WTF Politics?!

This is a music blog. Actually it's my blog, so it can be about unicorns and red wine and you'll like it! But one thing that grinds my gears, torques my chain and downright gets my goat is politics. The only real reason I care about national politics is the fact that the world is watching, too. Terrorists use our policy ideals to recruit more terrorists. Conversely, people around the world look to America's policy and politicians as examples. Why? I'm increasingly not sure but it's true and if you don't think so, ask yourself why Obama won a Nobel Peace Prize. He won largely on the fact that he stands for an America that has at least moved toward tolerance or the idea of such. George Bush talked about the war on terror as a "crusade". We saw how violent and irrational a perceived non-tolerant Pres could be and the Nobel Prize was the world's relief, expressed to a man who hadn't really done anything on the world stage, yet.

But this pendulum of relief is only temporary and always swings back toward anxiety and fear again. This is especially true within the United States. We live in somewhat of a culture of fear. We choose our diets because we fear high cholesterol, choose safe cars or safe neighborhoods because of fear, all we get from talking heads on TV is information about what is to be feared. We were so afraid in 2001 that George Bush pulled the biggest one on us yet. He managed to convince us, or our representatives at least, that we needed to waste billions of dollars and thousands of lives, invading a country that had nothing, NOTHING, to do with 9/11. All to finish daddy's business.

We caught up to wily W's plan around the time he was to leave office and the ills of the GOP galvanized Obama's massive movement of youth to the polls. Now, I believe, we are experiencing yet another shift, a pendulum swing back to the right. Look at the highly fragmented Tea Party movement. In the 90's they wouldn't have stood a chance. Newt and his Contract with America solidified the GOP's personality such that plat-formless, libertarian-minded groups could do little to penetrate the Grand Old Party. But the lines are creeping to the right. People are scared and reacting to the huge, but necessary, financial bailouts.

Now it's like a free for all. Democrats are anxious to support their president, while fearful of opponents who spew off ridiculous claims regarding taxes and the deficit. Listening to economists you realize this whole deficit situation is pretty simple. We have three major sources of spending: Medicare, Social Security and the Military and one major source of revenue, taxes.

SO...GUESS WHAT'S GOOD IN THE HOOD PEOPLE? If we clean up unnecessary spending for programs that don't make people healthier in Medicare and stop considering the notion that rich people shouldn't pay taxes, we could maybe get ourselves out of this hole. Oh yeah, that multi-billion dollar, needless war that Bush and Dick started didn't help either. Let's neutralize Osama bin Laden and the Al-Queda sects in both Afgani/Pakistan AND Yemen. Yemen is where that lowly sack came from who tried to blow up the Christmas party plane last year over Detroit.

Then we can return to making policy decisions that don't help terrorists recruit more terrorists. Right now, all they have to do is turn on the news.

NYC - Fall Update

I'm cruising out to NYC on the 18th of this month record some new music with producer Will Boyle in Brooklyn and a good friend from college, Jason, who works way too hard and plays too well to be out of the industry itself. I also had lunch with DJ Logic and his girlfriend Diane, a friend from Vail, so maybe we can convince to come over from his joint in Brooklyn to do a track.. wink, wink, nudge, nudge...

Side projects are really important. While I'm in Brooklyn, holed up in a warehouse studio, Mark and Steve (drums/bass in Frogs) will be touring the West Coast with their side project Oak Creek, making it as far as LA. Beyond being a sort of blow-off valve for creative energy, side projects are expanding our horizons coast-to-coast, something that will inevitably benefit Frogs Gone Fishin' down the road.

The Indian summer in Colorado this year kept the leaves on the Aspen trees yellow for a longer period than normal. Driving around the state playing shows from Ft. Collins to Telluride has been memorable all summer long, and we've had some out-of-control shows involving lake houses, crazy club owners, hippies and their dogs and lots of dancing people.

Along with the heavy energy that autumn always brings, bands start planning some important shows in their yearly cycle. This time around we'll bring a Wizard of Oz theme to our three Halloween shows in Boulder, Denver, and the Vail Valley. I suppose I won't say exactly who I'm going to be, but I need a blue dress, soon...

It's been almost six month since Actual Natural was released on our dedicated independent label, Mountain Size Records. We have a great relationship with our larger family in MSR and we face lots of challenges together. Today's music market in a word, sucks. CD's used to sell hundreds of thousands of physical copies. Because of music piracy and also some pretty greedy lending practices on the behalf of labels, the industry fell apart in the 2000's. Combined with a larger economic collapse, not too many people are shelling out $10 for a whole album anymore. Labels are forced to rely on creative marketing methods and persistence, where they used to be rely on throwing lots of cash at the problem. I'm still of the opinion that a little cash can go a long way, not in terms of ad space, but creative ideas that engage the consumer. I've tried to get our label to see this and I hope they understand but given their busy lives and day jobs, I have a strong feeling the entrepreneurial burden will consistently fall with the band. In fact I don't think that will ever change and I don't think it's a bad thing.

In that respect, we gotta keep it movin'. We gotta raise the roof, kick the tires and light the fires. We have to be social net-workers, performers, salesmen and somehow maintain some sanity and a friend or two. And forget dating. Or a part-time job. If it doesn't have to do with music, chances are your boss will see the disconnect in a hot, quick minute and quietly ask you to resign. This means you better be booking your side project, duo and solo gigs months in advance and then spend all day on the computer and phone promoting them. A big budget would help, but virtually no one has that these days, save for the one or two major promotion players (Live Nation and AEG). It's time to buckle down and focus.

Dorothy and touring musicians both know there's no place like home. Back in August I enjoyed a sublet, courtesy of the gracious Tim Dixon and his two distinguished brothers. I was in my bed at home a total of three nights out of 31 days that month. Thanks guys, I hope I didn't overstay my welcome.

Now that Frog's have moved into our house north of Denver, life is settling down a bit. It's good to finally get to know the town I grew up in. My experience in live clubs and bars didn't really begin until I grew up musically in that wonderful, energetic town of New Orleans and so seeing Denver for what it is in terms of the live music scene is eye-opening. I'm going to start blogging about the scene here in Denver, my travels to NYC, and a topic I can't help but write about, politics. Things have gotten so weird in that last realm, I'll reserve future posts for the topic.

The dudes up at Mountain Size Records are running a promotion on Actual Natural right now. Check out the store and type in FGF1OFF to get a discount on the disc. Go getcha some!