Here is the latest news from David Gans, producer and host of the Grateful Dead Hour.
GD archive goes to UC Santa Cruz
More ruminations on the music bidness
This was a post to the independent radio producers’ mailing list:
….He mentions musicians giving away their music so that they get more people at their concerts…
That has been a successful model for a great number of musicians in the “jamband” (ugh) scene that I’m part of.
It’s also true that the vast majority of CDs sold by most of the musicians I know are not sold in stores, but in person at gigs. That’s certainly true for me. You play a set at a festival and then you go over to the merch table and sell and sign and schmooze.
That’s not news in the country/bluegrass world – that’s the way it’s always been done at bluegrass festivals, etc.
I post excerpts from my live shows and I have an online storefront on several of my web pages.
My producer and I recently decided we aren’t even going to bother trying to find a record label to release the album we just completed. There has NEVER been any money in record deals; in recent years, an artist has made money from his record on the retail side w/ direct sales. The value of a record deal has been whatever you could get the label to spend on promotion and publicity, and to a lesser extent the visibility of being in stores. I’m funding the release myself (largely by selling off some collectibles!) and putting my energy into exploring the new online marketing channels.
The CD is dying. The quality of master recordings is vastly superior at the studio end of the path – I recorded and mixed this project at 88.2/24 bit – and to a large extent inferior at the consumer end (MP3 etc.). I am giving serious consideration to the idea of putting my record out in two formats: a CD, with a nice booklet and all that, and a data DVD with a CD image, MP3s, and high-res audio for those who have the equipment to play it back that way.
I had an amusing conversation with a friend in New York a couple of months ago. Considering that the way to develop a following these days includes a lot of “meet and greet” schmoozes with fans, the whole notion of the artist’s persona has been stood on its head. It used to be that an artist cultivated some mystery – “he knows something you don’t,” as someone put it somewhere – and was to a great extent inaccessible and unknowable. So when that band came to pay in Oklahoma City, all you know about ’em was the promo shot, the album art/text, and the sound in the grooves.
MTV blew the first big hole in the state of that art, as another associate of mine pointed out. From the early ’80s, recording artists also had to learn how to behave in front of a camera, and their songs were forever married to someone’s idea of a visual narrative. And MTV refused from Day One to allow live performance video, so it wasn’t possible for an artist to just shut up and play.
And now it’s even harder to let the music speak for itself.
Imagine, say, Donald Fagen and Walter Becker promoting the music of Steely Dan in today’s music scene.
Bill Kreutzmann’s new trio
I haven’t talked to Bill to confirm this yet, but I am told they’re calling it THREE. It’s Bill Kreutzmann on drums, Oteil Burbridge on bass, and Scott Murawski on guitar. More news when I get it.
This just in from my favorite festival:
“We are so excited we can hardly contain ourselves! As longtime Grateful Dead fans, bringing the newly-formed Bill Kreutzmann Trio to you at MagnoliaFest 2008 is beyond exciting! And when we discovered one of his partners in the trio is none other then our very own festival favorite Oteil Burbridge, that made it even more perfect for Magfest! Check out the the website of 3rd trio member,
Scott Murawski (Max Creek) for some incredible live BKT music. The music is from one of their first shows, and you just know that come October it will be peaking underneath the live oaks at the Suwannee.”
MagnoliaFest is October 23-26, 2008 at the Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park in Live Oak, Florida, just a few miles south of the Georgia line. Other cool stuff is in the works for this year’s fall favorite, too.
Sless’ Stimulating Stout wins a Gold Medal at the WORLD beer cup!!!!!
Congratulations to Mike Altman and the Iron Springs Pub and Brewery in Fairfax CA. On Saturday, April 19, Sless’ Stimulating Stout won a Gold Medal at the World Beer Cup Gala Awards Dinner in San Diego.
Sless’ Stimulating Stout: A symphony of grains creating a deep rich stout infused with a tincture of passionate herbs. Named after a good friend of the pub, and a hot pedal steel player, Barry Sless.
I’m not much of a beer drinker myself, but I’m a big fan of Barry Sless, and also happy to be performing at Iron Springs on May 7.
RIP Chris Gaffney, Danny Federici
Thursday, April 17, was a tough day for middle-aged rock fans. We lost Danny Federici, keyboardist of the E Street Band for 40 years, and Chris Gaffney of the Hacienda Brothers, who was diagnosed with liver cancer just a few weeks ago.
From the HelpGaff web site:
His departure was quick and painless with the support of Our loving family by his side.
