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  the storms of late have been EXTREMELY scary – i dont know if its just because of the recent tornadoes or what but the winds, the rain the whole thing seem to be slightly upscaled a bit – maybe God is pissed – like, “look muthafuckers, you think this shit is a joke????  you fuckers better wake up!” – and yes God can cuss – he MADE cuss words people – just like he made the stars, planets and everything else out there and here – it didnt happen over night, errr maybe it did, whose to say BUT my point is, is that it didnt happen without confrontation –
    ALL great things some where down the line were developed because of confrontation – confrontation is the epitome of production – without it things, ANYTHING would not happen – recently during a road trip i found myself in a discussion about Hank Williams Jr – thats right good ol Bocephus – now EVERYBODY knows Hank – love him or hate him or both, hes a country music if not pop culture icon – he is blessed with being the son of Hank Williams as we all know BUT hes not WHO he is because of his lineage – anybody ive ever known to have contact with him or seen him in concert, in person or out and about has always prefaced their story with, “hes a dick!” – they then proceed to tell me how awesome he was and what a good time they had seeing or hanging out with him – how is this???   how can somebody be such a dick and yet be so charismatic??  my biz partner used to have this bootleg CD that we would listen too where Hank was SHITFACED and would cuss the audience, the band, EVERYBODY! he even cussed John Elway when he started to play “all my rowdy friends” – the beauty of it was no matter WHAT he did or what he said the band just went right along – he was so drunk hed play a few lines of a hit, forget the words and then launch into a completely different song – the band wouldnt miss a beat or a note as if theyd rehearsed it – after a few times of doing this you could tell, under all the cussing outs, that Hank was actually TRYING to throw them off – at one point he breaks mid-cuss to say to the band, “you aint impressing me….” then back to cussing – i could have killed to have seen this concert – much like the Ryan Adams breakdowns id be pissed that some douchelord was calling him bryan or yelling out “come pick me up” and not letting him do his thing BUT at the same time his frustrations are kinda comforting –
    so WHY is it fans keep going back???  the guy that yells out “come pick me up” at the ryan adams show probably bitches for a week after about how he wants his money back – does he do anything about it??   no – he goes home and listens to ryan adams – people like ryan adams and hank jr can pretty much just show up, make an appearance and be done – they dont HAVE to hang out – its always the nobodys who are nice – “man so & so was GREAT – we smoked a joint on his bus and everything” – well that is great but theres a reason his/her name is “so&so” because I cant even remember who it was – i mean if they had told me they smoked with willie nelson then how could i forget???  at this point willie or hank could literally fart in a mic and it wouldnt be any different than if jesus had come and sat in – they have a name – that name is associated unequivocably with being able to do whatever it is they do – whether its hank, ryan adams or donald trump – hell george jones is famous for not showing up!!!!  every concert he didnt show up to?? sold out – so again how is this possible? confrontation – somewhere down the line, and currently, they themselves or someone that works for them is being a dick – theyre going thru the sifter of m&ms looking for brown m&ms – brown m&ms you say????  yes BROWN m&ms – its probably one of the classic rock biz legend, urban myth, whatever stories youve heard about van halen or some other band but van