, don't promote my music in any way. I should, but I don't like doing any of that kind of stuff. Doesn't sound fun at all, so I just don't do it. If people want to find out about me, I have a website and a blog, and that's about it.</p><p><br /></p><h4 style="text-align: left;">Being “Emerging” or On The Verge</h4><p>What does it mean? Related to what? I'm not on the verge of anything. I'm a <b>late bloomer</b> in many ways in my life, getting my first "conventional" day job in my early 30s, getting married and buying my first house in my late 30s, starting my music "career" by not releasing albums publicly until my late 30s (mainly because it wasn't possible yet), not seeing an uptick in my streaming stats until my late 50s when most artist's careers are long over or winding down. </p><p><br /></p><p>I notice I'm improving in little ways as an artist over a long period of time all on my own without anyone's help except reading advice online and my own trial and error. We're talking fractions of pennies per year coming in now, which at this rate won't come anywhere close to offsetting the cost of the equipment or Martin guitar I love but probably don't deserve, so no industry pro would confuse "uptick" at my levels with "emerging".</p><p><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Is There Room For Me? Why Not Giving Up Has Served Me Well</h3><p>There's not room. Whatever the numbers are is staggering - something like 200 million new songs per week on Spotify - that may be an exaggeration. I'm not in a great position to compete for listener attention. The major labels are certainly trying to figure out how to reinstate gatekeepers in the music business to push average joes like me back out as we speak. </p><p><br /></p><p>I'm living proof that not giving up is an awesome thing though - not for the public necessarily - but for me. I've gotten so much enjoyment and satisfaction out of writing and recording songs for a few decades now. I've got a few I'm quite proud of, and a large catalog of original music. It was worth buying a bass and drums I didn't need or know how to play, the audio interface(s) - I'm on my 3rd one now, the DAW software, etc. </p><p><br /></p><p>The nominal CDBaby distribution costs have been worth it just to know that my music CAN be discovered on Apple Music, Spotify,etc. and listened to and potentially enjoyed by other people in the world. It's awesome to know that some people have, but at the same time it can be very discouraging, and let's face it: I have no business in the music business, but things changed and I'm sort of in it now, and there are people out there who do like to actually stream my music. </p><p><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">My Take on Converting From Outsider to Insider</h3><p>There’s this guy named Ari Herstand out there who now gives advice about how to navigate this "new" music business I've been talking about if you’re not someone likely to be discovered and broken by a label. I’ve read and even followed some of it, and I think he’s a good communicator and offers good content. I suspect he started like me as an early user of the “get-your-songs-in-iTunes” aggregator music distribution services. </p><p><br /></p><p>My first impression of him was, who is this guy complaining about his frustrations with becoming successful in the music business as an artist by ripping into these services that “let him in”? Their relaxed gatekeeping made it possible for me and millions of others to participate in the real music marketplace. I’m not saying he’s necessarily one of them who would not have been discovered and signed to a major label in a traditional way, but we are all lucky the Average Joes of the world have been permitted to make our music available in the places where everyone gets their music. </p><p><br /></p><p>Now the labels are establishing ways to keep us out again. If you’re fairly young like him, you maybe realize you’re not that awesome to begin with and pivot to carve out a music-adjacent career for yourself as he has. I’m too old for that now, but he’s done it. He’s one of the “theys” now, an insider expert giving advice and attracting advertisers. I'm sure he's a great and deserving artist too, and I admit I haven't heard his music, but he's made a nice career in the music business for himself and helped many others, including me.</p><p><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Wrapping Things Up</h3><p>I've said to myself and others way too many times that I know I suck at pretty much every aspect of being a solo artist, but some sort of inner passion made me not want to give up yet. I’m completely self-taught in every aspect, and I keep learning and make little improvements here and there I can notice. Arguably and slowly, I’m sucking less. Hopefully, but we all know our favorite artists had some dud albums, and maybe their careers faded on bad notes.</p><p><br /></p><p>Overall, it’s been extremely rewarding to have a creative outlet in my life. It was fun to write my first songs in the early 90s, get my first 4-track cassette recorder, use my first DAW, burn my first CDs of my own recordings, distribute my first album to iTunes, create my first website, post my first blog, upload my first music video to YouTube, etc.. </p><p><br /></p><p>When I first started teaching myself to play guitar in the late 80s, pre-world-wide-web, none of this was even fathomable. Super exciting that all this became possible for someone with my hobby when it did. My engagement with you is this blog, my website, an album announcement every couple years on social media, and a few videos on Youtube. </p><p><br /></p><p>If I don’t die between now and then, you can expect at least a couple more albums out of me. The recording myself part has also become a part of the hobby in addition to the songwriting. All the other stuff – what little of it I do – is done somewhat begrudgingly. The stuff record companies with budgets do to break their artists and turn a profit…young artists with real talent, formal training, great voices, good looks, etc. – in other words, not artists like me.</p><p><br /></p><p>The bottom line is it's been a fun thing to do. I’d like to say I’ve done all I can (without spending any money), but I’ve done all I wanted to toward gaining an audience. All I was comfortable with anyway. I can, and might, do more in the future with self-promotion. I doubt I’ll ever sink any money into it though. They way I’ve gone about it, it’s been slow to catch on with the masses, and I’m a “niche” artist at best so far. </p><p><br /></p><p>Like I’ve said before, for a person who likes writing songs as a hobby, the world changed to allow someone like me to also become somewhat of a real recording artist too. I had my hobby at the right time to do such a thing. If I’d been born in 1957 instead of 1967, it may not have happened. As I’ve mention previously, I’m a late bloomer when it comes to making music. Whether I ever made any money at it or not, I was going to do it anyway, so I might as well keep putting it out there while I can.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p> </p>Scott Cooleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11992512474971171166noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4322553151785625714.post-9677162205582345672024-02-11T12:30:00.000-05:002024-02-11T12:30:30.307-05:00Knowing Thy Self: Acoustic Garage Rock and Describing the Scott Cooley Signature Sound<p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Presumably, as a reader of this blog, you have an interest in me and my music, and…you don’t mind long reads. Here’s another long-form post in which I attempt to describe my music, both so you’ll have a better understanding, and for me to use for future marketing purposes, should I ever choose to do such a thing. </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Aside from writing and recording better songs, it’s the one thing I could be doing to reach a wider audience. Marketing. How would you market me? How would you describe my music? Who would you compare me to? Seriously, I'd like to know. Are you a good summarizer or synthesizer of words? The intimidating sea of text that follows (sorry no graphics) should serve as starter content. Until someone volunteers to help, I'm on my own.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">I have no idea what kind of music I make. I need someone else to explain it to me because I’m clueless. Every time I’ve tried to explain it, it doesn’t sound very interesting at all. Unfortunately, I don’t do myself any favors, and the more I try, the worse it sounds. As a music fan, if I heard another artist described to me the way I describe myself, I would not want to check it out. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Since I like making music, and since I’d like it if more people listened to it, it’s helpful to be able to tell potential listeners something more than “I don’t know what I sound like.” Most people don’t believe you if you say that. They think “how can you write songs and record them and not be able to say what type of music it is?” I really, honestly don’t know though.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">You can describe your music in excruciating detail, but if no one reads that detail, it won’t amount to much unless it’s used for marketing, advertising, promotion, publicity, etc. I don’t pay for any of those, but maybe covering it here will win me a few more listeners. I don’t play public shows, so I’m never out to sell tickets or pack bars to get cover charge cash. I only release albums and hope to attract fans, without actually doing anything to try to attract them. Describing who and what you sound like is must-have information to get started with if you’re ever going to attempt such a thing. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Like most creative people, I like the creative part, not the salesmanship part. I don’t like to talk about myself much (other than in this blog, obviously, which is all about me and my creative hobby of writing and recording songs). I’ve attempted descriptions elsewhere, such as on these other pages of my website (that hardly anyone know about, let alone visit): <a href="https://www.scottcooley.com/music/about"><span class="s2" style="color: #0b4cb4; font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">https://www.scottcooley.com/music/about</span></a>, and <a href="https://www.scottcooley.com/music/about/genres"><span class="s2" style="color: #0b4cb4; font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">https://www.scottcooley.com/music/about/genres</span></a>. I guess it might be worth a try here on the blog too, so here goes…</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">First of all, I realize hardly anyone has the time or patience for reading this kind of information, so the TooLongDidn’tRead (TLDR) summary attempt is these three words: acoustic garage rock.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">I will explain how I arrived at that. There’s a lot more to my signature sound than that, of course, so if you’d like to hear about it, read on.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">One of the first questions people have upon learning you have music available to listen to is “who do you sound like?” So, I’ll get that out of the way first. Few people have ever volunteered this type of information to me. All of us artists think we’re unique and don’t really want to sound like other artists necessarily. In this era of web music streaming, the algorithms automagically compare artists with others. I suspect machines vs. humans come up with these “you may also like…” suggestions that they “learn” somehow. As an artist, I’m sometimes flattered, sometimes surprised, sometimes confused by these. Some I sort of agree with, most I’ve never even heard of. Mostly I suspect they just lump a bunch of the unknown amateurs using aggregator distribution services together.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Disclaimer: I don’t claim I sound like anything like any of these famous artists! Here’s a list of who some of the major web music streaming services have compared me to over the years (that I’ve actually heard of before):</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Adrienne Lenker, Alex Chilton, Alex G, America, Beck, Ben Harper, Billy Bragg, Black Keys, Bob Dylan, Bonnie “Prince” Billy, Bruce Springsteen, Conor Oberst, CSN, Dan Hall, Daniel Johnston, Dave Rawlings, Elliott Smith, Gogol Bordello, Gordon Lightfoot, Great Lake Swimmers, Head And The Heart, J.J. Cale, Jack Johnson, Jack White, James Taylor, Jay Farrar, Jeff Tweedy, Jimmy Buffett, Joel Mabus, John Denver, John Hiatt, John Mellencamp, Jonathan Richman, Justin Townes Earle, Kacey Musgraves, Lana Del Rey, Lord Huron, Mac DeMarco, Mary Lou Lord, Mumford and Sons, My Morning Jacket, Neil Young, Nick Drake, Old Crow Medicine Show, Paul Simon, Pedro the Lion, R. Stevie Moore, Robyn Hitchcock, Ryan Adams, Samantha Crain, Shane Macgowan, Steve Earle, Steve Forbert, Sublime, Tenacious D, The Felice Brothers, The Lumineers, The Mountain Goats, The Pogues, They Might Be Giants, Tim Hardin, Tom Waits, Ty Segall, Vic Chestnutt, Violent Femmes, Ween, Weezer, Wilco, Will Oldham, and Zac Brown. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Most make no sense at all, not even close, I know.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">The next most likely question to be asked is “what do you sound like?,” and the expected answer needs to include genres and/or styles (micro’s & subs, hyphenates therein) that people might be familiar with, such as: contemporary folk, DIY, folk-blues, heartland-rock, indie-folk, indie-rock, jangle pop, lo-fi, outsider, roots-rock, singer-songwriter, slowcore, and/or soft rock to name but a few. There are hundreds of these, thousands probably.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">My music has also frequently been labelled as Americana, and I worry that people who hear that label will be misled and get the wrong impression. It does have some elements of roots music, it is American, it does include some aspects of rock, country, folk, blues, and soul. It does use acoustic instruments. I don’t have a southern twang accent, I’m not from the South, don’t use a banjo or fiddle, and I don’t consider my music to be “alt country” which sometimes gets used interchangeably with Americana.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">If you ever tell people you write, record and release songs, inevitably the next question is “what kind of music is it?” and then it’s always surprising to them that you struggle to explain it. If you say you mainly use an acoustic guitar, they immediately think “folk,” so maybe you clarify that it’s more like the “singer-songwriter” stuff from the 70s that came after folk, which is getting warmer, but then they’ll say something like “oh, you mean like James Taylor?” to which you reply “I wish,” or “similar but nowhere close to being that good.” You might say it’s way less sophisticated and polished than James. Now they really can’t wait to check it out. Yeah, right. As if.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">More people than you might think can somewhat relate if they’ve ever played a little guitar themselves, or at least hung around people who had one in their house and picked it up and strummed a cover from time to time. Even more who’ve been to an open mic night – the non-poetry, non-comedy kind that is. You can tell them to imagine if those amateur open mic’ers they’ve seen before at the bar or coffee place put out their own album of songs they’d written.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">A better way to explain the sound might be this: <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">If you’ve ever enjoyed aggressively strumming 3-chord songs like “Louie Louie” or “Wild Thing” on an acoustic guitar, that’s a beginning. If you then have another acoustic guitar playing some lead guitar accompaniment, that’s getting closer. Write your own songs like those, add some bass and drums, and you’re on your way. Record those yourself, distribute them online, and you’re an acoustic garage rock artist like me. Especially if you never took lessons and are self-taught in all of the above.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">In these ways, I’m an “everyman” artist, but in others, I’m unique in that I’m influenced by the genre of music known as garage rock, yet don’t use an electric guitar or a fuzzbox. Unlike the punk rock that came after garage, I enjoy having instrumental breaks with guitar solos, think love/relationship subject matter should be allowed, don’t get too political, don’t use effects, and don’t play super-fast.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">So, what is my definitive style then, and who am I as an artist?</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">If you’ve heard some of my music, you can tell that I use an acoustic guitar as the primary instrument. I get categorized and classified as a folk artist because of this, but you’ll hear a lot of different styles. Some tags you may find associated with me as an artist are singer-songwriter, blues, garage rock, Americana, and roots rock too. You can look up definitions of various genres and see I’m not an easy fit.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">As a music fan myself, you’d be surprised to know I was raised on the classic rock and hard rock of the 70s and 80s. Although I love listening to that type of music, I realize the music I myself produce does not really sound like that at all. Like a lot of people, as I got older, I expanded my musical tastes. Sometimes the music you enjoy yourself is far from what you sound like when you express yourself through music, and that is the case with me.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">So, judging me from just a couple of songs won’t give you an idea of the variety in my catalog. My music has an old-time quality to it, and it’s by accident. Diving deeper, you’ll hear subtle hints of blues, rhythm & blues, bluegrass, zydeco, cajun, calypso, Hawaiian, mento, sea shanty, soft rock, Motown, soul, funk, norteno, reggae, and traditional jazz to name a few. A lot of ballads and love/relationship songs. I don’t really pay attention to what types of songs they will be when writing and recording them.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Look up the difference between genres of music and styles of music, and you'll find a whole lot of confusing results. Definitions and opinions overlap, including the fact that they are somewhat interchangeable. The former is more of a broad category, the latter is a more specific expression...maybe. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">As vague or ambiguous as they may be, they are necessary in describing music and explaining what a musical artist sounds like. Without getting too technical and academic about traditions, conventions, forms, elements, rules, techniques, characteristics, etc., you throw out a few descriptive words and similar artists, and a lot of people will get enough of an understanding of an artist. A lot of artists stay in a particular lane for their whole careers, while others have more variety. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">I probably have variety, but at the same time, I probably have a signature sound. How to describe it is always a challenge, but people always want to know, and artists have to self-describe to some degree when releasing. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Popular? My music at a very broad level is "popular" as opposed to art or religious, for example (although no one would argue it has achieved much popularity, and some might put me in the equally broad "folk" category). <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Rock? Drilling down from there, "rock" comes to mind first as opposed to other kinds of popular music like country, electronic, funk, hip hop, soul, jazz, punk, metal, reggae, etc. (although it doesn't use the primary instrument of rock - the electric guitar). <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Acoustic? Filtering further, answering the question of what kind of rock leads me to add the word "acoustic" (although it uses bass & drums which is less common in acoustic music). <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Garage? Going even deeper, I would also add the word "garage" to indicate a few things - guitar solos, love/relationship subject matter, the lack of formal training and technical skill. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">At that same level, I might also throw in "singer-songwriter" (even though I'm more of a songwriter than a singer), and then to clarify even further, I would also say "do-it-yourself" (DIY), and "independent" or more simply "indie" (although I'm not signed to an independent label). Another unique thing I would think about adding is "non-performing" (although I can and sometimes do play shows in front of audiences, I'm primarily just a recording artist). <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">I also like to throw in "self-taught" (although this arguably goes without saying), and also “lo-fi” in terms of intentionally going for a low-fidelity analog production quality. Revisiting the top broad category, if I'm more popular than folk, it's more like rock-folk (rock played on acoustic guitar with bass and drums) than folk-rock (folk played on electric guitar with bass and drums), and further, that I'm more like contemporary folk or indie folk than traditional folk in that I do originals vs. old covers (although I have released a couple traditional/public domain songs I’ve “arranged”). <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Narrowing it down, I’m left with: <b>Rock/acoustic/garage/singer-songwriter/DIY/indie/lo-fi</b></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">There, after all that, how would I sum it up yet still keep it short? Acoustic Garage Rock.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">I’ve self-applied “acoustic garage rock” to describe my music, which no one else has done that I’m aware of. It may not make much sense to you, but sometimes there’s a man whose music fits right in there for his time and place. Talking about myself here. In sharp contrast to the manufactured mainstream major-label popular music of the day that is all about digitized electronic perfection and dance videos, there are a surprising amount of indie, amateur acoustic hackers who cannot sing well who self-release original music for web streaming, a lot of them older white males like me. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">The antithesis of the pro vocalists in pro studios with pro producers, engineers, and session musicians using virtual instruments, quantization and autotune recording songs written by multiple pro songwriters, one guy doing it all alone in a homegrown style, and none of it very well, with no dancing, is to some people a welcome change from what is marketed on TV and radio for the masses by major labels. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">From my humble home “studio” near Flint, Michigan I write and record music in a most-certainly lazy and sloppy way primarily using an acoustic guitar, and it may be just the thing for the early 2020s. None of it is musically complex in any way, and like the garage rock musicians of the past, I’ve had no formal training at all.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Unlike folk, I don’t do a lot of complex finger-picking, and don’t have super serious subject matter, but I do include drums. Folkies of the late 60s likely despised fun, catchy pop/rock songs by fake TV show bands like Sugar Sugar by the Archies or I’m A Believer by The Monkees, but bubblegum pop is alright with me. Although these were once considered disposable, they have stood the test of time and are now arguably borderline classics compared with the majority of major label crap that is popular today, which I consider way more disposable.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">The ”garage” word makes the least sense, but I can elaborate. My music, while not recorded in an actual garage, has a lot in common with the following aspects of the garage rock style that started in the 60s and lives on through today:</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -24px;"><span class="s3" style="font-family: Symbol; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">·</span><span class="s4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 9.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">rehearsing and recording in garages: <i>no</i></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -24px;"><span class="s3" style="font-family: Symbol; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">·</span><span class="s4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 9.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">bands from late 60s trying to copy the Beatles: <i>no, but I love the Beatles and have been inspired by them</i></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -24px;"><span class="s3" style="font-family: Symbol; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">·</span><span class="s4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 9.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Fuzzbox pedals: <i>no, I’m all-acoustic</i></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -24px;"><span class="s3" style="font-family: Symbol; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">·</span><span class="s4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 9.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">psychedelic rock aspect: <i>yes, music is somewhat experimental, some lyrics about expanded consciousness</i></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -24px;"><span class="s3" style="font-family: Symbol; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">·</span><span class="s4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 9.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">surf rock music aspect: <i>yes, the instrumental Shred Betty would qualify, others with lyrics like Wake Of A Great Lakes Freighter might be close</i></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -24px;"><span class="s3" style="font-family: Symbol; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">·</span><span class="s4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 9.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">aggressive: <i>acoustic guitar played aggressively on many songs for sure</i></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -24px;"><span class="s3" style="font-family: Symbol; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">·</span><span class="s4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 9.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">passionate amateurs with raw energy: <i>yep, passion and definite rawness present throughout the catalog</i></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -24px;"><span class="s3" style="font-family: Symbol; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">·</span><span class="s4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 9.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">technical instrumental prowess not necessary: <i>true in my case</i></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -24px;"><span class="s3" style="font-family: Symbol; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">·</span><span class="s4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 9.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">no formal training necessary: <i>true for me also</i></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -24px;"><span class="s3" style="font-family: Symbol; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">·</span><span class="s4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 9.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">evolution to punk rock "proto": <i>some might be folk-punk</i></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -24px;"><span class="s3" style="font-family: Symbol; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">·</span><span class="s4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 9.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">simple, repetitive: <i>yes to both</i></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -24px;"><span class="s3" style="font-family: Symbol; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">·</span><span class="s4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 9.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">unsophisticated lyrics and delivery: <i>lyrics have some occasional sophistication, but the delivery is always un</i></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -24px;"><span class="s3" style="font-family: Symbol; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">·</span><span class="s4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 9.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">do-it-yourself: <i>absolutely I do it all myself</i></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -24px;"><span class="s3" style="font-family: Symbol; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">·</span><span class="s4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 9.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">back to basics approach: <i>yes, but I would call mine a never-left-the-basics approach</i></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -24px;"><span class="s3" style="font-family: Symbol; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">·</span><span class="s4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 9.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">middle class from the suburbs: <i>my upbringing qualifies, and my adult life is in the same suburb, although I’m in a lower class now</i></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -24px;"><span class="s3" style="font-family: Symbol; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">·</span><span class="s4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 9.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">traumas of high school life: <i>yes, a few are covered here and there</i></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -24px;"><span class="s3" style="font-family: Symbol; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">·</span><span class="s4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 9.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">lying girls: <i>yes, I’ve covered this subject matter as well</i></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -24px;"><span class="s3" style="font-family: Symbol; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">·</span><span class="s4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 9.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">bar chords / power chords: <i>yes, these are rough on the left thumb on acoustic, but I do it anyway</i></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -24px;"><span class="s3" style="font-family: Symbol; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">·</span><span class="s4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 9.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">organ: <i>started to incorporate the organ sound more recently on a few songs</i></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -24px;"><span class="s3" style="font-family: Symbol; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">·</span><span class="s4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 9.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">regional scene in Michigan: <i>Flint has always had a punk scene, and it’s the origin of Grand Funk Railroad, arguably a garage rock band</i></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -24px;"><span class="s3" style="font-family: Symbol; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">·</span><span class="s4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 9.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">primitive and rough: <i>check, and check</i></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -24px;"><span class="s3" style="font-family: Symbol; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">·</span><span class="s4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 9.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">minimalist style: <i>another check</i></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">My home state of Michigan has a great history of garage rock bands, such as:</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -24px;"><span class="s3" style="font-family: Symbol; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">·</span><span class="s4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 9.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">? and the Mysterians</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -24px;"><span class="s3" style="font-family: Symbol; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">·</span><span class="s4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 9.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Grand Funk Railroad</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -24px;"><span class="s3" style="font-family: Symbol; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">·</span><span class="s4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 9.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">The Stooges</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 9.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -24px;"><span class="s3" style="font-family: Symbol; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">·</span><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span><span class="s5" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">MC5</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -24px;"><span class="s3" style="font-family: Symbol; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">·</span><span class="s4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 9.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Tommy James & the Shondells</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -24px;"><span class="s3" style="font-family: Symbol; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">·</span><span class="s4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 9.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Suzi Quatro & The Pleasure Seekers</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -24px;"><span class="s3" style="font-family: Symbol; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">·</span><span class="s4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 9.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">The Luv’d Ones</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 9.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -24px;"><span class="s3" style="font-family: Symbol; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">·</span><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span><span class="s5" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">Death</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -24px;"><span class="s3" style="font-family: Symbol; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">·</span><span class="s4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 9.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">The Unrelated Segments</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -24px;"><span class="s3" style="font-family: Symbol; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">·</span><span class="s4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 9.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">The Romantics</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -24px;"><span class="s3" style="font-family: Symbol; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">·</span><span class="s4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 9.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Alice Cooper</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -24px;"><span class="s3" style="font-family: Symbol; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">·</span><span class="s4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 9.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">The Amboy Dukes</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -24px;"><span class="s3" style="font-family: Symbol; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">·</span><span class="s4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 9.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Dirtbombs</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -24px;"><span class="s3" style="font-family: Symbol; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">·</span><span class="s4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 9.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Detroit Cobras</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -24px;"><span class="s3" style="font-family: Symbol; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">·</span><span class="s4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 9.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Von Bondies</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -24px;"><span class="s3" style="font-family: Symbol; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">·</span><span class="s4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 9.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Electric Six</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -24px;"><span class="s3" style="font-family: Symbol; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">·</span><span class="s4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 9.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">The Gories</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -24px;"><span class="s3" style="font-family: Symbol; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">·</span><span class="s4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 9.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">White Stripes</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">I’ve heard and liked songs by all of them, whether from the 1960s to the various revivals to the present.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">So, to sum up what my style of music is, and why the hybrid genre “acoustic garage rock” might apply, here are some short, quick, easily-readable lists for you.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">The acoustic part:</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Like acoustic:</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -24px;"><span class="s3" style="font-family: Symbol; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">·</span><span class="s4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 9.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Acoustic guitar is primary instrument, central to the signature sound</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -24px;"><span class="s3" style="font-family: Symbol; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">·</span><span class="s4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 9.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Other instruments used:</span></p><p class="p4" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 96px; text-indent: -24px;"><span class="s6" style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">o</span><span class="s4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 9.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Acoustic bass</span></p><p class="p4" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 96px; text-indent: -24px;"><span class="s6" style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">o</span><span class="s4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 9.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Ukulele</span></p><p class="p4" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 96px; text-indent: -24px;"><span class="s6" style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">o</span><span class="s4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 9.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Mandolin</span></p><p class="p4" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 96px; text-indent: -24px;"><span class="s6" style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">o</span><span class="s4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 9.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Accordion</span></p><p class="p4" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 96px; text-indent: -24px;"><span class="s6" style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">o</span><span class="s4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 9.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Harmonica</span></p><p class="p4" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 96px; text-indent: -24px;"><span class="s6" style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">o</span><span class="s4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 9.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Marimba</span></p><p class="p4" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 96px; text-indent: -24px;"><span class="s6" style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">o</span><span class="s4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 9.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Congas, bongos, djembe, tambourine, shaker</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -24px;"><span class="s3" style="font-family: Symbol; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">·</span><span class="s4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 9.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Minimal use of electronic digital effects, uncluttered by technology or overproduction</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -24px;"><span class="s3" style="font-family: Symbol; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">·</span><span class="s4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 9.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">“contemporary acoustic” in opposition to “folk”</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -24px;"><span class="s3" style="font-family: Symbol; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">·</span><span class="s4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 9.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Acoustic rock, unplugged rock, singer-songwriter, soft rock vs. other types of acoustic music such as bluegrass</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -24px;"><span class="s3" style="font-family: Symbol; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">·</span><span class="s4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 9.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Use of microphones and real instruments vs. virtual instruments</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Not like acoustic:</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -24px;"><span class="s3" style="font-family: Symbol; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">·</span><span class="s4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 9.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Atypically frequent use of rhythm section</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -24px;"><span class="s3" style="font-family: Symbol; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">·</span><span class="s4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 9.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Not a lot of folk-style finger-picking</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -24px;"><span class="s3" style="font-family: Symbol; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">·</span><span class="s4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 9.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Not a lot of ultra-serious subject matter in lyrics</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">The garage rock part:</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Like garage rock:</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -24px;"><span class="s3" style="font-family: Symbol; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">·</span><span class="s4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 9.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Most songs are “rock” forms as opposed to country, folk, blues, jazz, r&b/soul, or pop</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -24px;"><span class="s3" style="font-family: Symbol; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">·</span><span class="s4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 9.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">The independent, do-it-yourself, homegrown thing</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -24px;"><span class="s3" style="font-family: Symbol; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">·</span><span class="s4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 9.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">The “don’t have to be technically proficient,” self-taught/no-formal-training thing</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -24px;"><span class="s3" style="font-family: Symbol; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">·</span><span class="s4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 9.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Occasional psychedelic lyrics, themes and subject matter</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -24px;"><span class="s3" style="font-family: Symbol; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">·</span><span class="s4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 9.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Room made for guitar solos during instrumental breaks</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -24px;"><span class="s3" style="font-family: Symbol; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">·</span><span class="s4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 9.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Subject matter about lying girls, common youth concerns, rebellion</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -24px;"><span class="s3" style="font-family: Symbol; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">·</span><span class="s4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 9.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Love & relationship songs are allowed</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -24px;"><span class="s3" style="font-family: Symbol; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">·</span><span class="s4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 9.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Has bass & drums, occasional organ</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -24px;"><span class="s3" style="font-family: Symbol; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">·</span><span class="s4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 9.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Imperfect production</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Not like garage rock:</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -24px;"><span class="s3" style="font-family: Symbol; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">·</span><span class="s4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 9.