HONESTY

Do you think I didn’t know I’d piss people off by complaining about getting unsolicited MP3s? Do you think I don’t know how to control my inbox to get rid of them?

Most people are afraid to hang it out there, worried about the feedback.

But worse than those who never play are those who adjust their act because of the feedback.

Not everybody’s gonna like what you do. And if you try to please everybody, sand off all the rough edges, you end up with Bon Jovi. A two-dimensional hack who hasn’t had a hit in years playing for matrons trying to relive their glory years.

So you hate mainstream music and mainstream TV. I’m telling you right now, they adjusted themselves so as not to piss anybody off. That’s the country we live in now, where if someone is pissed about something that is said or some behavior they don’t like they make a brouhaha and then the perpetrator apologizes.

That’s all we’ve got in America is apologies.

I’m not saying you shouldn’t apologize if you get it wrong, if you say that the sky is orange when it’s blue or that the wrong person wrote the song, but if it’s your opinion… We’re drawn to those with strong ones. Artists are not running for office. As a matter of fact, the best ones take us into places we don’t think we want to go, that are uncomfortable. Then we acclimatize and the greats push us into further zones.

I could be one of those bloggers who only spew the positive. Who inspire you. Who rip you off.

Just because some people can’t handle the truth. That they suck, does not mean I’m gonna stop saying it.

As for me complaining about my inbox… That’s how I feel. The same way you do when you get a parking ticket. It’s personal. You get to complain, why can’t I?

And when I do it right that’s why it works. I’m saying what you feel.

I’ll leave you with an e-mail I got from Uncle Joe Benson, longtime deejay at KLOS-FM:

"Your last two ‘e-mail’ postings were some of the best/most entertaining ever – and people keep asking why I don’t restart my old Local Licks program ;)"

rock on!"

EXPLANATIONS

You shouldn’t give them. And I just broke my rule.

I’m no better than you. I’m foraging through the wilderness, calling it as I see it. Sometimes I’m right, sometimes I’m wrong.

That’s exactly what Bob Dylan said. Both in interviews and most famously in "Subterranean Homesick Blues":

Don’t follow leaders
Watch the parkin’ meters

No matter how much detail you give, certain people will never understand you. That’s the nature of communication.

You’re getting my unfiltered honesty. If you don’t like it, I’m cool with that. I don’t like everything my girlfriend says and if you’re not fighting with your spouse that just means someone’s holding in their feelings and will probably wake up and one day leave you. Hell, I know, it happened to me!

EXPECTATIONS

Neil Young was the biggest act in America, he recorded the album "Harvest", a soft rock masterpiece.

Then he went on the road with a rock band and tore up arenas with edgy and loud brand new material, much of which ultimately appeared on the live album "Time Fades Away".

He destroyed his career overnight.

To keep it going.

Once you’re a prisoner of your audience, you’re toast.

Sure, Mr. Young’s live business tanked, but then he became a hero once again with "Rust Never Sleeps" over half a decade later. And even though it’s hard to find a musician who won’t sell out, who won’t do an endorsement deal, Neil won’t and not only is he still standing, he’s thriving. With him, CS&N can play arenas. Without him, they do theatres at best.

Stay true to yourself. Sure, you think about the audience, who wouldn’t. But you can’t be beholden to your audience.

UNSOLICITED

That Shannon Labrie cut? That was a LINK! I’m delusional if I believe I’ll get people to stop sending links. But the chutzpah to send an MP3??

But you say I’m too big for my britches.

That’s because you don’t want to see what it’s like living on the other side. Which is why most truly rich people don’t flaunt their wealth. But maybe if you saw what was going on you’d be pissed, you’d take action. Maybe you can learn something from the world I’m in instead of trying to drag me down into the hole you’re in.

QUITTING

I received 2,000 e-mails. 600 believed it.

Did you bother to check the date?