Duff's Playboy Blog (Page 4 of 4)

Well the current meaning, "Utopian Dream" would be considered as true Marxism or Socialism Ideology.  Maybe that was a poor choice of words...  The Good Of Oneself, is "now" no longer for the individual but for the whole body, which may mean that the individual may have to give up their Dream of Utopia for the good of the Utopian Dream...

Or maybe Duff was talking about the Hanks Dream Band??  I really do not like a lot of philosophy because you have to read it over and over...

Throughout history, some Presidents actually do run their house while others let ideologs or their backers/congress run theirs administrations.

By Duff McKagan

This Week: This (Ever Changing) Business of Music

Last week, Green Day's Billie Joe Armstrong stood onstage at the American Music Awards and spoke out about the need for the public to support alternative and punk bands' “past, present and future.” I'm sure that he meant to highlight the fact that every area of the economy, including music, is struggling right now. Look past the glitz and bling and you'll see an industry straining for its last gasp.

In 1964 a book was published that would became the business bible for all musicians, record labels and artist managers. This Business of Music is a very readable and detailed look inside what makes the music industry work. The problem now is that the music industry itself nothing at all like what it was then.

The music business is changing so rapidly, in fact, that if a book were published on the topic today it would be out of date by spring. Back in 2004, when I was writing a semester-long university paper on digital rights management (basically, the factors that go into splitting the profits on a song you pay for online), I was thwarted by the almost weekly changes happening in that specialized sector alone. But change brought on by newer and better technology doesn’t necessarily have to be a bad thing. It's just a fact of life, and musicians either have to adapt or get new jobs.

Existence is a comfort zone for most musicians however, while major label executives are clenching hard right now just trying to make a buck. The difference between the people that make money off of music and those that actually make the music is now really starting to widen. An underground music scene is starting to quicken its step. Wal-Mart and Best Buy have taken the biggest artists for their own, offering huge one-way deals in lieu of a major label. For the rest of us, who want to find the latest and most original music not on the radio? We can again find it in the clubs and in the underground, which are filling up with the sounds of the future.

Thanks to FunkyMonkey

Coming Full Circle in My Extra Innings
By Duff McKagan, Thursday, Mar. 4 2010 @ 8:54AM

Last Sunday, I was more than honored to be asked to take part in a show here in Seattle that benefited Haiti relief efforts--honored because of the sheer talent of the other performers that I would be playing a bunch of different songs with.

Where do I start? When Debra Heesh, Jeff Rouse, Mike, and his wife Ashley McCready first came up with the idea of doing a Hootenanny for Haiti, it was going to be loosely based on some acoustic jams that some of us had done together over the last year or so. On top of this, Deb organized a Patsy Cline tribute show at Columbia City Theater last year and enrolled the help of Kim Virant, Star Anna, and Kristen Ward to be Patsy for the occasion. Gary Westlake, brothers Rick and Chris Friel, Ty Bailey (my daughters' piano teacher!!), and Jeff Rouse were the band that night.

I have for the most part been out of town except for two of the hootenanny rehearsals, but I was kept in the loop as the talent pool started to grow outward from this core group. Matt Cameron came in for the cause. Star Anna's band from Ellensburg, too. Stone Gossard and then his old band Brad (Shawn Smith is the most mysterious and powerful male singer out of Seattle . . . period). Tim DeJulio, a local ringer guitar player, came in too. And last but certainly not least, Kim Warnick came out of retirement to sing Belinda Carlisle's "Heaven Is a Place on Earth" and fucking killed it!

My new good buddy Mark Pickerel really surprised me with how good a singer he is. I hope people in Seattle realize just how blessed we are with the talent of the musician pool here . . . and the ease of these musicians playing together and appreciating each other. This just does not happen anywhere else.

I had never in all these years played with Matt Cameron or Stone or Shawn Smith. We have all been friends over the years, but more so because we have kids and we do the odd kid birthday together. I told Matt before the show that if I had any regrets at all in my life, it was that I was not more "present" when GN'R toured with Soundgarden back in the early '90s. I was just too fucked up. He told me a great story about when GN'R came to Seattle in 1985 to open for the Fastbacks at the Gorilla Gardens and afterward showed up at the Central Tavern where Soundgarden was playing one of their first-ever shows. Apparently we bum-rushed the stage and asked if we could play on their gear. They wisely said no. I vaguely remember this . . . but only vaguely.

Star Anna is someone who I've heard a lot, about but didn't have the chance to see until our rehearsal the night before the show. She is the real deal. There is a pain in her voice that comes from somewhere deep, a place I dare not ask where it comes from. She will be a talent that we can all say that "We saw her when . . . ". Guaranteed.

Two of my highlights were being able to play Mad Season's "River of Deceit" and Mother Love Bone's "Crown of Thorns." I was absolutely proud to be onstage with Matt, Mike, Stone, and Sean for these. I felt like maybe my life and musical career had come full circle and finally rested somewhere back home, here in Seattle, a place that I love.

I was talking to Mike the other morning and we were reminiscing a bit. We have known each other since we were in our teens. I was playing the "what if" game. What if I had stayed in Seattle during the '80s? Would I have been in Soundgarden, or maybe Mother Love Bone? Maybe. We decided to rest easy in the fact that we all took our own and distinct paths and had somehow come out OK and somewhat successful. For guys like Mike and I, to be here and vertical and breathing at all is a bonus. Some might say a miracle. These extra innings that I call my existence right now are fucking beautiful.

http://blogs.seattleweekly.com/reverb/2 … _extra.php

Just for the record...I'm not posting these anymore because I don't think he's doing this column anymore.