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Not actually played or recorded in a garage</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -24px;"><span class="s3" style="font-family: Symbol; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">·</span><span class="s4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 9.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">No use of electric guitars</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -24px;"><span class="s3" style="font-family: Symbol; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">·</span><span class="s4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 9.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">No use of fuzz pedals, distortion or amplifiers</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -24px;"><span class="s3" style="font-family: Symbol; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">·</span><span class="s4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 9.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Not as fast – average tempo not as high</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -24px;"><span class="s3" style="font-family: Symbol; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">·</span><span class="s4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 9.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Although I have aggression/rebellion in attitude, it doesn’t come out that way in the lyrics or the delivery. It’s more tame and mellow.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">So, I might have more in common with the garage rockers than the typical artists you associate with being “acoustic”. I’m influenced by them you could say. Just as I’ve been influenced by the Americana people. I’m a fan of Dylan, Willie Nelson, the Grateful Dead, Gillian Welch, CCR, etc., and I can safely say I also identify with “heartland rock” artists like Bob Seger, Tom Petty, and Mellencamp. I’ve got a strange hybrid going on. Instead of playing folk on electric instruments like the Byrds did, I’m more about playing rock on folk instruments. More rock-folk than folk-rock I guess.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">When you’re signed to a record label, they have whole departments who focus on how to market you. In some cases, they advise you about what style and genre they think is best for you, and probably encourage you to stick with it and stay in that lane. Following trends with profit in mind. For the indie/DIY solo artist like me, you’re left to fend for yourself. As you can tell, it takes me a long time to describe my music to people. I wish it was easy. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">I wish I could say something like <b>“John Denver meets Jimmy Buffett at a bar where the Violent Femmes are playing, and they all jam together,”</b> but that doesn’t come close enough. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">That’s what “THEY” advise though. They, the experts who market music, want your music to fit neatly into a niche, with an easy, short description. Have too much genre variety, and it becomes a head scratcher for them.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">One of the Theys (Ariel Hyatt) offered up a free series of 12 questions aimed at helping you come up with a good description of your music. I answered them and posted them to the top of my FAQ page you can check out here: <a href="https://www.scottcooley.com/faq"><span class="s7" style="color: #0b4cb4; font-kerning: none;">https://www.scottcooley.com/faq</span></a>. I honestly answered them all to the best of my ability, yet still found it overwhelming to summarize my answers at the end, but here those are:</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">WHAT GENRES DO YOU PLAY? (BE HONEST)</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">To be honest, I've never known. So many genres, so little time, but I'll try...</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">I'll start high-level:</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -24px;"><span class="s3" style="font-family: Symbol; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">·</span><span class="s4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 9.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Art music - NO Not classical or formal, not serious, however, a few songs that have elements of jazz and avant-garde rock.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -24px;"><span class="s3" style="font-family: Symbol; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">·</span><span class="s4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 9.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Popular music - YES* My music is arguably not very popular (yet), but it's been released commercially.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -24px;"><span class="s3" style="font-family: Symbol; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">·</span><span class="s4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 9.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Religious - NO A couple songs that briefly include spiritual and/or religious subject matter.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -24px;"><span class="s3" style="font-family: Symbol; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">·</span><span class="s4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 9.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Traditional/Folk - YES* I've released a couple trad covers, and a few original songs that sound like real folk.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Conclusion?: Majority of my songs definitely falling within the popULAR category, but it's nothing like Madonna, Michael Jackson, or Taylor Swift, or whomever you typically think of as "pop," and definitely not 60s folk revival type of folk, something more of a modern rock-folk hybrid maybe.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Expanding the Popular subs:</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -24px;"><span class="s3" style="font-family: Symbol; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">·</span><span class="s4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 9.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Country - YES* A handful may qualify as older-style country or Americana.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -24px;"><span class="s3" style="font-family: Symbol; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">·</span><span class="s4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 9.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Electronic - NO I've used an electric guitar and electric piano a couple times, and a few songs are faster and danceable.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -24px;"><span class="s3" style="font-family: Symbol; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">·</span><span class="s4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 9.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Funk - NO Wish I could say yes, and despite having some funky beats and bass lines and emphasis on the 1, I have to say no here.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -24px;"><span class="s3" style="font-family: Symbol; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">·</span><span class="s4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 9.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Hip hop - NO Although I did do one rap song, Cooley's Rap, and rapped a little in a break section of another.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -24px;"><span class="s3" style="font-family: Symbol; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">·</span><span class="s4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 9.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Jazz - NO I may have some elements of vocal jazz standards and some jazz chord progressions here and there, but no.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -24px;"><span class="s3" style="font-family: Symbol; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">·</span><span class="s4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 9.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Latin - NO I have a couple that come close to Tejano or Norteno, and others that use latin percussion.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -24px;"><span class="s3" style="font-family: Symbol; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">·</span><span class="s4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 9.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Pop - YES* Publicly accessible, available for sale, however, nothing close to what's currently popular.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -24px;"><span class="s3" style="font-family: Symbol; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">·</span><span class="s4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 9.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Punk - NO* Proto-punk/garage rock elements and the DIY thing, but without the electric guitar distortion and speed.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -24px;"><span class="s3" style="font-family: Symbol; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">·</span><span class="s4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 9.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Reggae - YES* Some pre-reggae elements of Calypso, Mento, maybe even Ska, occasional 1-drop chinking & emphasis on the 3.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -24px;"><span class="s3" style="font-family: Symbol; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">·</span><span class="s4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 9.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Rock - YES More than anything, my style is unplugged rock, soft rock, indie rock, defintely roots rock, maybe even folk rock.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -24px;"><span class="s3" style="font-family: Symbol; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">·</span><span class="s4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 9.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Metal - NO Definitely far from this one, although there are frequent instrumental breaks with guitar solos.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -24px;"><span class="s3" style="font-family: Symbol; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">·</span><span class="s4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 9.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Soul/R&B - NO Although influenced by Motown, there's no horns or vocal harmonies.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -24px;"><span class="s3" style="font-family: Symbol; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">·</span><span class="s4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 9.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Polka - YES* Arguably, I've released several songs featuring accordion that may qualify.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -24px;"><span class="s3" style="font-family: Symbol; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">·</span><span class="s4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 9.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">How to summarize the sub-genres? Don't know. I might say "acoustic rock with elements of pop, Americana, reggae and polka," but who is going to buy that?</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Getting more specific, some other more micro-genres I might fit in with could be:</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -24px;"><span class="s3" style="font-family: Symbol; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">·</span><span class="s4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 9.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Singer-songwriter: not much of a singer, but definitely a songwriter, play acoustic guitar, am a solo artist</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -24px;"><span class="s3" style="font-family: Symbol; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">·</span><span class="s4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 9.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">slowcore: my songs are pretty slow and often sad, and there's a minimalist style in terms of instrumentation</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -24px;"><span class="s3" style="font-family: Symbol; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">·</span><span class="s4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 9.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Indie folk: I started in the 90s indie rock scene and was influenced by acoustic folk while adding a rhythm section</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -24px;"><span class="s3" style="font-family: Symbol; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">·</span><span class="s4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 9.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Lo-fi: Low fidelity production quality, imperfections intentionally left in</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -24px;"><span class="s3" style="font-family: Symbol; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">·</span><span class="s4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 9.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Folk-blues: I've done a few fingerstyle acoustic blues ballads, pre-war style, but I add bass & percussion</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -24px;"><span class="s3" style="font-family: Symbol; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">·</span><span class="s4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 9.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Bedroom pop: home studio, DIY aesthetic, introspective, emotional</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -24px;"><span class="s3" style="font-family: Symbol; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">·</span><span class="s4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 9.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Contemporary folk: acoustic guitar, in English, some "world" elements, 3rd revival, probably not so much</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -24px;"><span class="s3" style="font-family: Symbol; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">·</span><span class="s4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 9.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Heartland rock: I've been a blue-collar worker, from a rust belt area, and I've been influenced by Seger, Petty, Mellencamp, etc.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -24px;"><span class="s3" style="font-family: Symbol; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">·</span><span class="s4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 9.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Roots rock: not progressive, yet occasionally psychedelic, rock with folk/blues/country elements</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -24px;"><span class="s3" style="font-family: Symbol; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">·</span><span class="s4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 9.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">DIY: I really do everything myself, so yeah</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -24px;"><span class="s3" style="font-family: Symbol; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">·</span><span class="s4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 9.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Indie rock: not signed, do it all myself, influenced by 80s underground college rock like REM</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -24px;"><span class="s3" style="font-family: Symbol; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">·</span><span class="s4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 9.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Soft rock: heavily influenced by the singer-songwriters of the 70s</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -24px;"><span class="s3" style="font-family: Symbol; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">·</span><span class="s4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 9.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Outsider: https://blog.scottcooley.com/2023/08/feeling-like-outsider.html</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">WHO DO YOU GET COMPARED TO? (BE HONEST)</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Honestly, I haven't asked for this type of information from anyone, and it's rarely been voluntarily relayed to me by anyone. Due to the occasional tropical rock style and sailing subject matter, Jimmy Buffett. Due to the acoustic soft rock and skiing subject matter, John Denver. Due to the songwriting style, both Elliott Smith and Jeff Tweedy. Due to the variety of styles, Neil Young. Due to being all-acoustic yet still rock with a nasal Midwest vocal, Violent Femmes. Another would be Jonathan Richman, because of acoustic guitar and novelty songs. I asked my wife just now and she said Rick Astley, but that can't be right.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">WHAT ARE YOUR BIGGEST INFLUENCES?</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Hmmm...the question is "what" and not "who".</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -24px;"><span class="s3" style="font-family: Symbol; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">·</span><span class="s4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 9.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">The hard rock of the late 70s/early 80s from local radio and buying records.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -24px;"><span class="s3" style="font-family: Symbol; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">·</span><span class="s4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 9.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Envy of solo acoustic performers playing popular covers in college and at apres-ski bars in my early 20s.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -24px;"><span class="s3" style="font-family: Symbol; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">·</span><span class="s4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 9.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">The popularity of the MTV Unplugged show in the early 90s.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -24px;"><span class="s3" style="font-family: Symbol; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">·</span><span class="s4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 9.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Outdoor activities in lakes, mountains, and forests (sailing, skiing, hiking), appreciation of the beauty of nature.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -24px;"><span class="s3" style="font-family: Symbol; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">·</span><span class="s4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 9.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Most of the songs on the "greatest songs of all time" lists.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -24px;"><span class="s3" style="font-family: Symbol; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">·</span><span class="s4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 9.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Poetry, fiction. Jim Harrison, Twain, Hemingway, Thompson, Leonard, King.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -24px;"><span class="s3" style="font-family: Symbol; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">·</span><span class="s4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 9.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">The painting shows of Bob Ross.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -24px;"><span class="s3" style="font-family: Symbol; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">·</span><span class="s4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 9.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Past and current relationships.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -24px;"><span class="s3" style="font-family: Symbol; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">·</span><span class="s4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 9.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">The ski bum lifestyle and associated slacker mentality.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">WHEN WAS THE MOMENT YOU KNEW YOU WANTED TO PLAY MUSIC FOR A LIVING?</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">This question doesn't have the (BE HONEST) part, but I'll do it anyway: I've never had such a moment. I mean, from the moment I heard music I liked, a part of me probably thought it would be cool to be able to make music like that. Since I was a kid I thought it would be cool to be a rock star. I'm a bad singer and mediocre guitar player, so I never thought I could play for a living at all. You're assuming those crafting a bio already either play for a living, or want to, but I'm not one of them. I'm a non-performing solo artist/songwriter. I would love to write songs for a living, but haven't attempted to learn how to go about such a thing. This question does not really apply to home recording people like me who do not play live in public.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">HOW DO YOU WANT PEOPLE TO FEEL WHEN THEY HEAR YOUR MUSIC?</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Happy, fulfilled, content, satisfied, lost in their thoughts, excited, pleased, delighted....and like they are making a mental note to remember to return for more in the future, curious to dive deeper into the back catalog. Good, or better.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">WHY DO YOU PLAY MUSIC?</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">I don't really play music, I just write songs and record them. I'm playing them only to record them. This question assumes people play music often and would not really apply to someone like me who does not perform in front of audiences. Many of my released songs I only played through once or twice when writing/recording and that's it. I only like the creative process.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">WHAT’S SPECIAL ABOUT YOUR LATEST PROJECT?</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">It's literally the best album I've ever created, and hopefully will live long enough to complete and release it in 2024. It's also special because it's a collection of songs that I don't think I'd ever be embarrassed to have anyone hear, regardless of what age they are. A high concentration of high-quality songwriting according to my own weeding-out process with more potential universal appeal than usual.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">WHAT ARE SOME LIGHTBULB MOMENTS ALONG THE WAY IN YOUR MUSICAL JOURNEY?</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -24px;"><span class="s3" style="font-family: Symbol; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">·</span><span class="s4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 9.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Learning that with only 3 chords, I could play a ton of songs I liked.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -24px;"><span class="s3" style="font-family: Symbol; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">·</span><span class="s4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 9.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">The first few times playing in front of audiences and getting applause and compliments.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -24px;"><span class="s3" style="font-family: Symbol; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">·</span><span class="s4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 9.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Getting a Tascam portastudio and making my first multi-track recordings.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -24px;"><span class="s3" style="font-family: Symbol; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">·</span><span class="s4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 9.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">The first few times people bought my CDs on Amazon and downloads on iTunes.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">HOW DO YOU DEFINE SUCCESS IN MUSIC FOR YOURSELF?</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Spotify defined it for me, which is that from 2024 on, I need at least 1,000 streams/year for each of my 144 released songs (and any future songs I release) to make any royalties. A tall order without any press/publicity/promotion/advertising/marketing, etc. I will especially define myself successful if I can accomplish this by word-of-mouth recommendation alone.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">IF YOU MET SOMEONE AT A DINER OR BAR, HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR MUSIC TO THEM?</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">That's what this exercise is trying to accomplish. I need to summarize and synthesize all this into a couple paragraphs next I guess, which is intimidating and daunting at this point.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">WHAT KEEPS YOU PURSUING YOUR MUSIC CAREER?</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">I love the process, and I can't help doing it. I've had long droughts of not having any ideas for songs, then magically, they show up again. This has been happening to me for 30+ years now. After I write them, I record a quick take on my phone, then I listen back after I have a stockpile of first takes and decide which are worthy enough to record digital multi-track versions of, then I listen back to those, choose the best of them, and release them as albums. I love everything about that process. There is no "career" to speak of though.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">CAN YOU DESCRIBE YOUR AUDIENCE/DEMOGRAPHIC?</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">It starts with those who know me, then they make recommendations. People with the patience to learn to appreciate home-recorded, DIY acoustic rock from someone who writes pretty good songs despite not being a great singer. People who appreciate songs that reflect the experience of being a Michigander who enjoy recreation of the area. People who like acoustic music, but not the kind where the artists take it way too seriously, as with the folk finger-picking, hokey, beret-wearing, baby boomer house concert crowd. People who like subject matter about love and relationships and an artist who doesn't stick to only one style of music. People who do not demand sonic perfection in their music, and who not only have a tolerance for, but actually really appreciate a few happy accidents left in. People who appreciate recordings that employ real instruments recorded with microphones and without a lot of electronic effects or digital manipulation. People who like fun music with an amateur quality that has a certain amount of sophistication and maturity, but not too much. Friends, family, their friends and family, people who like to support local artists. People who know me, acquaintainces on Facebook, etc. initially listen because of that, then some of them like it, some don't. The ones who like it may not get past the ones with the most streams, but those who do, dive deeper into the catalog and maybe like more. Then some of them recommend me to other people they know. So, it's people from Michigan, people from the Great Lakes region of the Midwest, but also some from Colorado because I lived in Vail for several years. People with interests in sailing and skiing for sure. People who are members of Generation X (close to my age).</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">--</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">So, there you go. My most recent A’s to the expert-suggested Q’s, since added to my FAQs, none of which have been actually asked frequently. The more I try, and the more starter content I have to work with, the harder it is to boil it all down to a paragraph. I'm likely a marketer's nightmare. The variety is the biggest issue.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">I’m glad I have some variety, yet, also know I must certainly have a signature sound. My midwestern accent is a factor, my limited baritone vocal range is a factor, my ever-present acoustic guitar strumming, my frequent use of acoustic guitar solos, my frequent use of understated bass and drums, my sparse minimalist arrangements, my use of real instruments and microphones, my avoidance of virtual instruments/quantization/auto-tune/digital effects processing, my lo-fi production. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">I’m an artist who doesn’t like labels and classifications and categories and style and sub-genres, but I understand they are somewhat necessary for people to have a starting point for comparison. I like writing songs and recording them the way I want to, but I don’t like having to market them. Such is the dilemma for most of us, I suspect. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> If I was advising me, what would I tell me to do more of or less of?</span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Finding My Way: Studying my own personal favorites list may reveal best style choices</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Genre, style, instrumentation, structure, meter, feel, subject matter. What if I took notes on those for each of my favorite songs I’ve written – the ones I personally think are my best – and see if there’s anything in common?</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">What if I then did the same thing for the ones other people think are my best?</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Then for sure I’d be on my way to figuring out what works for me and maybe what doesn’t.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Now that playlists are a big deal, it’s made me think along those lines. I could create some that would neatly group together some of my styles:</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -24px;"><span class="s3" style="font-family: Symbol; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">·</span><span class="s4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 9.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Lots of love songs by Scott Cooley</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -24px;"><span class="s3" style="font-family: Symbol; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">·</span><span class="s4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 9.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Scott Cooley’s songs about skiing (note: already a popular playlist on Pandora radio)</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -24px;"><span class="s3" style="font-family: Symbol; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">·</span><span class="s4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 9.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">The Scott Cooley songs featuring marimba</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -24px;"><span class="s3" style="font-family: Symbol; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">·</span><span class="s4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 9.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">The funny/novelty songs of Scott Cooley</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -24px;"><span class="s3" style="font-family: Symbol; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">·</span><span class="s4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 9.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">The more serious and sad songs of Scott Cooley</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -24px;"><span class="s3" style="font-family: Symbol; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">·</span><span class="s4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 9.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">The Scott Cooley songs featuring Scott’s wife Lenore playing accordion</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -24px;"><span class="s3" style="font-family: Symbol; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">·</span><span class="s4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 9.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Scott Cooley’s bluesy songs</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -24px;"><span class="s3" style="font-family: Symbol; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">·</span><span class="s4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 9.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">The Scott Cooley songs that have harmonica in them</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -24px;"><span class="s3" style="font-family: Symbol; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">·</span><span class="s4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 9.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">The faster-tempo rockers of Scott Cooley</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -24px;"><span class="s3" style="font-family: Symbol; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">·</span><span class="s4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 9.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">The Scott Cooley songs with ukulele</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -24px;"><span class="s3" style="font-family: Symbol; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">·</span><span class="s4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 9.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">The Scott Cooley songs with a tropical feel</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -24px;"><span class="s3" style="font-family: Symbol; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">·</span><span class="s4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 9.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Scott Cooley’s songs about sailing</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Then I could wait and see which got the most plays. This would help me narrow my focus on what type of song works best for me. Actually, just typing that list helps me describe my various styles. Problem is, arguably, those are not how the albums are grouped.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">For a lot of bands, solo artists, and musical acts, you know what to expect. They fit into a category and don’t change much. AC/DC comes to mind.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">For those whose styles may vary, they typically contain the changed style to an entire album. Neil Young comes to mind. He does a rockabilly album, a blues album with horns, a country album, here’s my harmonizing with CSN, here’s me playing distorted electric guitar with Crazy Horse, etc. Personally, I wouldn’t ever want to be labeled a country or folk artist, but I dabble in those areas occasionally.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Each of my album’s songs have some sort of quality that makes them loosely fit an overall unifying theme or concept. I wouldn’t call any of them true concept albums, but the songs on each are similar enough to allow for an album description that somewhat summarizes the group of songs.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">That said, I offer a variety of different types of songs on each album. If you were attempting to write about one of my albums, you might be annoyed by the variety, because it makes it more challenging to find things in common. Reviewers, if I had any, might list this as a negative aspect. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">How can he go from reggae to classic country to folk punk to blues all in the same album? Artists just don’t do that. They wait ‘till they have a whole album’s worth of songs in the same style, then release them together. Way easier for reviewers and genre-lovers and pigeonholers.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Not me though. As I’ve pointed out on this blog before, I release the best songs available at the time on my albums. Yes, they might have a bit of a collective theme. Cherchez La Femme has more love/relationship songs on it than my other albums. Sense Of Belonging has more folkish or folksy songs on it than my other albums. Lakeside Landing and Missing The Boat might be Buffettesque. Drive Time Companion has both country and rap on the same album! They’re all over the place though in terms of types of songs, and I intentionally choose the track order to provide some variety to hold attention.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">You can listen back to a favorite artist’s catalog and make your own playlists. You have your opinions. Certain artists try styles you don’t think they should do anymore, but they do anyway. For example, when Bob Dylan did a lot of those “talking blues” songs early in his career, I wasn’t so much a fan of those. When he does the 15-minute long, verse after verse epics, they get a little challenging to enjoy all the way through more than once. If I were his producer, I might advise him to lay off on writing more of those types.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">So, if I had a producer, or record company A&R person, interested in what works best for me, what’s popular, what sells, interested in popularity only, what would they advise me?</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -24px;"><span class="s3" style="font-family: Symbol; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">·</span><span class="s4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 9.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Key: One simple thing my best have in common is choosing a key that is best for my vocal range. When I looked back at some of my best songs and figured out the keys they were in, most were in A or G. So, there’s good advice for my future songwriting self.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -24px;"><span class="s3" style="font-family: Symbol; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">·</span><span class="s4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 9.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Tempo: Another thing I’ve noticed is that my best are at least mid-tempo. I never play super fast, mainly because I play an acoustic guitar and well, I’m just not capable of playing punk or bluegrass speeds on it. The ultra-slow ones don’t seem to work that well. Many are around 120 BPM, so bordering on up-tempo. I always write them slower, but when recording try to maximize the speed to the point where syllable-cramming occurs, then back it off.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -24px;"><span class="s3" style="font-family: Symbol; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">·</span><span class="s4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 9.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Genre: This is a dreaded thing to contemplate, but quite a few of my best might be on the border of being considered country songs. I sort of cringe, because I don’t consider myself a country artist at all, and wouldn’t want others to think of me that way, but it has just worked out that way that some that are closer to being country-ish are among my best.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -24px;"><span class="s3" style="font-family: Symbol; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">·</span><span class="s4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 9.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Subject Matter: This factor is all over the place, no rhyme nor reason to it that I can detect. I guess it doesn’t matter. Of my best, there are story songs, relationship songs, novelty songs, sad songs, reflection songs. Probably there’s something about each that sort of tugs at the emotions in some way or another.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -24px;"><span class="s3" style="font-family: Symbol; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">·</span><span class="s4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 9.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Instrumentation: Surprisingly, there’s no clear winner here either. You might think the ones with bongos and hand percussion would win out over the more standard snare drum sound, the ones with marimba or slide guitar or harmonica are always better, the ones where I added piano trump the ones without, or the accordion ones clearly standing out as the best. Not the case. The ones where I do a simple acoustic solo are most prevalent in my best-of list.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -24px;"><span class="s3" style="font-family: Symbol; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">·</span><span class="s4" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 9.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Style?: It’s hard to differentiate style from genre. A quick check of my best says this – there’s a tropical one with marimba, a country one, a folk one with harmonica, another country one, a love song with marimba, an old-timey one, a skiing one, a piano ballad, a fingerpicking folk one, another country one, and one that is latin-tinged. Nothing bluesy I just noticed – note to self: perhaps lay off writing any more blues songs. I love writing blues ballads, but they never make my best-of lists.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Am I learning anything here? Mid-to-up-tempo country songs with acoustic guitar that are emotional in some way. Oh no! Shoot, that’s not who I want to be at all, but that seems to be what works. Nashville is calling. Many if not all, border what might be rock or folk as well – even though it’s hard to call all-acoustic music rock, and it’s hard to call uptempo love songs folk.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Maybe it would’ve been better if I waited ‘till I had a bunch of really similar songs and then released them together in an album. The Scott Cooley blues album, the Scott Cooley country album, the Scott Cooley folk album, the Scott Cooley rock album.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">This is all confirmation I’m hard to nail down, hard to define, hard to describe, hard to write about. Summarizing and concluding a long blog post about the difficulty in summarizing what kind of music I make is almost as daunting, and the best I can do is reiterate the three words: acoustic garage rock.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">If you have heard of me, but haven’t listened to my music yet, haven’t heard much of a description of what kind of music it is, and are in the process of making up your mind whether to try it out or not, this post has been for you. Obviously, I am in need of assistance. Happy listening, or not. Tell your friends. Drop me a line to let me know what or who you think my music sounds like, or don’t. If so, thanks in advance.</span></p>Scott Cooleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11992512474971171166noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4322553151785625714.post-44211003630666218312024-01-09T22:54:00.000-05:002024-01-09T22:54:45.298-05:00Ora Marr, YouTune Glitch Me, and The Courage To Try<div style="text-align: left;">A friend of mine who I used to go to perform original songs with at open mic nights recently published his first book of poetry. </div><div><br /></div><div>He emailed me about it saying he was having those “what have I just done?” thoughts and feelings.</div><div><br /></div><div>Those are the exact feelings most people would have in that situation, I suspect. Not unlike playing for the first time at an open mic night, or releasing your first album. I’ve released 11 albums, and I get that same uneasiness every time.</div><div><br /></div><div>My response to him was that we all care what people think to some degree, so those feelings are normal. I reassured him that with books especially, unlike music, people have to buy them and read them first to be able to judge them. Most won’t, so all they will remember is the announcement that he wrote and published a book. They might click the link, see the cover, look at the description, then not buy or read it. </div><div><br /></div><div>But the word they will spread to friends and acquaintances is "did you hear?...so-and-so wrote his first book...poetry I think" and then the recipients will at the very least remember that. That's cool in its own right, whether you're out to impress or not, to have people know you wrote a book. </div><div><br /></div><div>Personally, I've actually known many people in my life who have written and published books of various kinds, and after becoming aware of it and choosing to not read them, I still remember that fact about those people, and I am indeed impressed they did it.</div><div><br /></div><div>With music, it’s a little different: they might click the link, start streaming the first song (in the streaming service they already subscribe to), hastily decide it’s not their kind of music, then never stream any of it again…but they can say they checked it out and didn’t like it. You can’t tell someone to not bother with a book if you haven’t read it yourself.</div><div><br /></div><div>By the way, that author/poet is <b>Ora Marr</b>, and the poetry book title is "<b>Infinite Eternity</b>." I haven’t read it, but I can attest to having been exposed to some of the content in draft form, and based on that alone, would highly recommend it: </div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Infinite-Eternity-Poetic-Through-Forever/dp/B0CQZVMTFF"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>https://www.amazon.com/Infinite-Eternity-Poetic-Through-Forever/dp/B0CQZVMTFF</b></span></a></div><div><br /></div><div>Click the link, see the cool cover, read the excellent & intriguing description, take it from there.</div><div><br /></div><div>People have to start somewhere, and it could be that someday I will be able to say I gave a little boost with my recommendation that helped him gain some measure of fame, fortune, respect, etc. You never know, but people tend to focus way too much on whether creative works are good or successful in some measurable way. Art can relay information, beauty and emotion, which is in itself extremely valuable, regardless of any kind of commercial success it may have.</div><div><br /></div><div>The main takeaway is lots of people talk about the ideas they have for books, or about the in-progress books they’re working on, but they never get finished or published. At the very least, he was brave enough to not only give it a shot, but actually complete it, and now he’s an author/poet with a book you can buy.</div><div><br /></div><div>The same can be said for lots of creative pursuits in these times, when the ability to post your creations inexpensively on the web is not only possible, but fairly easy. From experience, it’s true for songwriting and music recording and/or live music performance.