John Mayer 2/5/10

My wife and I saw John Mayer last night. Not sure how many people were there - looked like a sellout, maybe about 15,000. Once again, I came away impressed with the guy.

Yes, on one level, he's an immature egomaniac and life is a game to him. But his music to me has always been real, instead of product. Some will snicker at that. Ha ha ha! You're wrong. Don't confuse "popular on radio" with product. Most popular music on the radio IS product. But not all. Taylor Swift is product. Mayer's music, if you'd listen to an entire CD, is closer to blues/jazz than pop. And the guy can flat out play. Not my style - Steve Ray Wannabe. But he's got it down pat and it does sound good. The songs? His new CD is damn good. Worst song on it is the single with said Swift. That song is sorta crap. The rest of the CD is really good. Original brand new sound? No - his influences are pretty easy to see. Doesn't matter. He's writing exactly what he wants to write. His music isn't being approved by a committee of 40 something balding pro songwriters in a meeting room.

Singing live, Mayer sounds essentially just like his CD. Remember the day when that used to be everyone? Um, actually, nowadays many artists are using autotune live. It's becoming a joke. I very much appreciate an artist who doesn't try to do live studio tricks. No backing tracks, no live autotune - just hire a band of fantastic musicians (like Steve Jordan on drums) and there you go. I saw the YouTube of Taylor Swift at the Grammies - pretty bad. Not a real singer. Close enough that the computer can "fix" her.

Disclaimer - Backing tracks are for unknown nobodies who can't afford to hire a band but still want to play small gigs (raises hand.) NOT for big name artists who are either cheap or not talented enough to pull off their own music live.

Disclaimer 2 - John Mayer did use autotune on his last CD. Everyone does. In the old days they'd just do 100 takes. I don't see much difference. Everything about the studio is cheating. But if you can pull it off live, I'm OK with it.

Here's another thing I liked. The opening band was too loud. If you've been to enough concerts, you know that the main act is ALWAYS louder than the opening act. And the opening act was too loud. They finished and I said "Oh no." But when Mayer hit the stage, they were actually softer than the opening act. They turned it DOWN a little. And it sounded way way better. I've never, EVER seen that.

A lot of the show was Mayer playing Stevie Ray Strat solos. It's hard to understand why there were so many teenage girls and 20-something women willing to sit through his 2 minute blues wankings. They can't be digging on it. I think they just tolerate it.

My Garmin successfully navigated the streets of Tampa and we made it out in one piece. A fun night.

So... for a small gig musician, what lessons did I take from watching John Mayer? The biggest thing that impressed me was that they sounded fantastic. The second biggest thing was getting just the right volume for the venue. Any softer and it would've been The Beatles. Any louder and it would have hurt. One negative - He takes too long between songs. Some long pauses whilest he walks off to the side, gets a drink, gets a new three thousand dollar strat to use for one song, looks in a mirror, whatever he's doing. I've been trying to learn to avoid doing that.

But with all the bashing I'm doing on the guy on a personal level (and really I don't know him at all,) I'll say this - he's the real deal, in an era where 99% of the crap out there was done by pro songwriters or committees. If you don't agree, go listen to "Neon" on Room for Squares.

78 - Back. Again.

Haven't blogged in month. MONTHS. Must be I've had nothing to say. Or maybe I needed a blog break. Whatever.

I've begun work on my new CD, "The One Thing." Much like my last CD, it will most likely be folk/rock, meaning acoustic guitar-based. Five of the songs are stories. I've got the ideas for all ten songs done. Soon I'll be doing demos, and I'll post some of those here.

You know, I'm not sure why I stopped blogging. I got a lot of positive feedback when I blogged before. It just got to be "obligation," where I'd have to post every Saturday, but it wasn't every Saturday that I felt I had something to say. So I'm going to try just blogging when I feel like it. Might be three times in a day, then nothing for 2 weeks. I dunno.

