Capitol Records, a dream, and the Grammys

When my Adobe conference finished tonight I decided to head out to Hollywood. I had never seen Hollywood before, other than what I remember from the movies. I actually watched the original Muppet Movie the other day with my 5-year-old son and thought it was funny how the entire plot revolved around a simple dream of traveling to Hollywood.

Suddenly, as I started walking down Sunset Boulevard facing the setting sun, I found myself lured into this same naive thought of my own musical discovery. I admit I’ve always had an attitude of the eternal optimist with a bit of an Existential twist, although I cannot say why I suddenly felt compelled to follow the trail of Hollywood stars into the lobby of Capitol Records. As I walked into the lobby, the guy standing in front of a sea of gold records told me the offices were not open to the general public. But as I exited the building, I struck up a conversation with a worker at Capitol Records, and found myself handing him a copy of Peach League’s Whatever I’m Chasin’ CD.

Yeah, I know it was a desperate move and I’m not sure why my introverted instincts suddenly dissolved, but I guess I just wanted to believe in the Hollywood myth of following your dream. I am usually not so bold, but my boldness continued throughout the night when I struck up conversations with musicians and tech CEOs and handed out copies of the new CD like I was offering them a stick of chewing gum. No one acted like I was being strange, but I did feel a little awkward with my delivery, even if my only intention was to just let one other person hear the music that took so much energy and heart to produce.

And while the Hollywood stars were now behind me, I soon found myself shuffling over the Grammy imprints to the Grammy Museum, which happened to be free of charge for the night, thanks to Adobe Max. I entered the fourth floor and worked my way down, staring at the detail on the aged Martins and Gibsons encased in glass frames. The handwritten song lyrics from the likes of Jimi Hendrix seemed so normal for such an extraordinary musician and songwriter. From Charlie Mingus to Johnny Cash and Kurt Cobain, these legends all seemed so human when tracing back their steps. They all had one thing in common and it was their passion for their music. Perhaps this was the perfect ending to a day when the stars of Hollywood incited my passion for music and my hopes and dreams for this Peach League project.

iTunes and a venture away from music

Don’t get me wrong…I’m a huge Mac fan…I owned an Apple before they were cool and back when the sad mac existed…anyone remember the sad-faced Mac or the happy face Mac?….during the Before iMac era or Bi for short.

I was examining the new Apple release of iTunes 9 tonight. Yeah, it’s neat that bands now can highlight their video and their lyrics, and make their albums very interactive in the new iTunes format, but I must ask this question: What about the music?

Bands these days get so caught up in the hype of an album, that they sometimes forget about creating quality music. Maybe they think if they have the most eye-catching artwork or invest enough money in the overall marketing plan for the album, then the music will write itself. Or maybe if their album takes advantage of the latest visual technology, then it will be deemed a great album. Wrong.

I believe we are living in an age of Guitar Hero hype. It’s sad when there’s more fanfare about a Rock Band Beatles video game than any album that’s been released in recent years. Whatever happened to the music fan? I know there are still some of you music fans out there who like to sit down and actually listen to entire album rather than just downloading one or two songs at a time. I fell in love with The Pixies after listening to the album, Doolittle, as a high schooler, even though I’d never seen one picture of the band or any of their music videos. I didn’t care about what they looked like. I didn’t need YouTube to connect with their music….all I needed was their album.

Today, however, I think the younger music fans out there have grown restless. Maybe their too wrapped up in social networking to really have time to listen to an entire album. Or perhaps they just don’t want to pay for music anymore. They want some reviewer to tell them what’s good and what’s not so good.

I don’t know about you, but I’m tired of all the hype. I tired of the iTunes “Editor’s picks” and the Indie Spotlights that make it seem as if the staff at iTunes is somehow authorized to tell us music fans what to listen to next. After all, aren’t they simply listening to the music reviewers who are heavily influenced by those marketing lobbyists who call themselves independent musicians? Have these iTunes experts ever even listened to The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s album in its entirety? Do they know Chuck Berry, Sun Records, and anything about the history of Rock and Roll? Or are they just fad chasers?