halen is the originator – it goes like this – most every band, touring band, has a RIDER attached to their contract to play – a rider is an addendum to a contract providing the artist with comforts, tech specs, any accommodations the artist requires – for lower tiered bands its a few free beers and water – for van halen ONE of the rider items was a SIFTER glass of m&ms with NO brown m&ms – now to the lay person this seems petty and ridiculous but to a biz man this is key – when van halen started touring in the late 70s stages, production, venues were suspect – nowadays there are regulations and standards – at that time if you brought in two, three semi trucks worth of production, there was cause to worry that peoples lives could be in danger of any number of things – ONE pin in a light rig or speaker being flow up above david lee roths head could end in diamond dave, michael anthony or the van halens getting literally killed – SO the test was the brown m&ms – if they didnt do it – they didnt read the contract and the show was a no go – that old saying “the devils in the details” is true – miss one detail in a big production & you could be fucked, for life – by the way, in my experience WOMEN are the best tour managers because women are all about details – ANYWAY it is this principle in ANY business that make people who and what they are – confrontation leaves no question as to what is wanted or needed –
    when i say confrontation one naturally assumes a butting of heads or an argument but thats quite the contrary – although it might take intimidation and force at times to get your point across, its not always needed – theres another old saying “choose your battles” – that doesnt mean sometimes you just roll over – it only means that sometimes FIGHTING is not necessary – sometimes confrontation only means what it is – to confront – why leave something unsaid no matter how trivial it might seem when you could just come out and ask or suggest point blank??  most times it is welcome since inherently, especially in the music biz, nobody WANTS to be impersonal – i mean it is the “music biz” – who wants to be all about business if we dont have to??  well ME because even though i LOVE playing, performing or whatever im doing with music, there are OTHER things i COULD be doing like, i dont know, hanging out with my kids?? or believe it or not making money somewhere else!!  confrontation is also about being PRO-active but in small doses – u dont want to go over anyones head but you also want there to be a clear DEFINED communication – sometimes that means you have to lay claim to your responsibility so that everyone you work with knows that theres no question about what it is that you want to do – this always helps when you have a ton of opinions – opinions and ideas are great and if in fact it helps the cause me personally im all about them but dont get upset if i veto it –
    CONFIDENCE and confrontation go hand in hand – the more confident you are the easier confrontation will go – basically if you know what youre doing then theres little doubt that not everything is taken care of – some people get weirded out by confidence and become confrontational – i was a tour manager for this guy and he would get upset with me because i was TOO relaxed – he felt i should always be worried and frazzled – sorry charlie me no get upset about shit ive been doing and have been able to do for the past 25 years – granted there were times when situations would come up but those are to be expected – how you handle them is what makes you a professional – are you going to CONFRONT the problem head on or are you gonna be a dick and not realize that sometimes, every once and a while, things are out of your control – theres a difference between having to be a dick and BEING a dick – knowing the difference is what separates the so & sos from the stars…….

