The Thing About the Gaga

Ok, so I've heard it a lot. My friend Jamie summed it up when I saw her last...she told me, "I wasn't sure if all your Facebooking and tweeting about Lady Gaga was true fandom or if you were being snarky and sarcastic...but I think you're really a fan." Yeah, it's true. The diehard folkie likes the Gaga. I've always had an ear for some pop goodness, but I usually successfully ignore and/or ridicule most of who and what is put out there into the mainstream and set up to be labeled as having "viable artistic credibility." I get it. It's manufactured. There is the road to performing which takes you to 4-hour gigs in front of the grocery store check out line (done), being the wandering minstrel in 100 degree heat for an outdoor market (done), playing in dive bars from Socorro, NM to Winston-Salem, NC (done). That is a path that one can argue with some hubris and annoying attitude that is hard earned and respectable. Then there are a lot of people these days that look good and sing okay, and either through the virtues of American Idol or their mom being on Wife Swap (you know who you are), they can get noticed enough to where the big label machine sucks them in and starts making them a pop star. Most of us can see through it, and I think that it's fine. I've been known to rock out to a Ke$ha tune, but I've also seen her SNL performance where she is clearly questioning every decision her label handlers made from the the astronaut dancers to the U.S. flag cape. Weird. Anyway, I find Gaga to be the opposite of all of this. Some stealth Youtubing (and I won't do it for you) will reveal pre-Gaga playing in NYC clubs back in the day (which probably means 4 years ago because she's only 23). There's some recital footage of her rocking out on a grand piano, too. So she has the musical goods. The fact that my friends and I have horrifically long conversations about what sucks us in to the Lady Gaga phenomenon means she is doing something right. I'm kind of up on pop culture but I don't watch TV. I have to seek things out to see them, and what made me seek out Lady Gaga at first was just that she dressed weirdly. It was the double whammy of a coffee filter type dress followed by a glittered crustacean tiara that got me hooked. This was crazy. And I read a little more, and Gaga is about building her community of fans. Not just building up fans to adore HER, but to build a community that people can be a part of and interact with. Not everyone's hanging out with Lady Gaga, but I would bet my lobster tiara that friendships and relationships and networking contacts have been born among her "little monsters" as she calls them that might not have existed otherwise. She promotes that community, and it makes sense. Is THAT part manufactured too? Doesn't matter because it filters down to something that actually works, as opposed to something that makes people go, "huh?" and not do anything. Lastly, it's more about the whole performance art thing than just the music. I don't think we're used to a pop artist that lives and breathes her persona 24/7. I think these type of rock stars used to exist, but I've seen way too many tabloid photos of Britney dressed in sweat pants in line at the gas station to have any illusions about "real" pop stars. The Gaga, though? I don't really know what she looks like these days. I don't really care. I want to know what she will be wearing next, and what will happen on her next TV show. She makes me think about the role of a performer and an artist. And when it's all backed up by good pop that sounds awesome cranked up in the car? That makes me a fan.

Happy Dogs on Lake Buchanan

Just to start off...I realized I did not take ONE photo of the lake the whole time we were about 60 feet away from it. Oops. Lake Buchanan is pretty, not that I could prove it. Monkey ready to make good the benefits of the merch. Yesterday Susan played at the Cedar Lodge Resort in Lake Buchanan along with a bunch of other cool artists to benefit the Happy Dog Rescue out in that area. There were puppies everywhere, and they were all stunningly well behaved. We didn't see one piece of BBQ being chased after or anything. Guilda ready for her close up. I call this "Dog Yin-Yang." Walt Wilkins and The Mystiqueros Susan Gibson Then we drove home. In the dark. Past the lake, I swear.

