I love that part in Almost Famous when Lester Bangs is talking to William Miller and says, “We… are NOT cool”, yet says it with the comfort of knowing that’s it’s not true and that it’s totally “cool” to not be “cool”. That is exactly how I feel about my music and the kind of music I play. I was watching Festival Express this weekend and I was watching those bands play and it was so amazing. In between the bands setting up, there were these amazing solo folksingers performing to thousands of attentive (and probably really stoned) people and I thought to myself, “Ya know, I’m about 35 years too fucking late.” Would I have been “cool” back then? Would I have had my crowd?
I have never played in a “cool” band and that has never changed. Now don’t get me wrong, in MY mind, I (and my band) play the coolest music. We play the music that I think is the coolest but the general public looks at us as the most uncool of the uncool. There are a lot of bands in this town and the scene is over saturated with music coming out of every orifice. Now there are a few venues in this area that have given my band a chance and based on what they all told us, are glad they did. They went out and gave us the opportunity to prove ourselves and show that the “uncool” music we play can pull a bunch of people to hear “uncool” music and be totally “uncool” with us and have a great time. On the other hand, there are other venues (cough, cough, Local 506, cough, cough) that talk about how they want to book more local bands and give new bands a chance yet they won’t return e-mails or any other kind of correspondence. And as for the press (cough, cough, Independent Weekly, cough, cough), forget it. Unless you’re the local indie rock darling or an indie band that isn’t even together anymore with it’s members spread all over the country, you can forget about getting press. Matter of fact, at one particular headlining show of ours, the band that was playing with us got an entire paragraph and we got a line that basically said, “oh yeah, and some band that took their name from a Drivin’ N Cryin’ album is also playing”.
Ya know, even as a folksinger before I had my awesome band Mystery Road, I remember feeling even less cool but ya know, I found comfort in being that uncool. I never got offered to play the “cool” venues but yet The Cave and Open Eye Cafe ALWAYS had me. They understood my “uncoolness” and had me with opened arms. I remember even trying to contact people who advertised putting on folk house concerts only to be told that I didn’t fit their definition of folk music which by listening to www.folkalley.org sounds more like adult contemporary with acoustic guitars, James Taylor Lite if you will. I can only imagine that Woody, Ledbelly and maybe even Arlo would snicker at things like this and stick to their guns playing the music that comes from their hearts for the people who are willing to take it what it is. I’m REALLY lucky to have found those people over the years. The ones that will come out to a small, independent coffee shop in Apex and fill the room for me. The ones that will come out to a Chapel Hill venue on a Thursday night at 9pm to hear my band play our hearts out and laugh and groove with us. The ones that will listen to my music un-biassed and offer up true and honest words of critique and criticism.
I will never been cool enough for the Independent and I will never be cool enough for the Local 506. I am not cool and ya know what? I’m ok with that.
Thanks to all of you who listen and love!