Yep it’s 2011 & I’m an old guy – next week will be my 20 year high school reunion – somebody asked me the other day where they knew me from spouting, “where did you use to work?? I know you from somewhere!!”  – I was kinda speechless because I couldn’t think of anywhere I would have worked that I might have knew this person – I replied,
“the nick maybe?? Highland music?”
She interrupts and says,”no no YOU WORKED somewhere!!”
I finally told her I’ve never had a job job I’ve always played music and maybe she had seen me play – she insisted that wasn’t it until I mentioned I played with CADDLE and then she says as if shed been let down, “0h yeah that’s it…” thanx lady sorry to disappoint – it always dawns on me even though this is all I’ve done that, this is all I’ve done – sometimes I feel like I’m ahead of the curve but it never does me any good – other times I feel I’m behind because I don’t know who some new popular indie band is or Mumford and Sons or old crow med show is at the top of someone’s request list when I’m playin a song – literally I’m playing a song at a gig and in the middle of me singing somebody will decide that’s the right time to ask me if I know any of these bands songs – go figure what’s equally annoying is booking bands – while i say I don’t have a job other than music I actually do – I own a bar here in Bham where I’m the guy that books the bands – apparently, in my experience, bar, club, restaurant owners THINK they want bands and that it will be easy to book bands – the owner usually has the attitude that they are doing the bands a favor – this leads to resentment when said owners realize that having bands is a whole other facet and biz on top of the biz theyre already running – so to weed out potentially bad bands or hacks they decide to take it big time and ask for a press kit – a press kit is exactly what it is – a junket of shit that sells u to the club – back in the day this would include a photo, a bio & a sample of music – sometimes “extra” stuff so it will get “noticed” – in all my years NOBODY’S press kit was ever opened and they piled up in a corner in the office or someone’s house – if they did get opened usually because of the “extras” (ooooo colored envelope!) it would be from the greatest WORST band ever and would be the running joke for the week – so along come the intranets with it’s fancy web pages – it pretty much turned the music biz on it’s ass – for the better I say, but that’s another blog – it took a while for clubs to catch up – one guy actually told me early 2000 that he didn’t have time to check stuff out on the net ….ok – it was a struggle for some – so we fast forward to 2011 where if u can’t get YouTube on ur PHONE ur completely b.c. – i absolutely DEMAND that bookings be done thru email ONLY!  It is met with some resistance but in the end it’s for everybody’s protection – see how we did some BUSINESS with out actually having to DO business??? Most musicians hate the biz part – but if you play and you want to play in front of people guess what, ya bizzin it up son – email is like THE easiest way to facilitate a contract with the casualness of the classic handshake – a receipt of the transaction if you will – websites and email & marketing software have made it even easier where you can build your own website complete with pics and bios and all the fun shit – hell some of them will even email FOR you – SO for all you aspiring music biz folks heres a few tips
1.  Choose the right club – if you’re a dj and ur trying to book a gig @ the local coffee shop, think again my friend…
2.  Before emailing the talent buyer or “guy/girl @ the bar” or booking agent have your website ready to go & make sure ALL your media works and is up to date- don’t send me a link that says website coming soon or a broken YouTube link because you posted a song that was removed for copyright violation -
3.  Wait at least a week for a response – even though it’s email in the tech world email is kind of old hat – it’s a good way to procrastinate – most people do their booking way in advance so booking your band believe it or not isn’t high priority, defcon 1 -
4.  Don’t ask!! Just do! Don’t send me an email asking me if it’s ok if you send me something – send a link already!! Guess what email is for!! Haven’t you been reading this blog???
*side note – don’t ask for an address to send me a cd or when I’m gonna be there or if you can call me and let’s talk – I don’t have time to talk to you or listen to a cd – send the link! Click click & click playa! Er maybe touch touch AND touch!
5.  Last but not least keep it simple the quicker the better – trust me I know how hard it is to narrow it down but somehow it has to be done – post a few songs, couple of vids and a pic – forget a fuckin bio – ive heard it & I don’t give a shit about ur awards or accomplishments
There you have it – the future as told by me – keep in mind this is for my club and it’s tiny – bigger clubs. bigger venues they may want more fluff because they actually promote…sometimes (seriously whos gonna pay me to blog??)

