Post 1000

Hard to imagine. 1000 of these posts over two years. We've been through quite a party! Those of you who have followed since the beginning know the big plans I had, many of them carried out. For example, there was a weekly podcast of all the songs I picked out as the top songs of the week. That was great fun, but destroyed by lawyers. Then there were the samplers - songs that were selected by me that bands were willing to share and gain new fans from. Four of those were released till one of the bands deservedly got a contract with a major label, but the major label forced us to stop selling those. The price was affordable - $6, and featured 20 bands. No one was getting rich off that, trust me.

So, all the multimedia dreams of eartaste fell by the wayside. But, I'm still here. Everyday I get 10-12 CDs in the mail from all around the world, and it's always exciting. I've been asked about the process. The ones that are from major studios get set aside. Oh, they're still important, but I figure they're being written about everywhere. The 2nd stack are ones from publicists from indie artists. I love publicists, and see their role as very important. But these are still artists one rung up the ladder on their way to getting seen and heard by the masses. The third stack is the most important. That's the ones direct from the bands, sometimes not even released beyond that one CD burned on their computer. Those are the people I love listening to and talking about the most - they are still trying to find an audience for their music and much of my joy comes from helping them find new members of their audience. That may be 10 people at this point in their career, but what a difference it makes when you can talk to and argue with an artist. The layers of people involved in publicity and major labels makes that communication almost impossible, tho there are the occasional artists in those situation who will reach out personally. Most are just too dang busy.

So, I start there, with the indie releases, listen through. If one of them hit the right spot in my aural cavity, it will be the one discussed that night. If I find nothing there, I move on to the indie publicists pile. I feel some of these folks are friends - we occasionally share opinions on different things and try to analyze viewpoints, etc. Not the same as talking to the artists direct, but a very good 2nd. If I can't find the eartaste of the day in that stack, I move on to the majors. That's the process, simple yet efficient. I look for one artists each day., I try my best to keep my desk clear, but sometimes there's 2 or three artists worth telling you about, once in awhile even more. So the stack gets huge. Then, once in awhile, to I try not to do it too often, I'll simply list favorite singles. Not as interesting, but it exposes names. Almost always those are major label artists anyway who you can read about just about anywhere.

I had my first music review published in 1967 in a school newspaper, and haven't looked back. I've been in many bands myself, several of which recorded, none of which went nationwide. Had a few regional "hits" for whatever that s worth, played many many gigs, opened for some pretty big stars. Perhaps my favorite memory is playing in a punk group that got a spot on the local Muscular Dystrophy Telethon where many local bands were playing. The band just in front of us was a really decent Beatles cover band, and the band after us was a fantastic Elvis covers band. Our 45 minute set was all originals, and people were genuinely supportive. Interesting night. But, as all bands know, most nights are grinds. The stage part is great - I don't think anyone will argue with that, but the 'dressing rooms', the smells, the business folks, the promised money that never appears, everything off the stage was plain ugly. Simply getting to gigs 200-300 miles away in a van with 4 other smelly people was often gross. There's a tiny bit of glamour, but not enough to make it all worthwhile. I lasted 16 years, mostly because I was willing to play just about any kind of original music, my own preferably, tho I was more than willing to share that spotlight. I really enjoyed co-writing and found many good friends that way.

So whether I've written music, or written about music, it's always been a part of my life. My take here at eartaste has been to ignore the past and the hype of an artist and simply write about the great songs. I know most of the music business centers on hype, and that will never change. But I like this one little corner of the world where the guy who just started recording a month ago is just as important to me and the readers of eartaste as the guy who has been recording for 40 years.

So, warts and all, this more or less acts like a faq. Many of you have received notes when you've asked me some of these details. Now I can tell people to see Post #1000. LOL!