No Song Unsung Blog

As if I don’t have enough projects on my plate as it is, I’ve been thinking about creating a foundation that will help bring music back into the curriculum of our schools.  I’ve been hearing all these stories about how many of the school systems have cut music and arts-related classes because of lack of funding.  It makes me sad to think of a world where kids aren’t exposed to music on a daily basis. 

Art leaders in Philadelphia have already started the process of getting arts and music back into schools, but it’s certainly going to take more than 120 people to make this a nationwide thing.

I just discovered the San Diego Music Foundation which has the Taylor Guitars for Schools program.  That’s definitely a great start.  However, I’d love to see marching bands with kids playing a wide range of musical instruments.  For me, marching band parades were big when I was in middle school and high school.  Living here in San Diego, I don’t see much of that. 

I find great inspiration in watching young kids playing music.  Here’s a video of an 8-year-old playing the saxophone…

I don’t get around to reading very many music blogs - although I should. So as I searched for more music blogs to add to the blogroll, I came across this post about a music blogger who says that music blogs now suck.

This music blogger says that the “word counts of posts have shrunk, and the commenters have gotten meaner and greedier”. I’m not sure what kind of music world that blogger lives in, but I haven’t experienced that at all. But then again, I don’t get too many comments here anyway - but they are welcome!

The blogger goes on to say that good writing has gone out the door which I don’t believe to be true. There are good music blogs out there - you just have to dig a little. Take, for instance, Vinyl Notes, a blog written by a fellow KnowMoreMedia.com blogger, Kimberlee Morrison. Kimberlee’s thoughtful and insightful posts always inspire me.

I don’t think all music blogs necessarily have to consist of “good writing”, whatever that means. There are different blogs that serve different purposes. There’s the blog that shares music videos or the photo blog that only contains pictures. There are blogs that cover music news, blogs that share random thoughts…and so on.

The last time I checked there wasn’t a right and wrong way to do a blog. I like to look at blogs like I look at paintings or any other work of art. They’re all unique and special in their own way.

It’s amazing how a song can spur up so many long-forgotten memories…I was in a restaurant last night having dinner and the background music consisted of melodies from the 80’s - a time when my family and I did quite a bit of traveling, especially summer camping trips. As they say, “It was the good ole days…”

It’s interesting to me how songs can carry with them so many stories. Of course, the singer singing the song has a story to share, but all the people that a particular song reached also have a story that coincides with that song. In essence, there’s a great deal of sentiment and emotion related to songs. For one person, hearing a certain song brings memories of love while that same song could mean heartache for another. For me, music has a way of bringing out these feelings of nostalgia that photographs can’t do.

Last night David Cook sang “Hungry Like the Wolf” by Duran Duran. I suddenly felt this wave of giddy-like excitement wash over me as if I was a teenager watching Duran Duran performing on TV again. Here’s the video from David Cook’s performance…

The Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival took place this past weekend with Prince’s performance creating quite a buzz among attendees and Prince enthusiasts.  An interpretation of Radiohead’s “Creep” was done in Prince’s signature style…

Whenever I see Prince a wave of nostalgia rushes over me as I think about those days in my bedroom listening to Prince on my cassette player and pretending that I was part of his band.  I really, really wanted to be part of his band.  I would often daydream of starring in one of his videos.  I wanted to be the girl wearing the raspberry beret.

As much as I love Prince’s music, I still have yet to see him in concert.  One time I was close to seeing him here in San Diego, but I wasn’t able to get four tickets all together for me and my friends.  His next scheduled concert is in Dublin, Ireland on June 16, 2008. 

What I love about music is that it has the ability to bring so many people together as one. It doesn’t matter if you’re white, black, Democratic, Republican - when we like a song, we’re united in harmony. We’re all in the moment enjoying the melody and enjoying the music that inspires us. Perhaps that’s why events like Woodstock in the past and the annual Lollapalooza gatherings were so successful. There are no competitions - just straight-up music from people who have words of wisdom to spread or stories to share.

Speaking of which, Lollapalooza will take place on August 1-3, 2008 at Grant Park in Chicago. I visited Chicago for the first time last summer and now I understand why Grant Park is definitely the perfect venue for this event. The lineup for this year includes big names such as Radiohead, Rage Against the Machine, Kanye West, and Nine Inch Nails - along with other other artists I’m not too familiar with.

What if the world became one huge music festival?

If rap music is your thing, you might want to check out this new rap artists website where you can check out top artists, the latest releases, and connect with other people in the forum.

I consider myself from the “old school” when it comes to rap. Favorites on my list include Jay-Z, LL Cool J, Tupac, Notorious B.I.G., Snoop Dogg, Wu Tang Clan and all those who were big in the late 80’s through the 90’s.

Awhile back I expressed my thoughts on some of the rap music that’s been coming out. Many people have said things like, “Well, if you don’t like it, then don’t listen to it.” Well, I don’t listen to it, but I still think it’s a bad influence on our young kids who grow up wanting to emulate the lifestyles of rap artists. At the same time I understand that we all have a freedom of expression. If you want to talk about sex, drugs, and killing people, that’s fine…but how is that making someone else’s life better? Are those words inspiring and uplifting?

It’s no secret that the music industry is changing. The internet has completely changed how we get our music and videos. The closing of many record stores is evidence of that. I was in a store the other day and walked around the electronics department. Everyone was huddled around the mp3 players and the cell phone sections. Did I see anybody looking at CDs? I think one or two people at the most.

So, when I read Seth Godin’s post about “Music Lessons“, it was a reminder of why I started this blog (website coming soon!) in the first place. I wanted to create a sense of community and bring musical artists and those who love music together. I wanted to change how people get their information. The big record labels shouldn’t have all the power in dictating how we get our music and musicians should no longer be slaves to those big labels.

If you’re a musician or band and want some ideas on how to market yourselves, read Seth Godin’s post. Here’s a key piece of advice from Godin’s post I’d like to point out:

“Keep your costs low and go with your instincts, even when everyone says you’re wrong. Do a great job, not a perfect one. Bring things to market, the right market, and let them find their audience.”

Buy Seth Godin’s books at Amazon.com

Photo credit: Orin Optiglot