Playing and making music is hard. Not necessarily the act of playing well, learning how to write songs and the practice of recording. It's the toiling in obscurity for no money and no recognition part of it.
Yes, there's no gun to musicians' heads to have to do this. It's absolutely a labor of love. If musicians don't actually enjoy the struggling part, then it's an insanely stupid, uphill climb. I've said it before, if you don't like playing for 10 people then you won't necessarily enjoy playing for 1000 people either.
Personally, I don't mind the grind. I like making music and getting people to come out to listen, even on a smallish scale like I've done with The Bigfellas and The Water Spots is a fun engineering project. Especially when I have fun comrades, brothers and partners in crime like Shay Bell, Spud Davenport, Mike Mannion, et al.
But if you can't take the indignities of lots of equipment moving, people talking through your act, club managers double booking and canceling you, the horrifying hourly rate of pay to practice your craft - if you take that stuff too hard, of course you're gonna want to get out the business.
Just Because A Band Doesn't Make It
�" doesn't mean that they weren't any good. It's amazing how many incredible artists are making great music, both live and on recordings, that get zero traction and very understandably call it quits.
I've picked three artists here to demonstrate how ridiculous the music business is. Given the right set of circumstances, these bands and singers should have flourishing careers.
Additionally, I can call all of these people friends of mine. They are contacts in my phone, people I've had the pleasure of being in the studio with, loaded equipment with, complained with, celebrated with, traveled with and drank with.
In a just world, they would be seeing enough interest and even a minimal amount of money from music that would have kept them going. Just as I wonder what would Jimi Hendrix's albums would have sound like had he lived or The Mummers continued, I feel like we've all missed out on what discographies my friends Mary Grasso, Riboflavin and Jokers & Jacks could have produced.
Mary Grasso
Comp Artist: Ani DiFranco has always been an obvious comparison for her style.
Where We Met: Playing in San Diego, I'm sure at a Cathryn Beeks' Listen Local multiple artist show. Right away, we liked each others music. Her solo voice and guitar playing was and is light years ahead of every sad person who sings their journal entries over generic strumming. She's a beast of a player. If you close your eyes you can't believe it's just one person playing the guitar.
I liked her right away, mostly because she was cynical while having stage fright. The whole bravado of singer/songwriters was total BS to the both of us. Her songs kick ass. And more than that, she's just a fun hang.
Whenever I could, I used her on Bigfellas and solo recordings. She was great in the studio. Even more so than just possessing a great voice, the harmony of my voice and hers really worked for me - I have a flat voice, and not very dynamic. By contrast, her natural vibrato was amazing. So when you put those sounds together, the wavering tone of her vibrato around my inferior hold-down-the-fort voice really creates some magic. In my mind at least. Here's some of my recordings she totally was the star on:
For a long time, me and my music friends Spud Davenport and Sierra West were also championing her stuff at songwriter conferences, etc. But her heart wasn't in it, which I totally get. It's a ridiculous amount of effort.
Mary ended up moving back East, and she now owns a restaurant. I can't wait to go there the next time I'm in Florida.
Here you go, listen to her stuff. If you want to give her a compliment tell me and I'll pass it on. She's smarter than me in that she's not on social media.
Where We Met: Playing the same bill as us (The Bigfellas) in San Diego. The Bigfellas, as Shay has said, would "play at the opening of a Coke can". We weren't picky and didn't mind playing in shitholes or for small crowds. We never really felt embarrassed but I immediately was outraged that Riboflavin had to play the same toilets as us, or that The Bigfellas would be the "headliner".
I'm a de facto lead singer in groups because somebody had to sing, and have been gradually learning how to do it better each year. But Riboflavin had Sean Goodwin (aka "Alabama") as an ace in the hole. That dude is a bona fide "frontman". He's got a stage presence that you can't take your eyes off of. Think of a cross of Bono, Shane Macgowan or Anthony Kiedis but way more likeable and interesting.
The rest of the band can play too. Mark Doyle is a great guy and great drummer. And guitarist Keith Goodwin (Sean's brother) is a mensch who didn't live far from me in Encinitas. We've used him on some Bigfellas recordings ("Always Be", "Stuff On The Moon") for those of you keeping score at home.
Just somehow things didn't click for them and fans. None of them had the stomach for dealing with the unprofessional music industry like I apparently kind of have. I guarantee had you plopped them into a music festival with even 200 people in the crowd that they would have taken off. They were that good.
Each of the guys ended up starting a family, Sean with our friend Ai (who is an amazing artist and illustrator - together they did our Leaders In The Clubhouse "She Gets Loud" video).
While the band doesn't exist, enjoy these two: one original, and the other a Police cover at a Synchronicity "Album Night" evening I once put together:
Where We Met: They (brothers Jaime and Morgan May) and their father were at a songwriting convention in Las Vegas. Kevin May (the dad) hit it off immediately with Spud Davenport and I who were there. Kevin had the gift of the gab, and he was a great guy to represent them. Any buffer between the artist and the gatekeepers who say "no" is a great idea.
We kept in touch and when Shay and I started playing Bigfellas shows in the Pacific Northwest, for one "tour" we needed a bass player, so we scheduled dates for Jokers & Jacks to open for us in Ashland, Eugene, Portland, Seattle and Anacortes. It was a great fit. And the guys came down to Southern California a couple of times to open here too. They were like 18 and 20 when we met, so we had to jump through the hoops to have underage performers allowed to be in bars/clubs.
They've had some success around Portland but didn't really blast past some local shows and backyard party gigs, as great as they were. You can only toil in obscurity for no money or no glory for so long. Day jobs and starting families took over eventually.
Even if all of these artists aren't your cup of tea, can you appreciate how objectively good they are? None of them really got anywhere in music. Strangers haven't heard their music, usually just friends and a couple of randos. That ain't right.
Perhaps with the right break here and there, these great musicians and singers would have broken through a little more. I'm not even saying major label or festival-headlining artists. But a few different bounces of the ball they would have had enough validation or a little money along the way to make music playing more viable and less of a cruel, ridiculous pipedream.
They're all definitely not wrong for hanging it up. That's the sensible thing to do, I'm the outlier idiot who just refuses to stop making music.
It all just shows me (again) that music is not a meritocracy and there are so, so many killer artists out there that nobody's heard of. Keep your ears open for them.
I'll Pass Along Your Compliments
Seriously, if you liked anything here - tell me and I'll pass it along to them. It'll make their day.
And keep supporting local artists by buying an album, giving them a social media shoutout, telling a friend, or seeing their shows.