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Bill Hudson / Blog

Importance of Real Radio

Sense I have been working on radio with the new CD, Toshi’s Garden I been wanting to write about what good radio is to me and in this high tec world radio with a real person behind the mike is STILL a leg in the stool not only for us artist but for listeners too, they long for it and is always looking for that cool radio station that might be on the way left of the dial. Here in Roanoke we now have Radio Free Roanoke, a free form radio and you never know what’s going to be on, from a speech from Dr. King to Frank Zappa to a lot of Southern black gospel music, a nice way to start your day. But here’s the thing, many corporation that run big radio like (Clear Chanel) wants to dominate the market place. Here is what we will play and here is what we don’t play. Like a well oiled machine it keeps putting out the strong signals and watts i.e. big money. And people keep saying, why do they keep playing the same song over and over again? So does big money = good radio or good art? Not always and going through the Deep South putting on the a m stations in your car you can get some funky stations. But behind the mike at a radio station is a REAL person with the passion of music. It’s the flip side of being a songwriter…those who listen with hungry ears. DJ’s get paid very little or nothing at all. So why in the world do they do it? (Thank the gods they do). Because in their community they want to have a cool radio station that reflexes the community they are in and give some sort of outlet for good local acts that have their CDs. And maybe play a cut we have never heard before that all of a sudden blows our mind, wow, who was that singing we ask? Yea, that, cool radio as important as that first cup of coffee, that real! When I was a kid I use to listen to Alice Steel the Midnight bird WFUV and the music opened another world for me. I never heard of Dylan but when I did he knocked down the walls and I was asking myself, there are others that think like me? It was what was not on the hit parade. And I would like to think there is some kid out there listening to a cool station and thinking; maybe I can go to the music store and look at some guitars. Radio, good radio still important in a high tec world! Still Pickin’ Bill

No Matter how much advance the tec world gets.

As the advance AI sometime folks can be a little down hearted as to a being a independent artist and trying to get your music out to the world. And the world it is, having folks play your music on their phone or home computers. But no matter how your CD or record and being streamed you still have to create that music in a good studio, good mikes, good engineers and that has not changed and that heart that so many people put into their music CANNOT be duplicated in some kind of strange machined out of the twilight zone. One’s heart cannot be cut and paste, the raw energy is why many of us go to festivals and see live acts. Independent artist take heart! Keep at it Still Pickin’ Bill

Toshi's Garden now on CD's

You can now buy this CD plus shipping cost and I will sign it! Still Pickin' Bill

Songwriting, dry spell?

Like everything else in life there are ups and downs but if you get into the habit of writing each and every day, no matter good or bad, get it on paper. You might not want to, but pick a time of day (I like mornings with coffee) when the TV is off, the radio is off and you have no other distractions, sit down and see what you have down on paper or a new song put it down on paper. It’s not always going to make sense. But like a conduit, it sometimes flows and you have to go with it. Love gone bad, the death of a friend, the way the sun sets any idea you want to write about, do it. I have tools to help me along the way, a good thesaurus (older ones better), a good dictionary, and a rhyming dictionary. These are the tools like any other trade they can be used when needed. And here’s another thing, you might not finish your song in one seating and that’s ok too. Leonard Cohen use to say he wrote at a snail’s pace. If you are in the middle of a song and you are trying to work it out but it’s not working, go to the next one. Its ok, you’ll go back to it. I sometime visit my songs like strangers when it’s been a very long time. And in that way I might add something to it or look at time and ask myself, did I write this? The point here is to keep it fresh and try to focus on what you are saying in the song and keep it simple. I think people love a good story and you should grab them in the first line. That first line is so very important! Another thing is each song is different and no matter what some may say there is no formula. I have some songs that have just one chord in it and that is all that song needs. The song, There’s no place for my Jekyll to hide has now 90 tracks of horns and we are thinking to not add much. That’s kind of new for me. So take each song differently and keep staying on course in what you are trying to paint. Don’t underestimate your audience no matter if they are young or old, they could surprise you at every turn. Still Pickin’ Bill

This Sunday- 6 PM- EST-Live Facebook Feed

I have now every Sunday no matter where I am I do a live feed thing. I am not very good at this kind of thing but now have been doing it for a few years like clockwork. 3 Songs some stories maybe have a friend jamming with me. So if your free on a Sunday stop in on my Facebook page and say hello. Still Pickin' Bill

