The world should know I'm an award-winning songwriter and recording artist with 10 full-length album releases to my credit that are available now in all the places your get music these days. As a solo artist, my studio records feature a blend of multiple tracks of me singing and playing multiple instruments that give an overall sound a garage band might make if playing only acoustic guitars. Several flavors of Americana are covered with hints of reggae here and there, and subject matter that is frequently about quiet, relaxing activites such as sailing and skiing and my home state of Michigan, where I live with my lovely wife Lenore who occasionally plays accordion on my recordings, and two golden retrievers, Levi and Livingston. Aside from Lenore, I do everything myself in my home studio near Flint.
To me, music is magic. Music gives me escape and freedom of expression.
My music dream is to have my music reach larger audiences indefinitely while avoiding the negative aspects of fame and celebrity.
I would start with continuing to put new music into the world that makes people happy when they listen to it, changing the world one album at a time. Also I would start locally with my sense of humor - making people I come into contact with laugh - that is how I currently make a small difference in people's lives. Ideally, I'd start with a lot of money from a winning lottery ticket and then take it from there.
"My Beatiful Balloon" by The Fifth Dimension
Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Paul Simon, James Taylor, Violent Femmes, Hank Williams, Willie Nelson, Jimmy Buffett, Booker T & the MGs, Beach Boys, CSN, Smokey Robinson & the Miracles, Rush, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Kiss, Muddy Waters, Chuck Berry, Bob Seger, Grand Funk Railroad
Hope. The usual stuff too I guess - real-life experiences, books, movies, other people's music, overheard conversations, disappointment, heartbreak, etc. However, what inspires me most to write new songs is having a feeling of hope for good things in my future.
Enjoy the simple things in life, don't take life too seriously, take time to relax and enjoy the natural beauty around you, appreciate your loved ones, have fun, get excited about good things to come.
Proud that I got past the initial fear to do it in the first place, then just enjoying the opportunity to play songs I made up that I like, with a smidgeon of hope that others will like them too.
The musician's reality nowadays includes increasingly affordable means to make quality recorded music available, and because of the increased competition that situation naturally brings, it makes budgeted funds for marketing, advertising, promotion, and video production more important to stand out from the crowd in order to reach a larger audience. What could be improved is better legislation and enforcement to pay songwriters more generously for streaming.
So far, I think it's a good software user experience, and a good concept. I've seen similar attempts come and go over the years, and my biggest concern about Drooble's staying power is quite frankly, the name Drooble.
It frustrates me that I haven't been able to teach myself the finger-picking style on acoustic guitar very well yet. I wish it would come a little bit easier for me. Also, it frustrates me that I haven't been able to have a better control of my singing voice, and along those lines, that it is not easy for me to quickly be able to figure out how to sing harmony vocals.
I take into consideration my personal tastes, recommendations from friends and various online curation lists, then I check local venue calendar sites to learn the when/where, then I either buy tickets, pay a cover charge, or if free, just show up. I also buy CDs of local artists I'm into. I've only recently gotten into a streaming subscription service, but love it when it's easy to search by local artists/bands. I make recommendations via social media and blogging from time to time as well.
You have to be a musician because you love it first and foremost, and not worry about whether you have certain qualities to get heard by a larger audience. Not giving up is better than quitting because you don't think you measure up to others. Comparison to other musicians is unhealthy. Sticking with your gut instincts about the kind of music you like to make is important as well, as opposed to trying to chase and imitate the popular mainstream trends.
Eric Whirley, Corbin Daugherty, Rich Marr, Andy Turpen, Leftover Salmon, Joel Mabus