IT’S LIVE

The bifurcation occurred twenty five years ago, with Milli Vanilli. That duo may have been busted, but since then it’s been de rigueur, totally accepted to utilize tapes/hard drives in concert. In pop it’s about the show, and a show is all about production, not music. And whether you like what’s coming out of the speakers or not, in country it’s all about the music. I heard bad notes and missed notes and faulty vocals and I couldn’t help but realize the result was HUMAN!

Yes, while we all grasp electronic devices we’re still just flesh and blood, and it’s hard to relate to that which is inert, which so much pop music is. Fans love country because it reminds them of life. Themselves and their adventures. It’s imperfect, but that’s what you get.

In other words, you can go to Hollywood and get plastic surgery but that’s not gonna mean much in country, where the most important thing is not your two-dimensional image, but your three-dimensional songs.

ASLEEP AT THE WHEEL

Possibly the tightest band I’ve seen this year.

Once upon a time it was about performance, not dancing. And Ray Benson knows this. The only problem Ray’s got is when he had his chance, he did not deliver a hit. And that’s the music business, in all genres, when the machine is behind you, when someone’s paying you to make records, when they’ve got a radio promotion staff itching for hits…DELIVER THEM!

When you sign a deal is not when you should explore your creativity. That’s for YouTube, that’s for your Internet-only album (although soon all albums will be such). Don’t blow your one big chance, it’s probably the only one you’re gonna get.

FLORIDA GEORGIA LINE 1

Just one step away from pop. You might think country is twangy, and many lament it no longer is, but the Nash Vegas acts have raps and so many of the Top Forty elements.

BEST T-SHIRT

“Stagecoach is Coachella with SONGS!”

FLORIDA GEORGIA LINE 2

The vocal imperfections were rampant, but isn’t that what live music is supposed to be, different from the record? The duo emanated tons of energy, they were doing their best to have a good time and incite one.

In other words, you can lip-synch to or even sing along with your track at the club, but all you’re getting is exposure, which is why the country acts last and the pop acts don’t. Sure, the single matters, but even more important is that you have an identity.

I’m still not sure who Katy Perry is, even though she’s had a ton of hits.

Same deal with Rihanna.

They’re plastered all over the Internet, the faux news organizations trumpeting their shenanigans, but there’s nothing behind the facade.

Whereas country fans truly believe they know their favorite acts.

THIS IS HOW WE ROLL

With Luke Bryan. A number one hit that those not in the scene will instantly deplore.

But put yourself in the shoes of the audience…

You’re going to college, classes boring your ass off, killing a few years before you hit drudgery, and then it comes to the weekend.

America is all about pecking order. If you’re not in “People” or on TMZ you don’t count. Only this is not true, your life is just as important as that of the star, you’ve both got to fill 24/7. And stars are lonelier than the hoi polloi. The hoi polloi have got their buds, who they laugh and get tanked up with and sing…stuff like this.

Because when you’re driving down the highway with the top down and the radio blasting you gain camaraderie by singing along to anthems that describe your existence, like this.

CRUISE

Ditto.

This is the track that broke Florida Georgia Line, that got them their deal.

Criticize it as lowest common denominator, but admit it’s a hit.

You’re looking for your chance? Deliver something that the powers-that-be can work with.

LUKE BRYAN

Went to college. As did Kenny Chesney and Eric Church and even the Florida Georgia Line boys.

And he’s 37.

Notice the difference?

In pop the acts are ever younger, wet behind the ears and sans experience.

If you’re in your thirties your pop career has got no chance, in country you’re just beginning.

LUKE BRYAN’S BAND

Whoa, can they play.

People e-mail me all day long complaining about no-talents populating the chart. But most of them could never get a gig with Bryan or the rest of the country superstars. You’re astounded at the musicianship.

LUKE AND THE GROCERY STORE

He needed provisions to barbecue, he went.

Pop stars don’t shop for food, hell, they don’t even EAT, you’re judged by your skinniness, and they’ve all got bodyguards and don’t function like normal people, but the country acts do.

Trust was palpable at Stagecoach.

After the sun goes down, it’s very dark. If you get stabbed good luck surviving. But that’s not the vibe, there’s no danger, because the truth is we’re all in it together, and the country acts realize this.

DO I

Baby what are we becoming
It feels just like we’re always running
Rolling through the motions every day

Up to this point Luke had been rocking, before you slow it down you’ve got to grab them by the throat and make them pay attention.

But when he slowed it down…

You’ve got to understand, you’re out there with 70,000 other people, in the middle of nowhere, cell service is spotty because of the overload, you’re disconnected in a way you never are, and when the song wafts over the assembled multitude the magic seizes your insides and melts them.

