"The State of Musicianship Today"...a personal perspective...

"The State of Musicianship Today"...a personal perspective... When i was a baby, my father said that he could always leave me alone in the livingroom by myself, as long as the record player was playing...he said i wouldn't move from my spot until the music had stopped. I can remember, as i got older,actually looking for the musicians in the speakersof our stereo...that's a true story. When i was able to read, i looked forward to reading the back of the album covers to see who was playing what.....to know that people could actually create the sounds called music, was very exciting to me...and i couldn't wait to do it too! To make a long story short....my mom realized my obsession and put me in drum school at the age of 12...and my life as a drummer was on and poppin! Back then, every musical sound you heard was physically played with human hands, fingers, feet, lips, teeth, toes, which made it so amazing to watch...or be able to do yourself... i remember those Earth, Wind & Fire concerts...going to see The Whispers, Deniece Williams, Michael Jackson, War, Aretha Franklin, etc, and seeing REAL musicians playing all of the instruments... watching in utter amazement! What's going on today???...don't get me wrong...the artists on the frontlines are doing the damn thing,but it's not the same MUSICIANSHIP!. ..now, every thing is tracks...drumtracks...and sampled [ stolen ] musictracks from back in the day. Yes, the artists of today are successful and i don't mean to take anything away from their accomplshments...they have worked hard to build their careers, and should be commended for that...it's just not the same as watching 10-12 people, doing 10-12 different things...and creating one big monster of a sound....there will NEVER be any substitute for that!

The mentality of being "competetive" in the musicians mind in also a step in the wrong direction... that's why i will never support the reality show "American Idol"... where people who have no talent at all.. are allowed to compete with very talented artists... then placed in front of millions of peolple, to be laughed at and humiliated... when the producers of the show knew that they were talentless in the first place! Musicians are one big family...all in it 4 the same reason.... to create music...good music...solid music...tasteful music! I feel honored to have a god-given talent to always live up to that very high standard...to keep musicianship right where it's meant to be. ...sitting on the drum chair, expressing all that i've learned over the years in my hands & feet!...not through drumtracks, sampled music, or putting down another fellow musician for allegedly not being "as good as i am!" THINK ABOUT IT!

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