</div><div><br /></div><div>It used to be that a record, tape or CD was like a book – you had to buy it to try it (unless they played it in a record store or on the radio and/or you could check it out from a library long after publication), but now most people pay 10 bucks/month to be able to listen to all music, so at least they can try your music without technically buying it first.</div><div><br /></div><div>More and more, people write/record songs and don’t even bother with the formal distribution to streaming services since they wouldn’t make much money anyway. Instead, they just post them for free – to public access places like Free Music Archive, Bandcamp, Soundcloud, or with visual content in the form of videos to YouTube. </div><div><br /></div><div>In a way, you might think it’s sad and unfair that creators don’t get paid, but if you think of it in a different way, it’s awesome that the creative works get heard at all, and that there are free and easy ways to get them out there for public consumption. At least, it’s <i>possible</i> for them to be discovered and listened to for free, but that doesn’t always happen since there’s so much out there to choose from.</div><div><br /></div><div>In that spirit, and the real reason I started this post, was I felt like making another recommendation to you by writing about a music website you might not know about that you might enjoy checking out. It is:</div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://youtune.glitch.me/"><span style="font-size: large;">https://youtune.glitch.me/</span></a></div><div><br /></div><div>It's called <b>Youtune</b>, but if you google that, you'll never find it, so I think it's better to refer to it as Youtune Glitch Me, so you remember the URL.</div><div><br /></div><div><i>What is it?</i></div><div>Snippets of "relatively unviewed original songs" posted to YouTube. It's a curated random collection of songs that play one after another by a diverse group of individuals with varying levels of talent and skill who have posted video recordings of songs they've written and performed that haven't been played much if at all. Most are live, some pre-recorded, some acapella, most solo, some bands.</div><div><br /></div><div><i>Who created it?</i></div><div>A blogger whose blog is about "finding a more human side of the internet":</div><div>https://escapethealgorithm.substack.com/</div><div><br /></div><div><i>How to use it?</i></div><div>Click the word ENTER, then just start listening, and trust me, eventually, you'll be pleasantly surprised and find something you like. If impatient, you can click to proceed to the next song, but eventually, if you're like me, you become patient enough to wait for it to progress on its own.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5V8KuUNRwD9FUthl20aSOtjTiva3wOpz2EooTUjizU8-9jx1kneyyfVZL5fzuuIyuIjYc8_mm1s5Ol9ms0E34itJu08vpw4GHgISvRxgEcdzUp7cOd5rXBT-kLzAaSDHk2nrV6ShyphenhyphennPYexLf97i0uZjZmbr9KEMyTf2LmJsZx3-WJxxnoKU9B59dLREA/s1396/youtune.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="956" data-original-width="1396" height="137" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5V8KuUNRwD9FUthl20aSOtjTiva3wOpz2EooTUjizU8-9jx1kneyyfVZL5fzuuIyuIjYc8_mm1s5Ol9ms0E34itJu08vpw4GHgISvRxgEcdzUp7cOd5rXBT-kLzAaSDHk2nrV6ShyphenhyphennPYexLf97i0uZjZmbr9KEMyTf2LmJsZx3-WJxxnoKU9B59dLREA/w200-h137/youtune.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div><i>Why do I find it interesting enough to share?</i></div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>My first impression, I'm almost ashamed to admit, was that this made me feel better about my own songwriting/performing attempts by comparison. Not unlike going to open mic nights full of amateurs/novices/hobbyists where you think to yourself that you're better than some of them.</li></ul><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>My second impression was that there's both people who are arguably way worse than me out there, but also that there are people who are arguably way better than me out there whose songs have gone unnoticed.</li></ul><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>My third impression was that I was surprised at how much effort went into these songs and videos that were arguably not that good. Again, I was almost ashamed at having that impression thinking "why did they bother spending so much time on something not very good?" considering I've put a lot of effort into writing and recording songs that are arguably not good either.</li></ul><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>My fourth impression, or thought, was a realization that it is highly likely that a lot of people out there in the world who have run across my songs have also had the same impression of me (surprised at the amount of effort I put into songs that are arguably not that good).</li></ul><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>My fifth impression, which may have been my first but took a while to surface into consciousness, was that there are a lot of people out there like me who are passionate about writing songs, and regardless of the degree to which they are aware that their songs are arguably not that good, they did it anyway. </li></ul><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Expanding on #5 above, this gave me a sense of belonging. Makes me feel less alone. It also made me realize that what they do and what I do are just a way to have fun being creative and like me, these people felt compelled to express themselves. In a way, it's all good. Just a bunch of apparently regular/normal/average people totally going for it and having a good time, whether they know how bad they are or not.</li></ul></div><div>There's a lot of heartfelt passion in here and I love it. Lots of people from all walks of life having fun making music. Listen to this long enough, and you'll slowly change from thinking not everything is your cup of tea to appreciating the effort even if it's not the style you typically enjoy. Indeed, this definitely highlights the human side of the internet.</div><div><br /></div><div>It's a bunch of people like me who overcame the feeling of vulnerability and fear of embarrassment. Most are probably aware they're not that good, but decided to write and perform their song anyway. I realize I'm leading a horse to water here, that water being a book and cool website with videos of original songs you might like to drink in, or not, can't make you. Overall, I can now understand that what we all have in common is <b>the courage to try</b>, and that is a beautiful thing!</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>Scott Cooleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11992512474971171166noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4322553151785625714.post-53512671408175042172024-01-01T11:57:00.000-05:002024-01-01T11:57:09.709-05:00Scott Cooley's "Stealth Wealth" In The Music Business<p><b>Got Stealth Wealth? What is it, and do I have it?</b></p><p>Happy New Year! Welcome (or welcome back) to my blog where I talk about myself and my feelings - as a form of "engaging" with you, my audience, as it relates to me "posing" as a solo artist and songwriter. "They" say you're supposed to do that to get more true fans. Imagine me holding up air quotes as I overuse them please, like Chris Farley used to do. Feel free to comment, call, email, whatever. By the way, I'm now on this promising new social butterfly network called Bluesky, so feel free to engage there as well: <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/scottcooley.bsky.social">https://bsky.app/profile/scottcooley.bsky.social</a></p><p>Feeling fortunate to have made it through another year, fortunate to still have albums and songs available for you to stream, fortunate to have readers of this blog. I just realized I’ve been at this for quite a while now and have hit somewhat of a milestone. Although I just noticed it due to time flying when having fun I guess, I’m thankful the music hasn’t gone completely unnoticed. </p><p>Here I am, a songwriter and solo recording artist with a 20-year “career” of <b>flying under the radar</b> of the music business. I think the world needs more like me, although <a href="https://blog.scottcooley.com/2023/12/to-scott-you-wont-get-paid-next-year.html" target="_blank">Spotify may disagree</a>. Yes, hard to believe, but it was 2004 when I completed my first somewhat real album, Moon Dreams (which you can still find and stream by the way). Now here it is the beginning of 2024, and I’m wondering to myself what do I have to show for it?</p><p>Not many people have discovered me yet, and I don’t have any financial assets to speak of as a result. I have a great wife, great dogs, great extended family, a roof over my head, a car, some ski equipment, a modest home recording studio, and several musical instruments. I have love in my life, I have friends, I have good health, and I have spiritual wealth. Lots to be thankful for. </p><p>Over the last two decades, I’ve had CD sales, download purchases, streams, follows, likes, subscribes, shares, recommendations, playlist adds, video views, compliments, blog reads, website visitors, and a lot of fun. The end of a calendar year is a logical time to check your stats and do a little egosurfing, and last year I learned some interesting and weird things, for example: I’m apparently a “top” Trop-Rock artist now on Last.fm, even making the first page for that genre. Make of it what you will: <a href="https://www.last.fm/tag/trop-rock/artists">https://www.last.fm/tag/trop-rock/artists</a></p><p>Returning readers know I’m typically self-deprecating, but also occasionally a humble-bragger as evidenced in that last paragraph. Yay me, great year. Arguably, I’ve released two whole albums that might fall within the definition of trop-rock: Missing The Boat and Lakeside Landing (which contained my “hit” Mackinac Island). I’ve also released several other tropish songs here and there on other albums that may qualify. Maybe there’s an upswing in Jimmy Buffett fans seeking out alternatives now that he has passed away, although his last album is still doing well.</p><p>My streaming stats did inexplicably ramp up a little in 2023 despite not releasing any new music, and although I arguably should never have attempted being a solo artist in the first place, let alone continue for 20 years, having the guts to do it and not give up do make me stand out. Sometimes it feels like I’ve failed miserably, but I haven’t completely "bombed out" yet, and I do plan to “drop” more music this year again.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhkfyBXGbhdAcfhqS0U5S3xsBsXm7Xfh60FR7wetzOktJ3uT4KFogBv1oPXAB8tY_wrHtP6OKgGRS13UAXKx9IKxBmcko5OI35m5-SseIbgrIbzNmA7naOjqYDz3diy_CGGYMxsLZAHyHEUFhQWt6xA-dXDjtyyGnjLWRVwMwmIQU59Mq1WLsawBn7ZbME" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1085" data-original-width="1590" height="218" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhkfyBXGbhdAcfhqS0U5S3xsBsXm7Xfh60FR7wetzOktJ3uT4KFogBv1oPXAB8tY_wrHtP6OKgGRS13UAXKx9IKxBmcko5OI35m5-SseIbgrIbzNmA7naOjqYDz3diy_CGGYMxsLZAHyHEUFhQWt6xA-dXDjtyyGnjLWRVwMwmIQU59Mq1WLsawBn7ZbME" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>I think I bring value to music listeners by consistently making songs they enjoy. People rely on other people’s recommendations of my music. They check the streaming stats too before deciding what to listen to. Good songs can perform poorly, and there’s a lot of variance between the different streaming services, but word-of-mouth eventually reveals some consensus (and trust).</p><p>It starts with people who know me. People don’t trust radio and TV to tell them what music they should want to listen to anymore. Streamers choose what they want now, and they’re choosing “local” music. It used to be that macro breweries dominated, but now local craft breweries are getting the support. It’s a similar concept with local investment in music. It’s also the maturity levels and patience of the demographic. Scott Cooley fans are not TikTok types with short attention spans who only want 30-second song snippets with dancing.</p><p></p><blockquote>"I have no idea why I like Scott Cooley, but I do"</blockquote><p></p><p>What have I learned about the people who like my music? From the very small amount of information received from listeners, a theory has emerged: It's people with a certain personality type more than anything else that make them get into my music. You may know me personally, but take that out of the equation for a moment.</p><p>People who are open to trying new things start getting into my music slowly. It might start with a recommendation from a person they trust. Responses happen.</p><p></p><blockquote><p>“Okay, I’ll see if I can get into it”</p><p>"Yeah, I'll try that"</p><p>"I'll have to check it out sometime"</p><p>"Still haven't gotten around to it yet, but I will eventually"</p><p>"Alright, maybe I'll give it a try"</p></blockquote><p></p><p>Follow-up nudges and friendly reminders may occur, and initial uncertainty transitions to courage leading to the eventual hitting of that Play button. Some first impressions are an overall amateur quality, a lot of acoustic guitar strumming, lo-fi production, somewhat sloppy instrument playing and definitely not the best singing voice. Getting past those with a little patience, they find themselves appreciating that it's not fake-sounding or overly electronic, and the voice becomes uniquely interesting. Continuing on with exploring the variety available, some people start to notice they feel better than when they started, but they're not sure why.</p><p>It's not for everyone. It's not commercial. It's not radio-friendly. It's far from the mainstream. Drastically different than what's popular. Not movie-quality. Different songs mean different things to different people. It's not so much that you put yourself in Scott's shoes, it's more that you get carried away, lost in your own thoughts somehow. There's just something about the combination of things contributing to the whole that becomes a recipe for improving your mood. Or, as the French say, a certain “je ne sais quoi”.</p><p>Those same people, quite often, are not the types of music fans you would expect to get into this kind of music. If you looked through their favorite music, you'd be surprised, but they like Scott Cooley anyway. Like any music really, they can only handle so much at a time, and that's why an album's worth in under one hour is just about right. Favorites emerge that they keep going back to, but some of those mental lists can change over time as more discovery occurs. Not expecting to like any of it, they do, but are not able to explain it. It's almost like becoming a fan was an unconscious, accidental thing they couldn't help.</p><p>It has been reported that listening to Scott Cooley makes people feel euphoric. Fans say the music makes them feel relaxed and happy. They’ve said that the music causes self-reflection and mind-wandering. Some individuals are more sensitive to it than others, and those with the personality trait of "openness" are the most strongly affected. If you're one of them, thanks for being open! It takes a while to warm up to my music, I'm sure.</p><p>Those who are open to new experiences are most likely to experience mood enhancement, and a feeling of being "in the zone" or a highly absorbed mental state of deep engagement. Maybe it's the melodies, the instrumentation, the lyrical messages, the craftsmanship, or the “unique” voice. Overall, it's an allure that is appealing and even therapeutic, but remains a mystery. This might be hilarious for you to hear, I realize that, but from what I've been able to gather, I believe it to be true.</p><p>What I’ve come to learn is that it’s not unlike how I myself have become a fan of other artists. It gets suggested to me, I get around to it eventually – sometimes after being bugged again about it, I like only a few songs early on, then I go back for more, then the deeper I get, the more I like some of the tracks that didn’t initially appear to be popular, and next thing I know I’m devouring the full back catalog and creating my own favorites-by-that-artist playlist. The process may span a whole year as time allows.</p><p>It's also not unlike romantic relationships. I think as an artist I’m probably viewed more as a long-haul serious relationship type that people have to be ready for where the love grows over time vs. the lust-at-first sight immediate attraction that leads to a one-night stand, 1 hit wonder type (even though I’m admittedly an artist with 1 song that drastically out-performs all the others). To me, that lasting impact is more valuable. If I’m the long-lasting, deeper love type of artist to people, that’s real wealth to me, not necessarily lucrative for the wallet, but definitely for the soul.</p><p>Slow-but-steady growth in measurable popularity over time without any marketing at all is what is happening, and it feels good because it’s honest and real and without cheating or gimmicks. It’s what I’ve always wanted, so it’s rewarding to have people’s positive impressions turn them into “influencers” in a way. I understand people take their time diving into my catalog, and some eventually become superfans of sorts who find things they like about most of my songs.</p><p>"Stealth Wealth" is a name of a phenomenon in the music industry. Upon hearing it for the first time, you might think it means something different than what most understand it to mean. When I think stealth, I think sneaky or going undetected. When I think wealth, I think having a lot of money and possessions.</p><p>Its intended meaning as I understand it is <b>understated success with a focus on purity of craft over popularity</b>. Something like that anyway.</p><p>I think I might qualify. As a conventionally-unsuccessful songwriter and recording artist, I definitely don't have material or monetary wealth, but if I did, I wouldn't want the world to know. I'm not a show-off. As a non-performing songwriter and recording artist, I don't seek out the spotlight, and don't crave attention or fame. I do have a passion for the craft, and I have the freedom of doing whatever I want without a label telling me how to be more popular.</p><p>I would love to have more people discover and appreciate my music of course, which is why I release it publicly, but I wouldn't want to be a celebrity in any way because I don't think I would like it at all. I prefer to keep a low profile, so much so that I don't do anything to market my music at all. I'm a private person, and enjoy a simple, modest lifestyle. I don’t try to be popular at all, I just keep doing what I do.</p><p>Don't get me wrong: if I all of a sudden had more financial wealth, I would do things I love more often. For example, instead of occasionally being an invited guest on other people's boats, I might consider getting one of my own. I would definitely be able to afford skiing more often and tennis. Travel to the national parks, sail around the great lakes - those would be my vacation choices if I could afford it. Maybe a better house and car, but nothing too flashy. I wouldn't want my life to be drastically different.</p><p>I'd probably get better home recording equipment and instruments, and if enough money materialized, I'd even book time in a real recording studio, maybe hire real pros to help make my songs sound pristine too. That said, I really do enjoy trying to do it all myself, so I'd have to think about that more.</p><p>I'd like some validation in the form of more listeners, sure, but I'd like to maintain some anonymity like I have now. I wouldn't mind more fortune without the fame, but I'm not willing to compromise, to follow consumer-driven trends or cheat to get there. I want my music to stay authentic, and I want authentic fans. I’m not out to sell tickets to shows or to sell t-shirts or sell NFTs whatever those are, so I’m strictly limited to delivering studio albums that people like listening to.</p><p>I'd rather have a few passionate fans than many casual ones. Let's face it, I'm not the type of artist who would ever gain widespread mainstream commercial success even if I had a team with an unlimited budget for promotion, publicity, advertising, marketing, etc. I've been told by some of my more devoted fans that my music reflects deep thinking, and takes listeners on emotional journeys, so although I know I'll never top any charts, more listeners like those would be great.</p><p>Yeah, I'm almost intentionally understated. Actually, not almost. I am. I could plug in and wail on electric guitar, use way more effects, and belt out the vocals more, but I prefer not to. It's just how my style presents itself. I am passionate about writing and recording songs my way, and I've stuck with it for a considerable amount of time because I love doing it, and not for topping charts or winning awards or getting famous in any way.</p><p>Now that I've typed all that, I must admit that when I hear that people who like my music are excited about me releasing more, or even that they've recommended me to a friend, I get excited about that. I just really love the creative process, feel lucky to have a creative outlet in my life, and even more lucky that there are a few of you out there who appreciate it. If you're one of them, thanks again! </p><p>I'm a person who has never really found anything I love doing that I could potentially make money doing, except writing songs. I have made a little doing it, but never enough to do it full-time. Not even close. I happened to have found myself somewhat involved in a business that is notoriously challenging to do well in financially, so I've had to supplement with work I have not have much of a passion for to pay the bills. In my time in the music business, it's been increasingly competitive despite lowered barriers to entry. I know this thing I love doing is something I’m not particularly great at doing. This is the situation I find myself in.</p><p>I’ve previously boasted about an <a href="https://www.scottcooley.com/awards" target="_blank">award t-shirt</a> I won, and some stats I became aware of, minuscule as they are, but it’s relative and I’m not into comparisons, so I’ve felt uneasy about doing it. If I attain increased measurable conventional success – like more streams or whatever – in the future, would I brag about it? Maybe a little, via an “understated” post in this blog probably, but that’s about it. 😊 The purpose would be that it might help me get more real fans somehow.</p><p>Overall, I feel fortunate to have this hobby, fortunate I’m able to make my music publicly discoverable and consumable, and very fortunate to have some true fans out there. For these reasons, I’m already wealthy, just not monetarily. I’ve got so many things in my personal life I’m thankful for that have nothing to do with money. So, by typing that, now I’m making you aware of it, which is not very stealth. So, I guess the answer is no, I don’t have stealth wealth in the music industry, but if I ever attain any, I know the outward appearance might help me get a bigger audience, so I’ll announce it, and you’ll see me on the slopes and lakes more often. There, I’ve arrived at the honest answer, finally.</p><p> </p>Scott Cooleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11992512474971171166noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4322553151785625714.post-41558583880414399942023-12-22T17:12:00.008-05:002023-12-22T18:25:22.588-05:00To Scott: You Won’t Get Paid Next Year For Your “Art”. Merry Christmas! (From Spotify)<h3 style="text-align: left;">The Inevitable Return Of Music Gatekeeping And Long-Tail Culling Will Cause My Demise As A Solo Artist</h3><p><br /></p><p>I sometimes read articles about the music industry, since I consider myself somewhat of a musician. I'm a pretender, I admit it. As someone who writes and records songs at home, I've been releasing albums for many years now as if I'm a real solo artist. As a result, I'm always curious to learn about how I could get more people interested in my music, how to increase the chances people will find it online and stream it and enjoy it. I would like fair compensation for my creative works, like we all would.</p><p><br /></p><p>Most people are probably aware that in recent years it has become increasingly easy to do what I do. Inexpensive recording equipment and music distribution services have allowed nearly anyone to get their music on Apple Music, Spotify, Amazon Music, and YouTube Music, right there alongside the likes of popular megastars like The Beatles or Taylor Swift, whether signed to a record label or not.</p><p><br /></p><p>I am a huge fan of YouTube Music myself, but am glad my music is available on all of the major ones. If you cared to, you could find information online that would show labels, distributors, publishers, and audio streaming services arguably don't want to have to pay artists. The labels seem to have lost the most power, and want it back, so naturally want to convince the streaming service providers to make changes that benefit them. Like politicians, they seem to say one thing and do another. Make promises they don't intend to keep. They want to cut costs wherever possible, and if they can devalue the creators along the way, and get away with paying them less, they will. </p><p><br /></p><p>The whole music business is full of companies that claim they don't make enough money, and they're constantly laying off employees and trying to find ways to pay artists less, while claiming to want to pay them more. Somehow, artist-friendly companies like Spotify claim I wasn't going to meet the royalty threshold by the distributor to get paid anyway, so might as well make a policy to give my pennies to the artists with the 1,000+/yr streamed songs. Doesn't seem very friendly.</p><p><br /></p><p>Such companies probably don't consider me an artist to begin with. They might call what I make "noise". My music might not be "art" depending on who is judging it. It's probably amateurish and not high-quality to most. Poor singing voice, sloppy instrument playing, lo-fi production. Anyway, it was already practically impossible to get noticed, and the powers that be are now making it even harder. </p><p><br /></p><p>Not long ago I read there are 100,000 new songs uploaded to those types of services every day. As a result, the record labels don't make as much money as they used to, and so now they are going to propose increased "gatekeeping" (more control over whose music gets released) and get the aforementioned music streaming platforms to agree to it.</p><p><br /></p><p>Their pitch will include a focus on improving the music streaming experience for the consumers. Fewer choices, higher quality music to choose from, more consumer satisfaction. It's really about getting a bigger slice of the pie for the superstars they've signed, and I doubt they care that there's a moral dilemma in kicking and keeping people like me out.</p><p><br /></p><p>Gatekeepers at Spotify have already returned, and others are likely to follow suit. They dominate music streaming. They’re like the government if you want people to hear your song nowadays. This isn’t China, where you can’t criticize the government, and it seems they’re wielding a bit too much power while constantly complaining they’re not profitable. As a solo artist who also claims I’m not profitable, their recent changes aren’t helping.</p><p><br /></p><p>On Spotify in 2024, if I release a song and it doesn't get streamed 1,000 times in a year, I don't get paid. Rewarding popularity is fine, but not paying for creative works is not fine. Everyone wants everything to be free. Everyone has a cousin who downloaded all the music ever recorded back in the Napster days who will put them on a USB drive for you. I'd rather pay. </p><p><br /></p><p>Music streaming services, like any tech company, can just change their terms whenever they want and you can choose to play by their new rules or not. Whether it’s an artist’s first release or not, until they achieve a certain amount of popularity, they are basically distributing their songs for free streaming, just like they would on SoundCloud, Bandcamp, or Free Music Archive. </p><p><br /></p><p>Tracks must have reached at least 1,000 streams in the previous 12 months in order to generate recorded royalties. Less than that don't reach artists because they supposedly do not surpass distributor's minimum payout thresholds. The reason is to increase the payments to tracks that do reach at least 1,000 streams in 12 months and deter artists from gaming the system with more tracks per album and more frequent track and album releases, I guess.</p><p><br /></p><p>The powers that be in the “professional” music business probably freak out any time a DIY artist does well without them. The bar to music creation and distribution has been lowered for a long time now, and record company executives are probably having meetings about devising methods to separate the wheat from the chaff, but at the same time discussing their fear of missing out on signing talent that they could have “nurtured”.</p><p><br /></p><p>Who says I need nurturing by a record company? With their lemming mentalities of copying whatever the latest successful trends are, their “support” would turn me into a cookie-cutter mainstream artist. They would preach that I should respond to every social media comment about my music to “engage” with the fanbase. They’d have me lip-syncing for sure, doing short tik-tok videos and AI remixes of my own songs, or whatever they think is the next new cool thing.</p><p><br /></p><p>Everyone with a computer – or even just a smartphone nowadays – can create their own beats and tracks and rap profanity over them and then submit them for streaming on Spotify, but that doesn’t mean they are skilled in the craft of songwriting. The record company “experts” say they are not deserving, legitimate creators because they threaten their slice of the royalty revenue. They complain about a wasteland of vapid garbage tracks uploaded by novices who do not possess innate talent. </p><p><br /></p><p>They probably don’t like a lesser-known DIY artist like me who writes emotional music from the heart not caring how many streams I get or how many playlists I’m on. I don’t pay any attention to what is popular at all because I don’t care. I contribute to what they see as over-saturation by hobbyist amateurs and they’re trying to find a way to weed me out and regain their industry gatekeeper status and giant profits.</p><p><br /></p><p>The funny thing is, today’s record companies seem lazy, never taking chances, and simply waiting for artists to create their own buzz before pouncing. If they can’t sign up the next viral sensation like that average Joe guy with the beard who wrote a song complaining about the rich men controlling his county in Virginia or wherever, they’re going to criticize him. Then if they do sign him to a deal, they’re going to ruin his appeal.</p><p><br /></p><p>I would hereby like to criticize them. The major labels are the biggest contributors to the deluge of watered-down music in the world. Ever since the 1970s, music has seemed to go downhill. The fake drum loops of the BeeGees and polished perfection of ABBA in the disco era led to the use of drum machines and synthesizers and rap in the 80s, on through to today where virtual instruments, quantization and auto-tuned vocals are the norm.</p><p><br /></p><p>Music tastes are subjective, and advances in music technology have always happened and will never stop. Generally, it makes music more palatable, but too much of it makes you wish you could transport yourself back in time to enjoy music live and acoustic and real. Pop music today is drastically different from pop music when I was a kid. People used to play real instruments and write songs with melodies. Not as much anymore.</p><p><br /></p><p>It's easy to complain, easy to say each generation is worse than before, easy to be an old nostalgic person yearning for the way things used to be. Hits are hits, unless manufactured by marketers manipulating the system. Payola has always existed, paying for fake streams, appearance of popularity causing more actual popularity. You like what you like, and that’s okay. Music was fed to me by radio, and that shaped what young people liked, and shaped my tastes.</p><p><br /></p><p>For an enthusiast/hobbyist like me, the streaming royalties are nominal anyway. Although I've sold some physical CDs, there's no demand for them anymore. Streaming is so convenient. By now I am possibly what they call a more established "long-tail" artist, having released 11 albums so far, but the more of me there are out there, the less we all get.</p><p><br /></p><p>As a self-releasing singer/songwriter "niche" artist, mainstream popularity was never going to be in the cards for me, nor was getting signed to a record deal even at an independent label. Lets face it: even in the pre-digital music world, the middlemen gatekeepers would not have let me in. AI curation in the future will limit exposure to artists like me somehow. They'll make sure I don't get suggested or recommended in those "you may also like..." lists.</p><p><br /></p><p>Inevitably, the music streaming services will have more quality control in the future, using algorithms to weed out the really bad music, and they'll also probably hire young people to be music screeners. It is highly likely my music will not suit their taste in music. They'll probably start charging way more to get your songs on the services as well. The nominal pennies I would've made next year will go to those who get (or purchase) more streams than me. Merry Christmas more popular artists, from Scott.</p><p><br /></p><p>What young 20-something kid Music Screener / Curator / Sounds Like Recommendation Programmer is going to like an artist who primarily strums an acoustic guitar, doesn't have a great singing voice, and is an old white guy with obviously home-recorded music? I see my future, and as a pretend musician in the first place, I won't survive. It will be increasingly difficult for people to find my music online, so there will not be any lasting impact at all.</p><p><br /></p><p>I'm not giving up yet, but I'm realizing the end is near. The writing is on the wall. The beginning of the powers that be weeding me out, not letting me in the gate. It was fun for a while to have my music be "out there" and discoverable, and to know that a few people did discover some of it, and a few of them liked some of it, and a few of those looked for more and looked forward to more. It's a strange industry that has been through significant changes, and at least I can say I was a part of it for a while, on the fringes anyway.</p><p><br /></p><p>I recently thought I’d check my popularity on Spotify. For song streams, they say they have (suspiciously) ended support for data leading up to the year 2020. When I check my “all time” stats, here’s my top ten:</p><p><br /></p><p><b>#<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span> Title<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span> <span> </span>Streams</b></p><p>1.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Mackinac Island<span style="white-space: pre;"> <span> </span><span> <span> </span><span> </span></span></span>25,884</p><p>2.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The River of No Return<span style="white-space: pre;"> <span> </span><span> </span><span> </span></span>281</p><p>3.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>I Did a Bad Thing<span style="white-space: pre;"> <span> </span><span> <span> </span><span> </span><span> </span></span></span>251</p><p>4.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Puttin' Up a Pole Barn<span style="white-space: pre;"> <span> </span><span> </span><span> </span></span>125</p><p>5.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Whatever Floats Your Boat<span style="white-space: pre;"> <span> </span></span>101</p><p>6.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Smitten With the Mitten<span style="white-space: pre;"> <span> </span><span> </span><span> </span></span>89</p><p>7.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Shred Betty<span style="white-space: pre;"> <span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span></span>66</p><p>8.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Algoma Central Blues<span style="white-space: pre;"> <span> </span><span> </span><span> </span></span>52</p><p>9.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Cherchez La Femme<span style="white-space: pre;"> <span> </span><span> </span><span> </span></span>51</p><p>10.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>In My El Camino<span style="white-space: pre;"> <span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span></span>43</p><p><br /></p><p>Looks like unless I become a 2-hit wonder next year, I’ll only get paid for one song, and not the other 140 Scott Cooley songs you can stream on Spotify. Maybe my “hit” Mackinac Island will continue to bring in a few fractions of pennies for a while, but the writing is on the wall. Thanks Spotify. Merry Christmas. They tell you that you likely won’t get paid at all except for that one song probably, but then they send you a “wrapped” gift link thing to make you feel great about it with a bunch of other meaningless stats that don’t monetarily amount to anything. Hit play to watch me click through it:</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='575' height='478' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dzFlqXnApCqzmDozfqD2fWkF2XbqumP4EqpzUxa3Keoe9hTaXMeop0TYgFBMY7H_V4KN35niY0R1Afpzc0PQQ' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><br /><p><br /></p><p> </p>Scott Cooleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11992512474971171166noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4322553151785625714.post-78168308233401205572023-11-03T22:46:00.006-04:002023-11-03T23:03:16.473-04:00Just Some Guy Who Will Die Eventually...Who Likes Trying To Write SongsSomeday, I won't be alive anymore. The bleak thought of the grim reaper coming for us creeps in from time to time, so why not write about it to my non-existent readers? It's what you do when you have your own blog. You do it because you can. Just like you write and record songs because you can, releasing them to non-existent fans of your music. There's always the possibility readers and fans will materialize, and if not while you're alive, maybe after death. Hope.<div><br /></div><div>I will be remembered by a few close family and friends, some of whom knew I liked to write and record songs....and then write about writing and recording once in a while. Beyond them, there are some other people out there in the world who became aware of my music somehow, listened to it, and actually liked it. I can't tell you how much this pleases me. Maybe my music will still be findable for a while after I'm not around anymore, and I like knowing that. Some of it I am proud of, and until that day comes as it does for us all, I will have had a really fun creative hobby I'm thankful for.<div>
<br />You think about these kinds of things occasionally when you're an aging pretend solo artist. Aside from that, some of those people may have also discovered I had the boldness to create and maintain a web site about myself as a solo artist, and further, a personal blog I wrote about my hobby. These probably won't be around long after my demise, and eventually, only a few scraps of information about me will remain.</div><div>
<br />A guy with a bad singing voice who could barely strum some basic chords on a guitar wrote what he thought were pretty good songs, recorded them, and then released them as albums every couple years for a couple decades. <b>Bold</b> is probably the best word to describe all of this, and I've been bold during a time when changes to the music industry made it possible - inexpensive home recording equipment, the internet, aggregator distributors, streaming tech, etc. </div><div><br /></div><div>I haven't been fearless, but I faced the fear and released the music anyway...consistently. Bold might be another way of saying things like: doesn't know when to give up, confident without a reason to be, blissfully ignorant of lack of talent, or should've been embarassed or ashamed, but wasn't.</div><div>
<br />I took advantage while it was possible to do it all myself and get it out into the world. The powers that be are certainly already having meetings about how to curtail people like me in the future. I'm sure the gatekeepers will exert their strength again soon. But while such a thing was possible, I had the guts to give it a try, be vulnerable, put my music out there, all while knowing it wasn't anywhere close to being as good as music that I myself enjoy listening to.</div><div>
<br />I've done all this at a time when the hard rock music I grew up on was fading from popularity. Also during this time, it was hard to find any rock music where the strumming of an acoustic guitar was the primary instrument. Instead, I released music during a couple of decades in which rap and hip-hop and electronic music rose in popularity and dominated. I basically did the complete opposite of what a record company would have wanted me to do.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ2t2A2QjQI1SKBWGK82VLygWVQ8P6hw83Ya56Vv-z_QLA_leOk8OSOMrP7Oi9Cn67An5CVikUnpjYXo8IrKXCYC_jzH0BJV7nksOPUZ1JyWp2BqI_3I_ZmRDWgY7V34o10Nf7LQKbf31dWZRq8soWc54f9Ky52Vo6uXDknktW3Q-ZWVyYxVPrgMKSqBs/s1332/Gustave_Dore%CC%81_-_Death_on_the_Pale_Horse_(1865).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1332" data-original-width="1000" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ2t2A2QjQI1SKBWGK82VLygWVQ8P6hw83Ya56Vv-z_QLA_leOk8OSOMrP7Oi9Cn67An5CVikUnpjYXo8IrKXCYC_jzH0BJV7nksOPUZ1JyWp2BqI_3I_ZmRDWgY7V34o10Nf7LQKbf31dWZRq8soWc54f9Ky52Vo6uXDknktW3Q-ZWVyYxVPrgMKSqBs/w150-h200/Gustave_Dore%CC%81_-_Death_on_the_Pale_Horse_(1865).jpg" width="150" /></a></div><br /><div>From the scraps of remaining information about me, if there is still any interest, curious fans might wonder why there's no live footage of me performing shows. Well, I never played shows because I know I'm not very good, and I only release recordings because I can make myself sound a little bit better than if I were playing live. I did play live in the late 80s & early 90s for a few years, but it was before the internet and cell phones caught on. It's a unique hobby in that the writing and recording parts that I enjoy can be done from your home.</div><div>
<br />I'm basically a private person and probably an introvert who doesn't like to venture out in public much, and I don't crave attention. I did love the applause and compliments when I did play in front of audiences, but I had stage fright, and I knew bars full of mostly people I knew who were drunk was only "polite" applause and not that real.</div><div>
<br />When you don't ever play live anywhere, no one is ever going to write about you, and I'm not going to submit my music to hopefully get some music blogger to review it. If someone out there wants to find my music, listen to it, and then write about it and post it online, they can. They haven't yet, and probably won't. If it's positive, yeah, of course I wouldn't mind knowing about it, but if negative, it might crush me.</div><div>
<br />It felt great and like I didn't really deserve it at the same time, and I realized I wasn't ever going to be a great performer or entertainer or band member. I was realistic about my chances of ever going beyond being a guy in some lame local rock band playing covers, and there wasn't any scene I was aware of for a solo acoustic guitar guy playing original songs. So, there, now the curiosity will be satisfied if people find this old blog post after I'm not around anymore.</div><div>
<br />If I could talk to my younger self fresh out of college in my early 20s, I might suggest heading to Nashville and trying to just be a songwriter. That's the part of music I love most and would have the best chance of doing. I would tell that self to get a day job while not giving up on writing and pitching for at least a decade. If that didn't pan out, maybe some other job in the music business would present itself that I thought would be interesting and that I could be good at.</div><div>
<br />How to sum up how I think I'll be remembered for a while? Some guy who liked to write songs, started releasing his home demos of them, couldn't sing or play very well, or be a recording engineer for that matter, but just did it anyway, for a couple decades, and didn't give up because it was an inexpensive, fun hobby. None of his songs ever became popular, hardly anyone ever found out about him or his music, and his songs weren't that great, unfortunately, but he was a decent guy who had fun trying.</div><div>
<br />That's probably just about it for the public persona stuff. Oh, and he was bold enough to write a web site and blog about himself as a solo artist too. He thought it would help, but it didn't. Oh well. If you never knew me personally, the music might live on for a while, along with a few photographs, but that's about it. Birth and death dates, basic stats, an obit, etc.</div><div>
<br />It's all somewhat a posing, pretending thing, but on the other hand, the songs and music are real, at least for now, they're still floating out there, ready to be found and listened to and liked and recommended. Some of that has actually happened, and it makes me feel good to know it. My music is not for everyone, and I'm not sure what it is people like about for the ones who do. I can only imagine that they appreciate that I'm just some guy - a self-taught, do-it-all-myself guy, who just decided to go for it.</div><div>
<br />Maybe you can hear what I'm not writing so far, which is that what I'd really like is for someone to actually say they like my songs and music, that they hear great potential in them...beyond the few close family and friend politeness compliments that are guaranteed for everyone with a creative hobby. Strangers writing publicly that they hear something special that I can read while still alive. Maybe that is the pipe dream I'm wishing for but not admitting.</div><div>
<br />It's probably not in the cards for me to have a posthumous increase in popularity like Nick Drake who went from unnoticed obscurity in life to people showing up at his grave and childhood home and bugging his sister and stuff like that starting a decade after he died until today. </div><div><br /></div><div> Highly unlikely, but isn't there a part of all of us who can admit now while living that such a similar thing happening to us after we're dead would at least be just a little bit cool in some way? Am I self-deprecating as a shield for potential negative reviews, so I let it be known I never thought I was better than I really was? I wish I didn't care about how I'll be remembered, but admit I do a little bit.</div><div>
<br />I have a style of my own. I don't know how to describe it though. Just a guy with a background and influences like everyone else, having a good time with a hobby, but without a clue what makes it interesting to others. I wish others would describe it for me, but no one writes about my music, nor have I ever asked anyone to. It would be interesting to learn why people like it and how they would describe it. I literally have no idea.</div><div>
<br />Maybe that's why I still do it though - because I don't have any critics bringing me down and making me want to quit. I'll keep at it until I die probably. I've been a quitter in several other areas of my life, but so far, not with songwriting. It's an enjoyable quest to keep trying to write a really good song someday. Actually, I don't try at all, I just write when inspired to do so without any goal to intentionally write a good one, but it would be cool if I did accidentally. The dream lives on.