Come on. Life is fraught with so many left turns and disappointments, about the only thing we can count on is music.

Which is why we go.

And when done right it unhooks us from the b.s., sets us free to be our better selves.

Do I turn you on at all when I kiss you baby
Does the sight of me wanting you drive me crazy
Do I have your love, am I still enough
Tell me don’t I or tell me do I baby

This music thing is funny. I’m inundated with the musings of the believers, but when I listen to what they’re foaming at the mouth about it doesn’t resonate.

I remember when it used to be different. When I lived for the music.

But that was back when we were addicted to Cousin Brucie and Murray the K and then free-form FM and MTV, they drove the culture, music doesn’t drive the culture today.

And then you go to Stagecoach and you realize for these fans it’s not casual, it’s all consuming, it’s so important. And when the music plays you can comprehend it, you don’t need a decoder ring, and it’s not about being hip, there’s no self-consciousness involved, you just dedicate yourself to it.

Which is what I did.

And I’m telling you now, and I’m not Freddie but I’m certainly a dreamer, I was stunned how little response I got to my Stagecoach blogs, proving that my audience doesn’t know and doesn’t want to, if I said the same things about Coachella they’d be overloading me.

And I don’t understand this, how a mass of people can dismiss a sound and its fans so easily.

But I guess that’s America. Where we’re no longer in it together, where you’re so busy getting ahead that you don’t care about me.

But that’s not the way it is in country music.

Say it’s not what it used to be, berate it all you want, but know that in country everybody’s in it together, the acts and the audience. Nothing’s evanescent, everybody’s in it for the long haul.

And when you stand there in the California desert, with the wind blowing back your hair and the palm trees swaying as the sound floats over the landscape you tell yourself there’s nowhere you’d rather be.

You come home and play the songs you heard for the very first time.

You go to Wikipedia to learn more about the acts.

You let your mind drift and realize what you want to do most is go back and repeat the experience.

And I wanna sleep with you in the desert tonight
With a billion stars all around

That’s when the polo grounds come alive, after dark, when the palm trees are swaying, the mountains are still discernible and the sky is covered with stars.

I didn’t understand Palm Springs. Hell, I didn’t even know there was desert in California, I thought it only existed in Africa!

And I never got it until a couple of years back, when my mother was spending the month there and I got up on a February morning and it was brisk and clear and invigorating. I thought Palm Springs was for oldsters…maybe I’m an oldster now.

I guess that’s part of the Coachella/Stagecoach experience, hanging at the house before you venture over to the gig. And while we were sitting at the table, Lisa implored us to go for a date shake.

I think it’s a Palm Springs thing. I’ve never had one anywhere else. Actually, I’ve only had one one time before, out by the freeway, twenty five years ago, and it was tasty, but not memorable.

Unlike the one at Shields.

You know those movies about Florida, where the paint has faded on the buildings and they don’t look like they’ve been touched since the fifties?

That’s what Shields is like.

Lisa, Felice and Claudia spotted it on the way back Friday night.

We detoured there on Saturday.

I wanted to see the movie. I’m a sucker for films and museums.

Yup, at the end of the building they feature a fifteen minute flick “Romance and Sex Life of the Date” in a permanent auditorium and those in attendance looked like this would be the highlight of their day, I was wet behind the ears compared to them, and Jay peeked in too, but we had to go, there was not time for nostalgia.

And by time I strolled back to the cafe through the date-themed novelty items the shakes had already been served, we were ready to go, BUT I WANTED MY OWN!

Felice said one was enough.

One is never enough. I’m about ready to go back to the desert to imbibe again.

$4.75 seems extreme. But the cup was huge. And what was inside was…

Thicker then the shake at In-N-Out. Not plasticky like the one at McDonald’s. You sucked hard and the elixir of life came up through the red straw.

It tasted like dates not at all, and I like dates!

It was smooth, ice-creamy and just a tad gritty. I kept sucking and sucking, to quote Depeche Mode, I just couldn’t get enough.

So the next time you’re venturing to Coachella, for the iconic festival or Stagecoach, be sure to make a detour to Shields.

Because life is not about acquisitions, but momentary experiences, the kind you can recall decades later, the taste on your tongue, the feeling down your throat… We live in a foodie era, but some of the best things in life have been around forever. Partake…

Shields Date Garden

Shields Date Garden – Shake Counter

Forget exulting in someone else’s success, the great American pastime is lamenting that you got screwed, that someone else has got your job, your girl, your plaudits, everything you deserve.