Why can’t good music stand for itself? Why can’t we spend our time writing instead of spending our most creative energy on designing the most effective iTunes album package?

I suppose I could ramble on for a few more sentences about the problems with the music industry today, however, I think I’ll go and write a letter to the iTunes staff citing four compelling reasons why they should pick Peach League as a Staff favorite. Maybe, just maybe, Peach League will sell enough individual downloads from our album, Whatever I’m Chasin’, to buy ourselves a cup of coffee at any place other than Starbucks. How’s that for product placement?

Writing Songs on Twitter Is a Bad Idea

All it takes is to read one page from a Faulkner novel to realize that the inventor of Twitter wasn’t from the South. Maybe someone should create a Southern version of Twitter that allows you to ramble on and on and write so many sentences that the computer finally loses count. Maybe it could say something like “What are y’all doing?” and by default, it could throw in some Southern hospitality when responding to followers.

I always hated those timed tests in high school, and so that’s kind of what tweeting on twitter is like to me. It’s like this test essay that you know isn’t really ever going to turn into a work of art, but you feel compelled to write it. Will poetry awards be handed out on Twitter one day? Perhaps, but I know I’ll always prefer to read poetry in a hard bound book with yellowed pages and a distinct smell of basement. How about songwriting awards? Well, maybe someone will write a song on Twitter or maybe even compose an entire Twitter album complete with 30 second songs and liner notes just under 140 characters. I’m sure it would make a heck of a publicity stunt for some band to decide to write an album via Twitter. Isn’t that what every band dreams of, attracting the attention of millions of fans by creating some unique publicity stunt?

But even in this massive market of indie talent, music is capturing less and less attention these days. In most cases, the image is more important than the sound. Fans would rather text to musicians, than listen to their music. CD covers always emphasize the sexiness of an artist, particularly if they happen to be female.

Think about it, when have you last seen an album by a female artist who hasn’t had her airbrushed body on the front cover? Well, Car Wheels on a Gravel Road by Lucinda Williams is one of the few exceptions that comes to mind. I suppose we could all blame MTV for ruining the album experience for everyone by demanding there be a visual image with every song. Today, the Social Media sites seem more interested in posting pictures, video and texting the artist instantly, than actually promoting what this artist happens to be singing about. 

My band, Peach League, has embraced social media to some extent, because there’s no escaping it these days. But rest assured, we will always put our music first. We believe in the process of making music. We believe in using real instruments at all times, and we prefer to record in interesting places where the music has time to breathe. We emphasize the songwriting and the art of the craft. But if you’re looking for commercial appeal, then wander into your nearest chain music store where you’ll find the latest trends in music fashion, but if you’re lucky, you’ll might actually discover one  album among millions that doesn’t have one multi-media bone in its body.

Random notebooks and a slew of incomprehension

When I sit down to write a song, sometimes it helps to have a melody in mind. Other times, I just sit down with the guitar and brainstorm in a slew of incomprehensible phrases until something sticks. And for every 50 song sketches, there’s maybe one good one, if you’re lucky.

When writing with Wes, our best work is accomplished when we’re brainstorming. I love it when he appears with some random notebook he pulled out from 5 years ago when he was in a Denny’s or something scribbling for hours with a coffee in one hand and a Camel in the other. 

His melodies always surprise me with a simple, yet powerful direction. Our style leans toward the melancholy, but we’re always up for a rockabilly tune when the mood strikes us. When we were recording Whatever I’m Chasin’, I remember this moment when Brad Sikes was on drums, I was singing and playin’ rhythm guitar, and Wes was playin’ upright bass, and the song Train just had such a great live feel. I wanted us to be on a stage playing to a large audience….I knew that this sound we were creating needed a stage…it needed an audience. 

