originally published at SAY WAM...

Say, What Is Music About?

Alright, I know this is being posted on Say What About Music, so if you can ignore the tremendously trite pun in the title, this article may have a chance at holding your interest. However, I'm not making any promises, because this is the internet after all…

So what the Hell is going on with music, and don't worry I'm not going spit out an excruciatingly long diatribe about the deteriorating state of the current music industry, and how everything you thought you knew about selling music is completely wrong, and how the major labels are picking on the little guy and ruining it for everyone, and why my personal opinion of the business is the only correct view, and everybody should bow down and worship me as their new buzzword spewing guru. When I say music, I mean exactly that, just music.

One evening during my daily commute courtesy of Metrotransit, a discarded newspaper sat next to me. Some dude in a GQ shirt stood in front of an expensive microphone on the cover. Apparently this particular dude won American Idol. I decided to take the article's word for it because I had no idea. I don't own a properly working television, and I am quite comfortable with that fact. The article had some pretty harsh things to say about the dude in question, and I blindly agreed because I think American Idol is an utterly inane dog and pony show designed to perpetuate corporate greed, but then I began to think. Why do I hate American Idol so much?

A lot of time goes into making American Idol. All of the singers, promoters, mixing engineers, session players, lighting technicians, and producers are hardworking and skilled at what they do, so how could that gigantic pool of talent create something so vapid? The answer may be in a words of a philosopher I somewhat despise named Immanuel Kant. "There are two things that don't have to mean anything, one is music and the other is laughter."

In the past century alone, music has evolved and changed into so many appreciated genres that the theory of a universal aesthetic has been thoroughly debunked. Proof of this is evident by the existence of the atonal era, avant-garde jazz, no-wave punk, and Kenny G. All of those examples are not exactly everyone's cup of tea, but they all have legions of listeners.

Now there is a perfectly good reason for this; music is split into two categories: art and entertainment. These two factions make up what I like to call the Personal Preference Venn Diagram. Each personal preference will vary.

Don't panic people, not all music is meant to have a deeper meaning, and believe me, most modern pop music doesn't, but that's not to say all pop music is devoid of artistic merit. With that on the table, not all music intended to be art is all that great either. To me, labels like art and entertainment are not measurements of quality; they are descriptions of intention and nothing more. I'm not saying that the categories are rigid or polar opposites, because that is simply not the truth. Art can be entertaining, and entertainment can be artful. There are no absolutes. Some music comments on human emotion or contains a sharp political statement, and some music just wants to make people dance. There is nothing wrong with any of it.

People need to stop caring about what other people think. Just because I loathe American Idol doesn't mean other people can't love it. If you don't dig the latest and greatest buzz band that all the indie snobs are drooling over, that's fine. If you want to belt Lady Gaga lyrics at the top of your lungs while driving, go for it. If all you want to do next weekend is listen to Sgt. Peppers in a room by yourself, be my guest, but most importantly, if you can't stand a certain song, don't listen to it. Find your song. Find what pulls your heartstrings and cherish it. Don't let anyone else tell you what to like because that, my friends, is what music is about.

Written by: Pat Dougherty for SayWAM

love stories and picture shows is

finally here..

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

Wow, I haven't updated this in a while, and I think it's awesome that people have sent me emails saying how much they missed my posting. Some of y'all have even purchased my first album Soliloquies in anticipation of the release of Love Stories and Picture Shows, and for those of you who did... yeah Soliloquies is little bit different than what I'm about to release with the Second-Hand Opera, but enjoyable none the less. If you like no-wave-punk-improv-jam-jazz.

The CD Release show forLove Stories is on Saturday May 29 at the Cedar Cultural Center. If you are not familiar with the room, it is one of my favorite venues in the country. It has some of the best acoustics I have ever heard, and it is completely run off of volunteer power. In fact, when I first moved North by Midwest, I volunteered at the Cedar for quite a bit.

We're also playing with two of my favorite artists, Bill Mike and Total Babe. Ever since I met Bill Mike he has been a mentor and an inspiration to me. I even met Clara from Total Babe through Bill Mike, so everything ties together perfectly with this album release.

I feel really lucky. Not many artists get to create an album completely on their terms. I got to make it with my favorite people in the world, and we did everything completely on our own. There were no compromises. I was able to choose my preferred musicians, artists, engineer, location, packaging, concept, and venue. The Second-Hand Opera is amazing!

The album is completely handmade on recycled material and will be available for hard copy and digital download at patdougherty.net and iTunes on Tuesday June 1. See you at the Cedar May 29, and come back June 1!

I'll post more blogs about how we made Love Stories and Picture Shows a little later. I can't thank you guys enough, I heart you all!

i'm annoying...

Due to the current state of the music industry, I have to participate in social media, but that doesn't mean I can't have fun with it sometimes.

It's a well known fact of the internet that I have a Facebook. I use it mainly as my promotion whore because I can't figure out Twitter, and I don't mean I can't figure out Twitter in the 60 year old man sense, which would cause me to ask questions like, " What's a Kanye West?" or "What are you kids doing on the Twitter anyway?" I just haven't found a way to use it effectively.

Facebook is just as pointless as the rest of them, but it can also be the most enjoyable. Besides commenting "First!" on wall arguments that are already 15 posts long, I also do things like this...

If you like my music and want to be my friend, do not be afraid to add me. Just be aware I may pull geeky stunts like the one above.

Thanks for listening, I really do appreciate it!

rip jay reatard...

Godspeed your crazy punk genius!

I wasn't fortunate enough to know Jay personally, but I've been a fan for quite sometime. With all the cheats and tricks the music industry plays on us, Jay Reatard was exactly what we needed... a great songwriter who didn't take kindly to nonsense.

I recently saw him in Chicago. Like most punk rockers he had the "fuck you" attitude nailed down, but few had his raw emotion and songwriting prowess to back it up. His live show was a blitzkrieg of noise and energy, and I loved every minute of it.

I'm not going to spout off cliches about how only the good die young and I'm certainly not going to speculate how he died, but I will say this... They just don't make 'em like that anymore.


We miss you Jay!