P.S. I Love You Music.....

"i guess i'll always feel the same/love is strange/or P.S. I love you baby…."
- curtis mayfield

Any style of music can be soul music, be it pop, rock, jazz, funk, whatever. it's an ever changing title that describes a true display of lyricism, musicality, and above all true artistry. In all honesty, ALL music should be Soul music. In this day and age with songs speaking about sex like "she gon' let me beat beat beat…," one can't help but to become discouraged and wonder:
WHAT THE F#CK HAPPENED TO REAL MUSIC???

Music is art, a language and culture if you will. Above all else, Music is a living, breathing, walking and talking being. She is healing, beautiful, humorous and nurturing. The issue is today that people don't respect Her as such. Music is used, abused, and downright made a mockery of by all the the bullshit that's being put out these days under Her name. Lyrics don't have to be so sophisticated that nobody can follow them, but "beat beat beat beat" is plumb dumb and ignorant. The chord changes don't have to be complicated, but even the simplest thing can be played with all the feeling and meaning in the world if you respect Her.

"so don't hesitate to call out my name/i'll catch the final train to make my way to you./and I may be 10,000 miles away I won't delay my love is true/let me show and prove…."
- Kindred

Often like-minded folks (old people lol) will say "The Good Old Days" when they speak of good wholesome music from the soul. True, it was more prominent back then, but with artists like Kindred, Van Hunt, D'Angelo, John Legend, Kenna and Erykah Badu still in the mix it's evident that this level of artistry and true love and respect for Music is alive and well.

"Now, who you know without any flaws/That lives above the spiritual laws/And does anything they feel just because/There's always someone there who'll applaud"
- Lauryn Hill

Artists, musicians, and listeners alike: Music is hurting. She is weeping and slowly dying with the sad state of the industry today. It's up to all of us to uplift Her, we CANNOT CONTINUE MAKING A MOCKERY OF HER BY CREATING AND SUPPORTING GARABAGE THAT USES HER NAME IN VAIN! Demand more, expect better, and don't settle for less.

and to you, Music, my lover, my mother, my friend, my daughter, my everything: "I guess I'll always feel the same. Love is strange, or P.S…..I love you baby."

- sung.

LIVE, BREATHE, BE ONE with the MUSIC.....

What makes an Artist's band truly amazing? Most people are drawn to the flashy arrangements and a thousand and one chops all over the place. Yes, that stuff is amazing and exciting, but at the end of the show, did you play all that for yourself or the Artist/audience?

I had a conversation with a dynamite singer/co-worker of mine for a major artist and we got into a deep insightful discussion about the subject of being a backing band. My philosophy is a simple one that I applied to myself early on and continue to preach to this day: LIVE as the music, BREATHE the music, BE ONE with the BODY of the music.

Musicians, take a moment to think about how you walk down the street; pay attention to how EVERYTHING works together to make this walk possible. You don't breathe fast like you've been sprinting when you walk, you breathe harmoniously with the speed you're traveling. We walk swinging our arms lightly opposite of our legs, we look forward, etc. This is exactly how a Band needs to approach each song on a gig. Breathe with the groove of the music, this is where the POCKET comes from. If you're not focusing on LIVING as the song, you're not going to be able to truly compliment the song.

Once you master yourself in the moment of the music, the key is to focus on everybody around you to build the sound, most importantly the artist you're backing. No matter how nasty as chord can be or how complicated an arrangement is, if it doesn't work with the lyrics and mood of the song IT DOESN'T WORK!!! And nothing burns me up inside more than to hear musicians (drummers especially) losing the "one" or singers missing the first note/word of a phrase because they decided to go off on a tangent and "express themselves" in the middle of the song. Think back to the walking example: you start breathing out of wack with the rest of your body, you have to stop to catch your breath. If your left legs decides to do it's own thing, you'll fall over.

Everything has a role in life and msuic, and every trip a destination. PLAY YOUR PART musicians, and the journey the Artist is taking will be so much sweeter and meaningful for the audience and for you (plus you'll keep the gig, take it from a dude that's NEVER been fired....).

- r s.g.

p.s. - if you don't believe me, check this out and apply the example to EVERY instrument/voice you hear on stage...