datamusicata

This is a difficult post to write because I don’t want it to be taken wrong or be misconstrued so I sound like I am not grateful for the gifts that my patrons often bring to me. Yes, I am touched by it and truly love it, but...

I am a traveling musician in a time when the airlines are charging me for each bag and then charging me for any weight overages on those bags, while a three hundred pound passenger pays the same price that one hundred and ninety pound me pays for a seat on the plane.

Imagine if you, who love me and what I do, want to do something wonderful for me and, because I sing a song called Three Monkeys, you decide to give me a twelve pound ceramic three monkeys statue. A statue which I must take care of on the road to insure it doesn’t break, and then carefully pack it, so that it doesn’t break while it is flying home with me in my overweight suitcase.

Okay, now imagine that in every town, a generous, well meaning patron brings me a gift of equal weight. Imagine that I am on a ten city tour. I now have a hundred and twenty pounds of ceramic monkey to care for, and package and ship home, all from well meaning fans, and that means three more bags which I must buy, along with the bubble wrap etc, to keep it safe. That’s $150 in excess baggage charges at a minimum.

Unless, I go to the trouble of packing it up in boxes that I buy from Mail Box International and paying the shipping home from there. And if I am doing one nighters (and that’s all you get anymore) then I barely have time to travel from one gig to another and do the sound checks and check into the hotels and find my way.

Now I also have to locate a UPS store and take care of that.

It is wonderful that you want to give something to the people that you believe have given you so much, and it is also wonderful to think that when you give that person something, that they will take it home and remember you. It feels good to think that, and it is true.

All of the things that I have at home that were given to me by patrons, fans and friends, I love having. I enjoy seeing these things and remembering them giving them to me. But I have so many there is no place to put them and I can’t throw them out or give them away without feeling like less of a person than I believe myself to be. It’s a conundrum.

I really do understand and connect with the impulse, so let me tell you what I do with that impulse.

I buy extra copies of my friends CD’s and books and I give them to other people that I think would enjoy that person’s work. Think about it. You go up to an artist that you love and you tell them, “Look I have all your work at home, but I believe in you and what you are doing,so, I’d like to pick up another copy of your latest and give it to my sister, brother, friend, parent, boss, employee, cousin..."  You get the picture.

You can’t imagine how fantastic that make an artist feel. And speaking for myself, I can tell you that I remember those people and I tend to send them post cards from the road, or a copy of the new poster I had made, or something.

It really works and I really remember it and it doesn’t involve me having to package something up for shipping and then find a place to have it shipped home.

So today’s tip is this: if you love an artist’s work, then turn other people on to that work. Bring them to the concerts, connect them on myspace or twitter or facebook to the artist; buy their work and give it to people that you think would enjoy it...and make certain that the artist knows that is what you are doing.

That turns an artist you like into a friend. It really can evolve into that and that’s a fun thing.

Do for the folks you believe in and it will always come back to you.