Well, we’re still searching for our audience in a vast sea of what seems like never-ending independent artists. I realize we’re all swimming upstream, but really I’m already satisfied with what we’ve accomplished. It’s the songwriting, the collaborating, and the quality effort we’ve given to every song on this album that makes me proud. There are so many songs still in us that need an outlet. So when do we start working on the next project?….well, I’d like to think it’s already begun.

Songwriting and the Chocolate-colored Coffee Mug

I’m thinking about songwriting while sipping a cup of “Mocha” in a locally-owned chocolate lounge here in downtown Asheville. In Peach League’s debut project, Whatever I’m Chasin’, I teamed up with long-time friend and brilliant musician and fellow songwriter, Wes Lupold, to create an album we both believe is our best creative work to date. 

It’s true, when you’re in your mid-30′s, you don’t have the same ambitions as most of the 20-somethings out there making music today. At least we’re still making music and better music than we could have ever written in our 20′s. We’re making music that we care about….music we hope others will connect with, but in reality, we only hope this is the beginning of a chance for us to write more music. 

I guess I should stop speaking for Wes now, but I think he would agree with me. The entire recording process was as organic as it gets. The reason this album exists is really because I decided to apply  for a faculty grant at the boarding school where I work, Asheville School. The Buice Funds, as they’re known, got us started and allowed us to rent instruments, sound equipment, hire Charlie Chastain as a producer/sound engineer/mixer, and bring in drummer, Brad Sikes. We spent a week at the cabin, staying up into the wee hours recording song after song. Most of the songs were finished when we started the process, but some needed work. We started with about 20 songs, then narrowed it down to 12 songs, only had time to record 11 and ultimately settled with 10 songs for the album. 

I feel a spiritual connection to these songs. It’s difficult to describe, but throughout this collaboration, the songs we were writing didn’t feel like our songs—they felt like songs we had collaborated on with a group of existential ghosts. So I say all this to say that I don’t think I could sing these songs with any more feeling than I sing them on this album. If this is the best album I ever work on in my lifetime, I will not be disappointed. 

I am so grateful for the opportunity to work with so many talented people. Charlie Chastain added some elements on piano and guitar that really complemented the entire project. In my mind, he is the reason What If actually worked out. Eyelids was a brilliant Southern Rock tune that Wes had hidden in one of his obscure demo tracks and thank God we tackled it on this record. Spain was a song I wrote originally as a rockabilly tune, but it did not get my attention until Wes decided to slow it down. His piano part is the most moving sound on the album. My sister, Laura, contributed with some wonderful backing vocals on Moonlight and Austin.

We recorded the album at my grandparent’s cabin on Lake Oconee in Georgia — a place we simply call, The Cabin, where we’ve been recording demos since college. It’s a transcendentalist’s dream house that my grandparents purchased for $500 and moved to a lot on the lake in 1980 long before the million dollar golf resorts redefined Greene County, Georgia and took over what had been a peaceful lake. Fortunately, the cabin is located in a remote part of the lake, so it continues to have a Waldenesque setting. 

Days before the week-long recording session started, we rented an upright bass (which I transported from Asheville), rented a mandolin, Wes brought his mandolin, his electric Telecaster, I brought my acoustic Gibson, and Charlie Chastain supplied the Rhodes mic, Les Paul, the acoustic Martin, and the ProTools setup. Charlie was really the cheerleader we needed to help us plug through a few of the frustrations. Brad gave us a solid percussion performance on every song we played together. Now all we need to do is figure out a way to start playing some shows live either here in Asheville, in Atlanta, or somewhere in between. 

Either we play live, or we keep writing songs together, either way is fine by me. For now I’ll finish my Chocolate Mocha coffee in a Chocolate-colored mug and maybe try to write a song before I go to sleep. Thanks for reading! Support Independent Music in your neighborhood–wherever you may live! If you’re interested in hearing some of our songs, visit peachleague.com, or better yet, buy our album!

- Bob Williams (Peach League)

Debut CD Will Be Available in April

Our debut CD, Whatever I’m Chasin’, will be available to download very soon. The CD release date is April 15. Visit peachleague.com today to find out more about Peach League’s music.