It’s hard to rise above in our country, because the minions are lined up to tear you down.

Sure, there are some who do it for sport, primarily those who were bullied in high school and are now taking it out on others. But mostly we find the great unwashed and in most cases undeserving tearing down the looks, talent and good fortune of those who have broken through.

Write about someone who’s made it and you’re gonna get feedback that they suck. And it’s driven by the small cancer inside that exclaims WHY WASN’T IT ME!

No one wants to admit they’re a failure, undeserving, never mind unqualified. They see the world as one of opportunities they were not fortunate enough to get.

Now I’m not talking about the disadvantaged, those who grew up without parents, in poverty. But if you read the pleadings of these people you’d think they were brought up in shacks, with outhouses, and they can’t afford pizza, never mind a new car.

Yes, for all the boasting rappers most Americans, especially artists, believe by demonstrating what they have not got, they will get what they deserve.

Actually, this is true, they get nothing.

Not everybody on top is a jerk. And there’s a reason most of them made it, one that you don’t want to know, because then that will illustrate…you’re just not good enough.

Do you know how to network?

Do you know how to kiss ass?

Are you smart enough to not only pick up on the street cues, but the business ones?

Can you read music?

Do you have a great voice?

Are you fun to hang around with?

Do you do others favors?

Are you willing to suffer without complaining?

Do you go to sleep not repeating affirmations of your deserving success, but planning a route thereto?

When the going gets rough, do you punt or keep going?

Then why do you think you deserve success when the others don’t?

Oh, they had a rich father. Oh, the program director was out of town the day you went to the station. You’ve got tons of excuses and very little perspective, instead of looking inside you keep complaining that SOMEONE TOOK YOUR JOB!

Now maybe Asians have got your manufacturing gig, but those are faceless jobs. The ones that require personality and pluck…did you ever consider the fact that your bitching that someone else is less deserving than you is what is holding you back?

The guy with the hit record? He didn’t write it, they auto-tuned it, you could go in and whip out your composition and go straight to number one, only your song is not good and you don’t know how to get yourself into the place where you can take advantage.

You’re tweeting all day but some other critic with worthless opinions is getting all the ink. Ever cross your mind that your sour personality is what’s holding you back?

And these people all have friends just like them, who reinforce their opinions. Ever notice that losers hang together? And that the winners want nothing to do with them?

It’s hard to break away from your group, to lose weight when everybody’s fat, to stop smoking when everybody’s taking a drag. Yup, they’ve done studies on this, like-minded people hang together.

To emerge victorious in the war of art, you’re gonna have to leave your friends behind, because they’re not gonna like your attitude, they’re gonna complain you’ve changed when the truth is they refuse to.

If you don’t make the people around you feel good, if you can’t do something for them that they can’t do for themselves, if you’re not supremely talented…

You’re not gonna make it.

And this condition has always existed, but with the Internet it’s been amplified. Everyone’s fighting for attention and when they don’t get it they take it as a personal affront.

Do you really want to be a musician? Do you really want to be famous? Do you really want to get up at 6 AM to do endless repetitive interviews with people who know nothing about you?

Then maybe you’re not cut out for this work.

Are you willing to be nice to people you dislike? Connivers out to screw you who are necessary to your success?

Why does everybody just see the tip of the iceberg and conclude they deserve to be there?

Would you sit at home and surf WebMD and believe you’re ready for surgery?

Then why do you think you deserve someone else’s stardom?

And that’s why the successful want so little to do with you complaining wannabes. You’re not friends, but vultures, trying to drag them down into the hole you’re in.

That’s the number one e-mail I get. The act I’m writing about sucks and the person complaining could do it better.

And they oftentimes include a link. And when I click through I wonder if they’re e-mailing from a mental institution, because their composition is so far from the mark, it’s laughable.

Very few make it.

Luck is a tiny component of success.

Everyone’s got excuses for failing.

Try coming up with the reasons for your success, what you’re not doing that will help you, other than sending messages imploring others to help you climb the ladder whilst you bitch that the star on stage HAS TAKEN YOUR SPOT!

They brought swimming pools.

You want to watch sports at home, but nobody wants to sit on the couch and watch a concert. A concert is an event, where you go and soak up the atmosphere, and what you see is secondary to what you hear, music is unlike football or movies, when done right it enters your ears and sets your mind free, offering a journey into the past, the future and parts unknown. Despite living in a technological age, the consumption of music has not changed, it has maintained its mystery, and that’s its appeal.

And that appeal is undeniable.