Reading my last blog was interesting. What to charge for my music... In the future, the majority of amateur musicians will give their music away for free online. It's not like I'm trying to earn a living. Should I now be giving away my music? Is it time? I seem to constantly struggle with this question. I'm streaming it for free right now, on Bandcamp. Still thinking about it. I probably should. I could be ahead of the curve, a little bit - there aren't a whole lot of good amateurs giving their music away online. Do I consider my music good? Sure. I wouldn't keep making it if I thought it stank. Others can think it stinks, but that's just their taste.

Well, isn't this a cheerful little missive. I'm on Christmas vacation, hooray! No work for almost two weeks. Playing at Whistle Stop Grill's open mic tomorrow night, because I asked if I could gig there and they ask artists to audition at their OMN so they can hear them first. Fair enough. Only problem is that it will be 50 degrees and the dang place is outside. Hopefully they have outside space heaters. It's also possible that I'll show up and the place will be closed. Small venues often don't update their own websites. There are still websites up for coffee shops that have long since closed. You'd think they'd take down their web sites, but nooo....

Maybe I'll blog about my experience Wednesday night. The Adventures of Amateur Musician Man. Pulse pounding excitement.

First blog back... no real insights, no "ah-ha" moments. Just me. Now I'm off to the Y. Won't be swimming, though - it's probably 60 degrees out. Too damn cold! That's it! I'm moving to FLORIDA! Oh, wait...

77 - Free or Not Free

Once again I struggle with the concept. I wonder about the future. If 5 years from now, every small time artist like me will be giving their music away for free online, then I should be doing it now, to be ahead of the curve.

Doors open to free, don't they? Example - I could tell everyone I work with (and a LOT of people know me) that they could go download my music for free. Since I sell my music, currently, I can't do that. I can't send out an e-mail saying "Hey, check out my website." But if it were free...

In away I'm sorry I ever left MacJams. When I was at MacJams, I had almost 5,000 downloads. People had my music on their iPods. I had fans.

Not really. I had "fake fans," which are fans who love your music but only when it's free.

But.

But the majority of the country is maybe now "fake fans." People don't want to pay for music any more. They value it less financially. But they do still value it.

I'm wrong. I would not go back to MacJams. MacJams is a fantastic site for people who are needing pats on the back, who are just getting started. Maybe it's changed. Hard to say... I just tried going there and the page is still attempting to load.

My CD Release party is October 23 at Pro Sound Studios in St. Pete. I'm co-hosting the party with the awesome Steve Vaclavik, a Tampa artist who does Americana. Bob Dylan crossed with Tom Petty, maybe. I really like his music. I'm selling my CD's there for $10. It's not because it costs me $10 to make the thing. Actually it cost about $3. Eventually I'll be selling them for $5. The people who are buying them right away, for $10, are helping support me.

I think my next move is to allow users to pay what they want, online, for my music, on Bandcamp. Right now the minimum price for a song is 25 cents. I wonder how that would work out. Might as well try.

76 - There was this one time...

I made the decision to put my new CD online at Bandcamp.com. If you're not familiar with it, Bandcamp lets you put your music online and people can stream it for free, at good quality. If they want to download it, you can set the price or you can let fans name the price, including zero. I set my minimum price to 25 cents per track.

In the news we see music heading in vastly different directions. ASCAP and BMI apparently want you to pay them every time you hum a song in your head. You pay more if you whistle it out loud. It's almost that bad - no, actually they want iTunes and other stores to pay them every time someone listens to a 30 second preview of a song. They are fighting for their business lives and are getting desperate. This move will no doubt drive even more music fans to illegal file sharing.

Meanwhile, Billy Corgan (ie Smashing Pumpkins) has announced that he's going to release 44 songs for free online. Free as in totally free downloads, you don't have to enter your e-mail address, etc. I wonder if Billy is with BMI or ASCAP. He's got to be with one of the two. I can image their reaction to this.

