Music and Cultural Exchange
Last night I watched a PBS documentary on Bob Dylan and other heirs of the Woody Guthrie legacy. One driving point of the documentary was the borrowed culture of the folkies. These guys would jam together, exchanging picking patterns and old songs. They kept a heritage alive by reinventing American standards to fit a contemporary audience.
In the same vein, the Grateful Dead were purveyors of Americana, taking old traditional songs and reinventing them under wailing rock guitar. Although they will forever be labeled as psychedelic rock, when taken out of the 60’s, 70’s context, you can hear those influences shine through. Music You Can’t Hear on the Radio, a WPRB radio program hosted by John Weingart documents the cultural exchange and preservation of Americana.
Culture- the sculpture artist of Pacem in Terrace, a quaint sculpture garden in New York State, once defined it as the exchange of ideas between people. His argument is that media and advertising is all one way. People don’t talk while watching TV. We don’t communicate ideas back to the media artists, producers, and directors. He feared the death of an American culture, an experience shared between people.
Fast forward to the Internet explosion. I’m challenged to think of ways that my musical ideas can be shared with others. I’ve posted songs up on SoundClick, updated my solo songs through my web page, reaching out to a worldwide audience. A step above, MySpace allows bands and their fans to interact, not to mention discussion boards pointed at the following of certain types of music. Or the fact that I can post a music classified ad online and use my sound samples as my preliminary audition. I can get advice about equipment or technique from a variety of people- from amateur to professionals- all in a single keystroke. I can even promote my live shows free of charge, no matter how large or small the venue. We are no longer limited by distance. I’ve heard stories of people that collaborate on songwriting and recording even though they are located at the far ends of the continental United States.
Mind-boggling. What would Woody Guthrie say about our newfound interconnectedness? The MP3 revolution has won back the music from the hands of the major record labels, gently placing it into the open palms of our global village. In this vein of thought, I have uploaded two of my solo song sketches to my web page. Give the songs “Figures Fights,” both electric and acoustic as well as “Headlights” a listen. Something may come of these seeded ideas one day.
In the same vein, the Grateful Dead were purveyors of Americana, taking old traditional songs and reinventing them under wailing rock guitar. Although they will forever be labeled as psychedelic rock, when taken out of the 60’s, 70’s context, you can hear those influences shine through. Music You Can’t Hear on the Radio, a WPRB radio program hosted by John Weingart documents the cultural exchange and preservation of Americana.
Culture- the sculpture artist of Pacem in Terrace, a quaint sculpture garden in New York State, once defined it as the exchange of ideas between people. His argument is that media and advertising is all one way. People don’t talk while watching TV. We don’t communicate ideas back to the media artists, producers, and directors. He feared the death of an American culture, an experience shared between people.
Fast forward to the Internet explosion. I’m challenged to think of ways that my musical ideas can be shared with others. I’ve posted songs up on SoundClick, updated my solo songs through my web page, reaching out to a worldwide audience. A step above, MySpace allows bands and their fans to interact, not to mention discussion boards pointed at the following of certain types of music. Or the fact that I can post a music classified ad online and use my sound samples as my preliminary audition. I can get advice about equipment or technique from a variety of people- from amateur to professionals- all in a single keystroke. I can even promote my live shows free of charge, no matter how large or small the venue. We are no longer limited by distance. I’ve heard stories of people that collaborate on songwriting and recording even though they are located at the far ends of the continental United States.
Mind-boggling. What would Woody Guthrie say about our newfound interconnectedness? The MP3 revolution has won back the music from the hands of the major record labels, gently placing it into the open palms of our global village. In this vein of thought, I have uploaded two of my solo song sketches to my web page. Give the songs “Figures Fights,” both electric and acoustic as well as “Headlights” a listen. Something may come of these seeded ideas one day.
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