You are important to me. More than you know. I value your friendship and your fanship. If you’re reading this, salve I’m talking to YOU! An indie musician depends on massive amounts of one to one communication. The internet is both a blessing and a curse in this pursuit. It is a blessing because I get to meet new people, and
regularly communicate with current fans, and just basically get the word out there about my passion…my music, and hope that it resonates with others. It can feel like a curse sometimes when rankings depend on numbers of people who fan you and so forth. For me, this is my passion and it is about my music and the people I can communicate my music to, not about numbers, numbers, numbers. Yet I need to recognize the value numbers of people influence such things as rankings on Revarbnation and Google. Ranking on Reverbnation, how many fans on facebook, yes these things all make a difference to the livelihood of indie artists like myself. It’s a delicate dance. That is why I appreciate all of you friends and fans so much.
Your support truly is immeasurable. And did you know that your fanship is even more critical to those of us who are indie artists? There are two kinds of music today. Top 40 that is made to fit a computer algorithm that decides what you must like. That’s the first kind. Then there is indie music that comes from the heart and soul of a single individual or a band. We care nothing for the record companies and what they think you want and need. We care about what you do actually want and need and hope that what we are creating not only is beautiful to us, but to you as well. I do watch numbers, of course…we all do. I am aware of how more fans can rank me number 1 indie artists for my area. I can’t deny paying attention to those things. Though I felt it was important to communicate with all of you that while I am aware of that, my livelihood really is centered around creating art for those who enjoy my music.
Next time you wonder if you should fan one of us indie artists or not, remember how much of a service you are doing to the artistic community and know that even though the industry has changed so much and so much of it is about online activity, we care about you, we need you, and we want to be able to share our passion with you. Yes, click that like button and that share button and just know, you are helping an indie artist follow their love! Go ahead…click away!
Sometimes I get unintentionally spammy. It’s my poorly explained automation software. Honest. I’m trying hard to tame these beasts. Indie musicians must weave the Web of all the social networks and specialized musician promotion sites. I’m sometimes a spider with ADD. The harder I try to integrate all my sites, this
the more duplication I risk. The risks run both ways: Turn off my fans and potential fans vs. Keep them in the dark. But I’m dedicated to finding a middle road. Because I’m all Zen like that.
A Curse on Facebook
Some of my fellow musicians and I have found out too late that it would make better sense to have a personal Facebook Page different from our Fan Page. Facebook doesn’t let you change your name after you have 100 fans or friends. Brilliant, huh? FB also suggests friends to me and then sends me a warning for trying to friend them. Thanks. May your endless eight-legged algorithms turn inward and declare themselves spamalicious. And then digest and excrete themselves into whatever web they were born on. Hmm, that’d make a pretty good T-shirt. Need more graphics than text, though. Got that picture in your head? Sorry.
MySpace Whores
There are still way too many of us in the biz who are thinking and behaving like MySpace whores. That’s so 5 years ago. “Hey check out my song!â€Â  Yeah, that’s enticing. Finding better ways to spread my music without spreading irritation is like creating a friendly virus. Like sneezing on an airplane and expecting everyone to smile and yell, “Thanks! Great Stuff!â€Â We who peruse the web or even live on it, are overwhelmed with requests. It’s getting worse than network TV. Except we have a spam button.
I Love You, Single Ladies!
I know Valentine’s Day is a sticky web of expectations and regrets. I like to shun such Hallmark days. But ignoring this one is far too risky. I’d like to write a love song to all the single ladies who cringe at the onslaught of VD. Um, the holiday, not the disease. And perhaps I will. It’s very painful for me to know I have dear friends who don’t have the love that I do. I wish I could fix that. But it’s a perilous pursuit. Nobody loves a yenta with poor judgement. Or would I be a yento? Where’s a Yiddish dictionary when you need one?
But I did write a song for Cathy, my wife and best friend. I have no chance of ever saying all that should be said about this amazing lady and what she brings to my life. So anything I say or write or sing is part empty. I hope one day the collection of my efforts will scratch a bit below the surface of what she is to me. But too much is kind of spammy, isn’t it?
Digital Box Set
If you want to know which of my songs are from the Cathy collection, here they are:
- Can’t Leave My Mind
- Tattoo
- Move Me
- Sit On The Wind
- Had To Pretend
- I Need
- Safe In My Dreams
All of the above can be heard on my tune widget at the right of the page or at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/budbuckley These are love songs that you may want to buy for your loved one or you may just wish somebody would buy one for you. Give me their email and I’ll let them know. Honest.
I have songs from a first CD “Feel My Love†that I don’t publicize because I prefer the performance and production of the last three CDs so much more. You can find it on the same CDBaby link if you are curious and you enjoy train wrecks.
But here are the words for Cathy’s new Valentine song:
Everyday Sweetheart     ©Bud Buckley 2012
With My Everyday Sweetheart, I go right to the neat part
But that’s everything she has so I stay busy
She gives me smiles, I feel through the miles
Keeping up with her can make me dizzy
Loved her right from the start, my everyday sweetheart
Loved her right from the start
Loved her right from the start, my everyday sweetheart
Loved her right from the start
You’ll never see her in lipstick or powder
Her natural beauty speaks much louder
One look and you’d never doubt her
With My Everyday Sweetheart, I go right to the neat part
But that’s everything she has so I stay busy
She gives me smiles, I feel through the miles
Keeping up with here can make me dizzy
Loved her right from the start, my everyday sweetheart
Loved her right from the start
Loved her right from the start, my everyday sweetheart
An abused body and mind can only rock the casbah so many times.  The Kinks had it right when they sang “Motorway food is the worst in the world.†That stuff will kill you if you’re not careful. The other contributing, treatment uh,
habits, musicians are exposed to combined with little sleep and no real exercise beyond lifting a guitar or speaker cabinet can push a BigMac body to the limit. Drowning on fast food vomit during a chemical sleep is such an inglorious way to go.
To be truthful, my own health habits have run in cycles over the years. I take turns binging on slothfulness /careless eating and then swing to workout mania /vegetarian mindfulness. I’ve been doing much more of the latter in recent years.  I gig two to four times a week in my local area and I’m exposed to a lot of rich food that is excellent quality but diet crushing.  There is also the offered alcohol payoff which I have no problem with since I don’t drink and never have. I know that’s unusual but I can more than make up for the damage free booze can cause with accepting amazing and amazingly rich dinners at the fine restaurants I perform in. It’s very hard to say no to a culinary genius after a late gig. The owner/chef in my regular weekend gigs is Ed Glennen, of Back Eddy Bistro, who was the personal chef to Neil Young, Jimmy Buffett, Rupert Murdock, Roy Schemer, and other luminaries. This dude cooks his ass off! And his wife, Ally, makes astounding desserts.  I am challenged every minute of every weekend to keep the damage to my waistline minimal. That demands a veggie diet the rest of the week and so juicing, followed by just veggies has replaced the heavy foods with better results. I have short arms. I need to be able to reach the guitar strings without a protruding gut pushing them even further away from me. You know what I mean?
Sauteed Caramelized Onions, Mushrooms and Roasted Peppers, Spinach, Goat Cheese and Parmesan in Tomato Cream Sauce.†I don’t think so. I want to die Pretty. I honestly believe it’s more about feeling good about ourselves while this body is still breathing, singing and picking strings.