</div></div>Scott Cooleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11992512474971171166noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4322553151785625714.post-9314241867707828152023-08-10T14:46:00.000-04:002023-09-29T10:40:34.614-04:00Feeling Like An Outsider<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;">When you're an amateur songwriter and solo artist like me who releases music to stream in the same places where you can stream the professional mainstream artists, you definitely feel like a pretender and an outsider.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/27/Hi_How_Are_You_Austin_2005.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="663" data-original-width="800" height="166" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/27/Hi_How_Are_You_Austin_2005.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><br /><p>Could my music be "outsider" music? Maybe. There are so many styles of music and genres and sub-genres out there, and this is another one I've become more aware of recently. It's a way of describing music that borrows from the term "outsider art" which describes art made by people who didn't have formal training and didn't hang out with any other artists. I say that in past tense because usually their art was discovered after they died. </p><p><br /></p><p>Here are a bunch of aspects of outsider music and my thoughts about how if at all, my music might qualify:</p><p><br /></p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><b>The "Un"s</b>: Untrained, unpopular, uncommercial, underground, unconventional, unwilling to collaborate, unintential renegade, under the radar, untalented, unsophisticated, etc.. These could all apply to my music I suppose in one way or another.</li></ul><p></p><p><br /></p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><b>No traditional experience</b>: Other than playing in a few very short-lived bands and/or duos with only a handful of actual paying gigs in bars in my early 20s, and a few public performances at open mic nights over the years, I've only played live in front of family and friends. My musical experience has been very infrequent and sporadic in that sense, and I never really practice at all. However, I've consistently written and recorded songs by myself for a few decades now.</li></ul><p></p><p><br /></p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><b>Lo-fi overlap</b>: Outsider music is not typically made in a real recording studio. I record everything myself in my house using cheap equipment I've purchased, and it's definitely independent and unprofessional. I have an acoustic, analog sound but I use some digital technology. The production quality is low, and I don't use much quality control. Leaving in accidental imperfections is a deliberate choice for me.</li></ul><p></p><p><br /></p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><b>Lack of self-awareness</b>: I'm self-conscious about my music, I know it's not anywhere close to the popular mainstream, yet I do it anyway. Releasing my music to the world despite being laughably incompetent is to me just being bold. I am afraid of the vulnerability, but I've consistently concquered that fear by hitting the Submit button to distribute the music.</li></ul><p></p><p><br /></p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><b>Self-taught</b>: I took a few piano lessons as a child, then was permitted to quit by my parents after requesting it. I also took an Intro to Guitar course my Senior year in college, and got a B, and didn't learn much except a few blues boogie patterns. In both cases, the teaching approach was to learn to read music notation first, which was intimidating and overwhelming to me. I also took Intro to Poetry, which may have helped me understand some basics of lyrics, but it was before I learned to play guitar.</li></ul><p></p><p><br /></p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><b>Naive</b>: This means no formal education or training, which I just covered in the previous bullet. I admit my music is rough, raw, unsophisticated and primitive - all adjectives for naive art and naive music - but I've not been completely isolated from listening to music, which I've done a lot of. Also, I have very occasionally jammed with other musicians and learned from them. I've also had the internet, which I've used to look up a few music-related and songwriting-related bits of information.</li></ul><p></p><p><br /></p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><b>Childlike qualities</b>: I have some songs that might be considered children's music, and I know some children like some of my music. I definitely have some novelty songs, and my lyrics are occasionally funny. I'm not burdoned by a lot of knowledge about music, and I'm definitely an immature person even though I'm a few years away from senior citizen age.</li></ul><p></p><p><br /></p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><b>Mental illness</b>: Marketing-wise it makes for a better story if a musician has a serious diagnosis like schizophrenia, but I have no such diagnosis to report. It would be easy to make a joke about this one, but there seems to be an undercurrent of this in creative people who are not in much contact with the conventions of mainstream culture. I am not a part of any sort of music scene at all. I definitely make my music in total isolation, and I have experienced some mental health struggles.</li></ul><p></p><p><br /></p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><b>Posthumous discovery</b>: Not many people have discovered my music and it is possible more will discover it after my death. I would like that, if I were able to become aware of it somehow, but who knows?</li></ul><p></p><p><br /></p><p>All of those points could be construed as either negative or positive depending on your perspective. The positives of outsider music are:</p><p><br /></p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><b>Complete creative control</b>: Most music people listen to is the result of major corporate record labels following trends and marketing plans to make a profit. Sometimes even governments pay to train kids to be superstars like these K-Pop artists. Photoshopped and focus-grouped. Mine is not "music by committee". Mine has no outside influence at all.</li></ul><p></p><p><br /></p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><b>Authenticity</b>: I write and record my music exactly how I intend it. I'm influenced by music I've heard before, but don't ever intentionally try to copy anyone. I get it close to how I imagined it as best I can with my limited abilities. I don't release it if I don't find something about it pleasing to me. Whether you find it aesthetically pleasing or not, is a matter of taste and philosophy.</li></ul><p></p><p><br /></p><p>I conclude that I just don't care. If I label my music as such, and it attracts fans of The Shaggs or Captain Beefheart or Larry "Wild Man" Fischer or Daniel Johnston, then that would be cool and all, but the music journalists and critics who come up with the definitions of these labels would probably say I don't qualify, and that is also cool with me. </p><p><br /></p><p>Although I love outdoor recreation, like skiing, sailing, hiking, and even playing music outside, I spend most of my time indoors. I am likely an introvert if you care about such things, I think because I crave time to myself. I know when I've hung around other songwriters and musicians I've definitely felt like an outsider, and I prefer to just do my own thing alone.</p><p><br /></p><p>Don't get me wrong though - in the highly unlikely event that my music all of a sudden became popular and some record company or manager thought I could sell tickets to shows and tour and suggested I put a band together - I would do it in a heartbeat. I'd find a drummer, bass player, and keyboard player, practice to learn my songs, then go out and play and love it. Then I'd no doubt get tired of the traveling and decide to take a break, but they wouldn't want me to. Pressures would set in. If you watch music documentaries or read interviews with popular musical acts, you know how the story goes. It would be fun for a while though! As an arguable outsider musician, fortunately I have no such pressure. :)</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Scott Cooleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11992512474971171166noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4322553151785625714.post-38908007443568138212023-07-12T16:18:00.002-04:002023-09-29T10:42:31.564-04:00Acoustic Guitar Solos - Why They Are An Important Part of the Scott Cooley Signature Sound<p>As a music consumer, I love perfect music that uses electric instruments, don't get me wrong, but as a musician, I prefer unplugging, especially for solos. I know this drastically goes against mainstream music trends. Boston's first album was one of my first albums I owned as a kid and I loved their perfect sound with awesome electric guitar solos, harmony guitar, and electric organ. Every song was flawless and sounded like it was from the future.</p><p><br /></p><p>As a musician though, there are times when you are sitting around in a basement, living room or garage with at least one other person and you're both jamming together on acoustic guitars. Inevitably, in such sessions, you will get an opportunity to play a solo during an instrumental break section of a song. </p><p><br /></p><p>You're so excited about your chance to really shine that you grip the pick a little too hard and overplay a bit because you're a tad overenthusiastic. The results can often be underwhelming as compared to what you imagined in your mind because you picked too harshly, which is an easy mistake to make with an acoustic guitar. </p><p><br /></p><p>Although I'm not sure how to explain exactly what is going on, but there's like an unintentional muting that can happen. In these moments, you find your fingers press down too hard on the strings too. Somehow you sort of want it to sound more like an electric guitar solo, and to stand out volume-wise over the other acoustic guitars, but overdoing it takes away some desired sustain so you overcompensate for that subconsciously. To me, despite being sonically imperfect and possibly undesirable, it is actually pleasing to my ears.</p><p><br /></p><p>I am of the opinion that the aforementioned sound is more fun to listen to than an electric guitar solo played through an amp with effects. You can hear the purity and joy and desire in there. There's a raw sound of passion, and it produces fist-pumping adrenaline in the listener, which I suspect releases a rush of dopamine.</p><p><br /></p><p>It's times like these that are often the most memorable as a musician participant, and for the audience. Through my own informal research and testing and observation over many years, I've come to believe there's some honest truth to this theory, despite a lack of any real scientific proof. When someone wants to rock harder than they're capable of - either with their technical ability or their equipment - you can hear that. It's hard to explain but you know it when you hear it. I happen to love that, whatever it is.</p><p><br /></p><p>This is why I prefer to record such moments and incorporate them as key ingredients in my signature sound. Yes, it has an amateur quality to it, but there's something about hearing great potential in your mind of what could be or could've been that is arguably better than a fully realized perfect version with high production value. I argue it IS better to listen to this way.</p><p><br /></p><p>We can't all play smooth and fast on acoustic like Billy Strings, and we all have our own style and influences. In the 70s and 80s, I grew up on what is now called classic rock, but there was also punk, disco, and new wave in there, so it was confusing. The music I liked best had great guitar solos, which may not happen much anymore in modern music, but I also loved acoustic music, and in my mind I've always had similarly weird ideas that acoustic music doesn't have to limited to folk and can have drums and bass too. I also think leaving in a few imperfections in a recording can be fine. Happy accidents.</p><p><br /></p><p>I actually like knowing my signature sound makes people envision being at a house concert, or just hanging around their musician friends jamming in someone's house. Informal, intimate, not doctored up too much with technology. Maybe it's my fond memories of such times that skew my preference for the acoustic guitar solo, making me think it's cooler than it really is, so I can consider that. </p><p><br /></p><p>In the meantime, the best advice I've ever heard about being a songwriter/recording artist is to simply do what pleases you. If you yourself like it, chances are others probably will too.</p><p><br /></p>Scott Cooleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11992512474971171166noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4322553151785625714.post-67574370563048427002023-06-01T13:45:00.000-04:002023-09-29T10:43:02.763-04:00A Would-Be Songwriter's Conundrum<p>It’s confusing to know whether you’re a songwriter or not. It’s difficult to know what the qualifications are, as there is no one authoritative source that defines such things. The question is one of earning money and popularity. You can tell people you are one, and then you can worry if that is being dishonest. You don’t want to be dishonest.</p><p style="clear: both;">Since you’re reading this, you likely already have an idea that I’m one of the many people in the world who write and record songs that you can listen to via web streaming. I used to tell people I did it as a hobby, and then technology evolved to allow me to offer my recordings of my songs to the world. Does this make me more of a songwriter, or am I still just a would-be songwriter?</p><p style="clear: both;">I like to write songs and record them, and I’ll probably keep doing it because it’s fun. I shouldn’t care if I’m self-taught, and I shouldn’t care if I can safely say it’s something I know how to do or not. A part of me feels like a poser and questions the legitimacy of what I do. I can’t help it that my thoughts drift off to wondering whether I’m faking it or not, whether I’m a fraud, whether I can claim to be one or not.</p><p style="clear: both;">You can write a song and play it, that’s one thing. Another is you can record it. The permanent record serves as proof. It can be an art and a craft. There are basic elements songs should have like a melody, and unless an instrumental composition, lyrics and rhyme. Some of the definitions you can look up say in addition to writing the music and the words, you can especially be considered a songwriter if the song is popular. Defining popularity is another conundrum.</p><p style="clear: both;">I call myself a songwriter, but a part of me wonders if I’m qualified to be able to say that. I write songs, record them, and then distribute them to music streaming services. As someone who takes an autonomous, do-it-yourself approach, I produce and publish music independently from commercial record labels. If I were young, I would try to achieve both professional status in some way and popularity with my songs.</p><p style="clear: both;">I would definitely feel more confident telling people I am a songwriter if I achieved any of these:</p><p style="clear: both;">•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Hit: I wrote and recorded a song that had mainstream popularity</p><p style="clear: both;">•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Signed: I wrote and recorded songs but was signed to a record label</p><p style="clear: both;">•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Staff: I was a staff writer under employment contract for a publisher</p><p style="clear: both;">•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Cut: I could say I wrote a song that a label-signed artist recorded</p><p style="clear: both;">•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Placement: I could say I wrote a song used in a movie or TV show</p><p style="clear: both;">I’ve done none of the above, so you could say I’m definitely not a professional, but as an amateur using a digital aggregator distribution service with my own publishing and label, I have actually earned some royalty income.</p><p style="clear: both;">From my humble home studio near Flint, Michigan, I’m not in the ideal situation for going after any of those. I’ll never be a great singer, so if I was advising my 20-yr. old self, I’d tell me to move to Nashville.</p><p style="clear: both;">It’s important to focus on what you do have going for you though. Occasionally taking stock in what you’re good at, and what you have to offer, can get you fired up to keep doing more of it. It also presents an opportunity to tell people what makes you unique and stand out among the others. Some people have more natural abilities than others, and you can’t be good at everything, but it’s fun to try. Although delegation and collaboration and specialization can have benefits for songwriters, it is very satisfying to be able to say you did everything yourself without anyone’s help when it comes to anything creative.</p><p style="clear: both;">Some things I’m proud of:</p><p style="clear: both;">•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>I‘m the sole writer of my songs</p><p style="clear: both;">•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>I write the music and the lyrics</p><p style="clear: both;">•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>I play all of the instruments</p><p style="clear: both;">•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>I’m the beatmaker</p><p style="clear: both;">•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>I’m the top-liner</p><p style="clear: both;">•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>I’m the arranger</p><p style="clear: both;">•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>I’m the producer</p><p style="clear: both;">•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>My house is my studio</p><p style="clear: both;">•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>I’m the recording engineer</p><p style="clear: both;">•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>I’m the mixing engineer</p><p style="clear: both;">•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>I’m the mastering engineer</p><p style="clear: both;">•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>I’m the video producer</p><p style="clear: both;">•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>I’m the publisher</p><p style="clear: both;">•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>I’m the label</p><p style="clear: both;">•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>I’m the marketer</p><p style="clear: both;">•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>My own webmaster</p><p style="clear: both;">•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>I’ve released over 100 songs</p><p style="clear: both;">I am self-taught in all of the above!</p><p style="clear: both;">I don’t co-write, and in this era, in which a famous artist like Beyonce lists 20 different songwriters on a single song, it is somewhat unusual.</p><p style="clear: both;">I’ve had no lessons other than a single Intro To Guitar course my Senior year in college, yet I can play rhythm, lead, slide, fingerpicking and bass guitar. Piano, organ, harmonica, ukulele, mandolin, marimba, drums and percussion too – all me, all self-taught.</p><p style="clear: both;">I’ve never used a real recording studio, and I’ve never had another musician play on any of my songs…except accordion by my wife on a few.</p><p style="clear: both;">I would be willing to bet that even though I think figuring out how to do all of the above myself makes me special, there are millions of others out there. The world is a big place. Many of them are probably also good at skiing. Nonetheless, I think you should be impressed, because looking back, I’m impressed I figured all this out too. I’m not sure why all of this seemed interesting to me, but it did.</p><p style="clear: both;">As you can see, I am a lot more than just a songwriter, and being able to do all of these related things might help my case for being able to rightfully call myself a songwriter. </p><p style="clear: both;">I think the quantity thing has to score me a few points too in favor of being able to self-apply the songwriter to my identity. A lot of people with a guitar or piano will tell you they’ve written hundreds of songs, but there’s no proof. I have actually publicly released and formally published and copyrighted around 150 original songs. You can find the proof online, so there’s that. One could argue that I’m quite prolific.</p><p style="clear: both;">Popularity is another thing. How to define it? All you can do is compare the streaming stats in this day and age. It’s relative. Some of my songs have a measure of popularity then, and some of them are mor e popular than others, and some of them are more popular than other songwriter/artists’ songs.</p><p style="clear: both;">Let’s face it: Although I’ve made a little money, I’m not a professional. Although I’ve had some streams, I don’t have any real popularity. People wouldn’t say either of those about me, and I don’t say them about myself. Not a pro, not popular.</p><p style="clear: both;">You can’t argue against those two statements, and being a popular pro is a part of most definitions of ‘songwriter’, so therefore, I am not a songwriter.</p><p style="clear: both;">Being good is another thing, the whole judgement thing, appreciation being objective and all that. Everyone has close friends and family who dish out compliments about their creative art projects. Polite applause at the open mic night, the gig at the bar filled with people who know you. Sales and streams can be measured, yet we all suspect that record company promotion and marketing and advertising can manufacture success through hype and create popularity when it isn’t necessarily deserved or organic.</p><p style="clear: both;">You can write what you think are songs, you can play them, you can record them, you can even try to sell them on the internet. You think they not only might qualify as being actual songs, but also you think they might even be pretty good. You wonder if a great singer could really make them sound like great songs, like way better than even you could've imagined when you wrote them. </p><p style="clear: both;">You wonder if such a thing might even be a realistic possibility. When you're not a good singer or performer yourself though, and thus can't really deliver the songs in a state that would prove they're pretty good, you think to really be able to call yourself a songwriter, you need to have someone who is a really good singer and performer record your songs. Getting "cuts" is the one thing that would certainly validate your hobby. </p><p style="clear: both;">Are you really a songwriter? Most people can hit a dance floor and move around a bit, but can't really call themselves dancers. Lots of people go on talent shows on TV thinking they can sing, but the millions of viewers think otherwise. Getting a song you wrote recorded by a famous singer is the holy grail if you're like me and can't sing well yourself. You think your songs might be good enough for such a thing, but you're not sure. So, you look into how to go about making such a thing happen. </p><p style="clear: both;">You'd like to be a songwriter who has his songs recorded by famous artists, but you don't live in a place like Nashville or New York or Los Angeles where the famous artists are. You know the experts advise you to move to one of those places to have a chance among the massive competition, but you're not willing to do that. You can try to pitch via email, have an online presence, even release your own demos, but dread the hassle and fear the rejection, so you don't do it. You know the successful songwriters move to Nashville and pay for top-quality demos, then pitch them in person after networking like crazy. </p><p style="clear: both;">You know that your singing and instrument-playing and home recording capabilities on your self-made demos are not that good, but you can't afford to pay for pro session singers, musicians, recording engineers or real studio time. You research services like TAXI who supposedly once in a while get songwriter's songs to famous recording artists, movie/TV music supervisors, record labels, and publishing companies, but in reality, they are in California and primarily get radio-ready songs to their connections in the movie and tv business. They also offer critiques and tell you your demos do not have that radio-ready quality yet. You pay them to tell you this, which you already know. So that won't work, so you don't pay them. </p><p style="clear: both;">You're not a great performer, so you don't go that route of trying to get paid gigs as a solo artist yourself. Such is the conundrum of the non-performing songwriter who doesn't have much money and doesn't live in a place like Nashville. You can't really hit an open mic night at a bar and have an A&R guy in the audience approach you to have his major-label artist record the great song you just played. </p><p style="clear: both;">There's not even much of a songwriter community for you to network with locally where you live, or even much of a music scene for that matter, so the odds are not in your favor. About the best you can do is to keep writing, recording, and releasing, and hope you can increase the sales without any money to promote, market, or advertise your records. You can't afford to have decent music videos. You hope for viral recommendation via social media. You know some independent artists pay for fake likes and follows to artificially make their music appear to be more popular, which can actually make it more popular, but you refuse to stoop to such unethical tactics. </p><p style="clear: both;">Even if you were able to move to Nashville, you know that for songwriters, it's the equivalent of thinking you can act and moving to Hollywood. There's gonna be a ton of other people from the small towns of America who flock there seeking to realize the same dream. Where they are from, there were hardly any other people who could write songs at all, or act at all, so of course for their area, they were perhaps not bad, and perhaps think they're better than they really are. </p><p style="clear: both;">The cream rises to the top, as you know, and the vast majority of the rest give up and move home or serve people food in restaurants or whatever. You don't really know for sure if you don't ever try, I guess. It can take years of putting yourself in the right places with the right people at the right times for the now-successful ones who "made it" to get where they got. </p><p style="clear: both;">You know all of this. You also personally know people who made the pilgrimage to Hollywood or Nashville or New York and came back being able to say they at least tried to be an actor or dancer or musician or singer or songwriter, and you wonder if they'd been better off never having attempted it in the first place. You learn from hearing their stories, reading on the internet, forming your own opinions, taking it all into consideration as you wonder if you could have better luck.</p><p style="clear: both;">Sometimes I think I barely know what I’m doing. Lyrics, melodies, harmony, rhythm, vocals – yes, what I make checks these boxes. <b>Words set to music, meant to be sung</b>. I’ve created a lot of these. Based on that alone, I guess I can say I’m a songsmith.</p><p style="clear: both;">At this point in my life, I’m not going to move to Nashville or subscribe to pitch sheets and submit my demos to labels, publishers, agents or artist managers. I’m not going to network in person or online. I’m not going after cuts, placements, employment, or record deals. What I am going to keep doing is writing songs, recording “demos” and just releasing those demos as a pretend solo recording artist myself. Maybe the streams will increase, maybe not.</p><p style="clear: both;">You only really wonder about these things when not in creative mode. You’re wishing you were more popular, more legitimate. You wish you made more than fractions of a penny for each stream. You are reminded of this type of thing when you get a report on your “success” from one of the streaming services such as this one from Spotify that I just got:</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM5JTf3FZa2dmOiqsDv9C7P7iXtIG8HjO4CsfSLARo7FvqGANX_IvnC-A79aeACQeCO4hp24DBuPv1CifgGELtOyZWlvrGaapBmv5FULqF4YvEQkoj7bdtWt9oH69h8p7xJ5UEgObyJqkfcaKPUUCdXxpiE52aVB2ZwEBB_vCqZiE0TwVuyrlq8efI/s2312/high%20notes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1658" data-original-width="2312" height="458" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM5JTf3FZa2dmOiqsDv9C7P7iXtIG8HjO4CsfSLARo7FvqGANX_IvnC-A79aeACQeCO4hp24DBuPv1CifgGELtOyZWlvrGaapBmv5FULqF4YvEQkoj7bdtWt9oH69h8p7xJ5UEgObyJqkfcaKPUUCdXxpiE52aVB2ZwEBB_vCqZiE0TwVuyrlq8efI/w640-h458/high%20notes.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p style="clear: both;">Some creative art works can be easily made from your home, and songs are included. They can also be made available for public consumption from your home. Twenty years ago, this was not the case. In May of this year, according to Spotify, I had 186 listeners, an increase of 94% over April. Might even add up to over one penny this time, who knows. Does having a monthly increase in streaming stats mean I can call myself a songwriter yet? Still don’t know. Does the appearance of popularity beget more popularity? They say it does. Does using the word ‘beget’ make me cool? Definitely. Is this all an example of <b>humble bragging</b>? Yah, you betchya. I write about this kind of thing a lot to make sense of it, and I keep coming back to an overall feeling of being in the right place at the right time for this to be possible, and feeling fortunate I am able to do it. Thanks for being a reader and listener!</p><div><br /></div><p><br /></p>Scott Cooleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11992512474971171166noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4322553151785625714.post-42386789107535920192023-05-09T13:38:00.000-04:002023-09-29T10:44:08.782-04:00 Twitter Blues<p>Short bursts of inconsequential information. Microblogging. Not for me. I'm a long-form blogger, here on Blogger. I prefer long bursts of inconsequential information. Nonetheless, I joined Twitter in 2008 and have tweeted a few times per year on average I guess ever since, mostly just to tell the world I have new music out there. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKG1m__rYdO2bwJjrKCXNdTxAiDAmbLJQolydC7oZF3LOyppLwP-FVBcccVB8eQIlhH4YiqpkDJ8pXzLUa_03MmAaIHRX6OYe1Qkx_dvWtDug2CxhDkPBxFROsH5kMydnxLemCGljlKQvSMNmlEb1fl359iUDuwrZiVhnrllN58AGIheVhug8iMW9Y/s86/blue%20check.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="86" data-original-width="86" height="86" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKG1m__rYdO2bwJjrKCXNdTxAiDAmbLJQolydC7oZF3LOyppLwP-FVBcccVB8eQIlhH4YiqpkDJ8pXzLUa_03MmAaIHRX6OYe1Qkx_dvWtDug2CxhDkPBxFROsH5kMydnxLemCGljlKQvSMNmlEb1fl359iUDuwrZiVhnrllN58AGIheVhug8iMW9Y/s1600/blue%20check.jpg" width="86" /></a></div><br /><p>A part of the appeal of social media for musical acts is to update existing fans about your music-making activities and to hopefully attract new fans. Most social media is free, so that aspect is also appealing.</p><p><br /></p><p>Another part of the appeal is to appear more important than you really are. People seem to use it to make themselves out to be authorities on various subjects, and experts in various things. They even go so far as to use it to become influencers and to get famous for fame's sake.</p><p><br /></p><p>In case you're a new reader to my blog, I am an entertainer, but not a famous one. I write songs and record them, and social media helps people like me "establish an online presence" which presumably helps with making people aware that I have music available to potentially enjoy.</p><p><br /></p><p>Like a lot of musicians and artists, I prefer to focus on the creativity and don't get into self-promotion, but at the same time, wish my music was more popular. I dread even the smallest activity like a short simple tweet to announce a new album release, but I do it anyway because it's somewhat necessary.</p><p><br /></p><p>I've never warmed up to social media and mostly think of it as a waste of my time. When it was new, I tried to snag the "scottcooley" user name before the other Scott Cooleys did, so I'd have that coveted URL suffix or whatever those are called. You wouldn't think I'd have much trouble like the John Smiths out there do, but there are a surprising number of Scott Cooleys in the world. One where I got in and snagged it early enough was twitter, so my handle on there is @scottcooley, and the link is https://www.twitter.com/scottcooley.</p><p><br /></p><p>You won't find much on my Twitter profile, and a lot of it is just me posting a share of a link to a post from this blog, if I remember to do it. I actually tweeted my qualifications for verification a while back, and those tweets are still there, even though I am now pretty embarrassed by them.</p><p><br /></p><p>I can't believe I actually got upset that although I was "verified" as a legit musical artist on a bunch of different music and social media platforms, I never got verified on Twitter, despite actually applying for it. I was authentic, somewhat notable, never that active, but never misleading or deceptive. It's funny that Twitter fired all the people who work toward detecting impersonation, manipulation and spam, then started making people pay an outrageous amount of money to appear authentic. </p><p><br /></p><p>I'm not a regular social media consumer or poster. I have profiles on several of them, however, because they are free accounts and I just thought having them would be a way to let people know I have music available for them to listen to. </p><p><br /></p><p>Having worked for software companies in the past, some with open source products, I am aware that they always want to have a "pro" or "premium" level of products and services for those wanting to pay more to get more. Company owners can't help this as they exist to make more money all the time. Google used this approach with many of their software products and services, in which they would lure people in by offering them for free, get people hooked, then make them pay. It's arguably evil but probably does help pay for their mission to organize the world's information.</p><p><br /></p><p>I suppose this is also the case with musicians - there's an argument to be made that if you offer free music early in your career, you can later get people to pay for it. Indeed, many of my songs are available for free, and I'm not sure if this has helped me sell or get paid for my music at all. </p><p><br /></p><p>As an emerging independent recording artist with many album releases available on the major music streaming services, I thought having verified social media profiles might help to increase my popularity. I'm not out to become a famous celebrity, but I would like it if more people discovered my music and liked it. I have in the past thought having one of those check marks like they offer on Twitter might help that desire. I filled out the form three times over the past several years to request the blue check mark unsuccessfully. </p><p><br /></p><p>I thought the appearance of legitimacy, like the appearance of popularity, would lead to more actual popularity. Ethically, I would never pay for fake streams or fake followers, but I've heard it is possible. Like all artists though, I would be happy if anything helped my music reach a larger audience. I've never paid for promotion, marketing, publicity, or advertising of any kind, and do not plan to. Like most artists, I hope for "going viral" organically, and do not enjoy promoting myself in any way other than letting people know I have albums available. </p><p><br /></p><p>I don't have any budget whatsoever such activities to begin with. So, aside from announcing my releases, I'm not going to pay someone to write about my music to gain notability. I'm hoping you, my fans and followers and friends, will help to create the buzz and hype through recommendation. </p><p><br /></p><p>I can't fathom why anyone would want to pretend to be me, but I know wrongful impersonation happens, and without profile & content reviewers, there's only so much AI can detect, so now, if I wanted to, I could pay a bunch of money to show I'm the real Scott Cooley. I suspect it would have zero positive impact on my music "career". </p><p><br /></p><p>As a humble songwriter and musician, I'm not aspiring for legitimacy, I already have it. I am the artist Scott Cooley you will find when searching for music on Apple Music, Spotify, Amazon Music, YouTube Music, YouTube, Pandora, etc. So, wherever you like to find and stream your music, mine is there, and I doubt a blue check mark on my free Twitter profile would sway your decision-making about whether to listen or not. </p><p><br /></p><p>No one is searching for me on Twitter anyway, so why would I pay for prioritized search rankings? Makes no sense for me. I will continue to use it for announcements of music availability. It's one thing to release music into the world where it could possibly be discovered, but another to make people aware of the fact that it exists. Free social media is another way to make this second important part happen.</p><p><br /></p><p>I watched The Social Dilemma documentary, and agree that social media can be harmful to society in many ways, and honestly, I struggle to see what benefits it has other than communication and combating loneliness. When I'm in the mood to be entertained, I seek out music, books, movies, and live performance. I admit that some social media content like jokes, memes, video games, and pet videos can be also be entertaining, but I'm not really interested in people's posts of the minutiae of their everyday lives. </p><p><br /></p><p>I remember when Twitter was new, I told someone I had an account on there, but didn't really know what it was for or what I could use it for. They replied that they use it primarily for news, and that it was the primary news source in their lives. This made absolutely no sense whatsoever for me. News articles are way longer than the tweet character limit, so how is this even possible, I wondered. </p><p><br /></p><p>I guess legitimate (blue-checked) news sources post links to their articles on twitter, so you get the snippet and the link, so maybe that's how its meant to be consumed. I'd rather just go to their website or get the actual printed publication if they still have one.</p><p><br /></p><p>This all goes back to the fact that in the last twenty years or so, amateur musicians not signed to record labels have been able to offer their music in the same online places where the truly professional major-label artists do. Anyone can write and publish a book on Amazon now, anyone can blog and pass it off as news or journalism. The World Wide Web eliminated gatekeepers in various industries, and digital mediums have replaced tangible ones.</p><p><br /></p><p>I view this as nothing but good luck and good timing for amateur hobbyists like me. I do have a small fanbase, even though I never play live shows anywhere in public. People have told me they like some of my songs, and even that they look forward to when I have more new ones available for them to listen to. For a guy who just likes to write songs and record them for fun, this is a cool thing. I wish it was lucrative, but so far, it has not been in any way. That said, I still like knowing my art is out there and can be discovered. The Web has allowed people like me to say "I was here. I created things that didn't exist before. Here they are for your entertainment."</p><p><br /></p><p>To get the blues about not being perceived as notable is inconsequential. It has to be an earned thing. I've made music that has entertained people, and I'm still planning to do more of that in the future, and also, I blog about how I feel about it. If not signed to a real record label, I suspect self-published artists like me feel like posers. I have, and there's a part of you that hopes and wishes for legitimacy. Although it can be purchased, that would never satisfy the desire.