here comes michael again
In today's Chicago Tribune there's a piece by Greg Kot on my upcoming show at Chicago's Lincoln Hall in support of Happy, my record of Michael Jackson interpretations. "Happy" is what reading my own press rarely makes me, but Greg's one of the handful of rock writers whose light clean touch sails you through his stories and out the other end with one or two key ideas intact. Of course I appreciate his nice words in praise of my record, too. Sincere appreciation is usually the kiss of death in music writing, though. When these writers really like you, especially the ones who work for enterprises smaller than the Tribune, you know it from the out-of-control hyperbole, the irrelevant personal anecdotes (the writer first heard your debut record while he was high on peyote on I-70 in Kansas, and a word in the chorus suddenly appeared on an exit sign, and then he called a friend, and then...), the catalog of boring biographical minutiae, the inability to focus on what you're trying to promote. But -- keep liking me, guys!
About the Happy show. I thought it might reflect the range and oddity of the record, and for this reason it's going to be very much an extension of my 2009 set at the Hideout's outdoor festival, in case you saw that one. My bargain-basement Jackson 5 costumes and purple rat puppet ("Ben") have been sitting in my attic, biding their time. Giant Lady Di is ready for her second close-up. Little Preston, my son, who was a measly 3 at his first Hideout block party appearance, is now almost 14, but luckily, his voice hasn't plunged yet, and he is itching to grace the Chicago public once more with his keening castrato soprano.
Visiting Lincoln Hall two weeks ago redoubled my excitement, because it's the ideal place to put on a show like this. The front-of-house sound and sightlines are terrific; the stage with its high ceiling, curtain, and generous apron space allows for greater-than-usual staging flexibility and makes my show's theatrical elements more legible/tolerable; and the house space, with its wrap-around balcony, is so comfortable to hang out in, and of a just-right size. Having my super-skilled accomplice Juliana on hand to run sound, and my hand-picked cast of musicians, means I don't have to worry about how great everything will sound. So what I am going to be worrying over, for the next 15 days, is all the other stuff: the shape and movement of the show, arrangements for vocal back-ups, a demanding solo guitar piece that requires daily practice, those pesky theatrical elements, and coordinating and communicating with the 14 or so people who are helping me work on the thing. I'll try to keep letting you know as the date approaches how I'm progressing!
4 comments
Sadly being literally an ocean away, I can't focus on the Jackson-show, as it just pisses me off not being able to attend.
What caught my eye was the thing you wrote about music writers.
"When these writers really like you, especially the ones who work for enterprises smaller than the Tribune, you know it from the out-of-control hyperbole, the irrelevant personal anecdotes (the writer first heard your debut record while he was high on peyote on I-70 in Kansas, and a word in the chorus suddenly appeared on an exit sign, and then he called a friend, and then...), the catalog of boring biographical minutiae, the inability to focus on what you're trying to promote."
Being one of those (writer for an enterprise smaller than the Tribune, or even the lower Tribune) I found your words intriguing. And I just wanted to offer up a view from the other side...
I write the same way I enjoy reading. First of all I use to put in a good number of bibliographical stuff about the artist - both to show of my ability to Google, and also to show off the useless information contained in my brain. But also because it always pisses me off that music writers presume that all readers have heard about this artist - making it necessary to google more information. Information any given article very well could have offered me - instead of pissing me off by making me sort through numerous lyrics-sites and badly written articles telling me what I want to know.
Next I enclose some personal experience I had with a given song, lyric or artist. That's also because I want to show off - that I actually have a life besides writing about music. Stalking artists should also be considered having a life, I feel. But partly because I enjoy reading other peoples encounters and feelings about songs/artists in articles I read. It's called personalizing, and you sometimes do that in your lyrics with great results... what works for you works for us...
The inability to focus on what you're promoting is an actual problem, I know. And partly that is because artists either lack the ability to produce press-kit material that is worth the digital paper it's not even printed on. Partly because a lot of artists are unreachable for any kind of comment - either directly or through their management. And partly because artists often seem to wish that we just try to decipher what their mission or feelings are at one given moment in time. A clearer mission statement or just coming plainly out and SAYING what you want promoted is often just as good.
And for the record I'm NOT saying that this goes for you - I've never tried to contact you on any of these issues, I'm just giving up my general feelings on a music writers troubles.
I'm gulity of liking your albums too much though, and also of writing articles about your albums with personal anecdotes and bibliography ;)
Good luck on the show, wish I could have seen it - you should get some geek to start filming and putting stuff on YouTube to silence the craving for material from the show we foreginers keep missing.
"you should get some geek to start filming and putting stuff on YouTube to silence the craving for material from the show we foreginers keep missing."
You mean, like hmc1410? ;)
http://www.youtube.com/user/hmc1410#p/c/57BB91BF9EE2F34C
REALLY bummed I'm going to miss this because I'll be out of town. Please, someone who does go, get some of this recorded and posted on the net somewhere.
Good lick, tonight, Robbie. Wish I could (spell) be there. Looking forward to seeing you at the new Freight and Salvage hereabouts next month (the cruelest month, some they say). Mark Weiss in Palo Alto, CA with you it's more about the licks than luck.