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Ghosts in the Graveyard

Last Tuesday I went to Norm's River Road House (up River Road about 5 miles past the Wal-Marts on Charlotte) to see Jeff Black.  Jeff has been one of my favorite Nashville singer/songwriters since (I think) I heard him play "Noah's Ark" while opening for Steve Earle at TPAC in 1994 (that was a long time ago, so memory could be a tad fuzzy). 

Jeff played "Noah's Ark" at my request Tuesday night, and it was really amazing.  Norm's can be a noisy little "road house," honky-tonky kinda room, but when Jeff sang "Noah's Ark," the performance was so intense that everybody stopped and listened.  The room was silent, except for Jeff's guitar and vocals.  It was like he transformed the place into the Bluebird.  THAT's how compelling Jeff Black is as solo performer.

Now I learn that somebody has posted a video to YouTube of another song Jeff performed that night:

YouTube video by Ann Shaw (follow the link to see videos of some of my other favorites).

And here are some more of the photos that I shot, as well.

It's Called "The Celestial Jukebox"

Not that the idea was totally original or anything, but years ago, when I was still a "mogul" (as the bartender at McCabe's like to call me), I told a conference somewhere that someday in the future, you'd be able to walk into your living room, walk up to your stereo and just tell it you want to hear "The Beatles.  Abbey Road.  LOUD."  And, within moments, "Come Together" would start playing, whether or not you had a copy in your own collection.  The idea is something called "The Celestial Jukebox, and it's getting  closer every day.  Actually, Napster was a big step in the right direction.

Now, here is famed record producer/guru Rick Rubin, in today's Sunday Times Magazine, saying pretty much the same thing about the future of the record industry (if indeed the "industry" actually has a future...):

"You'd pay, say, $19.95 a month, and the music will come anywhere you'd like. In this new world, there will be a virtual library that will be accessible from your car, from your cellphone, from your computer, from your television. Anywhere. The iPod will be obsolete, but there would be a Walkman-like device you could plug into speakers at home. You'll say, 'Today I want to listen to ... Simon and Garfunkel,' and there they are. The service can have demos, bootlegs, concerts, whatever context the artist wants to put out. And once that model is put into place, the industry will grow 10 times the size it is now."

Are you listening, Steve Jobs?  You've got the whole thing right there at your fingertips... WHY WON'T YOU PULL THE TRIGGER on the ultimate music-distribution model.  What's so fucking sacrosanct about the 99cents per track model?  I buy maybe on record from iTunes a month.  But, for access to the entire universe of recorded music, downloadable to my iPod or transmitted to my iPhone, I would GLADLY shell out $19.95/mo.  Hell, I shell out that much for Netflix and only get THREE movies a month?  Whathefuck are you waiting for???

The Best that Nashville Has To Offer

Even though the guy who does the seating Upstairs at Bongo Java is a bit of an a-hole, the "Doyle & Debbie" show is pretty funny.  Here's an excerpt:

Whatever Happened to.... Songs.com ?

I'm pleased to see this article is still available on the web.  I hope it stays there forever...

"Frankly, at that point, it was over. We could see sites like CD Baby that were doing it right. They had learned everything we had learned in the previous 5 years, but were implementing those lessons as well. We knew what needed to be done, but these guys wouldn't let us do it.

"And there were personality conflicts beginning to surface. I was-frankly - "the Yankee, pagan bull in Gaylord's Southern, Christian, china shop."

Link: MusicDish Industry e-Journal.  Pictured above: my partners in Songs.com, Tom Kimmel and Michael Camp -- and me in the middle -- accepting a commemoration of the first-ever webcast from the Kerrville Folk Festival in May, 2000.  Those were the days for the Internet pioneers.  These are the days for the Internet farmers.