Has Ruth's Chris turned into Taco Bell, and ruined the music business!

Technology is an awesome thing. We live in an age where we can have anything we want delivered to our doors. I can hardly think of anything that can not be purchased over the Internet. You can even meet your future significant other without ever leaving the comfort of that Walmart office chair that sits in front of your put-together computer desk, or the cozy little booth by the fireplace at your local overpriced coffee shop. The information age has really given a shot in the arm to those who want to reach a broader audience to buy whatever it is they are selling. But what happens when technology completely upsets the apple cart? Today, the music business is desperately trying to pick up it's apples from the sidewalk before we smash them under our Old Navy flip flops.

I grew up in the 70's and 80's. You heard a song you liked on the radio, you found out the name of the song and artist who recorded it. You saved your nickels and dimes and went down to the record store (remember those?) or department store and laid down your hard earned cash for the album that contained that song. The bonus was you got at least 9 or 10 other songs with it! You didn't know them, but you learned them by going home and putting the LP, or cassette, or whatever format on your stereo and listening. I used to love the LP's that had lots of liner notes and photos of the artists on the inner sleeve. Listening to music you could hold in your hands was an event. An experience. I don't want to get into whether the music was better then or not, but I will just say that it I feel it had more of an impact on us than the music of today. I think the quality of the experience stuck with us more. Dare I say, you got more for your money when you HAD to buy an LP, cassette. or CD.

Now, you can pick and choose what you want from any artist. Not having to buy the whole album. You don't get something you hold in your hand and look at, and you usually don't get more than cover art when you purchase your music digitally. No cool liner notes and credits, no photos... nothing but mp3 files. Yes, its faster and cheaper, but it's just not the same experience. While I am forever indebted to Steve Jobs and am seldom ever without my ipod within arms reach, I long for the, "I just got a new record and I can't wait to listen to it tonight!" experience. For me the record album was a meal at Ruth's Chris steak house. Not just food, but the food. An event. An experience. The digital download has turned buying music to going through the drive through at Taco Bell. It's fast, cheaper, and it fills you up. It tastes okay, but the experience doesn't stay with you.

Then, there is the whole illegal downloading/file sharing issue. Now, I don't want to sound like Lars from Metallica, but I do not understand why people think that this is okay. The artists who spend time to write, arrange, and record this music usually really work at it. Even an American Idol contestant is singing a song that someone painstakingly wrote, and probably rewrote a few times. I am trying to say that there is significant effort in what musicians, singers, recording engineers, and producers do to create quality music. Why do we think that it is okay to say that their efforts have no worth any longer, and go to a file sharing site and get that music for free?

I will admit it. I used to "dub" my albums to cassette and even share them with my other musician and music loving friends. We did this for two reasons: Portability, and to preserve the relatively fragile vinyl LP. We used to share them to let each other know about cool music each of us had discovered. I almost always went out and bought the dubbed album for myself later. The music people got paid, the musicians got paid and I owned those albums. Why? I wanted the experience. The Full Meal Deal. To sit down and enjoy a large fillet cooked medium with a baked sweet potato, a large beer, and a salad with bleu cheese at Ruth's Chris steak house. Not Taco Bell served in the car and made by some teenage boy who is upset at the manager for making him wear a hairnet for only $7.50 an hour.

I realize this post has two different points. The lack of quality/experience in the digital age, and the lack of conscience of those who download music illegally. I will attempt to make this post be more of a cohesive thought by proposing this theory:

Is perhaps the lack of an experience in the digital download is a root cause of the decline in the perceived value placed on music today? The purchasing is painless and the music doesn't move you on as deep of a level, so therefore music is worth nothing or at least worth less in the eyes of the consumer. Whoa, my head hurts now...

So if you actually read through all this, what do YOU think? I am very interested to know what you, the modern music fan thinks about all this. Tell me. Do you even care? Tell me anyway. I'll wait right here and take a few Advil...

Why The Wet Blanket?!!

I know that no one is really reading this blog, so I have to vent. Look, I am a Christian. I believe that Jesus Christ rose from the grave to bridge the chasm between God and man. He shed his blood for our sins. I believe, and I have a relationship with him. But why can't I just say something without having to interject my faith into every word I type on the internet? I love God, but I sometimes have a real problem with those who call themselves his people. Christians do more to drive away their own than any other religon I know, and it is a faith that is based on GRACE and FORGIVENESS!

I am not embarrassed of Jesus or what I believe in, but I am not a Christian to please other Christians! I do not have to convert you or please you! Why is it that YOU are the only people who have a problem with me when you feel I don't inject enough "Jesus" into what I am saying or doing? Your measuring stick will never fit me! Actually, it is NOT YOUR JOB to hold the stick up to me anyway. That job belongs to Jesus...

"I have stolen, cheated,
I have lied
I am prideful, and UNQUALIFIED,
I am broken when I realize,
God's GRACE covers me..."
-Eli

Schedule Changes and Announcements

A couple of years ago I get the opportunity to take the job I really wanted, but with a pay cut. So this is where I started working two jobs to make up the difference. This is how we have been operating for the last two years. ...until today.

I got an offer for a second temporary job that will last about a month. the money I can make in this month will make it possible for me and my family to make it with only one of my incomes! I can't wait till the end of this job, because it will mean that I will have a life again. And part of that life can finally be a musical life!

So I had to cancel that show that was scheduled for the end of July so I could take this job. It really pained me to do it, but the rewards will be far greater in the long run. Our cars will be fixed, bills paid, and a little money for the famous Dave Ramsey, "emergency fund"! Then I can resume being a better husband, father, and musician again, instead of a work machine!
So stay tuned for more updates, music, concerts, and most of all, original songs! I am feeling like a huge weight is being lifted from my back. What a source for inspiration!