Today is my 55th birthday. The Sammy Hagar tune “I Can’t Drive 55” keeps running through my head. It occurs to me that someday my kids will take my car keys away from me. After all, I am creeping closer to that golden age. I just hope to God that when they do, it’s the result of a high speed chase across multiple counties and not because of some embarrassing fender bender in a Costco parking lot. But back to the birthday, it’s a weird…
OK, everyone. I’m feeling jolly and I have this crazy thought. I’d like to cordially invite you to have a great week. We can all do it together – a group project! We might not be able to solve all of our individual problems just now but we sure as tootin’ can rock the next seven days, right? We’re cool. We deserve it. I’ll get us going with a few ideas and you can add your own in the comments. We’ll compare notes. It’ll be…
A few days ago, I celebrated my 52nd birthday. It was a low-key day without much fuss and hoopla. As far as passages go, 52 is a benign year. Nobody is excitedly awaiting your arrival but they haven’t called in the gravediggers yet either. It’s a good place from which to float and observe. Considering you’re past the midway point on the giant climb, the view is vast. It spans all directions, inside and out. Oprah is always going on about “what I know for…
Dedicated, with mad love always, to my fabulous E's. Mother’s Day. For such a quirky little holiday, it sure kicks up a lot of emotional dust. I'm not particularly sentimental but I've been reminiscing a bit lately. In honor of the day, here are 15 things I wish my mother had told me: 1. It’s important to take care of yourself, no matter what. You have to attend to your physical, emotional, mental and spiritual needs on a daily basis. Sleep. Eat clean. Breath deeply.…
Assholes. Every creative community has a few. They slime around the scene, inflicting varying degrees of unpleasantness and leaving an acrid aftertaste in their wake. Ugh. Assholes aren’t a particularly upbeat thing to write about; neither are cockroaches or plumbing problems. But we all encounter them from time to time, right? It’s good to think about how we might be more skilled at dealing with them. Here are six ideas: 1. Ascertain the degree of assholery you’re dealing with. Not all assholes are created equal. They…
An artist bio is the narrative that leads people from your work– music, dance, painting or whatever– to you. It satisfies the natural curiosity that is aroused when people dig what you do. It helps fans and industry types get a better sense of who you are, where you’ve been and what you’re all about. Ideally, a great bio will highlight your accomplishments and also celebrate your unique humanity. Because I’ve worked on both the publicity and booking sides of the music business, I’ve read hundreds…