Keep your gun clean boys – better yet get a couple o more for the ride – its gonna be a doozie, it aint gonna be pretty & gas is expensive – its high alert – defcon 1 – get plenty of sleep if you can cause youll need it – its no longer a shooting match – its war – not against one but many – its the same pay for twice the work – if youre not on the edge then youre not doing dick – why such a heightened state of affairs???  why not??  ive sat back for too long and done nothing but do what i do – it has served me well until now – call it bitterness – call it a “looming attitude” – call it what you want but it needs to be confronted – do not apologize for contempt – do not back down from a fight – do not choose your battles – its a constant battle & the moment you stop fighting, youre finished – your wits & experience are your greatest weapons – do not let someone demean them, belittle or disrespect them – stand up proud for who you are and what youve done – fight for what you deserve – you are entitled – do not confuse potential allies as

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im kinda having fun with this vidja posting shit!!! this post includes a BASTARD version of my latest, one from a “friend” AND an ol classic hope you all enjoy …
-Thanx to Katie G for the fine vidja photoging!!!

Are You Still My Girl…

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2tNgBOqm5w&w=400]

Shelly – Adam Hood

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bTfp5b-cVSQ&w=400]

Everytime You Go Away – Paul Young/Hall & Oates

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L4rNYE7--1o&w=400]

ok ok ok ONE more classic..
Dont Dream Its Over – Crowded House

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGvxdG8oiJE&w=400]

originally posted a couple of years back on facebooks – i will have to say i havent written a rant, blog, whatever like this in a while – im frankly embarrassed of my writing as of late so im hoping i can redeem myself with older shit – here ya go…

i wrote this back in september after a nose flaring night at gallettes in ttown but yet i still play there every wednesday – i guess im a glutton for punishment – anyway i started the open mic at innis free in ttown last night and minus the drunk birthday girls it wasnt TOO bad – listen ladies its great you want to have fun with your girlfriends and celebrate one of yalls birthdays but the list and tiara thing are as unoriginal as yelling “freebird” at a concert – for more on this read further – i dont want to have to repeat myself like you girls do when you tell me its your friends birthday (see #6) – i know already!!! i dont care!!

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im in the process of posting some of my “chart topping troubadour” hits – heres one – its called PARKING ON A DIRT ROAD – its all about getting some romantic like…
-Recorded @ the War Eagle Supper Club in Auburn, AL

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please allow me to congratulate all the 2011 hopefuls that made it back to their homes from SXSW – undoubtedly everyone has seen or heard the reports and now ill give you all my final word – to sum it up SXSW sucks a bag of dicks – not just one but a bunch at one time – a big bag of diseased dicks – NEVER and i mean NEVER has a festival, industry jack off  or whatever the fuck you call it done less for bands than the sham of SXSW – “hey everybody!! lets pile up in our van with our rock and roll dreams and go to texas!!!  well blog about our experiences – tweet our dates – keep everyone informed on facebook about how its going!!  itll be a blast!! anything could happen!!”
heres whats gonna happen douche wads:

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- from the couch in the early A.M. watching METAL MANIA on vh1 classic……

so im trying to go to sleep the other night and among the millions of things that bombard my brain as im trying to relax and make sweet music with the sandman, it dawns on me – am i relevant on the internets?? (btw when i say “internetS” i imagine it being said in early from the squidbillies voice – id also like to add that “mystery” by DIO is awesome:)

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i like music.  hmmm i really cant think of anything to follow that – somehow talking about the grammys seems to void my first statement because the grammys usually arent synonymous with music in my book – this year was a little different though – esperanza something or other won best new artist – never heard of her (i wasnt too obvious was i?) – SPALDING!! thats it! spalding – like ted knights grandson in caddyshack – anyway she won best new artist – up until that point i was gonna rip on the grammys for being a big douchefest but then they had to go and be all indie cool and shit – im not really a hip indie rocker hipster guy but its refreshing to hear names i dont hear all the time – again I LIKE MUSIC…..MUSIC – not dancing and theatrics but music – im sure ol justin bieber is good and all but he aint GREAT! 

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so you bought yourself a bar – or maybe you play music or what the hell you play your ipod @ work – you could be infringing on someones copyright and not even know it – youre so dumb!! how could you not know that enjoying music is going to cost you something????  well sometimes it does…and the bullies that come collecting are called P.R.O.s – not a classy ill make you do anything i want you to charming Johnny Travolta but a bunch of guidos strong arming generally honest people for money they usually dont have – technically P.R.O. stands for Publishing Rights Organization – the main ones being BMI, ASCAP & SEASAC – and their mission is to collect money for songwriters and publishers through licensing – there are several different types of licenses and for the most part a PRO is honest in theory  – there would be no way a popular artist could go and collect all the money owed to them every time their work was broadcast, used or recorded – a lesser artist would have an even harder time – the big difference is that the only substantial money would be generated by the more popular artist  – a lesser artist might get SOME money but i can tell you from personal experience its not much – granted this is me were talking about and even though im totally bad ass, im still a nobody – all of this sounds well and good but its mostly bullshit – all this barely elementary explaining ive been doing really doesnt do the PROs justice – let me now share an example as to show what this really means….

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