Billy could still sell music, no doubt. Why release it for free? To get people to come to gigs? I assume he can do that already, too. For publicity? Maybe. I dunno. If this trend gets hot and all the big artists start giving music away and living off concert tickets, then it's going to make it harder for small artists to sell music. I wouldn't be hurt too badly - music is a hobby for me. I could afford to give it away for free. But I'd definitely feel it. I use CD sales money to help buy new instruments and equipment. Everything costs money.

Well, anyway, check out my bandcamp page when you get a chance, at:

http://richardmaclemale.bandcamp.com/

75 - Promo for CD Release

I have a friend named Steve Vaclavik, who happens to be putting out a new CD the same time I am. Here's a cool way to double your marketing efforts. We are appearing on a local TV morning show together, we are appearing on a local radio show together, and we are performing together at a dual CD Release party. Pretty cool. No way I could have done it on my own. Steve likes my music, and I like Steve's music. Pretty cool.

Additionally, I'm uploading my new CD to bandcamp, so that fans can stream my music online to check it out. If they want to download it, they can name their own price. KEWL.

Within two weeks my CD's will be available at CDBaby. Sometime before the economy recovers, it'll be available on iTunes. It takes a reeeeeeeally long time to get your music onto the world's largest online music store, but it's important that I do.

Moral of the post - If you suck at marketing, like I do, partner up with someone who does not suck at marketing.

Hmm. I'm blogging from the bar in the lobby at our hotel. I don't know the name of this place. Loews something or other. At Universal in Orlando. I'd tell you what I'm drinking but oh dear, I work in education, and we are not allowed to be human, so let's say I'm drinking water with a kick. Just made the mistake of looking over a few couches and a couple is making out. Dude behind me needs to stop drinking water. It's kinda cool down here, though. I think I'll end on that note.

74 - Having CD's Made

I sent my order into Diskmakers and I should have my CD's in two weeks. I'm apprehensive and I hope they come out looking and sounding good.

I had 100 made. It is common wisdom that you should have 1,000 Cd's made, because nothing motivates you to sell CD's like having 1,000 of them sitting in your bedroom. I disagree. I believe you should order what you believe you can sell. That would be my business background talking. The "order 1,000" philosophy is good evidence of why 8 out of 10 small businesses fail. People make irrational business decisions. In this case, the stakes are much lower. You invest a thousand bucks. If you end up not selling them, you're out a grand. That's a valuable lesson but really, not a huge amount of money. But enough to sting pretty badly.

If you think you CAN sell a thousand, you should order a thousand. If I sell out of CD's in two months, then I made the wrong choice. But I'll have a thousand dollars and I'll be able to order more CD's.

73 - Recording Vocals. Again.

I have come up with a really good way to see if a vocal track is good enough, in terms of the audio quality. Solo the vocal, turn the volume up, and turn off any eq and effects. If it sounds good enough for the CD just the way it is, you've got something. If it sounds like it's coming through a bullhorn or a drive in theater speaker, you need to re-record it, because no amount of eq in the world is going to be able to save it.

Sadly, for me, this is the conclusion I reached when I tried fixing the vocals to my title track "Every Single Day" last night. It's time to admit defeat. It sounds terrible. So tonight I'll re-sing it.

It's the room, really, but I don't have much to work with. So I'm going to employ a trick that many home studio people don't, but a wise few do - I'm going to deaden the area directly around where I sing.

I was recently at a JPF showcase, where one of the members, Andrew Karpinski http://www.stonemarmot.com gave a demo on how he made his own device to deaden the sound behind the microphone. I'm going to build two of those today - a small one to go behind the microphone, and a large one to go behind me while I sing, at head level. It will no doubt be ugly but I bet it helps. A better vocal mic would help, too, but I can't currently afford what I want (AKG 414.)

As thrilling as this blog is this morning, I have to go eat breakfast.