</p><p><br /></p><p>I pay for online distribution of my independent music. Also known as a digital aggregator service, for a fee they send my music to Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube Music, Amazon Music, and a bunch of others. There are several of these types of services available, and they have existed for approximately twenty years. </p><p><br /></p><p>I was among the first wave of artists to send them my music and pay them to send it to the places where people go to get their music. I've come close to recouping some of that expense, so it's practically paid for itself, but the real value is knowing my music is out there where people can find it and appreciate it.</p><p><br /></p><p>I started playing guitar in 1989 and wrote my first song in about 1990 before there was a world wide web. It's just pure fortune that this inexpensive music distribution service availability coincided with inexpensive home recording equipment and the internet and social media and my hobby - all in my lifetime just as my new hobby was starting to take hold. Like a tweet, all this is inconsequential in the grand scheme of things, but nonetheless something I get a big kick out of.</p>Scott Cooleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11992512474971171166noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4322553151785625714.post-92083125433691430232023-04-09T23:16:00.003-04:002023-09-29T10:44:58.171-04:00Songwriter's Block Antidote Recipe<p>I hadn't written any new songs since October 2022, and now at the beginning April 2023, after a 5 month dryspell, I got back in the swing of my hobby again. It's happened before, and when asked what got me back into it again, I always struggle to remember the exact circumstances that helped, so this time, I decided to write about what might've caused this while it's still fresh in my mind for future reference, and now, I'm sharing that with you.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/43/Leonid_Pasternak_-_The_Passion_of_creation.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="498" data-original-width="642" height="498" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/43/Leonid_Pasternak_-_The_Passion_of_creation.jpg" width="642" /></a></div><br /><p>A quick summary list of the combination of factors that worked for me this time:</p><p>1. <b>Hope</b>: a couple job interviews gave me hope for a better future recently, and although I didn't get the job, it got me excited about the possibility and lifted my mood. Just a general feeling that you have things to look forward to in life can help the muse come back I suspect. Some of the songs may indeed be blues and have negative or depressing subject matter, but even so, it's being excited about potential improvements in your life and in the near future that can get you thinking creatively again.</p><p>2. <b>Discovering New Music</b>: using my music streaming service, I put together a playlist and similar music got auto-suggested, and in the process of checking out new (actually old, but new to me) music that was interesting got me back in the mood to want to write something like what I heard, which is quite different than my usual style</p><p>3. <b>Reduced Stress</b>: having fewer pressures on me for a few weeks in a row helped me finally get into the right mood to start thinking creatively again, and maybe it's being in more of a state of relaxation that seems to help.</p><p>4. <b>Lack Of Sleep/ Too Much Sleep</b>: Changing up habits of sleep and getting away from a predictable daily schedule helps. After consistently having a steady boring schedule where I got adequate sleep for many months in a row, I actually experienced a few alternating nights of either not getting enough sleep or sleeping too much, and this jolted me out of the rut I was in somehow. Being too tired might've helped more than too rested, and once back in a flow, it was hard to shut of the creative faucet when going to bed to finally get sleep, new ideas would come to me and I'd have to get up and go work on them.</p><p>5. <b>Rain</b>: the surge of a weeklong creative output period of time coincided with heavy storms and on/off rain for an entire week, and flooding, so this may very well have been a contributing factor in some way. You tend to stay inside where you have a guitar and a phone to record ideas on and a computer to type lyrics on.</p><p>6. <b>Forcing Myself To Finish Old Lyrics</b>: I have electronic documents with tons of song ideas and partially-written songs, and I forced myself to revisit them, forced myself to revise them, forced myself to complete one, which led to finishing another, which spurred me on to finish the music for them, and finally all this spurred me on to write new ones from scratch.</p><p>7. <b>Uninterrupted Quiet Time Alone</b>: you need the long stretches of quiet time to get back into a flow, and you have to actively get started on doing songwriting instead of just watching movies or other free-time pursuits. Starting small, I told myself I would at least complete one song and this definitely got me back on a roll with the creative juices flowing and the muse returning. Just going through old lyric documents and recorded musical ideas on my phone and spending time on this instead of surfing the web or whatever really helped.</p><p>8. <b>Riding The Wave To Completion</b>: Leaving songs partially written is never a good idea. It's always better to make yourself ride out the wave to completion of a song while you're in the mood for it. Doing this gets you in the right frame of mind then to continue on with more. Just making yourself get started on it, even by just reading notebooks with old lyric scaps and listening to past failed recordings of songs or beginnings of songs can help. Then it's crucial to keep going while you're on a roll with one song before moving to another or stopping. Completing one helps you know it wasn't as daunting as you thought, and then finishing the next one comes even easier, because you've reminded yourself you can do it. When inspiration strikes, it's good to push past logical stopping points so you don't lose the ideas.</p><p>9. <b>Telling Someone About The Drought</b>: it seems that before this recent wave of songwriting began for me, I told a friend I hadn't written anything in a really long time (for me), and just getting that frustration off my chest by itself may have also been a factor.</p><p>10. <b>Free Time</b>: Just generally having some actual free time, and not necessarily uninterrupted quiet time alone, still seems to help. You can't write songs if you never make time for it, and if you're so busy with other things, you'll never get around to it. So, free up the schedule once in a while. I can only imagine how awesome it would be if you were one of those people where all you did for a living was write songs - think of the potential for productivity! I'm sure being a real professional would come with pressures a hobbyist like me wouldn't understand, but still, I'd like to have that problem.</p><p>You have to write about "what worked" while it's fresh in your mind, and I'm doing that now for the first time ever. Journaling about motivating factors quickly right after the creative period and before it starts to go away again or start to settle down is not something I've remembered to do before, and you forget if you don't capture it right away. </p><p>The Actual Output Stats: I had this rush of creativity writing a lot of lyrics for multiple songs - some were scraps that became full song lyrics, some were from scratch, some used existing musical ideas, and others were new music from scratch, resulting in about 5 completely written new songs in about 7 days, and progress on several more rough drafts. One out of the 5 is definitely a keeper I will record and probably release someday. That's close to my usual keeper ratio, and if I only have a couple spurts like this per year, that's only 2 good songs per year, but usually I have 4 or 5 spurts like this per year, and rarely a drought this long (on average), so that's why it takes me a couple years to have a new album's worth of decent material ready to release again.</p><p>Other free-time demands have crept back in that interrupted the flow a bit very recently, but it is still fresh enough in my mind to be able to think about what helped me get out of my funk. Now I can refer back to this post the next time and although I'm not sure if the creative spark can be manufactured by following a checklist, it might help. There are times during long periods of inactivity in a hobby like songwriting in which you question whether you'll ever be able to write a song again. You start to dread this situation of wanting to write more, but not being able to, and you are quick to say you're just "not feeling it" and move on to reading or walking the dog or watching TV or whatever. It's sort of like your procrastination becomes the new habit. On the other hand, trusting your own experience that your lifelong adult hobby will eventually re-enter your life again is always a good thing to remind yourself of.</p><p>One final thought is: lower the bar for yourself, don't expect too much. It's counter-productive to say to yourself that you will never be able to top your best songs, but the reality is you kill that potential to think that way and not try. It's even worse negative self-talk to think you'll never be able to write a hit like your favorite hits from artists you enjoy listening to. Keeping your expectations low and not caring if you ever come close to those standards or not is way healthier, because it gets you back into your creative hobby of writing songs again, and if you write five and only one of them sounds pretty good to you, you wouldn't have otherwise had that one additional new song you wrote that you like according to your own standards of quality.</p>Scott Cooleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11992512474971171166noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4322553151785625714.post-86340476663243280952023-03-29T23:06:00.001-04:002023-09-29T10:45:23.181-04:00The Mystery Of Folk Revisited<p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 14.7px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 13.3px;">Ramblin' Scott Cooley here, back to make another long-winded (or should I say mighty-winded) attempt at solving the mystery that is folk music. I can go on and on about this topic, so buckle up, for this may be yet another long read. The motivation here is I’ve never quite been able to pinpoint what folk music is or isn’t exactly, and many listeners of my music tend to immediately use this genre as a label for it, and I’m not quite sure how I feel about that. So, in case you’re not sure either, read on, for I intend to provide some clarity. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 14.7px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 13.3px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">People who are music journalists or reviewers of music or critics tend to talk about anything that features acoustic guitar as folk music. I’ve been a reader of enough music reviews to know this. Thankfully, I’m a nobody, and thus my music never gets reviewed. If it did ever get reviewed, I’d say I wasn’t going to read it, but then I would anyway, and I’d probably see the word “folk” used somewhere in said review, and then be miffed about it. When you look up a definition of folk, you’ll see “unknown authorship” and “transmitted orally through generations,” so my songs do not qualify for either of these.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 14.7px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 13.3px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgY_xY5y2TPXXcQ4Kvb7SDqf7uHnLwpABWqJ8oP8k1bxdP8tlapZW49UKh6LDh7UcLY_-SKoKCz1njQa1lxIorrJSCoMgX5URFyG6nGer-LHrFVIxxqDBTOuYcGfYwwdPumtD8FVjt-bsqHuRrnP2aUjoMf-RZo_-J72_hLSH0XFod32_PmPO347dcC" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="366" data-original-width="250" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgY_xY5y2TPXXcQ4Kvb7SDqf7uHnLwpABWqJ8oP8k1bxdP8tlapZW49UKh6LDh7UcLY_-SKoKCz1njQa1lxIorrJSCoMgX5URFyG6nGer-LHrFVIxxqDBTOuYcGfYwwdPumtD8FVjt-bsqHuRrnP2aUjoMf-RZo_-J72_hLSH0XFod32_PmPO347dcC=w437-h640" width="437" /></a></div><br /><br /><p></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 14.7px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 13.3px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">There are a bunch of other modifying words you’d have to look up the definitions of to have an idea what qualifies as any of the various subgenres of folk too. Contemporary folk, indie folk, folktronica, freak folk, industrial folk, alt folk, folk metal, progressive folk, psychedelic folk, neofolk, country folk, folk punk, or anti-folk to name only a few. Reading lists and definitions add to the confusion for me. Folk metal sounds oxymoronic, but again, I’d have to look up that definition too to know for sure or at least have more clarity. Not sure I have the energy to go there. I’m apathetic about all this, but something makes me care just enough to blog about it. I wonder what that says about me? Hmmm…I’m guessing the vagueness bugs me, and I’m unsure if I should take the accusation of the label being applied to my music as an insult or not.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 14.7px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 13.3px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">I am sure that with any genre or subgenre and/or style or substyle of music, it will be a challenge to find authoritative definitions. I can’t even really say off the top of my head what the difference is between a genre and a style, but I do appreciate a good explanation or description of what type of music is being written about. A part of me thinks there are way too many of these, and they’re always debatable and imprecise, yet, there’s a need for them to exist in the world. Another one that is challenging to figure out what qualifies as “pop,” but that’ll have to be another post for another time.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 14.7px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 13.3px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">I am also sure that just as the dictionary itself is constantly evolving, so are definitions of various types of music. Classifications and categorizations and labels and comparisons to other artists help people understand what kind of music someone is talking or reading about without hearing it I guess, and in today’s digital consumption world, such words help the algorithms narrow down your taste, which is very helpful when there are millions of new songs to choose from every year.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 14.7px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 13.3px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Like all genres, Folk is broad, conjures up different definitions for different people, and will probably always both evolve and remain ambiguous. Somewhere in this blog’s post archives, there is at least one other post about this general topic, and I would link to it if I could quickly and easily find it. Therein lies the problem – we’re lazy and impatient with the technology we’ve become accustomed to – and if I’d only tagged my posts with topics, it would be way easier, but the impatient writer wants to just hit that publish button when done writing and move on.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 14.7px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 13.3px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">The word 'folk' conjures up the common man, regular guys, down-to-earth people, average Joes, not necessarily exceptionally trained, talented, skilled, or educated. Even if you're not like them in many ways, if you show up to a party at their house, they're the types who will still say "come on in." I've met many folk like this in my life, especially in Flint, the home of the blue-collar man who will help you fix your car even if he doesn't know you. These are not the types of people who like folk music though. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 14.7px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 13.3px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">I've probably come into contact with more folk musicians than I have fans of folk music. Based on what I've run across, I'm of the opinion that in reality, the folk musicians of today are usually exceptional in those aforementioned ways, and are not typical or normal, but rather, closer to aristocrats. They can be uppity, snooty purists who are close-minded. They don't care for rock music strummed on acoustic guitar with bass and drums. I'll admit it: they bug me.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 14.7px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 13.3px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Due to the fact that I record my songs using all acoustic instruments and microphones because I just like the way they sound better than if I used electric or virtual digital instruments, some people automatically want to call it folk music. I like to keep it real, and I want people to know I play everything myself and don’t cheat in any way. I like knowing there’s some honesty and skill and talent, and don’t want people to think I just clicked a mouse on a computer to make my music or whatever.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 14.7px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 13.3px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Despite others wanting to categorize my music that way, just because it's acoustic doesn't mean it's folk in my way of thinking. This kind of thing bugs me, because I think folk bugs me, folk fans bug me, and folk musicians bug me, for reasons that sort of remain a mystery to me. It also bugs me that I find it difficult to succinctly say why, so here I go again, trying to think it through.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 14.7px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 13.3px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">In my own mind, and sometimes verbally or in writing, I'm a stereotyper, I admit it, and I know it can be hurtful and all, but it comes naturally to a lot of people to at least form stereotypes in their minds based on observation and experience, whether they talk (or type) about them or not. Not all stereotyping is bad though. When you distribute your albums to online music stores, some of them expect you to supply them with a list of genres and styles so they can classify it to make it findable, which is understandable. Others do it for you. When such stores get my music, they often label it folk and therein lies not only frustration for me, but for music seekers.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 14.7px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 13.3px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">It's been difficult to describe my music to people in a way that might interest them. The best way I can think of is reminding them of the show on MTV called "Unplugged" on which rock bands known for electric guitars played acoustic instead. I really loved this stripped-down sound, as if the band came over to your house and was jamming sitting around in your living room. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 14.7px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 13.3px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Detractors thought these shows were disappointing because the bands they knew "didn't rock hard enough" like on their albums or normal live shows. A lot of people who saw the show also realized these guys didn't sound so good without all the effects and everything, maybe that they weren't as good at singing and playing as the studio records made them out to be. Perhaps noticing for the first time what those songs must have sounded like when they were first written.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 14.7px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 13.3px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Indeed, many established bands later in their careers release "demo versions" of songs that were hits, and from them you can hear what they were like when first written. To me, this is very cool stuff I love to hear, and often enjoy these types of versions better than the fully-produced ones. When you take away all the polish and sheen, you hear the song for what it is, it's essence I suppose. That's really appealing to me, and I'm not sure why.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 14.7px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 13.3px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Needless to say, the unplugged shows and demo version releases have been a big influence on the sound I attempt to achieve with what I consider to be my main studio album releases. I’ve explained in this blog before that I’m not averse to the sound of electric guitar, but prefer writing and recording on acoustic. I like to go for a real, natural, raw, organic type of overall sound without using autotune or quantization or tons of digital effects editing, and that same approach is why I’m not crazy about using a bunch of electric guitar pedals because they sound farther from being real to me. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 14.7px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 13.3px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Now that we have Artificial Intelligence writing good songs for us, I want to stay far away from anything fake or robotic. All the digital trickery and virtual instruments can make someone sound way better than they would otherwise sound if just playing live in a room with only acoustic instruments, and I certainly could benefit from that, but I prefer a clean and natural sound for my signature sound. I think a part of the rationale is that if I ever wanted to do shows, I want to be able to play my songs solo and live with an acoustic guitar and no backing musicians, so even though my studio recordings sound like there’s a band, it wouldn’t sound drastically different because the acoustic guitar is the main instrument anyway. As a music fan, however, I do enjoy listening to electric guitar music, and sometimes those effects like distortion, chorus, delay, flanger, phaser, or reverb, etc. can without a doubt sound pretty cool.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 14.7px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 13.3px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">To get people interested in your music, you have to describe it, and therein lies the trouble I have. However I attempt to describe it, when you make it available for sale in online music stores, those stores sometimes categorize it for you. Even when I have control over it, it's challenging. It's made me wonder though, could it be that the music I release on my albums actually is folk, and "they" are right, and I'm wrong?</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 14.7px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 13.3px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">I think I previously blogged about the difficulty I have with figuring out what folk music is, and I decided to blog about that topic some more here to see if I can figure it out better. When you're an artist like me, you write songs you like, assuming it's been influenced by the kinds of music you like as a fan or have been exposed to somehow, but not really paying much attention to what kinds of songs they are. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 14.7px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 13.3px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">I grew up mostly listening to what is now called classic rock. With an open mind (and ear) I later came to enjoy lots of genres of music, including what I think is folk. However, folk has to this day (many decades later) remained a mystery to me. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 14.7px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 13.3px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Defining it is so difficult, but I'll give it a quick try:</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 14.7px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -24px;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: Symbol; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">·</span><span class="s3" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 9.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">serious singing (outstanding vocal chops, duos and groups doing intricate vocal harmonies)</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 14.7px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -24px;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: Symbol; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">·</span><span class="s3" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 9.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">serious guitar playing (formally-trained fingerpicking on small body acoustic guitars)</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 14.7px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -24px;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: Symbol; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">·</span><span class="s3" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 9.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">serious subject matter (battles, tragedies, disasters, supernatural events, murders, work songs)</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 14.7px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 13.3px 48px; text-indent: -24px;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: Symbol; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">·</span><span class="s3" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 9.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">serious lack of percussion (maybe a tambourine at most, but no drums allowed)</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 14.7px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 13.3px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">My music rarely if ever features any of those four, and it's rarely very serious. When I have played live where there are a lot of folk fans and/or folk musicians present, I've intentionally tried to play my more serious songs, and they never get a good reaction. I think these people are purists, and delivering serious subject matter on an acoustic guitar, but in a strumming rock style, just isn't acceptable to them or something. The only way I can ever get a positive comment from this type of crowd is to play one of my really funny songs. Those always work. It's frustrating though.</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 14.7px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 13.3px 48px; text-indent: -24px;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: Symbol; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">·</span><span class="s3" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 9.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">The form: There is a common folk song format known as AAA, which is basically three verses, typically with a refrain as the last line of each (many variations possible). I've written several of these, and even tried to finger pick them (although I'm not formally trained), but they never seem to work well. I don't know why.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 14.7px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 13.3px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">I think I just have some sort of aversion, they don't jive with me somehow. All I can liken it to is that there was a friend of mine I used to jam with who was a really good rock bass player, and every time I played a blues song - thinking that's an easy type of song for people to easily jam along with - he would get lost. He confided in me that he always has difficulty playing blues with people, and it was hard for him to explain, but he just could never really get into a groove with that type of song. So, I know this kind of thing can happen - even to great musicians - and I have to conclude this must be how I am when it comes to folk songs.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 14.7px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 13.3px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">There are some artists whose music you can safely label as folk without argument from anyone:</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 14.7px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -24px;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: Symbol; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">·</span><span class="s3" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 9.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Woody Guthrie</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 14.7px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -24px;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: Symbol; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">·</span><span class="s3" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 9.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Pete Seeger</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 14.7px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -24px;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: Symbol; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">·</span><span class="s3" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 9.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Peter, Paul & Mary</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 14.7px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 13.3px 48px; text-indent: -24px;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: Symbol; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">·</span><span class="s3" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 9.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Kingston Trio</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 14.7px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 13.3px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Add drums and electric instruments, and you get folk-rock such as:</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 14.7px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -24px;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: Symbol; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">·</span><span class="s3" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 9.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">The Byrds</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 14.7px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 13.3px 48px; text-indent: -24px;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: Symbol; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">·</span><span class="s3" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 9.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Bob Dylan (after he "went electric")</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 14.7px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 13.3px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">If folk-rock is folk music played on electric instruments, would rock music played on acoustic instruments be rock-folk then? And if said rock-folk also has drums, then what do you call it? You might think to be called rock-folk it technically should be rock music played in a folk style without drums, right? The logic is there, but it's not black and white.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 14.7px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 13.3px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">The grey area is where my music falls. It's acoustic, and it has drums, and the songs are more rock than folk.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 14.7px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 13.3px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Back to folk though, and don't even get me started on what Americana is, folk has roots in music immigrants brought with them from Europe to this country from places like Ireland. There, those songs were referred to as "ballads," even though many of them were really fast, further adding to the confusion.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 14.7px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 13.3px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Can't leave out of such a discussion a few other important aspects of defining folk:</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 14.7px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -24px;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: Symbol; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">·</span><span class="s3" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 9.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">the oral tradition (passing songs on from one person or generation to another, sharing via singing without the benefit of sheet music or recordings)</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 14.7px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -24px;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: Symbol; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">·</span><span class="s3" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 9.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">the uncultured, commoner thing (music of the uneducated, lower classes)</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 14.7px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 13.3px 48px; text-indent: -24px;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: Symbol; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">·</span><span class="s3" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 9.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">the isolated, rural thing</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 14.7px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 13.3px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">These points seem pretty far from describing present day folk artists. My guess is that in reality, today's folk musicians learn from recordings, sheet music, the internet, and formal lessons. Further, I'm guessing they're a fairly well-educated bunch, more likely to have higher levels of education than rock musicians, for example. Far from being "peasants," folk folks are probably middle class (or higher) types nowadays who are fairly sophisticated. Some might even be more inclined to perceive them as elitists as compared with artists in other genres. Most of the folk scenes I've run across are a part of university towns and big cities, so these areas are far from the sparsely-populated areas of the country.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 14.7px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 13.3px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Then there's this last aspect:</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 14.7px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 13.3px 48px; text-indent: -24px;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: Symbol; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">·</span><span class="s3" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 9.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">the "world" music thing (culturally exotic, includes just about anything, vague)</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 14.7px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 13.3px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">This one is completely confusing, but I take it to mean you can be a folk artist from America or Ireland and still throw in a Caribbean song in your reperatoire and have that be acceptable. Maybe it also includes permission to sing a song in a language other than English as well, such as Spanish.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 14.7px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 13.3px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">What am I getting at here? After a bit of soul-searching, I think I envy folk musicians for several reasons. I wish I could sing and play guitar as well as they can. I wish I could write more serious songs like they can. I have an appreciation for the old-timey stuff, even though I would be hard-pressed to define that too. I think it bugs me that the serious folkies don't ever rock out. It seems that bluegrass and blues are somewhat acceptable to them, but not rhythm & blues, soul, or funk, for example. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 14.7px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 13.3px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">When you think of the 60s and hippies and baby boomers and the folk revival, you think of people who should be open-minded, welcoming of all styles of music, and inclusive. The modern-day folkies seem to be pretty particular about what they approve of though. You would think it would be ok with them if you're not a great guitar player, not a great singer, not formally trained, but hey, you're trying. The self-taught, do-it-yourselfers experimenting with different styles should be respected, you would think, but for some reason, they're not.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 14.7px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 13.3px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">There were a lot of people born in the 50s, and being in the generation behind them has been frustrating. They took all the good jobs, and never retired, for one thing. When I see an old white guy with a beard and a guitar - and he's wearing a beret - I cringe a bit. I've met so many like that, and you know darned well what kind of music they like to listen to and to play - that serious shit with finger picking. They're just not my kind of average joe. They seem to look down their noses at those who are different than them. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 14.7px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 13.3px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">This awesome video from SNL: <a href="https://youtu.be/ATTMB4gH3sU">https://youtu.be/ATTMB4gH3sU</a> hilariously reveals in a fake game show the issues younger generations have with boomers. Contestants with master's degrees working at fast food restaurants compete for social security while boomers taunt them with their home ownership and debt-free college degrees, and they only win if they don't interrupt them.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 14.7px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 13.3px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">A part of me knows there have always been these generational differences. The generation before them, like my grandparents' generation, didn't approve of men wearing an earring. Later on, old people didn't approve of the crazy piercings and tattoos you see kids sporting today. Somewhere in between, especially old white people, couldn't understand black kids pulling their baggy pants down low on their waists and showing their underwear. Heck, there was a time when old guys who were baseball fans didn't approve of young guys wearing a baseball hat backwards, back when that was cool for a while.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 14.7px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 13.3px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">The pop music of today is just so much drastically different than the pop music of the 60s or 70s. Today's old folk guys wearing berets probably didn't like the Monkees, and instead were getting a kick out of discovering old field recordings from Alan Lomax. There's nothing wrong with that. I'd much rather listen to the Monkees though, than today's top 40 pop acts. