Interview With Don Henley

"There's too much vapid pablum on the radio, too much airheaded, cliched junk that doesn 't mean anything. There's very little that grownups and thinking people can relate to out there these days."

In commenting on the music industry in general, Henley said.

As everyone knows, the music industry today is going through some serious changes. It's not in very good shape. The business as we have known it, has been forever changed by the advent of the digital age. Copyrighted works are being stolen, right and left, on the Internet and this is killing the industry. The Internet is basically destroying Copyrights altogether and, apparently there isn't much to be done about it. Congress is siding witht the digital companies for the sake of commerce, and intellectual property is the big loser in this game.

I'm just thankful that I'm not just starting out in the business now because the traditional income streams are all drying up. Soon, touring may be the only means of real income for a musician and so those acts who can't deliver a great live performance will be in trouble. The public needs to understand that internet priracy doesn't just affect rich rock stars or the people that they see on televison all the time. It takes the biggest toll on the little guys, the songwriters in Nashville who only write for a living and don't perform. The people who have second jobs just so they can crank out a song or two every month. It also affects the roadies and the truck drivers and the people who work at the CD pressing plants and the retail outlets. The collapse of the record industry will have a ripple effect that is wider and more far-reaching than most people can imagine. They say that in four or five years, the CD will disappear and that we will get our music via some kind of elctronic, digital device. I lament the day that I will not have something I can hold in hands. When I was a kid I was always fascinated by the covers of the vinyl albums and I read every word of the liner notes When all that got shrunk down to CD size is was disappointing, but at least there was something to look at, something to hold and to read. If the CD does disappear, I think that the whole experience of listening to music will be diminished, but maybe other people don't see it that way, I don't know.

In any case, this is another reason we decided to go with Wal-Mart and Sam's Club. We knew that we had millions of good, honest, hard-working fans out thee who would want to go and get this CD-and we were right. We are extremely grateful for all of our fans and we consider ourselves to truly fortunate and blessed. Without them, we wouldn't be here. They are the reason we continue to do what we do. That's the bottom line."

Bonus Video

I broke my toe on the bathroom door two nights ago (and they said it couldn't be done!)

So, here's a video to make me feel better.

2007 - The Year In Music

For someone like me who likes to bitch about the state of music, I have to admit, 2007 was pretty darn good. You just needed to know how to find the good stuff.

I've read a bunch of critics' lists of the best CD's of 2007, and unfortunately, I haven't had the opportunity to hear them all. The critics could well be right. After all, they did list most of my favorite CD's of the year.

Critics whose opinions I value include Chet Flippo (of course) and Jon Bream, who writes for the Star Tribune. I also like to read Entertainment Weekly's opinions, although their demographic is, admittedly, younger. I also perused the list that No Depression Magazine compiled.

So, here's where we agree:

"Raising Sand" - Alison Krauss & Robert Plant

"Revival" - John Fogerty

"Dwight Sings Buck" - Dwight Yoakam

"Magic" - Bruce Springsteen (the prettiest song of the year, "Girls In Their Summer Clothes")

Some mentioned "The Bluegrass Sessions" by Merle Haggard (produced by Marty Stuart).

At least one list included "In A Perfect World" by Gene Watson.

I would also include The Eagles, "Long Road Out Of Eden" and "Goin' Home - A Tribute To Fats Domino".

I'm sure there must be new artists who are great. I hear there's some British gals who are pretty good.

What I know is, the artists who produced the best music in 2007 (in my opinion) have been around since the 1980's or longer:

Alison Krauss, Robert Plant, John Fogerty, Dwight Yoakam, Bruce Springsteen, Merle Haggard, Gene Watson, The Eagles, Fats Domino.

I don't know what this means. A cynic would say, there are no good new artists on the horizon. I don't believe that. I guess we just don't get a chance to hear the new, good ones.

But thank God for the old ones!

And here's an old one:

New Music Recommendation - I Report, You Decide (ha)

I picked up a new CD today. Well, I was returning two CD's that I got for Christmas, two CD's that I already had.

Luckily, I read magazines in my spare time, or I would be ignorant to new, interesting CD's.

So, my mission was to find "Goin' Home - A Tribute To Fats Domino".