I know twenty thousand people more go to Coachella. But they’re spread out, at Stagecoach they all end up in front of the main stage, there’s an endless sea of people, it feels so tribal, so powerful, as if music has recaptured its rightful place upon the entertainment landscape. Everyone has shown up to listen. And the artists delivering the message…

Resemble not a whit the rest of the entertainment icons.

In country, you can be thin, you can be fat, you don’t have to be good-looking, you just have to sing songs we connect with.

It’s a reflection of life. Where everybody has their own little clique, which orders their existence. That’s what you understand when you go to Stagecoach, life isn’t about Hollywood, it’s not about Silicon Valley, it’s about the people you know and the environment you live in. Which is why people are happy to stay home in Texas or Arkansas or Iowa or Pennsylvania…their comrades and environs give them order. You might think you want to be a TV reality star, but then you get home and find out your own personal cult has rejected you and nobody on the coast wants you and the choice you made doesn’t enhance your life, but detracts from it. Fame without portfolio sucks.

Then again, the young don’t know that.

But the old do.

And that’s one of the fascinating aspects of today’s country music. Sure, there’s Hunter Hayes, wet behind the ears, but the biggest stars are deep in their thirties, like Eric Church and Jason Aldean, they’ve got a few miles on the odometer.

And speaking of the odometer, one thing I love about country music is the way they paint their trucks, it makes my heart beat faster. Because, you see, I get excited about music and the show and the experience, it makes me feel alive.

We started off with Jason Isbell… If only his album was more consistent, like Ryan Adams’s “Heartbreaker” or “Gold,” everybody would know his name. We’re waiting for alternative country’s superstar. We had Steve Earle with “Guitar Town,” but now when the whole world could be listening, the scene is a bit too insular, it doesn’t realize the album must be spectacular through and through, but Isbell’s a start.

And I spent a long time talking with Jeff Hanna of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. I loved hearing the band’s history, but even more his personal history. Yup, we’re old enough to have had multiple wives and children and to gain perspective, we boomers may be ragged in appearance, but we’re rich in experience.

And then we went to the RV village.

That’s where they had the pools. Filled up at a $1 a gallon.

They start drinking at 8 AM, supposedly curfew is 1:30, everybody’s got a cornhole set, no one’s wearing many clothes, if you grew up on the east coast the freedom was palpable. These people drove to the godforsaken desert, they’re not limited, where they went to college and who their parents are is irrelevant, it smelled like…freedom. And fun.

Then back to the tent to hear Don McLean do “American Pie.”

Turns out everybody in America knows it. No matter what their age. It’s like you’re born with a chip with the lyrics.

Most aged acts get tired of performing their hit. I don’t think McLean does, because of the crowd reaction.

And they also knew all the lyrics to the Dirt Band’s “Fishin’ In The Dark.” They’re not gonna know the words to what’s on Top Forty now decades in the future, but infectious stuff like this, which has deeper meaning, or a sense of humor, because you see, what’s smart sustains.

And then Hunter Hayes.

And he was good, but what stunned me was the sea of people. So far back that the video screen was way out of sync with the sound. Not that anybody was complaining, they were all singing along.

Same deal with Jason Aldean. Who looked like he had just been in the backyard drinking beer and barbecuing.

Yup, the country artists have not only appropriated the old rockers’ music, but their ethos. They don’t dress up, but down. They let the music do the talking. Production at Stagecoach is nearly nonexistent. It’s all about the music, baby.

And palm trees. And mountains. And yes, dust.

Oh, and also legs and breasts and sunglasses and smiles. While everybody rich is running behind gates, it’s thrilling to be amongst the people, who are harmless, they keep apologizing if they bump into you, they’re not your enemy, for they realize we’re all in it together.

So, so long manufactured media. Wherein the “New York Times” and the “Wall Street Journal” refuse to give respect to this scene, despite it dwarfing those of the inner city. Just because it’s in the paper, that does not make it true, never mind important.

And so long music you can’t sing along to. How did we get so far from melody…

And so long giving lip-service to fans while doing your best to avoid them. Try getting a meet and greet with Top Forty titans. They don’t want anything to do with the audience, they’re too busy courting corporations.

Not that today’s country music is pure. It’s a machine. It sometimes has lowest common denominator lyrics. It has its own media infrastructure.

But in the desert, you don’t see it. In the desert, it’s about the music. The acts and the fans bond as one and it doesn’t matter what anybody else thinks or does, whether they acknowledge the scene or they don’t.

The world is run by women. And at Stagecoach they outnumber men. And sure, they’ve all put on their look. But what they want to do most is hang on the fence and sing along with songs they know by heart.

Got a problem with that?

I certainly don’t.

It’s thrilling!