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 14.7px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 13.3px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">I have a feeling that every generation grows up on popular music of their time, but always grows to appreciate the decade before. I was born in 67, so started buying records and getting into music in 77, and then the 80s were pretty crazy - from hard rock to disco to punk rock to new wave to hair metal. I've always really loved the rock from the late 60s and early 70s though, and even discovered some classic country from that era that I liked as well. I even went back far enough to appreciate the 50s guys like Hank Williams and Chuck Berry.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 14.7px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 13.3px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">I still have a sort of feeling of mistrust toward anyone who doesn't like two bands though: the Beatles and Led Zeppelin. The greatest from each of my favorite decades. The hard -core folk people seemed to have totally bypassed and disregarded that stuff though. It's a mystery as to why. I'm sure today's teens can't fathom people not liking Justin Timberlake or Beyonce or Justin Beiber or Billie Eilish or Drake or The Weeknd (or whomever is popular these days) though. So, I kind of get it, and I kind of still don't.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 14.7px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 13.3px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">I can't not talk about Jazz in all of this too. The Jazz cats, like the Bluegrass boys, are known to have great chops, their musicianship always respected, in a similar way as the folkies, if I'm not mistaken. This is a genre I have a great appreciation for - it's totally American, and I love the improvisational part of it. To me, the Jazz musicians don't seem elitist like the folkies though. Maybe they are too, but they seem like more down-to-earth, regular guys. They like to have fun. Not afraid of trying new things, giving new ideas a chance. Just an impression I have, not sure how accurate it is.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 14.7px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 13.3px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Whatever people are into, I'm all for it. I like to be really accepting and encouraging to younger songwriters and musicians, even when their style isn't my cup of tea. I should point out that as a music fan myself, I like lots of good songs from lots of genres and styles of music. I try to find something to like in anything I hear. I'm open to trying out new kinds of music. It's fine with me if people are totally different than me. If they get into a certain type of music, or become involved as a musician in some way or another, that's cool. I have friends who never write songs, play only electric guitars, and are happy spending hours and hours trying to nail an Eddie Van Halen solo. Not for me, but more power to them if that's what they like.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 14.7px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 13.3px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Folk artists always throw in some funny novelty songs into the mix, and those are great, so it can't be said they are so serious they don't appreciate humor. Otherwise, though, they just seem to have this better-than-thou attitude toward guys like me - a generation younger recording rock music on an acoustic guitar...with drums, heaven forbid. My style isn't for them, and they let me know it - usually very indirectly. I always think they'll show me some encouragement, but they never want to give me the time of day. They just simply do not care about the kind of music I make.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 14.7px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 13.3px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Acoustic rock with bass and drums? In too many worlds at once, too hard to wrap your head around, things that shouldn't go together? Is the reaction like Pete Seeger getting mad at Bob Dylan and pulling the plug on his Newport show? Don't get me wrong - I love that folk expresses culture, and I love the protest aspect that can serve as a powerful check against authority, like the press has against the government. I just don't like the fact that there seem to be so many invisible boundaries in folk, which is supposed to be the voice of the people in a free world. Don't fence me in, and don't treat me like a trespasser.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 14.7px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 13.3px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">I should just do what I do and not worry about how to describe it to people. When it's mis-categorized online with the "folk" tag though, people won't get what they expect. Lately, I've started to think of it as garage rock, because it's sloppy and imperfect and has a certain spirit and attitude about it, and it's pre-punk in that the songs are not super fast, but the only weird thing is my music doesn't feature electric guitars, which is an important ingredient of punk and garage. If I would play electric instead of acoustic on my recordings though, I would feel like it needed really good drumming, and I only have a minimalist hand percussion kit, so that wouldn't quite cut it. You can't be good at everything.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 14.7px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 13.3px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">If you self-identify as a songwriter where I'm from, and you go out looking for others, you inevitably end up hanging out with baby boomer folkies, and that's where I've found cold shoulders. I have no idea what it's like in Nashville. I expect if I went there, trying to get into the songwriter scene there, I'd quickly develop a similar attitude. I have a negative prejudice about this style they call "bro country," and I imagine I'd be disappointed that they wouldn't welcome someone like me into their world either.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 14.7px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 13.3px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">A welcome shift has begun to occur in my local scene recently, so there is hope. I've noticed the old white folkie guys who frequent the open mic scenes at bars now have gradually been replaced by old white classic rock guys more and more. Every single one of them knows how to play the song Amie by Pure Prairie League, I guarantee it. More stereotyping, but more palatable to my tastes. I'm a hypocrite, I know. I think it's awesome they're out there going for it though, whatever they want to play.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 14.7px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 13.3px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">If you can remember back in the days when there were brick and mortar record stores, and then imagine yourself owning one all of a sudden. You have a bunch of records and you have to label them in sections, grouping similar ones together, so it's easier for people to find what they like. You have to call it something. I just can't figure out what mine should be yet, but if it's in Folk, the New Main Street Christy Minstrel Singers fans will probably be bummed if they bought my records.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 14.7px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 13.3px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">My music is definitely not folk, then, I've decided it, even though a few songs would definitely qualify. Neil Young did albums where the entire album focused on a certain style - folk, country, rock, rockabilly, blues, etc., so they were fairly easy for record store owners to place. It's way harder when you have one of each on the same album - that's how my albums are - maybe a little bit of everything. I like albums like that. Most people don't though. They don't want the Stray Gators, The Bluenotes, the Shocking Pinks, CSNY, and Crazy Horse all on the same album, I get it. It's a challenge. The lesson? Wait until I have a bunch of similar songs, then release them all on the same album. People like that better.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 14.7px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 13.3px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">So, back to what folk is. The 2003 mockumentary "A Mighty Wind" really nailed how easy it is to make fun of folk. I loved this movie. Laughed my ass off. It shows how folkies can definitely be "smug", so I know it's not just me who thinks this. Every stereotype you can think of is covered in a hilarious way. The music is really good, too. Even though it features original music that totally pokes fun at the whole genre, they're excellent songs in spite.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 14.7px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 13.3px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">It reminds me that when I wrote what I thought was a satire of a country song, "Puttin' Up A Pole Barn," friends of mine who were country fans thought it was actually a really good country song! You can try to capture the essence of what something is, and in coming up with your own version of it as a parody, it can accidentally become something that seriously qualifies.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 14.7px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 13.3px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Today's folkies will tell you about how much they believe in equality and inclusiveness in the world, while at the same time be very discriminating about who belongs in their folk world. They are a class of people who might like to think they're plain, but are far from it. It's a paradox, and they know the meaning of that word, unlike the common man. Pseudo-intellectual, college-professor types who love NPR and PBS and study music theory are far from the image of the uneducated, hardworking, moonshine-drinking original hillbillies in overalls playing old Irish ballads on homemade fiddles they brought to West Virginia from the old country. Folk has come a long way.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 14.7px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 13.3px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">The bottom line here is, as a young generation x songwriter hitting the open mic and songwriter scene dominated by condescending baby boomer folkies, I was startled by how rudely I was treated by them, and about how consistently they made me feel like I didn’t belong, and subsequently formed a negative stereotype in my mind about them I’ve had ever since. There are exceptions like Joel Mabus, who has a great sense of humor and went out of his way to be cool to me, and I realize stereotyping is mostly a terrible thing to ever do. In subtle ways, however, most let me know I wasn't allowed in their club, despite my aspirations and efforts. The Mighty Wind movie proves I'm not the only one who thinks those folks take themselves way too seriously and need to lighten up!</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 14.7px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 13.3px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">I’m a purist when it comes to some things, and I’m guilty of not always maintaining an open mind to change, and I occasionally end up sounding like a grumpy old man. For example, I love the sport of Tennis, and to me it is a shame that people turn perfectly good tennis courts into basketball courts or, even worse: pickleball courts. So, I’m the Pete Seeger of pickleball. Times change, trends happen, people plug in, etc. I love the fact that certain songs become "standards” – which is yet another thing about music that is hard to define. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 14.7px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 13.3px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">I know some of what were once considered folk are now also considered standards. Oldies, public domain, traditional, unknown authorship, passed on through generations orally (or by recording). Standing the test of time is a great thing about the oral tradition of folk, and now in the era of recorded music, the same can be said for standards. Perception is key. In my mind, when I think standard, I think Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, and Willie Nelson comes to mind, Dylan too. In the future, you wonder if any of today’s hip-hop and rap become standards? Maybe. What about death metal? Not as likely, but who knows?<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 14.7px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 13.3px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">It's only when you tell the world you have some recorded music available that anyone cares how it’s described. When you distribute to Apple Music, Spotify, YouTube Music, Amazon Music, etc., they want you to classify, categorize, describe, tag, put in some keywords for genres and styles, and this forces you to think about it and realize it’s difficult to explain your own music. Since it has to be done, you need to think ahead of time about what you sound like, who you sound like, how their music is described, etc. I don’t really care, and now that I’ve typed though my thoughts about folk and whether my music is or isn’t, I realize I don’t care either way. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 14.7px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 13.3px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">The risk is that the label of folk may make close-minded people immediately dismiss it, and not give it a chance. For example, when they see it’s described as folk, they might instantly write it off as a genre they don’t like, and automatically think of Pete Seeger or the Kingston Trio, and then not ever try it out. Rock fans would never then learn that I’m far from artists like them, like way less hokey-pokey or kumbaya-ish, and instead have way more rock in there. You don’t want people to be turned off and get the wrong idea before giving it a fair shake.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 14.7px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 13.3px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">So, yeah, wrapping up the mightily long-winded read here, as a music fan, popularity that endures is what is most appealing to me, regardless of genre, and if people describe it as folk, that’s fine by me. If people describe my music as folk, this too is fine by me. If people don’t think I belong being associated with folk, also fine by me. I mostly play an acoustic guitar, I’m American, I like to have bass and drums in my music too, I’m influenced by roots music, whatever that means to you. To end with a quick pun, I probably won’t revisit the folk topic again, so I’m not going to fret it any more.</span></p><p></p>Scott Cooleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11992512474971171166noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4322553151785625714.post-48677990308687528212023-02-10T23:51:00.002-05:002023-09-29T10:46:09.518-04:00Deep Thoughts on Songwriting and Recording, by Scott Cooley<p><span style="font-size: medium;">I'm a self-taught, do-it-all-myselfer with this songwriting and recording hobby I have. Here are some thoughts about the various aspects of what I do that you might find interesting to read:</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKH2tAW5orCpq0wlS9mvaRuAZQnVMUmZf-wNavsjk4eru_lG_a9XEE_rCjmA2Pttt0m9NEU8yJ-nB3Yk3bzgjr8QkL70Ff6vnPzMzNe6p2HEO82MqdP5TwFcA6gTiWUSA4GclA92QYhju0y7y8MrI-0qcilUGCSgKndQX3GSR_xmWwnpgz7x0v7OjF/s600/DeepThoughts.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="600" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKH2tAW5orCpq0wlS9mvaRuAZQnVMUmZf-wNavsjk4eru_lG_a9XEE_rCjmA2Pttt0m9NEU8yJ-nB3Yk3bzgjr8QkL70Ff6vnPzMzNe6p2HEO82MqdP5TwFcA6gTiWUSA4GclA92QYhju0y7y8MrI-0qcilUGCSgKndQX3GSR_xmWwnpgz7x0v7OjF/s320/DeepThoughts.png" width="320" /></a></div><p>Just kidding on the quote in that image above by Jack Handey of SNL fame. Below are my real "deep" thoughts:</p><p><b>Songwriting</b>: As a songwriter, I take the opposite approach of the one I take with being a musician. I don't practice guitar, and I don't ever set out to learn cover songs, so the only times I play are when I'm writing songs and recording them. Of all the aspects of my hobby, this is the one I'm really passionate about. Instead of spending a lot of time rewriting and editing and toiling over a song, I let it flow quickly and if I'm not feeling it, I stop and move on to a different song the next time the urge strikes. So I don't "practice" or keep polishing a song very long to get it perfect, but I accept a low keeper ratio and have a lot of throwaway scraps that rarely get recycled. Sometimes I have droughts where no ideas show up for months, but sometimes I'll write 3 songs in one night. I'm more of a lyrics-first guy, but sometimes do the music first, and it's always a back-and-forth thing anyway to some degree. Sometimes it takes 5 minutes to finish one, sometimes an hour, but very rarely do I spend any more than an hour writing any one song. I do it quite a lot, and I think like most things, you have to do it a lot to be good at it. I can't help it, I just like to make up songs, and although I haven't written a really good one yet, I haven't stopped for 30 years. It's a mysterious process, but it's the most exciting part of what I do.</p><p><b>Recording</b>: As a solo recording artist, I enjoy recording songs I write, and I enjoy blending multiple vocal and instrument tracks together to achieve the sound of a band. I try to get close to what I envisioned the finished song would sound like as fast as possible, then move on to the next. I'm not out for perfection at all, I just like the process. I like to stay away from the auto-tune and fancy effects, and find the multitrack digital audio workstations to have way too many bells and whistles for my liking, but I find ways to keep it very simple and raw, with a tolerance for imperfection. What might set me apart from most is I sing and play all the instruments and write the songs and do all the mixing and mastering myself. I'm not good at any of it, but I like doing it. Writing songs is the most creative part, but then figuring out how to arrange them and produce them is an extension of that which I also enjoy, provided it doesn't take too long.</p><p><b>Musician</b>: My approach to being a musician has always been to buy an instrument first, then figure out how to play it. You make a commitment that way and are more likely to mess around with it. Although I'm a proponent of people taking lessons first before just diving in for most things, I've had no formal training to speak of, and it's worked for me. Learning to read music is overwhelming and intimidating as a first step, and I'm glad I avoided it entirely. When I was a kid I wanted to be a unicycle rider, so I got one, then figured it out through falling a lot, but as a former ski instructor, I really believe it's important to go the lesson-first route so you don't end up being one of the millions who can only claim they "tried" skiing once. With music, I'm never trying to get great at playing an instrument, or get great at playing popular songs written by others, so I never practice at all.</p><p><b>Vocal</b>: Not an excruciatingly bad singer, but not particularly good either, known for starting a bit sharp or flat and then sliding up or down accordingly to eventually hit the right pitch, have been told I'm in the baritone range and am certain that the vocal range is very limited. Was in 5th grade elementary school choir and 8th grade church choir, but didn't participate much or pay much attention in either.</p><p><b>Guitar</b>: Not a bad guitar player, not particularly great in any way, but can play both rhythm and lead, know a couple of basic scales and most open and barre chords, can figure out melody notes fairly easily by ear, can strum pretty well, and can do some basic finger picking and arpeggios. Can't read music at all, understand tablature but never memorize covers, took Intro to Guitar senior year in college and got a B.</p><p><b>Keyboard</b>: Not an actual piano player at all, piano/organ sounds you hear on my recordings are virtual via midi keyboard on which a single key will automatically play a chord sound, and then I figure out the melody notes by ear/trial/error to match vocal melodies I make up. I took about 5 piano lessons at about age 10 and remember absolutely nothing from it except the fact that I was completely intimidated and overwhelmed about being forced to try to learn to read music notation first.</p><p><b>Bass</b>: Not a horrible bass player, but not outstanding in any way, no knowlege whatsoever other than self-taught from buying one and playing it, but can usually go beyond the stay-at-home root notes and do a little walking without much trouble, finding it to be a fun challenge to write a song on guitar, then figure out some bass parts that support it.</p><p><b>Drums & Percussion</b>: Not comfortable on a drum kit due to never having one, tried them out a few times but not great with the foot/hand coordination, but can keep a simple beat on a snare, tom or cymbal with a brush or stick, working in a few understated appropriate fills here and there, not bad at hand percussion with both hands simultaneously such as congas, bongos or djembe, can play a tambourine or shaker with basic proficiency, able to generally hold down decent timing.</p><p><b>Marimba</b>: No idea how a marimba works, except that it's even easier than finding an existing melody on a guitar because the actual notes are printed on it, but I never learn cover songs, so I'm not using them, I'm making them match vocal melodies by ear for my own songs.</p><p><b>Harmonica</b>: No idea how a harmonica works either, yet somehow able to find chords and individual notes through trial and error while enjoying the fact that it is forgiving and that less than precise still sounds okay.</p><p><b>Ukulele</b>: Ukulele, like all other instruments I play, I bought one first, then googled how to string it, tune it, and play chords. The low tension and nylon strings are easy on the fingers, but certain chords are quite the challenge.</p><p>Mandolin: Borrowed a friend's a couple times, looked up chord diagrams online, found it way too small and cramped for my large, fat fingers, became frustated by this easily.</p><p>Other: Tried out some flute and cello and maybe even horn sounds on a few songs, using my midi keyboard to basically just dial up the sound in software, then hit root note keys.</p><p>Although I don't keep track anymore, I've probably written about 1,000 songs, and I haven't even released 200 of them yet. About half of those released 200 I could live without, so do your math and make of it what you will.</p><p>So, there you have it. My thoughts about the various aspects of my hobby as I describe them now, in 2023. That's about as real and honest as I can think of to be at this time. It is what it is, and hopefully you found it entertaining to know some of the backstory of what I do. You can't be good at everything, and probably most wisely focus on far fewer aspects than me. Instead of a specialist in any one area, I guess I'm more of a jack of all trades and master at none. I'm obviously a control freak, but happily, I'm not a perfectionist and prefer a speedy creative process. There's some self-assessment in there that shows a lot of room for improvement I'm sure, but instead of focusing on getting better at any one thing, I'm just in it for the fun.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Scott Cooleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11992512474971171166noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4322553151785625714.post-37098759604154890872022-12-31T08:41:00.000-05:002023-09-29T10:46:50.063-04:002022 In Review: A Good Year<p style="text-align: left;">Here are some year-end, top-five lists in case you were curious what my most-played songs of the year were on each major music streaming service.</p><p style="text-align: left;">You might like knowing about these as suggestions of songs for you to check out, if you haven't heard some of them yet. You can satisfy your own curiosity and listen for why they have been popular. We all have our favorites of songs we like by particular artists. We make our own "best of" playlists in the streaming apps. Our favorites can change, and our tastes can change over time. It's fun. We like to see which ones get the most streams, and it informs our decisions to try those out, then decide for ourselves whether they make our lists or not.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Apple Music:</h3><p></p><ol style="text-align: left;"><li>Mackinac Island</li><li>Cooley's Rap</li><li>Puttin' Up A Pole Barn</li><li>Smitten With The Mitten</li><li>In My El Camino</li></ol><p></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Spotify:</h3><p></p><ol style="text-align: left;"><li>I Did A Bad Thing</li><li>The River Of No Return</li><li>Mackinac Island</li><li>Puttin' Up A Pole Barn</li><li>Whatever Floats Your Boat</li></ol><p></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">YouTube Music:</h3><p></p><ol style="text-align: left;"><li>Mountain Time</li><li>Christmas Is Cancelled</li><li>Early Mornin' Rain</li><li>Midnight On The Moon</li><li>Light Years</li></ol><p></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">YouTube:</h3><p></p><ol style="text-align: left;"><li>Mackinac Island</li><li>Smitten With The Mitten</li><li>Into The Sunset</li><li>Coney</li><li>Austin's Story</li></ol><div><h3>Amazon Music:</h3><p></p><ol><li>Whatever Floats Your Boat</li><li>Mackinac Island</li><li>Puttin' Up A Pole Barn</li><li>Stuck In The Wrong Dimension</li><li>I Won't Forget You</li></ol></div><p></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Pandora:</h3><p></p><ol style="text-align: left;"><li>Back Where You Belong</li><li>This Is Goodbye</li><li>The Joy Of Your Company</li><li>Promises</li><li>Burtucky Breakdown</li></ol><p></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Bandcamp:</h3><p></p><ol style="text-align: left;"><li>Wouldn't Have It Any Other Way</li><li>Taco Tuesday (Observed)</li><li>Brain Dead</li><li>When I'm Gone</li><li>Used To Be Good Looking</li></ol><p></p><p>As always, at the end of the year I'm curious to see which songs resonated with people the most, so I check it out, but then I'm not sure what to do with that info. A record company might suggest I write more songs like the ones that did best. Thankfully, I write and record what I want, when I want. That won't change. I like variety, and apparently so do the listeners. That's about all I get out of looking these up: they are all over the place and make little sense. That, and the fact that Mackinac Island is still my most popular song.</p><p>2022 was a fairly busy year for me as a songwriter and recording artist. I wrote, recorded, and released two full-length albums, Bluebird Days II and Lockdown Leftovers. I also uploaded a bunch of music videos I made for songs on those albums. I ran a campaign to raise donations for children in need in association with the Sing Me A Story foundation. I even performed a couple of live gigs for small audiences in Michigan. The streaming stats went up. Overall, it was a good year. </p><p>Thanks blog readers, and happy new year! 😊</p>Scott Cooleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11992512474971171166noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4322553151785625714.post-78546324150522305822022-11-15T11:30:00.004-05:002023-09-29T10:47:43.255-04:00Live In A Living Room - Sweaters & Chili event - Fall 2022 "Mackinac Island" solo acoustic performance video<p><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: large;">Someone records a video of you playing/singing a song at a party and then they send it to you. Do you make it available for others to view/listen to, then tell them about it? If you performed fairly well and are not too embarrassed about it, Yes.</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-size: large;">As evidenced from the Archives of this blog, I don't post very often.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Looking back, I maybe average about one post every two months.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>I can see myself posting more often if I ever reach retirement status, and in the absence of a day job, use the extra free time accordingly. Until then, I only post when there's something fairly newsworthy, and this may qualify.</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;">The main reason is there's not much to post about when your blog is about you writing songs, recording them, and then releasing a baker's dozen of them every two years or so.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>If I'm not writing about those topics, as I have occasionally, I try to find a way to tie it to them, as the hobby of writing and recording is the primary focus. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;">I don't perform very often either, so when I do, I might as well make you aware of it, even after the fact, and that is the newsworthy topic this time.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>The point here is due to not being a performer, I'm not like the typical songwriter/solo artist who would post about their live gigs, available merchandise, and/or their wild and crazy travel experiences.</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;">I played live and solo recently in front of a small enthusiastic group of people and unbeknownst to me, my sister Courtney recorded video footage of it on her iPhone.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>I subsequently got said footage from her and uploaded it to my live YouTube channel so others, like you, could also enjoy it.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>It gives you an idea of what it would be like for you to watch me play live, and it shows you I'm capable of doing it, and further, I suppose it shows proof that I'm the person behind the studio albums you may have heard.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;">Here it is (<a href="https://www.youtube.com/scottcooley/community">https://www.youtube.com/scottcooley/community</a>):</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="401" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/KcqiKQdblJY" width="483" youtube-src-id="KcqiKQdblJY"></iframe></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-size: large;">Luckily, nowadays everyone has a phone with them they can record video with wherever they are, and whether you want them to or not, they will take photos and videos, then upload them to social media whether they have the permission or not of the people who appear in them. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;">It's a cultural shift we've accepted.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>A couple decades ago, it freaked me out when I'd go to a party one day, then see an unflattering photo of myself posted to Facebook the next day, but you have to get used to it.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>In this case, I was somewhat pleased with how I looked and how I performed, so it was all good.</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;">Said video above was from a recent family get-together with the paternal branch of my relatives - mostly cousins - during which I played my guitar while singing one of my original songs in a living room at one of their houses.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Kicking off the holiday season between Halloween and Thanksgiving turned out to be a convenient time this year to revive an annual reunion that had been cancelled due to Covid the last few years. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;">A good time was had by all, and it felt good to make people happy by playing some music for them.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>As you can see, my song "Mackinac Island" was a crowd pleaser.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>It almost always is, for reasons I can't quite explain.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>I used to feel like I've written so many other songs, catchy songs, deep thought-provoking songs, beautiful songs, serious songs, love songs, etc. that I wish people would appreciate as much, but they don't really, and now I accept that.</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;">They love the one about a place they are familiar with that has a swear word and is funny.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>I get that, and I feel very fortunate to have written such a song! <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;">Hope you enjoy it too.</span></p>Scott Cooleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11992512474971171166noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4322553151785625714.post-2071559583533052402022-08-02T22:08:00.002-04:002023-09-29T10:48:10.315-04:00Memorization discovery, covers, and the "yeah, but I'm really bad though" excuse that never works
<b>Songwriter/Recording Artist Only</b> <div><br /></div><div>If you're like me, you like to write songs and record them, but you don't like to perform live in front of audiences. </div><div><br /></div><div><b>With Released Albums Online</b> </div><div><br /></div><div>Also, if you're like me, even though you know the quality of your songs and recordings don't measure up to the best popular songs by the best popular artists, you release them to online music places anyway. Although you want them to get discovered and played and liked, you don't want to be famous. </div><div><br /></div><div><b>Closeted Musicianship Outed</b> </div><div><br /></div><div>Additionally, if you're like me, you try to keep this whole hobby aspect of your life a secret from certain groups of family and friends, but they end up finding out about it anyway. </div><div><br /></div><div><b>Roped In</b> </div><div><br /></div><div>This inevitably causes the problem of the people who find out wanting you to play live in front of them! Despite your standard response of "yeah, but I'm really bad though," it does not deter them. If you intentionally and conveniently don't bring your guitar and white-lie that you forgot it, they find one for you to play from a closet somewhere. Inescapable. </div><div><br /></div><div>(I should interject here to point out that quite often, said friend groups do not consist of any other musicians at all, so such a tough crowd has a consumer-only knowledge of music and is unsympathetic to the plight I'm describing herein.) </div><div><br /></div><div><b>Don't Know Your Own Songs? How Can That Be?</b> </div><div><br /></div><div>This then inevitably causes more problems. If you know you'll get suckered into playing, you can bring your lyric/chord documents and a music stand, but they give you a hard time for being this songwriter with released music who doesn't even know his own songs. They can't fathom it. </div><div><br /></div><div><b>Disbelief That Famous Artists Require Practice Too</b> </div><div><br /></div><div>You explain you only play a song a couple times when you write and record it, then never play it again, and they're even more dumbfounded. You might even go so far as to tell them that even the Rolling Stones rehearse for weeks before a tour to re-learn their own songs despite playing them for 50 years, and they won't believe you. Tell them famous artists use teleprompters, and you'll surely get the same disbelief response. </div><div><br /></div><div><b>Don't Know Covers Either?</b> </div><div><br /></div><div>"What good are you?" they surely mumble to themselves when they learn you can't play covers of their favorite popular songs from memory either. You might bring some lyric/chord documents you printed off the internet for this purpose (which are usually wrong), and give it your best shot with them propped up on a music stand or on your right knee. </div><div><br /></div><div><b>Covers Are Important</b> </div><div><br /></div><div>Said audiences have only heard about your music, but they definitely don't know any of it. Yes, they may have clicked play and streamed a couple of your songs, but like everyone, their attention spans are very short. They like what they like and don't have patience to give new music a try. </div><div><br /></div><div>Some might go so far as to ask what your best songs are, and you never know the answer, but you rattle off a few titles anyway, and maybe they listen to half of one of them - if at all - and form their opinion based on that small amount of information. </div><div><br /></div><div>Because of this situation, your live set in front of them needs to include some popular covers they've heard before, because they are going to get bored quickly with several of your originals in a row that they've never heard. </div><div><br /></div><div><b>Better To Memorize</b> </div><div><br /></div><div>I learned something about myself recently. Recording video of myself playing songs I'm reading from paper in front of me is way worse than recording video of myself playing songs from memory. Live performance is just better and more natural and more appealing if you memorize the songs instead of reading them from a music stand or a computer screen. </div><div><br /></div><div>Having been through all of the above scenarios, and invited again recently to an annual get-together where I'm expected to play, I decided two things in advance: </div><div>-Better play some of their favorite covers </div><div>-Better play them from memory </div><div><br /></div><div>When I was young and first learning guitar, of course I knew a bunch of covers songs all the way through, along with parts of many other cover songs. Now, after quickly realizing I liked making up my own songs way more than learning covers, I've only made up my own songs ever since, and that was starting back in the early 90s. </div><div><br /></div><div>I sort of knew this already, but the video confirmed how noticeable the difference is when you memorize. </div><div><br /></div><div><b>Practice Makes Perfect, and It Doesn't Take As Much As You Think</b> </div><div><br /></div><div>Another thing I learned about myself was that I don't have to practice as much as I thought to pull off a few cover songs. I decided for this gig I'd do three covers, and the day before, I practiced each of them three times on my lunch break. They were songs I was familiar with, but didn't know all the words for, and definitely not the chords. I thought I'd do this with the last-minute deadline pressure of the day before, being the procrastinator I am. </div><div><br /></div><div><b>In Conclusion</b> </div><div><br /></div><div>Amazingly, to myself and probably the audience, I nailed all three! I think knowing I'd be performing them live the next day made me really focus intensely, and with only one hour of practice, it turned out to be enough to pull off three songs. I'm fairly old, but surprised myself that I was able to do this, possibly even more easily than when I first learned and played covers 30 years ago. </div><div><br /></div><div>The polite applause from a mostly drunk crowd felt more enthusiastic and genuine than in the past when I did not play from memory. It all went according to plan, and the plan was a good one - if you're going to play live, include covers, and memorize them. Lessons learned. </div><div><br /></div><div><b>Dwindling Excuses</b> </div><div><br /></div><div>Now, if I could only apply this newfound knowledge to memorizing more of my own, best songs, I'll be getting somewhere. All along, in the back of my mind on this songwriting journey, I've thought I'd wait to have a "best of" setlist before learning any of my own songs. After 11 albums of releasing whatever I had written and recorded at the time without a lot of weeding out, I can honestly say there are 1-3 songs from each that would be worthy. </div><div><br /></div><div>Someday, I could coceivably be a person who could avoid the stunned reaction of people not understanding why someone who is known to be a songwriter doesn't know how to play his own songs.
