Last nights U31 show

I didn't have very high expectations for last night's show. A day earlier, I was so sick I was on the verge of cancelling (which you musicians know is a deathly move). I got a little better, but I was still sick and could barley talk.

And, on top of it, I expected a whopping 4 or 5 people to show up.

Needless to say, I wasn't too stoked to be playing. But, it actually turned out pretty cool. We brought a lot more people than I expected, the bar was great, the sound was great, and I got 4 or 5 complements on the vocals. I guess I should go with the sick voice more often.

All and all, I thought this may have been one of our best shows. Who would have guessed?

Music and money?

So, like it or not, we are in a world of change. We're slowly wiggling our way out of oil's headlock, computers are taking over the world, and the face of the music industry is changing forever.

I've been talking to a lot of people about my career path and the outlook (especially from fellow musicians) is very grim. And this make me happy (I'll explain...). Things in this industry have been changing since the Big Bang called Napster exploded almost a decade ago. Let's do a quick recap for those who don't know how the industry used to work.

In the golden age that was 1995 and before, artists had to be good and had to impress someone before they were allowed to make a record. The record contract was the musician's holy grail and if you got it, you would be signed, developed into a music machine, recorded and promoted. A record company wanted you for your career. They wanted you to succeed over a period of years. Albums we the money makers. All a single did was promote the album, and a record contract was really the only way to release a decent quality album.

Now, none of that is true. Anyone can (and almost everyone does) record their own album, good or bad. And no one can make money doing it. No one wants to go buy an album when it's so easy to download it. And the viscous circle is fans are downloading one song because they don't want the rest of the crappy songs on an album. And since artist know this, they spend all their effort on 2 or 3 songs and don't care about making a decent 12 track disc.

I don't know very many people who have never downloaded a song, album, or full catalog from an artist for free.

So, musicians are in a tough place. Since so many people can record an album, and so many albums are for sale, and no one is buying albums, how do you sell something that is way over supplied and no one is buying?

The answer (and I tell you this because I know you won't tell anyone) is you don't. If you're trying to make money, in any field, you need to look at it as a business. No one is going to toss money in your lap because you bought a website to sell coffee, and no one is going to do it because you came up with a cool band name.

You have to be creative and you have to know who you're selling to. And musicians aren't selling their music. Musicians are selling an image, a relationship, and that feeling you get when you hear your favorite band and say, "these guys are SOOOOO good!"

People don't buy music. Musicians need too stop and think about that, then get over it. And once they do, they'll find that it's actually a good thing. They have a way of giving their art to millions of people. I'm just assuming here, but if you give your music away to millions of people, you won't have a problem selling shirts, stickers, posters, tickets to your show, and -- gasp -- maybe even those rare but awesome hard copy Cd's.

And this does something else to music. It creates the need for good albums! If people get music for free, they'll eventually want good music. If there's going to be 100,000 different artists in someone's IPod, the artist that will mean something are the ones that have more than just one good song. At least, that's what I hope.

Anyway, I am excited about our album because it is an album. It is made to be listened to all the way through. That's why I'm going to be offering it on our website at a very special price ;)

September 5th's show and the future...

So the show was great last night. I think it went too quickly, as usual, but the crowd was great and the other bands were awesome.

It got me thinking about the future of the band and where we are now. Our album is done and ready for the presses. That's something I never thought would happen. I've been waiting for this damn album to be finished for two years now, and now that it is, I have mixed emotions. I feel so drained that it took so long put the band under so much stress, but I also feel happy that we've accomplished something so big in our careers.

I also think that everything happens for a reason. This album has put us through a lot of stress, but it's made us closer friends and a much tighter band. When you're in a relationship, you really can't trust the other person until you've had your first argument and your first fight. You need to know that you can let your emotions out and still be OK on the other side.

I also think that we weren't in a position to successfully release such a huge project until now. Actually, I still don't think we are, but we're a lot savvier to this business than we used to be.

So, I was looking at where we are and where we're going, and it made me happy. I'm happy that I have a group of guys I trust. I'm happy I have 13 tracks of blood, sweat and tears. And, I know that we won't have all successes, and we may not get as far as quickly as we want, but I'm ready to take on the challenge.

And this album, despite how long it took to make, is well worth the wait.