Empty Bowls, Happy Hearts, and a Tired J-Po

Jana+Susan at Artz courtesy of Ted. From Canada! Oh Sunday evening. I just did laundry with my neighbor and we ate Chinese food on his tailgate while we waited for the clothes to dry. See, it's November in Austin and it feels like June and you can do things like that while you wait at the laundromat. Anyway, it was nice to chill for a minute because it was a heck of a weekend. Lots of playing music and watching music...I can't complain. Thursday was Jo's Coffee downtown with Kimbo, who is always a joy to share the stage with because her songs are so good and so is she. We didn't freeze too much, and our new buddy Ted from Canada came by and took photos. I met Ted at Artz last week when I played there and he is visiting Austin to soak in the music because...he loves music. How awesome is that? He also takes great photos and much of what you will see below is courtesy of Ted. Jana+Kimbo...yep, Ted. Friday I opened for Susan and Shelley King in Tomball, TX at a great venue called Main Street Crossing. Lovely people and our hosts made us FRENCH TOAST for breakfast and I about fainted from delicious overload. It's the little things, folks. Saturday we jetted back from Tomball and I ran over to Ruta Maya for Red Leaf School of Music's Fall show. I performed a few and watched all of our adult and youth bands do GREAT jobs. So cool to work for Red Leaf with a community of such awesome people! Melissa took this photo and I hope she doesn't mind I stole it. ;) Today was the Empty Bowl Benefit at the Mexican American Cultural Center. I went to help Susan with carrying stuff (because that's what I do), but she was cool enough to get me up for a couple of songs. And I ate soup. Nifty. Who left the red shoes with the sound board? Photo from Ted! All the dogs came on the Susan bus for the soup party. Now it's almost time for Monday. Whew.

Community Online and Offline

Jana, Josh, and Kina I had a really awesome warm fuzzy gig Thursday night at Club 115 downtown. I got to songswap (and meet, for the first time) Kina Grannis; she just moved here from California. Austin is such a town of transplants, but I think that's what makes it happy to live in. People aren't very involved in geography or customs here, so we can all just get down to the business of making music. Kina has wonderful songs and a powerful voice...she'll fit right in here. Kalu James was kind of our herder for the evening...he got us all booked and onstage at the appointed time and no one had to be booted out for inappropriate behavior. Always a concern when you book me, folks. JUST KIDDING. Kalu hails from Nigeria by way of Rochester, New York. See what I mean about transplants? His voice will knock you on your butt. No, I did not drink anything to obtain said warm fuzzies, that's water. Josh Britt swapped songs with Elizabeth Hobbs...go to Josh's Myspace page and listen to "The Hatchet." It is my favorite song ever, and you should hear it. Elizabeth is full of totally clever lyrics and gorgeous voice to go along with it. I am slightly reminded of Lisa Loeb when I hear her, and that's a compliment from my camp. Camp Loeb. Or something. Have you listened to Josh yet? DO IT. Kalu then swapped with Miguel Briones...which, if you compare their styles...is a really interesting combination. Both being really powerful voices to the stage in very different ways. That's the joy of these collective songswap nights...it's like getting a scoop of butter pecan WITH your mint chocolate chip, or whatever tingles your sweet tooth. And I am piecing together, as we have nights like these, that the point of all of these online communities like Myspace and Facebook and Twitter and Flickr and whatever...the point of them all is to share and bring people together in this Brave New World of technology. I think somewhere along the line people got kind of stuck at home at their computers, playing round 87 of Minesweeper, and got really lonely. So all of these social networking tools are not made to reject this new way of life, but to make it better. And then the obvious continuation of that is...apply it to the OFFLINE life. We all still have those, right? Gather according to interests. Educate each other. Build each other up. The more your friends succeed the better off your world is. I feel that connection with all these fine songwriters. We gripe about the perils of finding paying gigs and we swap stories about flakey booking people, but we also find encouragement and strength when we all do what we love to do...together. So thanks, Kalu-Josh-Miguel-Elizabeth-Kina! I'm glad you're in my offline world...and that you accepted me as a Myspace friend. ;)