So, I have the list, and the knowledge of what to do, and the now-confirmed ability to memorize, so maybe my future will include performing a whole live set of my originals! </div><div><br /></div><div>Of course, as I've learned, it still wouldn't be a bad idea to sprinkle in a few popular songs by other artists, but I'm getting closer to the dream of being a real artist who could play a bunch of his own originals in front of people, from memory. Onward and upward! (Don't you hate it when bosses say that? I do, but I'm saying it anyway)
</div>Scott Cooleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11992512474971171166noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4322553151785625714.post-68938903788032960732022-06-22T09:47:00.002-04:002023-09-29T10:48:27.624-04:00"Upping" My Video "Game": More Scott Cooley Music Videos Available Now<p>It's a strange time in the world when hobbyists like me can offer up their music publicly even though they should probably keep it private. The same goes for videos for that music. Then again, we're in a social media era when everyone's personal lives are on full display online anyway.</p><p style="clear: both;"><br /></p><p style="clear: both;">Everyone (and their brother) can self-publish and find cheap distribution, and there are countless places online to post one’s creative works and even try to sell them. It’s allowed people who are not great to try anyway, and in today’s gatekeeper-free world of music, I’m one of the mediocrity saturators. Now I’m doing the same thing with music videos you can access here:</p><p style="clear: both;"><br /></p><p style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/scottcooley/videos"><b>https://www.youtube.com/scottcooley/videos</b></a></p><p style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></p><p style="clear: both;">The only consistent compliments or positive feedback I've ever received about my music are about my song "Mackinac Island," a funny song about a familiar nostalgic place people love, with a repeated swear word in it. By the way, it happens to have a great video of free public domain footage I found of a family’s home movie from their trip there. If I was signed to a label, they'd say "give us more swearing songs about vacation destinations!" but fortunately, I don't have that pressure. </p><p style="clear: both;"><br /></p><p style="clear: both;">I know people are likely disappointed when they try listening to any of my hundreds of other songs and say to themselves "oh, he's trying to be serious, he's writing love songs, these are not funny, they're not about places we've heard of or been to, there's no swear words, yuck." </p><p style="clear: both;"><br /></p><p style="clear: both;">I get that. However, in the unlikely event some of you out there actually like knowing I not only have new songs available, but also a few new videos to go with them, then you might be happy to hear about this. I already had some, and now there are more, and supposedly this can raise or improve one’s game. </p><p style="clear: both;"><br /></p><p style="clear: both;">My game is writing and recording songs, and in case you’re a new reader, the way I play is that I sing like a writer - meaning not well - and although I can sort of claim to be a multi-instrumentalist, I’m self-taught with no formal training and not great at any of them (I drum like a writer too). The writing part might be good here and there, but I have yet to fire on all cylinders. It will become obvious to you that music videos are not something I’ve mastered yet either.</p><p style="clear: both;"><br /></p><p style="clear: both;">An addition to said game is that in recent years I’ve added music videos to the mix of things I make, and recently, I’ve made a bunch more available for your viewing/listening pleasure. I’m not sure I can say I “make” the videos, because I use “found” footage of video.</p><p style="clear: both;"><br /></p><p style="clear: both;">I might've "downed" my video game by putting more music videos out there, and it could very well be that I had no "game" to begin with. Before this announcement, I had many music videos out there on the web, accessible world-wide for people with internet-connected devices with screens and speakers or headphones to find and view and like, but there's little evidence to support that they have been found or liked much so far. </p><p style="clear: both;"><br /></p><p style="clear: both;">View counts are present, and even a couple viewer comments have been posted, but largely, my video game, if I have one to speak of, has gone unrecognized and ignored. Here I am announcing I've created more, and there's a very long-winded explanation why. Bear with me as I figure it out by typing my thoughts on the matter.</p><p style="clear: both;"><br /></p><p style="clear: both;">As with my songs, my videos are do-it-all-myself, zero-budget affairs, and it shows. Just having a higher quantity of low-quality videos doesn't improve the situation, but the same can be said for my music album releases alone, sans video. So, there's a recent increase, but I really have no idea if it is a welcome increase by anyone. </p><p style="clear: both;"><br /></p><p style="clear: both;">No one asked me to make music in the first place, or make music videos for that matter, and once I made some, no one asked me to make more either. A few views, like a few polite compliments about my music, go a long way toward me thinking people might like more, but regardless of assumed demand, I was going to do it anyway, like any of it or not.</p><p style="clear: both;"><br /></p><p style="clear: both;">Maybe you think my music is bad enough to begin with, and adding videos to go with it makes it even worse. Fair enough! I never claimed to be good at any of this, and yet I do it anyway because I want to, and because I can. </p><p style="clear: both;"><br /></p><p style="clear: both;">I'm a fan of music videos, and always have been. I was a teenager when MTV was new, and I loved it. Before that, I loved The Monkees TV show when I was a little kid. Elvis did movies with singing/performing, so did the Beatles. Visuals to go with music has always worked…and having good songs to start with always helps.</p><p style="clear: both;"><br /></p><p style="clear: both;">The performance of music, before recording technology existed, always had the visual aspect of being able to see the performers, so their look and style mattered. Now going to a concert by a popular artist means also being able to see video content on big screens on either side of the stage. I'll never forget going to a Pink Floyd laser light show at a planetarium in Flint, Michigan back in the 80s - another way to enjoy visuals with music. </p><p style="clear: both;"><br /></p><p style="clear: both;">I know the appeal, and the evolution has brought us to a situation in which amateur musicians who are a far cry from Pink Floyd are able to upload music videos to YouTube, saturating the world with music and video content that is mediocre at best, and yet, there are people out there who do find it and like it.</p><p style="clear: both;"><br /></p><p style="clear: both;">As a music consumer myself, I mostly like the best songs by the best artists. I may check out some of their other stuff briefly, but I only revisit the "hits," and I understand most of you are no different. The obscurity of an artist is based on what you've been exposed to, where you live, who your friends are, what you read, etc., and of course one's taste in any art is influenced and personal, yet we can all agree some are better than others. Everyone's heard of the Beatles, and can rattle off many of their song titles. </p><p style="clear: both;"><br /></p><p style="clear: both;">Other artists, not so much. For example, the only song I can name by the Milk Carton Kids is their song called "Michigan," and similarly, the only Gillian Welch song I know is "Everything Is Free". I've listened to several other songs by each, and they're good and everything, but not as good as those really good ones. </p><p style="clear: both;"><br /></p><p style="clear: both;">These are established, famous artists, but you have to like mellow acoustic guitar music to even know about them. I haven't become so enamored by them that I’ve taken a deep dive into their back catalogs, but those single songs I remember from each are so good that the presence or absence of videos wouldn't change my mind about them. </p><p style="clear: both;"><br /></p><p style="clear: both;">I can't even name off the top of my head any music videos that really stand out that I've seen, except maybe Take On Me by Ah-Ha. That said, I'm sure there are songs that never would have achieved their popularity without videos, I just can't think of any to name right now. A lot probably involve dancing, and a lot of those for female artists depict them performing dance moves while scantily-clad. </p><p style="clear: both;"><br /></p><p style="clear: both;">Sexy helps the sales, no doubt. On the one hand, it's too bad if artists like Beyonce think they need to show off their bodies to sell music, but on the other hand, "if you've got it, flaunt it" might not be bad advice. </p><p style="clear: both;"><br /></p><p style="clear: both;">Several years ago, after surmising it was "the thing to do," I decided I should have music videos on YouTube, even though I know I have an off-putting appearance that is far from sexy, and furthermore, know I pretty much suck as a singer and musician. It's crazy in the first place, but if you're going to do it, YouTube is popular and accessible (and free). </p><p style="clear: both;"><br /></p><p style="clear: both;">I want my music to be popular, but I don't want to be recognizable as a person, if that makes any sense, and obviously I lack confidence about this whole hobby of mine. Just like when you see an unflattering photo of yourself that makes you embarrassed, any video of me would be exponentially worse. </p><p style="clear: both;"><br /></p><p style="clear: both;">I can barely stand listening to most of my own songs I've written and recorded, and the only ones I'd consider doing videos for that feature moving images of me would be my very best, even though my best are nowhere close to being as good as the best by the famous artists that I myself enjoy as an appreciator of music. </p><p style="clear: both;"><br /></p><p style="clear: both;">I do have a couple of dance moves, but like my singing, I have no natural talent or training so it would significantly detract unless I'm intentionally trying to make people laugh. Maybe someday, but thus far, I'm sticking with existing video content that doesn't show me. Royalty-free video content is out there to mix with your music, and I’ve found some.</p><p style="clear: both;"><br /></p><p style="clear: both;">There are other places to put your music videos online, but YouTube is the main place. So, I set about figuring it out. You can combine one of your songs with a picture of something and save it as an MP4, and that's like the bare minimum of what qualifies. I did a couple like that, then realized I could add some text and make a lyric video. </p><p style="clear: both;"><br /></p><p style="clear: both;">Free tools that allow you to do this are fairly simple to figure out, although lyric videos require a lot of painstaking tedious effort. Slowly over the years, I've added more. It's a form of social media presence that most musicians have, and I've now joined them.</p><p style="clear: both;"><br /></p><p style="clear: both;">When you're not confident in your own appearance, and you're not much of a videographer, you find existing public domain visuals for your music videos, and you "create" them even though they're not your own creation, and you "produce" them by including them with your music and maybe adding some text, but you can't really call yourself a "director". </p><p style="clear: both;"><br /></p><p style="clear: both;">For the DIY musician crowd, you put them on YouTube yourself, as opposed to employing a service that distributes them to YouTube for you. To have an official artist channel, you need to already have at least 3 official music releases distributed by a distributor (I now have 11 released albums in the YouTube Music service), and be in the YouTube Partner program. </p><p style="clear: both;"><br /></p><p style="clear: both;">To be a YouTube "Partner" you have to reach 1,000 subscribers (I have 30), and 4,000 watch hours over the past 12 months (no idea how many I have). This gives you more features and "monetization" tools. Needless to say, it's a little confusing, but I have produced and uploaded at least 5 music videos for each of my 11 albums now to my channel. </p><p style="clear: both;"><br /></p><p style="clear: both;">Somehow, there are ads on there anyway, yet I don't make any money from them. It is painfully obvious I'm far from the popularity needed to make money, and need a lightning strike of good luck to have the required viral spread.</p><p style="clear: both;"><br /></p><p style="clear: both;">If a band or solo artist does a music video, should it always show images of the band members themselves, or the solo artist himself? Should they always be lip-synching? History has shown us that no, it's not always necessary. Should they always feature original footage? Probably. Can they use "found footage" from the public domain? Yes, I think so. </p><p style="clear: both;"><br /></p><p style="clear: both;">Are such videos less authentic? Probably. Can they still be cool, or is it a waste of time? The answer is that a lot of people like to enjoy music while also having something interesting to look at that goes with it, so yep, it can be cool.</p><p style="clear: both;"><br /></p><p style="clear: both;">It's a somewhat sad time when it seems everyone and their brother is trying to "go viral". Particularly the generations younger than me seem to place a lot of importance on using social media to get popular. I hate hearing about the negative aspects this has on society, particularly for young girls who want to look good and be popular who get depressed when they don't feel they measure up to unrealistic ideals on the filtered and photoshopped web.</p><p style="clear: both;"><br /></p><p style="clear: both;">Computers let you make yourself look better than you really do, and when it comes to music, sound better than you really do. Although I need all the help I can get, I try to stay away from the trickery, try to keep it real, but admit I'd be happy to hear that my music was getting more popular.</p><p style="clear: both;"><br /></p><p style="clear: both;">The appearance of popularity begets more actual popularity, and although I would never consider it, I know it's possible to pay for fake views, streams, playlist adds, likes, etc. Shortcuts seem to work, but I only want the satisfaction of real, organic popularity, thank you. </p><p style="clear: both;"><br /></p><p style="clear: both;">The music I create should speak for itself, and if it doesn't catch on, well, I don't care that there's a ton of competition out there. I would, however, be thrilled if my music reached a larger audience, and I've heard that having music videos can help. So, "creating" some and then telling you about their existence would be the logical next steps.</p><p style="clear: both;"><br /></p><p style="clear: both;">So, I'm pretty sure that I have now "upped" my video "game," and although I'm happy to report this to you, I'm not exactly sure what it means. The impact of the number of views listed on YouTube doesn't necessarily mean more streams elsewhere. These are free streams, after all.</p><p style="clear: both;"><br /></p><p style="clear: both;">Included are videos for songs from my last two albums, Bluebird Days II, and Lockdown Leftovers, as well as a few more from past albums. I think this puts the total video count at over 60 different official music videos now that I've created and produced and uploaded there myself.</p><p style="clear: both;"><br /></p><p style="clear: both;">It's unclear if by YouTube Partner they mean a partner that distributes videos to YouTube, or if they mean one who distributes your music to YouTube Music (which itself integrates videos).</p><p style="clear: both;"><br /></p><p style="clear: both;">You might appreciate being made aware of the videos from my last album "Bluebird Days II" becoming live recently and automagically. Unlike my music distributor, who mistakenly released Bluebird Days II 21/2 years early, YouTube Music also allowed for content to be uploaded and then scheduled to go live for a release date well into the future, but their software worked accordingly. </p><p style="clear: both;"><br /></p><p style="clear: both;">This means that way back at the end of 2019 when I uploaded my two Bluebird Days albums for future release in 2020 and 2022, I also uploaded the videos for them. </p><p style="clear: both;"><br /></p><p style="clear: both;">The first Bluebird album's videos went live in June 2020 as expected, and now the second one's videos have gone live as expected as well. It's good to know that scheduled videos do get made public on the date specified in YouTube, but I sort of learned my lesson that you shouldn't upload an album and specify that it go live well into the future, it's instead best to just wait until a couple weeks before you want it to be public, and then upload it, which the music-only distributor partners can handle. </p><p style="clear: both;"><br /></p><p style="clear: both;">It was so cool to know I could kick back knowing I had two future albums that would just be released automatically, but it doesn't work if it's too far into the future - that's my lesson learned. Those include "Feather In Cap," "Green Love," "Brain Dead," "Wouldn't Have It Any Other Way," "Mountain Time" and "Any Port In A Storm" which is a sea shanty that features my lovely wife Lenore Cooley playing amazing accordion!</p><p style="clear: both;"><br /></p><p style="clear: both;">It should be a clue to me that people's favorites are not only the ones in which I swear, use humor, and write about a place everyone's heard of, but also the ones where I involve another musician! Indeed, she is a real musician, unlike me. Now if I would only get real singers to sing them, and other real musicians to play the other instruments, maybe I'd be on to something. </p><p style="clear: both;"><br /></p><p style="clear: both;">That was the plan all along, by the way: I only ever envisioned myself as a songwriter, not an artist myself, and that's still true, but I wisely wasn't into taking the big risk of moving to Nashville, networking, and pitching my songs to famous artists. As aforementioned, I’m still trying to accidentally write a good one.</p><p style="clear: both;"><br /></p><p style="clear: both;">Instead of soliciting good singers and players to record one of my songs, I pass myself off as a singer-songwriter solo artist and release my own versions of my songs with me combining multiple tracks I play and sing on, because none of my songs are pitch-worthy yet. Minute improvements over the years may be arguably evident, but I keep at it because I like doing it, and I still haven’t written a great song yet, but I want to, so I’m still trying.</p><p style="clear: both;"><br /></p><p style="clear: both;">I’m not attempting to get better necessarily, I’m just enjoying my hobby and hoping I get better or get lucky or preferably both, but I’m not working too hard at it at all. To me, it’s just fun to try to make up songs, and some of mine actually sound like they might pass as sounding like real, actual songs sometimes, which is always encouraging.</p><p style="clear: both;"><br /></p><p style="clear: both;">Additionally, I've uploaded new videos for songs from past albums. While originally, I had done 5 videos for each album - each featuring a song from those albums - I've now added at least one more per album, so now there are at least 6 songs from each album that have videos associated with them. </p><p style="clear: both;"><br /></p><p style="clear: both;">Those include: "Serenity" from Moon Dreams, "Lakeside Landing" from the album of the same name, "Road To Me" from the Drive Time Companion album, "What Money Can't Buy" from Sense Of Belonging, "If I Had Time" from Cherchez La Femme, "Used To Be Good Looking" from the album with that same title, "Something About New Orleans" from the Rest Assured album, "It's Not Gonna Be OK" from Missing The Boat, and "Love Is Like A Rose" from the first Bluebird Days album. </p><p style="clear: both;"><br /></p><p style="clear: both;">The new and latest Scott Cooley studio album "Lockdown Leftovers" also now has some videos associated with it, although there are only 5, and 2 of them were released previously. They include "Christmas Is Cancelled" which was my first holiday/Christmas song I wrote for a song contest back in November of 2020, and "Austin's Story" which I wrote in April 2020 in association with the Sing Me A Story Foundation for the benefit of Gilda's Club. </p><p style="clear: both;"><br /></p><p style="clear: both;">Some only have static pictures as opposed to moving, some have lyrics and credits, some don't. Therefore, some might be more interesting than others. One of my motivations was to make sure that every song on which Lenore plays accordion had an associated video so people can further marvel at her excellent playing.</p><p style="clear: both;"><br /></p><p style="clear: both;">The idea is that the video tells more of a story than just the words, and when you view them, you're more engaged or involved from understanding the song and the artist better somehow.</p><p style="clear: both;"><br /></p><p style="clear: both;">They should theoretically promote the music more than if they don't exist. Other artists do it, so you're doing it to compete with them I suppose, but I feel no sense of competition with anyone at all.</p><p style="clear: both;"><br /></p><p style="clear: both;">Just having videos that feature your studio recordings of your songs doesn't seem to make much difference in your popularity as an artist though, if you're me anyway.</p><p style="clear: both;"><br /></p><p style="clear: both;">I had one miserably failed attempt at lip synching with my song “Cooley’s Rap” a while back, and I've always had mixed feelings about those kinds of videos – they seem fake, particularly if you do them in one take like I did. To reiterate, I don’t dance, don’t videotape stuff with a camcorder, and don’t like my appearance, so featuring myself is ruled out.</p><p style="clear: both;"><br /></p><p style="clear: both;">All this means I have to find free public domain footage of stuff out there to go with my songs because I'm on a budget. So, it's not really all that original or authentic, and that's why it doesn't feel right.</p><p style="clear: both;"><br /></p><p style="clear: both;">Theoretically, a good song doesn't need a video, and good art can exist without anyone else ever experiencing it at all. I'm sure there are art for art's sake people in the world who don't feel compelled to make public everything they create, or record everything on their smartphones. </p><p style="clear: both;"><br /></p><p style="clear: both;">Hobbies are for personal enjoyment. You do it for yourself, but on the other hand, we're in the age where if it wasn't recorded, it didn't exist, right? What is the saying "if a tree falls in the woods and there's no one there to hear it did it make a sound" or maybe it's "does a bear shit in the woods"? Anyway, I'm sure YouTube has countless hidden woods cam videos that confirm with evidence both of these things happening.</p><p style="clear: both;"><br /></p><p style="clear: both;">To use a swear word again I've already over-used, a shitty video can make a song worse, and I'm certain I’m guilty of this. I'm putting them out there because I think I should, or because it seems like the thing to do, and I hold out hope it will mainly be a positive thing for you, the people who are into my music.</p><p style="clear: both;"><br /></p><p style="clear: both;">I know it's an increasingly popular way for people to consume music now, and with the tight integration of YouTube and YouTube Music, the videos are tied in to the experience if you choose to enjoy music that way. </p><p style="clear: both;"><br /></p><p style="clear: both;">I guess it's somewhat useful to see how slowly over time, certain ones emerge as more appealing. Sometimes it's because you leave one up as the "trailer" - which is the first one people see upon arriving to your channel. </p><p style="clear: both;"><br /></p><p style="clear: both;">On the Videos tab, when you SORT BY > Most popular, it's no surprise to me that my song "Mackinac Island" leads the way with over 300 views.</p><p style="clear: both;"><br /></p><p style="clear: both;">Others make me wonder if the "thumbnail" photo you see before you hit play makes a difference, and I think it does. But eventually, maybe some patterns emerge that it's a combination of things. </p><p style="clear: both;"><br /></p><p style="clear: both;">Some songs you think are really great never get the views you expected, so it's probably because I either never made it a featured trailer or didn't select an appealing thumbnail, or the video sucks pretty bad and people bail out before it finishes. </p><p style="clear: both;"><br /></p><p style="clear: both;">A lot of my songs are in the over-three-minute range, so that too could be a factor with the ever-shorter attention spans these days. Maybe for some, it's just the title, too, so you wonder if any of it is valuable feedback.</p><p style="clear: both;"><br /></p><p style="clear: both;">The bottom line here is if you're like me, you're more of a behind-the-scenes songwriter/recording artist who is not into performing in front of live audiences, and you shun the spotlight, and you're embarrassed about your old fat ugly appearance, and you feel your songs are what it should all be about and not the visuals. </p><p style="clear: both;"><br /></p><p style="clear: both;">On the other hand, if you're like me, you forget all that, cave to the pressure that it might help you reach a larger audience of appreciators, and you vow to take a stab at it. Mainly, you chalk it up to it seeming like the thing to do, so you do it.</p><p style="clear: both;"><br /></p><p style="clear: both;">When you find yourself being a do-it-all-yourself solo artist with a bunch of songs recorded, you take the hobby to the next level and put them in online music places so people can hear them. Another level beyond that is you can make videos for some of them and put them online where people can hear/see them. </p><p style="clear: both;"><br /></p><p style="clear: both;">You do it because you're brave, you do it because you can, in the land of the free and the brave. Similar to blogging, it's a very American thing to do now, I suspect.</p><p style="clear: both;"><br /></p><p style="clear: both;">Like some of my songs, some of my music videos are now cringeworthy to me, but I leave them up anyway. Once released, they'll always be "out there" on the web, even if I attempted to delete a few of them, so bad or not, they'll stay.</p><p style="clear: both;"><br /></p><p style="clear: both;">I sincerely hope you feel the Scott Cooley music listening experience is enhanced by some of them, and you get some enjoyment out of them and feel entertained.</p><p style="clear: both;"><br /></p><p style="clear: both;">If you want to Add a comment...to any of them that would be cool, and also if you feel compelled to Like, Share, or even Save them, go ahead, be my guest. That will be great.</p><p style="clear: both;"><br /></p><p style="clear: both;">When you’re an amateur musician who can somewhat pose as a professional thanks to technology leveling the playing field a bit, you want to appear as professional as possible to hang with the big boys whether you deserve to or not.</p><p style="clear: both;"><br /></p><p style="clear: both;">Lastly, I got the impression from some of YouTube's documentation that if I don't get more subscribers, they may not ever give me the coveted music note icon next to my profile name, and further, may take away some of the cool existing features that go with the custom name and the verified check mark, so please sign in to your Google account and hit that SUBSCRIBE button if you want to enjoy more in the future.</p><p style="clear: both;"><br /></p><p style="clear: both;">Or, just click this: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/c/scottcooley?sub_confirmation=1"><b>https://www.youtube.com/c/scottcooley?sub_confirmation=1</b></a></p><p style="clear: both;"><br /></p><p><script src="https://apis.google.com/js/platform.js"></script>
<div class="g-ytsubscribe" data-channelid="UCXl9NZH4ZMnfv0Jv14I8v4w" data-layout="full" data-count="default"></div></p><p style="clear: both;"><br /></p><p style="clear: both;">All it does is send you a little email notification when I post something new. No big deal.</p><p style="clear: both;"><br /></p><p style="clear: both;">Thanks in advance for subscribing, for reading this blog (and for watching the new videos)!</p><p style="clear: both;"><br /></p><p style="clear: both;"><br /></p><p style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></p><p style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></p><br /><br /><p></p><p><br /></p>Scott Cooleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11992512474971171166noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4322553151785625714.post-75901267985626130022022-06-21T08:25:00.002-04:002023-09-29T10:49:50.570-04:00Scott Cooley Records Announces Availability of New Album "Lockdown Leftovers" from Solo Artist Scott Cooley<h4 style="text-align: center;">The 11th studio record from recording artist Scott Cooley features 13 new original songs</h4><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio8NvngqBPEgFsr77FPbNJnbAVzl3g-1PxzMK5StW_YaGdBwumvR2uFnXgXm-Q8-qx5Jd4nAU1PcbhKXnXB1JkIuoddv3kDxAxmX_vHgduLFSnBB1o2SCY4P4h5XDVStsosuWJtswAYCBl8WRBbuA3O6id1LF3VQ-OHm_DVkPzpyK7yYC2RCn_V_gV/s2400/cover.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2400" data-original-width="2400" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio8NvngqBPEgFsr77FPbNJnbAVzl3g-1PxzMK5StW_YaGdBwumvR2uFnXgXm-Q8-qx5Jd4nAU1PcbhKXnXB1JkIuoddv3kDxAxmX_vHgduLFSnBB1o2SCY4P4h5XDVStsosuWJtswAYCBl8WRBbuA3O6id1LF3VQ-OHm_DVkPzpyK7yYC2RCn_V_gV/w200-h200/cover.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><br /><div>FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Scott Cooley (810) 820-0953 scottcooley@scottcooley.com</div><p>Grand Blanc, Michigan - June 21st, 2022 - Today at the album release party event, Scott Cooley Records announced the immediate availability of "Lockdown Leftovers," enabling owners of Scott Cooley's back catalog of 10 previously-released studio albums to immediately upgrade their collections with the latest release.</p><p>"This is a well-deserved bonus album for my patient and loyal fanbase" said the artist himself, CEO at Scott Cooley Records. Scott is best known in the midwest for songs that contain lyrical subject matter about the region as well as several songs about two of his favorite pastimes, sailing and skiing.</p><p>As with his past records, this one includes a baker's dozen new original songs Scott wrote and recorded himself at Scott Cooley Music Productions (his home studio) in Grand Blanc, Michigan. The shortest song is 2 minutes 26 seconds long, the longest is over 6 minutes in duration, while most fall in-between the 3 and 4 minute range.</p><p>The subject matter includes relatable things most of us have experienced: a renewed focus on what's important in life, realization of our time being fragile and fleeting, the simple pleasures in life, enjoyment of increased togetherness while locked down or working remotely, the struggles of communication and maintaining relationships, money challenges, cancelled events, nostalgia, history, addiction, and of course, a Scott Cooley album wouldn't be complete without covering the topics of love found and love lost.</p><p>Many fans have already benefited from pre-release music and video streaming, a clear indicator of their readiness for new material.</p><p>"Lockdown Leftovers" is a welcome surprise addition, particularly since it is the first new release in over 2 years and another album wasn't previously planned to be released until 2024. Due to a distribution mistake, Scott's last album, Bluebird Days II had been scheduled for release this year, but was released early. </p><p>Fans had come to expect the consistency of an every-two-years release in even-numbered years, but Scott experienced periods of unemployment between 2019-2020 that allowed him to write and record more songs than usual, which allowed for this "extra" unexpected release. </p><p>The title of the album describes the motivation behind the album in that the songs were left over from writing and recording them during lockdown due to the Coronavirus, which is referenced in one of the song's lyrics. Another of its songs expresses the positive aspects of extra togetherness experienced with his immediate family during this time, and as with his past releases, love and relationships are a prominent theme throughout. </p><p>Scott's method of writing, playing and recording didn't change from his last album project to this one, so the "signature" sound and song quality fans have come to expect is there for fulfillment. In fact some songs he might normally have weeded out, did in fact make the cut this time. </p><p>Part of the easing of standards is due to the pandemic making people realize their mortality, which has made him just want people to be able to hear his songs, whether they're carefully curated or not, since our remaining time is more precious than ever.</p><p></p><blockquote><p>"Even though I had more time for this album, I still followed my typical process of just getting a song as close to how I originally envisioned it when writing it as possible, then not wasting too much time trying to make each song perfect during the recording process. It stays more fresh and sounds less labored this way, even if a few imperfections remain. </p><p>If anything, I actually lowered the bar for what I considered release-worthy this time around. If it was close to sounding like an actual song, and there weren't too many glaring errors or major mistakes, I called it good and moved on. I'm reminded of a t-shirt I saw that said 'don't die with the music in you' or in other words, don't be afraid to release away, whether it's your best ever batch of new songs or not."</p></blockquote><p></p><p>More of a non-performing songwriter than a gigging or touring solo artist, there is little press coverage of Scott's music, aside from his own press releases such as this one. As such, there are not many quotable reviews of his new or past music available online, but Scott likes it that way. Preferring to stay out of any sort of public spotlight, Scott merely announces that his new music is available, then hopes for the best. </p><p>Without a desire for celebrity or fame of any kind, he still has a hope that his steadily-increasing fanbase will continue to grow on its own without promotion, marketing or advertising of any kind. Although unusual for a recording artist, Scott is satisfied just knowing the songs he writes and records are available to be discovered. How much discovery will happen, and how much organic recommendation will happen, remains to be seen. </p><p>At a time when live music performances are few and far between, and when people stay home more than ever, people are increasingly finding new music and new artists they like online in their homes and sharing it with each other online, so the chances are better than ever for an artist like Scott to enjoy increasing streaming activity.</p><p>Perhaps best described as Americana, it features the acoustic rock Scott is known for, with norteno, holiday, country, pop, folk, and even a bluegrass song that marks Scott's first foray into playing mandolin. The ever-present acoustic guitar is still Scott's main instrument, but piano, electric piano and organ can also be heard, with most songs also including acoustic bass guitar and light, sparse drums and percussion. </p><p>Also notable is that it contains Scott's first Christmas song he wrote as an entry into a holiday songwriting contest, and another written in association with the Sing Me A Story Foundation in which Scott turned a child's written story into a song for the benefit of Gilda's Club- a charity for children with cancer started in Detroit by Gilda Radner of Saturday Nigh Live fame. </p><p>Likely one of the most intriguing things about this album to fans is the fact that it includes a song on which Scott's lovely wife Lenore is a guest accordion player because the previously-released songs she has played accordion on are fan favorites.</p><p>This album is being distributed internationally to more countries and outlets than ever before. There are no CDs available to purchase this time due to a lack of demand, and Scott has yet to venture into vinyl (maybe someday), but the links are in, and are now active in your favorite places to get music on the world wide web.</p><p>This album is available on Apple Music, Amazon Music, Spotify, YouTube Music, and Pandora, to name of few of the many music services that offer it. Accompanying the release are several music videos created and produced by Scott as well that you can find on his official YouTube channel. Happy streaming!</p><p>Spotify: <a href="https://open.spotify.com/album/6Tp515a1vnkPNcIYT9nB5w">https://open.spotify.com/album/6Tp515a1vnkPNcIYT9nB5w</a></p><p>Apple Music: <a href="https://music.apple.com/us/album/lockdown-leftovers/1630698580">https://music.apple.com/us/album/lockdown-leftovers/1630698580</a></p><p>Amazon Music: <a href="https://music.amazon.com/albums/B0B3Z1BL2L">https://music.amazon.com/albums/B0B3Z1BL2L</a></p><p>Pandora: <a href="https://www.pandora.com/artist/scott-cooley/lockdown-leftovers/ALK9b4lmwqkrh7m">https://www.pandora.com/artist/scott-cooley/lockdown-leftovers/ALK9b4lmwqkrh7m</a></p><p>YouTube Music: <a href="https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_mvJHkwdXzy_XgcNJNb6zChSYhyPHEb9QQ">https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_mvJHkwdXzy_XgcNJNb6zChSYhyPHEb9QQ</a></p><p><br /></p><p>For more details, visit <a href="https://www.scottcooley.com/albums/lockdown-leftovers">https://www.scottcooley.com/albums/lockdown-leftovers</a>.</p><p># # #</p>Scott Cooleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11992512474971171166noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4322553151785625714.post-72682400848607874962022-06-18T16:51:00.002-04:002023-09-29T10:49:30.606-04:00My New Album "Lockdown Leftovers" Will Be Available Soon<p> </p><p>Here's to hoping you're like me: you somehow start getting into an artist, and you're excited when you hear they have new music coming out.