I am itching to record a second album.
My first album, “Songs of Domestic Bliss,” sold like hotcakes. I can say that because nobody, in 2013, buys hotcakes; who even knows what hotcakes are? In the final tally, gross sales of the album made almost enough to pay for the snacks that I fed to my musician friends--almost, but not quite, because at one point Steve made martinis for the crowd using really expensive gin. (And don’t ask about net album proceeds. There were no net proceeds.)
Still, I am dying to do it again. Making that first album was pretty much the most fun thing I’ve ever done in my life. (Note to kids: except, of course, for going to your concerts and hockey games! What could be more fun than that?) (Note to Steve: except, of course, for having sex with you! What could be more fun than that?) (Note to kids: Don’t read that last note to Dad; it will just embarrass you.)
Here are some things that I learned in the process of making “Songs of Domestic Bliss:”
- As it turns out, money can buy you talent. I got to perform with musicians who are so much more gifted than I that it’s amazing they would even stand in the same room with me, let alone play my tunes – for the most part, because I paid them.
- I used to think that I can sing in tune; but apparently I don’t. I’m flat, flat, flat; except when I’m sharp, sharp, sharp. Give me the shower over a recording studio any day. I sound awesome in the shower.
- What generous friends I have! I was wowed by the folks I haven’t seen or heard from in decades who surprised and delighted me by buying my album.
- On the other hand, I don’t really have that many friends. Because in the end the album sold like hotcakes.
Older and wiser, I am raring to go on album #2. I’ve never entertained the notion of making money with my music; and I’ve given up on the idea of using music sales to cover my recording costs (because honestly, my day job is a much more efficient way to raise cash).
BUT: I would like my tunes to get heard. So now I plan to post them, one by one, on this very website, alternating with blog entries. And with this brand-new blog, and my brand-new commitment to slapping something amusing up here on a relatively regular basis, I am hereby making a play for some modest number of listeners, people who might not have had the gumption or wherewithal to actually buy my last album, but who just might cop a listen for free.
Think of it as a Kickstarter campaign, but where I’m asking not for money, but for a few minutes of your attention a week. (I thought about doing a real Kickstarter campaign; but then I thought about how I’d have to compete with the guy who is raising funds to grow portraits of Albert Einstein in petrie dishes out of bacteria. And I just don’t think I can match that level of creative energy.)
So: come back often! Send links to friends! I will post each of the “Domestic Bliss” songs; and then, if and when I get a decent stream of visits, I will record and post songs from my new album.
Which, I can tell you right now, is destined to sell like hotcakes.