Lefsetz's Reality is Right

Tell 'em, Bob. Bob Lefsetz has it down. He's a veteran of music biz analysis, and in fact "The Lefsetz Letter" has been publishing for the past two decades. That's a lot of one-hit wonders. I've been following his music business blog for a while (which was formerly print, because as on it as he is, Bob was not blogging in 1987), and most recently have been thrilled by his exuberance for country music. He's got a multitude of posts about Keith Urban and Nashville songs which capture my sentiments about love for the Nashvillian style. I always go for a good song about driving and roads (and Wide Open Spaces, of course). Susan Gibson sings the "real" Wide Open Spaces. Anyway! Bob's post earlier this week about "The New Reality" really hit home to J and I as we are in the daily trenches of navigating not only the music-life but the Web 2.0-life as well...and figuring out the best way to join the two. He's right when he says all the trackback links in the world won't give us economic stability. We know we have to have our "stuff" together in terms of...well, I have to be a musician. We can't build a business around an artistic pursuit that we're not very good at. That's my own daily battle. Something I fight with intention, folk music grad school, to-do lists, and old fashioned inspiration. J has the same deal, too. He works in pioneering New Media forms (blogs, web content, networking, community) at a very old media kind of television station. (BETA, anyone? BETA does rock). He's getting skills that are the nuts and bolts of any type of visual media form, but he's learning how to apply them in 2007 terms. And 2015 terms. And 2050 terms. It's swell. He blogs about his life in the trenches over on New Media in the Land of Mañana. In the meantime what are we to rely on? Music is getting cheaper, and free...and that's fine. No one like me wants to (or would be asked to) sign a major label deal. (I'm not one for a complete personality remake and a quick trip to rehab. Ooo, snap). Short answer: we rely on YOU. If you're reading this blog, J and I have a dream of a livelihood that involves you. We're a community. Maybe you know us personally. Maybe you like a song or two or lots (thanks!). Maybe you are totally on board with our plan to tour the country in a bio-diesel bus. Whatever level we connect on, J and I appreciate that immensely. We need you along for the ride. We can promise you, our Rider-Alongers, these things: - an honest pursuit of music and writing...I'm just going to be me, and J is just J. - an appreciation of you as a member of our community. - cool t-shirt designs, because EVERYONE needs a cool shirt. - our response will be to give back. We want to be teachers and good stewards of our gifts. - a lot of not sleeping, a lot of driving, a lot of eye-straining, a lot of finger-bleeding...good times! Hard work is ok by us. - probably some other stuff, too, like Caribbean vacations and diamond encrusted belt buckles...but we'll stop there for now. Like Bob says, "The hardest part is getting noticed." Thanks for noticing. Really. Technorati Tags: lefsetz, music, musicbusiness, community, web2.0, nashville

Best Friends Network

JP and SG at Bark in the Park (Photo credit: Jennifer Hayes) You may or may not recall (depending on how steel trappish your mind is) my gig last month in San Marcos to benefit the San Marcos Animal Shelter. It was "Bark in the Park", there were belly dancers, folk music, and fire breathers. Ok, no fire breathers, but I think there might have been spicy ketchup on the condiment table. And there were dogs everywhere, and it was a grand time. Jennifer Hayes from the Best Friends Network came to do an article about the event, and you can read it on their website (and check out a sweet photo of Susan G. and her dogs/touring companions). Thanks, Jennifer! Best Friends Animal Society runs a sanctuary in Utah that, according to their website, "is home, on any given day, to about 1,500 dogs, cats, horses, rabbits, birds and other animals." Wow. I mean, I let in the occasional stray cricket, but that is hardcore. The neatest thing is that they are a national advocacy group as well...so on top of the fabulous sanctuary, they do awareness events and programs across the country. I know that when I am settled (perhaps in my tiny house) I will be one of those people who collects those homeless souls that happen to wander by. Cats, especially...they can spot a sucker a mile away and it's usually me (or my parents...I inherited the quality from them). In fact I should probably be more wary of typing this...I hear internet use among felines is rising exponentially. Hm. (lolcats. fyi.)

Live in Taji, Iraq

Yeah what did YOU do on your Saturday? Play music in Iraq? I didn't think so. Well this is just neat. When I was between sets at the Downtown Artist Market today (translation: bugging the artists), I was chatting with Zoey who makes really awesome jewelry from maps and musical scores and a multitude of other things that I love. She lived in Washington, D.C. for a time and of course I found out that she TOTALLY got to see Mary Chapin Carpenter before she was...like...Grammy-winning Mary Chapin Carpenter. More like Plays-at-Bars Mary Chapin Carpenter. Too flippin' cool. But I digress... Zoey told me she was talking to her friend Kenny, who is actually Corporal Ken (idon'tgivelastnamesontheinternet) stationed in Taji, Iraq. And since I was folking it up on guitar while they were talking, Zoey held up the phone so Kenny could hear...all the way in Taji. That kind of blew me away. This technology thing the kids are using these days is amazing. I wonder what time it was there. Do Corporals ever sleep? Or are they like Chuck Norris, who just waits? So here's to the fine men and women serving in Taji and across the Middle East...now get some sleep! :)

The World is Flat

Today my business partner "J" and I had a video conference meeting, nearly 1000 miles apart from each other, in different time zones, sitting in our respective home offices. I am amazed at technology and life and how the two meet to form community and create productivity. My guitars are my main tools, my car gets me to gigs, but the internet...kind of facilitates it all in some cosmic, overhead sense. Welcome to Globalization 3.0.