</p><p><br /></p><p>It takes a lot to make the leap into trying out something new, and particularly the older you get, because you tend to like what you like, and don't feel like you have room in your life to start getting into music you're not already familiar with somehow.</p><p><br /></p><p>Sometimes people recommending music to you makes you want to check it out even less. Sometimes you need something more to push you over the edge. You have to like their image, or what they're all about.</p><p><br /></p><p>For example, someone suggested Ryan Adams to me long ago, and I couldn't get past my first impression that he was "that jean jacket guy with the hair in his face." I also heard he was one of those #metoo hashtag guys who had supposedly mistreated a girlfriend or wife. </p><p><br /></p><p>The combination of those made me way less likely to try out his music, but I finally got around to it, and I can confirm, the guy is a good artist, good songwriter, has a lot of good music out there to discover.</p><p><br /></p><p>I don't have much of an image, but I don't have any bad press either. I'm a good person, doggone it, and people like me. ...and I have some good music out there, and I hope you've discovered it, and hope you'll be interested to hear there's more on the way.</p><p><br /></p><p>It's even more elusive to get someone interested in a musician they know nothing about, haven't ever even heard of, and then with nothing to go on, mention they have a new release, and then by the way, the musician himself says it's not his best stuff, but you should check it out anyway. Great sales pitch, I know, but such is the case. Chances are you're not one of the imaginary readers, you're real, and you already know something about me already or you wouldn't be here reading this, so that should help.</p><p><br /></p><p>June 21st, my birthday, is when you can listen to it on Apple Music, Spotify, Amazon Music, YouTube Music, Pandora, and well, let's face it, you will only be using one of those services, not the millions of others out there, although my new album will be there too. No links to share yet, just a "be on the lookout for it" heads up at this point.</p><p><br /></p><p>I can tell you it will contain 13 new original songs I wrote and recorded in my home studio. I also made an album cover:</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtcWuqbyMdIqtrnl9AiqTb5ZsavwSjyz2Xd6VGtxwm6L2KxCK3UhM9bogIB-Ww9baVtz1YZ8RM3cLZ628_5tbdhFSErPFkqwlDeq_iN_XzcDUqzhg3phKtL6GaYsaCCfAc-85-PqhtFASa0bSqBJ4h4zK1NQs39kv2X7s8XBPmWvHLiA2cz2EtJz8U/s1000/Lockdown%20Leftovers%201000x1000.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1000" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtcWuqbyMdIqtrnl9AiqTb5ZsavwSjyz2Xd6VGtxwm6L2KxCK3UhM9bogIB-Ww9baVtz1YZ8RM3cLZ628_5tbdhFSErPFkqwlDeq_iN_XzcDUqzhg3phKtL6GaYsaCCfAc-85-PqhtFASa0bSqBJ4h4zK1NQs39kv2X7s8XBPmWvHLiA2cz2EtJz8U/s320/Lockdown%20Leftovers%201000x1000.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p>You might like some of it, you might not. Probably not. If you even get to the point of finding it three days from now, you'll probably hit play on track #1, then tell yourself "nope" and then out of impatience, go listen to Ryan Adams or The Beatles or Journey or whatever instead. Patience is hard.</p><p><br /></p><p>Another album release announcement means needing to do more than just tell the world I'm putting more music into it. I'm faced with telling people why they should be interested in such news. Putting lipstick on a pig, as they say.</p><p><br /></p><p>It's not very enticing to caution or warn people you're about to release some substandard music they might want to listen to. Not very smart either, one might argue. On the other hand, it is what it is, and at least I'm being honest. When you write and record new songs, you think they're all better than they end up being, in your own opinion, after a cooling off period.</p><p><br /></p><p>The real me would announce it the way I just did to my friend via email, which I've now deleted, but it went something like this:</p><p><br /></p><p></p><blockquote><p>"During periods of unemployment between 2019-2021, I wrote and recorded more songs than usual because of the extra free time, so I'm releasing a new album. They wouldn't normally make the cut of my weeding out process, but the criteria this time was just that they sound close to being actual songs, without too many glaring errors or major mistakes. I'm at the age, and we're in an age, when you never know if you might get the Corona and die, and you just want to know you got the songs out so people could potentially find them, maybe listen to them, and possibly enjoy them, whether any of that happens or not. Both the song quality and sound quality are not up to my usual standards, but I'm doing it anyway."</p><p></p></blockquote><p><br /></p><p>In other words, just being brutally honest, no sugar-coating. The more fake me needs to put on a marketing hat and make it compelling somehow. It just so happens that I'm now used to the fact that there are no gatekeepers anymore in the music industry. I forget how lucky I am that my hobby is one in which people who really have no business ever trying to sell what they create can try to anyway. So much music in the world, how to get people to try mine, what does it all mean?</p><p><br /></p><p>To me, it means I know I'm not good at music, but I do it anyway, and I can choose to keep it to myself, or share it with the world, and I choose the latter. Does that make me brave or stupid? I've wondered about that, and am unsure. I've googled this kind of thing for reassurance, and here's some things I've found I should probably quote people on, but won't.</p><p><br /></p><p>Heard it said:</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>If you can do it for joy, you can do it forever</li><li>Happiness lies in the thrill of creative effort</li><li>A man is a success if he does what he wants to do</li><li>Do what you love, and you will find the way to get it out to the world</li><li>The judgment of music, like the inspiration for it, must come slow and measured, if it comes with truth</li><li>The road of life is rocky and you may stumble too, so while you judge me, someone else is judging you</li><li>It's good to be bad at things you enjoy</li><li>You don't need to master something to enjoy it</li><li>It's perfectly fine to suck at something and keep doing it anyway</li><li>Being good at things is not the point of doing them</li><li>Being bad at something makes you an interesting person</li><li>To not excel at something helps shatter the notion that any pursuit must be a means to achievement</li><li>We are intimidated by the expectation that we must actually be skilled at what we do in our free time</li><li>Creating for the sake of creation, writing for the sake of writing, and trying for the sake of trying, is all invaluable grist for the spiritual mill</li><li>It's good to be mediocre at something you care about because it shows your commitment to enjoyment, and an understanding that you deserve the flexibility to go easy on yourself</li><li>The motivation underlying anyone's pursuit of a hobby is curiosity and the possibility of gleaning pleasure</li><li>If you truly derive pleasure from something, being good at it won't make a difference either way</li><li>If you enjoy doing something, it shouldn't matter what people think</li><li>There's a lot of joy to be found in doing things just for kicks</li><li>You'll find joy in embracing your willingness to be bad</li><li>The recipe for success is curiosity, kindness, stamina, and a willingness to look stupid</li><li>People will be inspired by you even if you don't crush it</li><li>Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly</li><li>Success is stumbling from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm</li></ul><p></p><p><br /></p><p>There there self, I feel better now. It's about building momentum, creating a buzz. I dread this aspect of it, but at the very least, one must let people know the music exists, or will soon exist, and therefore, this post. About all I can muster is a post like this for now. Alright, so the next post I have planned will be the "official" version of this informal announcement, in which I will represent myself and my new album in the most favorable light in more of a press release format. Until then, you've been warned.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><div><br /></div>Scott Cooleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11992512474971171166noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4322553151785625714.post-344746137080649222022-06-11T23:42:00.004-04:002023-09-29T10:51:03.666-04:00Another Bluebird Day - the return of the sequel that mistakenly became a prequel<p>I've finally made my album, Bluebird Days II, available for free streaming on Bandcamp, because why not? It was a long wait, I realize, but some online places to get music list the official release date of June 21st 2022 (my birthday), even though advance listening has been available since late 2019. I thought it was worthy of yet another announcement and explanation, though the astute readers already know I've covered this topic previously. Patience can be a rewarding challenge.</p><iframe style="border: 0; width: 350px; height: 786px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=4058817553/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/transparent=true/" seamless><a href="https://music.scottcooley.com/album/bluebird-days-ii">Bluebird Days II by Scott Cooley</a></iframe><p><br /></p><p>So...</p><p>I mean...</p><p>First of all, I would like to thank Gah-It, my personal higher power.</p><p>It's a blessing, I've been blessed, it's a blessed day...</p><p>...and it's a bluebird day!...again.</p><p><br /></p><p>I'll get to a point eventually, like the beak of a bluebird, and if you're a returning reader you know I'm long-winded and weird, which is why blogging is ideal for someone like me.</p><p><br /></p><p>I am like the bluebird: It's an American songbird (so am I because I am also an American, and I write songs and sing them), the male of which has a blue head, back and wings (I am also male, and I've been blue in the face before and I've certainly had my share of the blues).</p><p><br /></p><p>What makes be extremely lucky though, is the fact that I've also had my share of glorious bluebird days.</p><p><br /></p><p>The Apple dictionary defines it as an adjective:</p><p>"denoting or relating to a period of time characterized by sunny, cloudless weather, typically after a night of snowfall: on beautiful bluebird days the girls rode snowmobiles | a week of bluebird skies | it's bluebird, but 50-mile-per-hour winds have closed the gondola."</p><p><br /></p><p>Speaking of Apple, I got a recent report from Apple Music that my "play" count for their streaming service has dipped to an all-time low - a clear indicator that you are ready for new music from me.</p><p><br /></p><p>When bluebird became an adjective to describe such a day is unclear, and back when I experienced a lot of them, it wasn't in use.</p><p><br /></p><p>The reason I chose it for titles of two of my studio albums I released is that I love the idea of experiencing "bluebird days" and I have fond memories of them. </p><p><br /></p><p>I lived and worked at a ski area in Colorado in the early 90s and I got to experience powder skiing on sunny days after it had snowed a lot the night before many, many times. There's nothing like it, and I really do feel blessed to have had that experience.</p><p><br /></p><p>I noticed I had a batch of songs that were either about skiing on bluebird days, about birds and/or flying, or about the color blue or having the blues, so the album title made sense. </p><p><br /></p><p>When I realized I had somewhat of a theme going, it spurred me on to write a few more that fit it, and the next thing I knew was I had enough songs for two albums. Here's where my good fortune ran out.</p><p><br /></p><p>This occurred in late 2019, and my release schedule called for a new album in June 2020. I learned that my music distribution service offered the ability to upload all the songs and then specify a release date in the future. So, of course I thought I'd take advantage of that, get my two "in the can" albums uploaded and have one go out in June 2020, and the next one go out in June 2022. </p><p><br /></p><p>I once read in some music magazine that Ozzy Ozbourne recorded his Blizzard of Ozz and Diary of a Madman solo albums all in one big session around 1979 after he was kicked out of Black Sabbath. So, he had "two in the can" thing and his record company waited to release them a couple years apart. I'm not sure if I'm remembering it correctly or if that was really true, but I thought it was cool to know your next album is already done.</p><p><br /></p><p>The service said I could do it, the software let me do it, so all was good. I could take my time and not have to have a new batch of songs ready until June 2024 for the album after these two. (The schedule I'm referring to is that I typically release a new album of a baker's dozen new songs every two years, in even numbered years, on my birthday in June). Life was good, or so I thought.</p><p><br /></p><p>There was some sort of mistake the service later struggled to explain that resulted in them releasing the second one first, and in late 2019 when I submitted it, and the first one second, on the scheduled June 2020. They aplogized and gave me credit for a free album release, but it bummed me out and made me feel blue.</p><p><br /></p><p>This meant that after June 2020, there would theoretically be no new album of music from artist Scott Cooley until June 2024 - a long time to wait for those used to the expectation I had created with the release schedule commitment. The official release date, which is still in the "metadata" shows June 2022, even though the Bluebird Days II album has been available since late 2019.</p><p><br /></p><p>I guess soon, on June 21st, it will be official that it is at least what I consider officially released anyway. All that being said, it still means the fanbase hasn't heard any new material from me for two years. Because of this, and also because the streaming stats are understandably down from such a layoff, I wanted to let you know I'm planning an additional release this year - a bonus album, if you will - even though it violates the already-violated release schedule. You deserve it. Check back within the coming weeks for confirmation and details.</p><p><br /></p>Scott Cooleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11992512474971171166noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4322553151785625714.post-16746410261413815922022-05-15T10:02:00.001-04:002023-09-29T10:51:24.715-04:00The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly of Scott Cooley Music Videos<p> Many if not most people out there in the world have surely noticed by now that because of cheap music recording equipment, the internet, and social media, there are now millions of amateur musicians who put recordings of themselves performing music online for the world to potentially discover and enjoy. Like it or not, I am one of them. It's great that this is possible, and yet, because there are no gatekeepers, there is no quality control. The masses stream music now anyway as the preferred method of consumption. Increasingly, people also like to enjoy music that has accompanying video content. YouTube Music gives you both streamable audio and video (the service I recommend), but even the Spotify, Apple Music and Amazon Music users still go to YouTube to find videos associated with the music they like. There are still record labels and radio stations that perform a gatekeeping/quality control function, but they are easily bypassed. </p><p><br /></p><p>I'm not sure if I've ever announced the existence of my live video channel on on this blog or elsewhere on scottcooley.com, but in case I have not, here is the link: <a href="http://youtube.com/user/scottcooleylive"><b>youtube.com/user/scottcooleylive</b></a>. It features me playing songs I've written live into a webcam from my home computer. They are much worse than the studio versions of my songs on the records I've released for two main reasons: 1) I'm not a good live performer, and 2) My physical appearance detracts from enjoyment of the music. So, with that warning in mind, you can now feel free to hit play on them, knowing I don't think you'll be particularly impressed. Recently, I took the opportunity to add new intro lyrics to a live version of my song "One More Mile to McDonald's" while attempting to use my friend Rich's mandolin - an instrument I have no idea how to play. <a href="https://youtu.be/nOrxLh7IdYY">https://youtu.be/nOrxLh7IdYY</a></p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/nOrxLh7IdYY" width="320" youtube-src-id="nOrxLh7IdYY"></iframe></div><br /><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Hope it's not too disappointing, and although it goes without saying, I'll point out the obvious differences between live Scott Cooley and recorded Scott Cooley anyway: You'll only hear a single instrument being played with a single vocal, I don't look good or have impressive playing skills, I'm a bad singer, and there's no fixing of errors in a live performance. I know that even if you're only a casual music fan and not a musician or recording artist yourself, you understand that home studio recordings offer the blending of multiple instrumental and vocal tracks to achieve the sound of a band consisting of multiple people, and further, that they offer the ability for "do-overs" for mistake correction. I wish I was the type of solo guitar player who could do some fingerpicked instrumental breaks, but I'm not, so you won't hear the solo lead guitar riffing present in my recordings. Nor will you hear any of the other instruments (bass, keyboards, drums, marimba, harmonica, etc.) or backing vocals I play and blend into my multitrack studio albums. I also know that you know that a part of the appeal of enjoying live music is how the performer looks - their stage presence, style, the way they're dressed, the way they move, etc. There is a reason popular performing artists are typically young and attractive and energetic, and I'm none of those. </p><p><br /></p><p>You'll get immediate confirmation of the reasons I don't play live shows. As I've explained throughout my blogging about my hobby herein, I only enjoy writing songs and recording them. I do this process quickly and without practice, then move on to the next song. I get the recordings close to what I imagined they should sound like, and then I write and record more, never spending more than about an hour on a single song. Sometimes I write one in 5 minutes, and finish the recording in about a half hour, some a little longer. I never intend to memorize them and play them live in front of people, let alone record videos of me playing them live. Nevertheless, I've done a few of them anyway, because I thought some people might find it interesting. It might also be helpful for you to understand that the vast majority of my recorded output are songs that I only play once or twice all the way through prior to recording them, and then I never play them again. I put the typed lyrics in front of me on my computer screen out of necessity because I have not ever memorized any of my own songs, and you can see me squinting to read them as I sing, which I know is annoying, so I am hereby acknowledging I'm aware of that.</p><p><br /></p><p>I take full responsibility for contributing to the increasing amount of low-quality music online. Like millions of others, I know I'm not good, but I do it anyway. The kind/polite encouragement of family and friends is also a contributing factor, and again, I take responsibility for allowing it to spur me on to continue with a hobby I know I'm not good at. You can't have great, good and mediocre artists without some bad ones too for comparison's sake, and that's a service I happily provide. Despite the ability to fix imperfections, my studio recordings are the result of a hasty warts-and-all approach, yet they still offer the ability to make myself slightly better than I really am. Live performance captured on video, however, offers no such ability, and takes that approach to another level of being naked and raw. It takes bravery, a combination of false and real confidence, and a willingness to be vulnerable. This risk-taking behavior I've engaged comes with a certain level of shame and embarrassment that is offset by the virtual barrier of the internet - the same type of anonymity people experience in dark movie theatres in which they are less afraid to get vocal.</p><p><br /></p><p>The aforementioned live video music content is what I would consider "The Ugly" - meaning the least palatable.</p><p><br /></p><p><b>The Bad</b></p><p>On a semi-related note, there is also a place on YouTube where you can listen to my attempts at home recording multi-track cover songs of songs I like by other artists here: <a href="http://youtube.com/user/coversbycooley">youtube.com/user/coversbycooley</a></p><p><br /></p><p><b>The Good</b></p><p>Lastly, I plan to up my video game on my "official" YouTube channel here in the coming months as well: <a href="http://youtube.com/scottcooley">youtube.com/scottcooley</a>, so stay tuned to my tube for music videos in which I combine my home studio-recorded audio of songs from my released albums with free video footage I've found online. For the same reasons people cringed when hearing their own voice on outgoing answering machine or voice mail greetings, and for the same reasons people cringe when seeing themselves in photos and videos, all but <a href="https://blog.scottcooley.com/2022/04/lip-synching-and-dissing-hilarious.html" target="_blank">one</a> of my music videos do not contain footage of me lip-syching to my own recorded audio. Coincidentally, I wrote, recorded, and released a song titled "The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly" many years ago that does not yet have a video associated with it. It would've been cool if I had produced one and included it in a post with this title, but I did not. Oh well.</p><p><br /></p><p>If you're an amateur songwriter who has been bold enough to record your songs and put them on the web, then go so far as to also have a blog, website, and social media presence thinking this would somehow improve the discovery/appreciation chances, you then eventually and logically decide that having music videos might also help you improve those chances. It's what you do.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Scott Cooleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11992512474971171166noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4322553151785625714.post-76123616448655413922022-04-23T14:49:00.001-04:002023-09-29T10:53:07.991-04:00Lip-Synching and Dissing: Hilarious Failed Rap Song Attempt - Now With Video!<p>I guess I should make you fans/readers aware that there is now a music video for my song "Cooley's Rap". One time some friends of mine put on one of my CDs at a get-together with friends on their home stereo. I'm always embarrassed when this happens, and I want to hide. </p><p>That feeling is even worse when a song I'm not particularly proud of is playing. At this time, one of my friend's young daughters was there, and she made it known that this song was her favorite. I chalked it up to it being most similar to the type of music she was familiar with, the type of music popular amongst her peers. </p><p>I've had several people tell me over the years that they found it to be entertaining, though they didn't elaborate on why. Overall, people who have heard my music are baffled by my preference to play all acoustic instruments and to play the minimalist drums and percussion myself, some going so far as to suggest that I instead play electric guitar and use synthesized drums. For those craving a more conventional, polished, mainstream and slick production sound, this may have temporarily satisfied such a craving somewhat. </p><p>In a sea of acoustic-guitar dominated garage rock love songs, this one stood out. I released it on an album I titled Drive Time Companion back in 2008. It was my first and only attempt at a rap song. Although I do in fact "diss" in the song, I mean no disrespect to anyone, and like many a white rapper, felt compelled to try a rap song out of appreciation for the associated black culture.</p><p>Sometimes it is important to reconsider the way you are speaking or acting before you end up causing real trouble. I never should've released this song in the first place, let alone revisit it and create a video for it. Other times in the process of checking yourself before you wreck yourself, you go against your own good judgement again, citing humor over potentially offending people.</p><p>As one does, I incorporated sampled beats and bass line, turntablistic scratching via guitar pick scraping along the low E string (bronze-wound) of an acoustic guitar, backing/emphasizing raps courtesy of my lovely wife Lenore, and wrote lyrics and rhymes I thought might be appropriate that included "street vernacular" I was aware of at the time, with subject matter that I thought should include references to violence, and perhaps most importantly, trash talking/dissing. When contemplating a video, I imagined it would need to be lip-synched to the original track, and further, that I should sport the most appropriate clothing I had available, which ended up including a hoodie, Adidas tennis warm-up jacket, and a rope chain-style necklace. For unknown reasons, I also thought it would be cool to wear ski goggles. </p><p>So, here you go: <a href="https://youtu.be/kHiYyJvMMVk">https://youtu.be/kHiYyJvMMVk</a></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/kHiYyJvMMVk" width="320" youtube-src-id="kHiYyJvMMVk"></iframe></div><br /><p>It's hard to say that it's creative or artistic in any way. It is completely nonsensical, does not tell any sort of interesting story, nor does it contain messages of any power or significance. As a standalone, drastic departure from the rest of my catalog of released original music, I am at once proud and ashamed of this song. </p><p>I learned it's really difficult to lip-sync(h?), and even more challenging to know what to do with your arms and hands. Looking cool should always be crucial to a successful rap video, and this does not even come close in any way, unfortunately.</p><p>In the unlikely event that you'd like to know even more information about this song, you're in luck because it is available here: <a href="https://www.scottcooley.com/albums/drive-time-companion/cooleys-rap">https://www.scottcooley.com/albums/drive-time-companion/cooleys-rap</a></p><p>Looking back on it to create this terrible video, I realized the humor in it, and decided to embrace the misstep and own the embarrassment. I admit it's a really bad song, arguably made worse by having accompanying video content. </p><p>Overall, I hope people will enjoy revisiting this song and have the reaction my wife had to both the song and the video, which was to uncontrollably laugh out loud and proclaim it was awesome and hilarious.</p>Scott Cooleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11992512474971171166noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4322553151785625714.post-27742443754054922682022-01-10T22:36:00.001-05:002023-09-29T10:54:37.018-04:00Scott Cooley Gets Naked<p>Finally, scottcooley.com works - let me explain</p><p><br /></p><p>I host this blog, and the main Web site it is a subdomain of, on Blogger and Google Sites, respectively. As a cost-conscious, figure-it-all-out-myself person, I've been proud that an old guy like me with an English degree could find a way to have my own site available on the world wide web with nothing more than my own sweat equity. </p><p><br /></p><p>Fairly recently, I notified you via another post herein of a recent upgrade that made the site work with https protocol for improved security. So, even if you typed in http://www.scottcooley.com, or even just the www.scottcooley.com without the http, it would automatically display the https version. It's a simple change, but one I thought was noteworthy enough for visitors to become aware of.</p><p><br /></p><p>Also fairly recently, I became aware that it didn't work when someone just typed in scottcooley.com, otherwise known as the "naked" domain without the www. It occurred to me that I rarely type in the www anymore for most websites I visit, and I like that convenience. Of course I want visitors to my site to have that experience as well. Now they (you) can enjoy that convenience.</p><p><br /></p><p>It took me a couple tries with different CNAME and A record entries in the software of the registrar I use. It took a lot of Googling how to accomplish this as well. Turns out such a simple-sounding thing isn't so simple. Not that you'd care why or how, but suffice it to say I figured it out, and it works now.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/cSwscl8_k-Nq-HgEekHX_Mhij-_cP9il99OUdj7ZKqyYyN_Ba0mngJQDvNO6ItSzo5x1ZlGQisC21m42lOKtd6s=s320" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="132" data-original-width="320" height="132" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/cSwscl8_k-Nq-HgEekHX_Mhij-_cP9il99OUdj7ZKqyYyN_Ba0mngJQDvNO6ItSzo5x1ZlGQisC21m42lOKtd6s=w16383" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p>It was pretty embarrassing when I discovered that not only had I designed a nifty logo that includes the text " scottcooley.com" (false advertising), but also that I had listed scottcooley.com on various online profiles that probably gave people the impression that I was listing a site that did not exist. It has all along if you typed in the www part, but now you don't have to.</p><p><br /></p><p>So there, I've come clean about this oversight, and can confirm the site has existed for well over a decade, and now it's as easy as possible for people to get to.</p><p><br /></p><p>Yep, really exciting information to be aware of, I know. The reality is this blog doesn't have many readers, and scottcooley.com doesn't have many visitors, but this change is likely to help. If you're interested in finding out news about me and the music I write and record, you have to find out about it somewhere, and this is the source.</p><p><br /></p><p>Logically, this blog is the source of updates about the blog and the site too, so that's why I'm letting you know about such an inconsequential thing here. I care about the visitor experience. </p><p><br /></p><p>As for updates about my music, about all I can report at this time is that you can expect more music out of me within the next 6 months. If I die of Covid or something else between now and then, maybe my wife will figure out how to release the music someday. If all goes according to plan, as you might've expected, said music will be in the form of yet another full-length studio album of new original songs with me singing and playing the instruments.</p><p><br /></p><p>Check back for further details and thanks for visiting blog.scottcooley.com, and hopefully......<a href="http://scottcooley.com">scottcooley.com</a> (<- try it)! </p>Scott Cooleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11992512474971171166noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4322553151785625714.post-70685112117408051412021-12-03T21:30:00.002-05:002023-09-29T10:52:56.538-04:00There’s A Scott Cooley Christmas Song I Forgot To Tell You About!<p>I’m pretty sure I never told anyone about the Christmas song I wrote last year. I wrote it, recorded it, uploaded it to YouTube, and then forgot about it. It’s called “Christmas Is Cancelled,” and I wrote it back in early November, so it was over a year ago now. </p><p><br /></p><p>I was partially inspired to write it because one of my annual Christmas get-togethers with one branch of my family got canceled. It’s the one my immediate family has always informally called “the Cooley Christmas,” the one in which we get together with my dad’s side of the family. We decided to do a Zoom call with everyone instead. I wrote it after learning it would be cancelled, and completed it before the zoom call.</p><p><br /></p><p>Let the record show I uploaded it to YouTube on November 11th, 2020. So far it was zero likes, and 65 total views on my official channel at <a href="http://www.youtube.com/scottcooley">www.youtube.com/scottcooley</a>. So like anyone would, I logically thought I could boost the engagement by posting about it here in my blog that hardly anyone reads.</p><p><br /></p><p>The official direct link to the song is here: <a href="https://youtu.be/VaK47yLMoL4">https://youtu.be/VaK47yLMoL4</a></p><p><br /></p><p>It occurs to me now that it’s still somewhat relevant, because yet another and 2nd consecutive Cooley Christmas has now been cancelled, although no zoom call has been planned this year. </p><p><br /></p><p>We didn’t have a vaccine yet at the time, so there’s a line about getting one someday, and sure enough, we got one. As of this blog posting I just got my 3rd shot – the Pfizer booster. </p><p><br /></p><p>There’s a line about telling Trump he was fired, and he’s not our president anymore, even though many don’t seem to believe it’s true. It’s the only time I’ve ever put anything even remotely political in one of my songs, but I felt compelled. That may explain why the view count is pretty low! I’ve alienated at least half of my potential audience, although they wouldn’t know that until well into the song, but who knows. </p><p><br /></p><p>It really is nice to avoid the usual holiday hassles by having it cancelled, but I’m getting together with the other branch of my family, my mom’s side, tomorrow, and I’m actually looking forward to it. It’s been resurrected this year, even though our Covid numbers here in Michigan are pretty bad again. </p><p><br /></p><p>So, I do sort of dread the effort involved with holiday get-togethers, but I also miss them because I miss seeing everyone. The holidays were a stressful time of year to begin with, and with no end to Corona in sight, it’s even more. </p><p><br /></p><p>Some high school kid about 20 miles from here just shot a bunch of other kids in the school a few days ago, so it’s got everyone talking. I got my hair cut today, and the barbers were all in agreement that sadly, all schools need metal detectors now, even outside the big cities.</p><p><br /></p><p>I wrote this for a Christmas song contest that I lost (not even an honorable mention t-shirt). It occurs to me now that the contest and judges were all based in Nashville, and I suspect the vast majority of them are Trump supporters, so what was I thinking? A total waste of an entry fee.</p><p><br /></p><p>Here are the lyrics:</p><p><br /></p><p><span style="font-family: courier;">Christmas is cancelled, and that’s alright with me </span></p><p><span style="font-family: courier;">No indoor gatherings, due to Covid-19</span></p><p><span style="font-family: courier;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: courier;">Christmas is cancelled, this year we’re free</span></p><p><span style="font-family: courier;">We’ll say hi on Zoom, forget about the tree</span></p><p><span style="font-family: courier;">Christmas is cancelled</span></p><p><span style="font-family: courier;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: courier;">We’ll have less stress from driving, we’ll relax like never before</span></p><p><span style="font-family: courier;">We’ll skip shopping and wrapping presents, let Amazon bring ‘em to the door</span></p><p><span style="font-family: courier;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: courier;">Christmas is cancelled, we’re stocked up with food and TP</span></p><p><span style="font-family: courier;">We told Trump he was fired, that’s all the glee I need</span></p><p><span style="font-family: courier;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: courier;">We’ve celebrated your birthday Jesus, for over two thousand years</span></p><p><span style="font-family: courier;">We need a second coming in two thousand twenty-one, to stop the dying, the fears and the tears</span></p><p><span style="font-family: courier;"> </span></p><p><span style="font-family: courier;">Maybe Christ is made up, like the news on the Fox channel </span></p><p><span style="font-family: courier;">Our country’s getting’ bluer, and that’s better than getting dismantled</span></p><p><span style="font-family: courier;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: courier;">Christmas is cancelled, and it’s gonna be okay</span></p><p><span style="font-family: courier;">We won’t lose hope, we’ll get a vaccine someday</span></p><p><span style="font-family: courier;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: courier;">'Till then enjoy a break from all the usual holiday hassles</span></p><p><span style="font-family: courier;">Christmas is cancelled</span></p><p><br /></p><p>And here’s the embedded official “video” of the song:</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/VaK47yLMoL4" width="320" youtube-src-id="VaK47yLMoL4"></iframe></div><br /><p><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/VaK47yLMoL4" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe></p><p><br /></p><p>So, that was my first attempt at a Christmas song, and I know I can probably do better, so maybe will give it another try someday. Hope you enjoyed it!</p><p><br /></p><p>While I’m at it, on a related note, over 10 years ago now I recorded a Christmas album I titled “A Cooley Christmas” of my favorite holiday cover songs. Similarly, I never really told anyone about it, but it was back in the days when burning CDs was a thing, and I gave out a few copies to some of the Cooley relatives. I got a few kind, polite compliments from a few of them, but never did anything more with it. I only burned a few discs, and I’ve actually had a request for another copy a time or two since then, but don’t have the CD burning equipment anymore. However, I did upload them and make a playlist for the album on YouTube, which you can now stream for free. </p><p>Here’s the link to the Scott Cooley Holiday Covers Album “A Cooley Christmas” Playlist:</p><p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvOHntjA2t1-DYZc9nSQN-y8HwPuCKzL4">https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvOHntjA2t1-DYZc9nSQN-y8HwPuCKzL4</a></p><p><br /></p><p>Happy Holidays,</p><p></p><p>Scott</p>Scott Cooleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11992512474971171166noreply@blogger.com0