Hello All!
How goes it? This week’s mania hasn’t settled down and I’m stealing time to write you this highly pressurized tidy email. It’s funny when you schedule yourself within an inch of your life what your brain decides to focus on. For some reason when I have more responsibilities I worry less. Is that a thing? Is this just a fluke? Maybe I’ve got a massive breakdown right around the corner but for now I feel great. Not in a rested, “let’s go get waffles!” kind of way, but in a “1/2 way through a marathon and I just got over shin splints” kind of a way. My Brain has to prioritize and it can’t let itself get cannibalistic. Good for me I guess.
In this week’s episode of SharkBrain I talk once more about the myth of the ordained artist. It’s something that’s been building up within me for a while, and I apologize if I keep on going down some of the same roads. But I guess it bears repeating if I keep thinking about it. The crux of the whole thing really is that it’s ok to be a blue collar artist. Now what do I mean by that? I’ll tell you.
Many times when when artists are written about or interviewed, they get portrayed by the writer (or worse, the artist THEMSELVES!) as these indelible forces of nature, floating on a golden cloud in favor of the Muse, songs and novels spewing forth from their pens. They need merely open their mouths and manna comes spewing forth
in double album form, fully real
ized. The gods just smiled upon them and they farted out the poetry of our age. How Lucky we are to know them.
Well I call shenanigans. This process merely takes the egalitarian nature away from the people trying to find their creative voices and puts it in this secret society of the accomplished. It’s creative hoarding. And It’s damaging. So how can we change it?
Well for one thing we as artists in positions of accomplishment or power can stop with the “chosen one” syndrome. Yeah, sometimes art comes easy. You were at the right place and the right time holding a pen. But guess what? That same spirit that came to you comes to all of us. And it can leave as fast as it comes. So let’s not leave out the parts about us banging our heads against the wall. Let’s remember to tell people how we sat down in the chair to write/paint/rehearse/practice when we DIDN’T WANT TO. That it’s work, great work, rewarding work (sometimes), but all the same, a job. If we demystify creativity we become less precious about it when the road is bumpy, and in the end our unique voice shines clearer.
ok. end of rant.
This week on the show we’ve got musical renaissance man Bill Meyers. In his career as a session player and arranger he’s had the opportunity to work with Madonna, Lou Rawls, Earth, Wind, and Fire, Justin Timberlake, Destiny’s Child, Brian McKnight, Holy Crap the list goes on. We talk about the ever changing face of music, about avoiding the pitfalls of rock and roll, and a crazy story about Frank Sinatra. Dig in, this is a good one.