Humans want to connect

I think the thing I dig about music, live performances, festivals is the way it breaks down walls, not builds them. We live in an internet world yes, but we want REAL connects. Maybe it’s in our DNA but humans as a whole have a need to be tribal and as far as music goes it can be downright life changing for some. For the listeners with hungry ears or the performer who gives out all they have, it’s a dance. That for many, they go back time and time again. But getting back to humans…. People now days are on their phone listening to music and that’s one thing, but live music is another and as I have said many times I think people are searching. A funny example I did Liberty Street live and this guy comes up to me and he ask me if he could buy that CD. I didn’t have one at the time so I showed him on my phone where to get it online. He gets on his phone, finds it and buys it right there….that’s new, and the world we are living in. But, people want to find out and find like minded souls in whatever kind of music they are into. Bluegrass folks are theirs, folk people have their, jazz have theirs and to the kinds of music, well there’s a boat load out there, really! And somewhere you will find people camping out and hearing “Live Music”. When Al Coffey and I would walk the street of New Orleans we would go where the sound of music would lead us. Let’s go down that street because I hear something good, Al would say. Here is hoping you folks are finding some good music in your hometown. Hope everyone is enjoying the fall while it last. Winter is coming! Still Pickin’ Bill

The power of Music

Last night local Roanoke musicians gather at a local bar to help raise money for a single Mom and her 3 kids who had a fire and lost that she had in the world, all in a flash. We were able to rise over a $1,000 for her. We also gave a small guitar to her So we played our hearts out and let music do what it does…..gathers people together and maybe in this crazy world we all share something that one is glad to wake up in the morning. There was even a man from out of town with his girlfriend that just happens to be in town and stopped at this bar. Before he left the bar he wanted to let the whole bar know they were damn glad they walked in the door. You might ask yourself why he would do that, one word,……the music. This is where it starts and ends for me, the music that sound, that song. What is it about the music? A long time ago I finally figured out music heals and that’s my job, to heal and also make people stop and think. In the world of smart phones being online I think people are hungry for something they can really feel, live, alive and breathing…..music. Once that is done something happens and I think we carry on through the day. Maybe you heard a good song and during the day, out of nowhere that song pops in your head and you start humming. Pete Seeger believed in the power of what music can do. And the thing I really dig about Pete was he could get people singing. It wasn’t a trick but a skill he learned over the years and was as sharp as his ax. I told him how fast he engages the audience. I mean right out of the gate. I have been on stage with Bruce Springsteen and he also does the same thing, engages right away, no tricks. At the end of the day that is what an artist wants, to be heard. And it does not always work, sometimes the bar is loud place and maybe you think people are not listening. But there is something in the brain that connects with music. And if you keep at it, sooner or later the ears perk up. Here is hoping everyone is with friends, lovers, or family for the fall! Still Pickin’ Bill

What Music can do

I had a gig that I use to do in C-Ville, Va called The Coup De Ville. You played outside in the back about 10’ from the railroad tracks. Sometime, while you were playing, sometimes a train would come by. It didn’t happen a lot but when it did it as trains go but it always very loud. And there was no way in hell you can compete with a train going by you at 10’. There was no way you could do your thing standing there playing your heart out but no one could hear the music. All the audience could hear is a slow moving train. So, what I use to do was stop on a note…completely, ignore the audience, have a break, right in the middle of a song. Once the train was gone I would pick up on the other note of the same song I was singing before the train was coming by and continue the song. It’s almost like the audience forgot the train was even there. Music can be magic, or I think so, yea. Still Pickin’ Bill

What Fear can do and how music helps!

I want to tell a story concerning fear and what it can do or more importantly, not do. A few years back in the town of Harrisonburg, Virginia a collage town in one way and a small farming town another way that had a sudden influx of Spanish folks coming into town because of the many chicken factories they have in the area. This one day, a drunken man was up in a tree with a gun and yes, he happened to be Spanish. The police killed him which was very sad. But because of that happening people began to look at each other like human beings. Even the white conservative churches had candle light vigils for this man. And slowly I think people began to accept folks in the community. I love music and I make my business to search out all kinds of music. I met a friend who was in a Spanish band and he always invited me to him home and we would talk music. It was during one of these talks that he got the idea of having a Spanish festival to celebrate their culture with food, music and arts. Around that time I ran the Earth festival which had a great turn out, so why not a Spanish festival? Right? Why not? So they had their Spanish festival and besides the Mexican hanging in effigy, a bomb threat, and the painted words on the road, Go back to Mexico, we had a festival .The point here is, you can let them win with fear or stand up to it. Stauton, Virginia did it when the clan came to march and many other towns here in Virginia have done the same. We will always have the clan maybe and people that think like that. I am a white dude and I hear it when people don’t know where I stand. And it’s not only in the South. North, East or West, take your pick, hate can creep up anywhere. It’s what you do when it shows up even if you’re out numbered, speak up. This happened when some of us musicians were taking a break and was outside this place, this old man made a racist joke and was laughing. My Friend Don spoke up right away and was angry and told this guy right what he thought. The guy was taken back and was wondering what the big deal was. And this was not years ago but maybe weeks ago. It’s here folks and we have to face it whenever we run into it. Treat people like people, throw in some live music, have some food and you might find out we are not all that different.

Croatia- thank you!

For some reason we are getting a lot of traffic from Croatia, so thanks to the folks that are downloading and streaming my music! Still Pickin' Bill