Oh man, just typing that subtitle made me want to spin some Hendrix. Hendrix is one of those artists that every single generation can and will appreciate. If you ask any human in the world who the best guitarist of all time is, I am willing to wager that 75% of people will say Jimi Hendrix. I think that is awesome. It is also true. Mind you the greatest guitarist of all time and my favorite guitarists of all time are two different lists but Hendrix overlaps. Also, emphasis on ‘greatest’ and not ‘best’. Two entirely different adjectives.
Anyway, hello. Welcome back here. I am sorry that this is coming out so late. I actually sat down to write it on Monday but had absolutely nothing to say. Then I started my internship and whatnot. Whatever. Here is number thirteen. But yeah, I started my internship at Primary Wave music; a music publishing and management company near Union Square. This seems like it is going to be a fun internship that will yield rewarding knowledge. Primary Wave’s business intersects with a lot of the music industry work that I am interested in. They own dozens of famous catalogs from James Brown to Devo to Bob Marley to Smokey Robinson to Sly and the Family Stone; the list goes on. I am interested in finding ways to connect people who are my age with this classic, seminal music. I think it is highly possible because great music stands the test of time. It is just not as in-your-face as today’s music because it is easy to market an artist who is more recent and currently active. However, this Kate Bush phenomenon fills me with a lot of hope. For those who have not been following, the show Stranger Things (really popular with my demographic) used Kate Bush’s “Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God)” in a pivotal scene, and as a result, it has skyrocketed back to the top of the charts. It has landed at #8 on the US Billboard Charts and #6 in the UK. Gen Z discovering the wonderful pop music of Kate Bush was not on my 2022 bingo board, but I am elated that this is happening. I told Abby who is always in tune with what music is viral at any given moment, that the song was from 1985 and she had not even realized that. It goes to show how influential that era of music still is; so much so that it can sit in the Billboard Top Ten without sticking out like a sore thumb. Suffice it to say, I am looking forward to making content for these legendary artists from Primary Wave. Let’s see if we can get “Whip It” back into the Top Ten. Although, that specific song might be a bit anachronistic. Maybe not though! It is fun and catchy as hell.
I would like to remind everyone that I have a show at Redhouse in Boonton, NJ today. I will link the website to purchase tickets at the end of this newsletter. It is going to be an awesome night. I go on at 8:15 and I will play for a half-hour. The band sounds really tight and everyone is having a lot of fun with this set. I have noticed in rehearsals that there has been a lot of smiling going on. People do not smile enough anymore on stage. That honestly used to be me, but showing your overt happiness is contagious and important. I want to bring the old-school energy of a rock show without any gimmicks or cliches. I get irritated sometimes when current artists/bands create somewhat of a mockery of their performance to be tongue-in-cheek or ironic; like going back-to-back with the lead guitarist or coordinating really dumb moves or routines during certain songs that come off to me as a heaping pile of cringe. I want to feel the authenticity in a live performance. Authenticity is my biggest value when it comes to writing, recording, and performing music. I want to believe you. It is something I think of as I meticulously create setlists, determine myself and the players’ positioning onstage, tweak the sound of the drums and guitars, choose the attire that I wear (I am team Keep Your Shirt On 2022), how the songs are counted off, the jokes, banter, and sometimes serious PSAs that I will make during a set, the manner of which I f*****g walk onstage and grab my guitar at the beginning of the set. I am extremely calculated with the way I present myself, my music, and my band. I think you absolutely have to be or you can become a parody of yourself or a deer in headlights. The trick is to make it all look spontaneous without deceiving the audience. The truth is my pragmatism allows me to be spontaneous and just enjoy myself without second-guessing a single thing that happens on that stage—it has all been premeditated. Don’t get it twisted, I don’t plan everything, and obviously, shows do not always go the way you expect them to go. However, as Julie Chen-Moonves says, expect the unexpected. Vision and preparation put you in the position to do that, and be unphased by anything that happens during the set. I kind of learned about my stubbornness in Montville School of Rock where I would have a very clear and specific idea of how a song should be presented, and how it should sound, and I hated compromising that. It sucked the fun out of it for me sometimes. I think that is part of the reason why things ended the way they did for me there, and I take accountability for any disrespect or negative ego that I showed to people who were not on the same page as me. On the flip side, Montville School of Rock taught me how to be in a band which is also extremely important. Of course, there are going to be compromises because that is pretty much a part of life. You have to meet these compromises with grace. However, it is important to have an idea of what you are NOT willing to compromise. Alright, I have been rambling but I love talking about this stuff. Concerts make me feel exorbitant amounts of joy; joy that I want to replicate when it is me on the stage. I think about it too much though.
Grateful Eight:
* Meatballs
* My band is so easy to work with and on the ball. That is not always the case.
* Iced cold Cherry Coke Zero
* I am grateful to live in a state with stricter gun laws, so I only have to fear for my life a little bit from day to day. I cannot imagine how fearful people feel in states with virtually no gun laws. Not to get super fear-mongering, but what reason does anyone have to be confident that they are not next when they go to school or work or the supermarket or a nightclub? What more can I say that has not already been said? I remain hopeless, but that does not mean I am not going to speak my mind and help the situation.
* I am grateful that I get to go to the city twice every week for my internship. I have always loved New York and now I have a reason to go often.
* You people still read my rambling on these things. Some of you even look forward to it! Why?
* Detroit Medley. Bruce needs to bring that one back even if it is only five minutes and not fifteen. The old versions are the best though.
* Exile on Main Street. I love Mick Taylor era Stones the best for sure and this album is everything a rock album should be and nothing it is not. There are few more fun albums out there.
This Week’s Mnemonic Advice/Josh Carus Rare Recording: Unkind is Kind
This is my newest song. I wrote it last week. It is a good song to play by myself with harmonica and acoustic guitar but it also has the potential to rock. I had fun writing these lyrics because I think they evoke mystery. I am not even sure if I know what I am talking about, but it feels right. It is not nonsense, I tried to incorporate imagery and metaphor, but it leaves the listener to interpret it in his or her own way. Although I usually am very clear and direct with my lyrics, I think lyrics are more about capturing a feeling rather than a definitive meaning. That is all I really have to say about this one. It is young and I am still processing it. Sometimes the songs explain themselves to me once they marinate.
“Unkind is Kind”
My radio is tuned to fear
I got nothing but static around here
Just as a deer skitters cross the road
I took a gamble like the butt of the joke
The universe turned away my toke
And settled for hearing every word I spoke
But I speak my mind
Try to be someone someone gets behind
But I’m not like that all the time
I’ve got my reasons for being unkind
Unkind is kind to myself sometimes
Unkind is kind to the signal inside
Unkind is kind as kind is kind
I got electric situational lies
I’m telling you now so you aren’t surprised
When I tune you to a basket of love
I can neglect and orbit above
The universe shot me dead at birth
To compensate for the Earth’s net worth
But are we even? I wish I could say
Are we even closer than further away
But I speak my mind
Try to be someone that can toe the line
Between me and myself in a bind
Twisted with the wire so unkind
Unkind is kind to myself sometimes
Unkind is kind to the signal inside
Unkind is kind to how you can define
Unkind is kind as kind is kind
Oh I speak my mind
Melting in the moonlight
As a deer skitters by
I don’t think that I’ve got the means try
Unkind is kind to myself sometimes
Unkind is kind to the signal inside
Unkind is kind to how you can define
Unkind is kind as kind is kind
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