Celebrations of his life are in the works. Please check back for updates. Your continuous support and donations are greatly appreciated and still needed to offset the financial burden of his medical care. From our family to yours, much love.
From the Hacienda Brothers web site:
Chris Gaffney, a beloved husband, revered entertainer, precious father, dear uncle, trusted friend, cherished brother has succumbed to liver cancer.
Chris Gaffney passed away yesterday morning, April 17, 2008 in the Orange County hospital in California with his wife Julie at his side. Further details are unavailable at this time. Funeral arrangements are yet to be announced.
“Chris Gaffney grew up in Arizona, where he learned to play the accordion as a young child. The instrument would later influence the performer’s mix of norteño with country and rock & roll. Gaffney eventually mastered guitar as well and spent his teen years gigging in cover and house bands. In 1977, he formed a partnership with keyboardist Wyman Reese, who also produced Gaffney’s initial solo efforts. Road to Indio appeared in 1986; it featured 1950s rock, soul, and dusty Bakersfield honky tonk. Chris Gaffney & the Cold Hard Facts followed in 1990, and delved into Gaffney’s Hispanic heritage. His third solo effort, Mi Vida Loca, was issued in 1992. Loser’s Paradise appeared in 2003. The album was produced by blue-collar stalwart Dave Alvin and featured contributions from Lucinda Williams and Jim Lauderdale.” – Johnny Loftus, AMG. Gaffney also recorded and toured extensively as a member of Dave Alvin & the Guilty Men. Gaffney & Alvin formed a bond of brotherhood that has been a cornerstone in each of their lives.
Gaff’s most current project, The Hacienda Brothers is a collaboration between singer and songwriter Gaffney and Dave Gonzalez, best known as the guitarist, singer, and songwriter with the veteran blues-rockabilly combo the Paladins. “Longtime friends Gaffney and Gonzalez first performed together when they played an informal set for a mutual friend’s birthday party in 2002; Gonzalez was impressed with the results, and as he was looking for an outlet for the country-style songs he was unable to perform with the Paladins, he proposed a more formal collaboration. Teaming up with David Berzansky on pedal steel, Hank Maninger on bass, and Dale Daniel on drums, the duo adopted the name the Hacienda Brothers, and set up a base of operations in Tucson, Ariz. Gonzalez, who has a passionate interest in vintage cars, struck up a friendship with fellow gearhead Dan Penn, the legendary producer and songwriter who was a key figure in the Muscle Shoals sound, and he persuaded Penn to produce the debut Hacienda Brothers album, the eponymous Hacienda Brothers. Penn also contributed two songs to the sessions, which appeared on the group’s self-titled 2005 release. What’s Wrong with Right was released the following year.” –Mark Deming, AMG. A live CD, Music For Ranch & Town, was released unofficially in August of 2007. Their sound, dubbed “Western Soul,” culminated in the 2007 nomination for the Americana Music Association Duo/Group of the Year. In January of 2008 The Hacienda Brothers recorded their 4th CD, Arizona Motel, that will be released nationally on June 24th.
Plans are in the works for the band to tour in support of the CD in tribute to Chris Gaffney.
Chris Gaffney lived his life as a dedicated musician with little fanfare or ego. The industry recognition that had so long eluded him finally came with sincere praise & genuine respect for the quality of his work in The Hacienda Brothers. His fans worldwide have overwhelmingly shown their loved & appreciation. The HelpGaff.com
website has raised tens of thousands of dollars before a single benefit show has even been played. Gaff was universally loved for his quick smile, even temperament, keen observations and dry wit. He will be missed as much for those qualities as for his incomparable talent as a singer, songwriter and musician. And we will surely miss hearing the girls scream, “Gaffney! Gaffney! Gaffney!” Gaff’s favorite month of the year? “April, because it always brings hope.”
–Dianne Scott
Orange County Register’s Gaffney obit
From BruceSpringsteen.net:
DANNY FEDERICI
“Danny and I worked together for 40 years – he was the most wonderfully fluid keyboard player and a pure natural musician. I loved him very much…we grew up together.”
—Bruce SpringsteenDanny Federici, for 40 years the E Street Band’s organist and keyboard player, died this afternoon, April 17, 2008 at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City after a three year battle with melanoma.
The Federici family and the E Street family request that, in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the Danny Federici Melanoma Fund.
There’s video on that page of Federici playing “4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy)” with Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band in Indianapolis on March 20, his last appearance with the band.