Luckily, my local Borders had it in stock. Buying music is a pain, which is why I rarely buy any. Face it, most new music is a waste of money and time.

To digress for a minute, do you have a hard time finding good music in your local stores? I do. The closest store to me is Target, which carries the newest offerings by Tim McGraw and Kenny Chesney, et al, but would I find "The Bluegrass Sessions" by Merle Haggard there? No. I never buy CD's at Target, because they don't have anything I would want.

We do have a local, independent record store close by, but their selections are minimal in my categories. My categories being, I guess what you would call Alt Country. What used to be just "country" back in the day. Artists like Dwight Yoakam, Marty Stuart, Gene Watson. My other category is older rock artists who sound more country than the so-called country artists of today. Those would include The Eagles, Neil Young, John Fogerty, Tom Petty.

So, I do most of my music shopping online.

You can find anything you want online (I usually shop at Amazon). BUT what if you want music NOW? What if you don't want to wait five business days to get your music?

Oh, you can download music (again, I use Amazon. And if the song I want is unavailable on Amazon, I go to ITunes or WalMart).

That's all fine and dandy if you want just a song or two. Even if you want a whole album, unless it's an artist you cherish. If it's Dwight or George or Marty, for example, I want the actual physical CD. It's just a personal pecadillo of mine.

So, back to my shopping (returning) expedition today. I headed off to Borders, hoping that I could find "Goin' Home". I returned my two CD's (the lady was rather rude, by the way). Then I went off to flip through the CD racks. Surprisingly, I found it rather quickly. And it was worth it. This is a double CD, with artists such as Paul McCartney, Neil Young, Robert Plant, Willie Nelson, Lucinda Williams, Elton John, Randy Newman, Bonnie Raitt, Norah Jones, and many, many more. Also lots of New Orleans blues.

I am very much enjoying it.

So, here's a promotional video for the CD that I found on YouTube:

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Finally Had A Chance To Listen To Some Current Country Music

I was bored today, and there was nothing good on TV. I'd already checked out the On Demand movies, and the choices were slim. I watched American Graffiti last weekend, and I made the mistake of watching Bewitched last weekend also. That was the most boring movie I've ever seen. I fell asleep during part of it. Don't ever watch it or rent it, or God forbid, buy it. So today, all I was left with was Night Of The Living Dead, and I really wasn't in the mood.

So, I went back to my computer, but I turned on GAC in the background. The first song I heard was something that Rascal Flatts was YELLING. Something about wanting a girl to take him somewhere, but geez, with all that yelling, I would have just pushed him out of the car.

Then there was some nondescript noise that I didn't really pay attention to.

And then there was a guy singing to his wife, I guess, about (basically) it's okay to stop taking care of everyone else and take care of herself once in awhile....or some sappy sentiment like that. I was thinking, gee, that sounds like Clay Walker. I used to like Clay Walker. He was big in the '90's, but kind of dropped out of sight for a few years. So, I turned around and looked at the screen, and sure enough, it was Clay Walker. He should be ashamed of himself. He used to sing some good songs. But I guess, if he's trying to rebuild his career, he has to do the kind of songs that are popular nowadays......sad and lame as they are.

Then they interjected an older song by Faith Hill, "Mississippi Girl". You know, the one where she was trying to convince everyone that, even though she went to Hollywood and made a movie, and even though she sings songs that even Celine Dion wouldn't stoop to, that, c'mon, she's still country.

As if fans who listen to country radio even care. Those people are used to country-pap (I mean "pop") songs, so they don't care.

Then they played something by, I think, Blake Shelton, that wasn't half bad. It was a clever, funny song. The hook is, "the more I drink, the more I drink". Hold on....gotta look up who wrote that song.....well, can't find any info. The sites I found intimate that Blake himself wrote the song, but I can't be sure.

But anyway, after that, there was a Kenny Chesney song about "shift work", although that's not what it sounded like he said, but maybe that was intentional. I wasn't paying real close attention, but it seemed to me that he was showing empathy for people who do "shi(f)t" work, but then they showed him on the beach, drinking those concoctions that have little umbrellas, so I don't know if he was empathizing or making fun of people who have to work for a living.

Then I FINALLY heard the most COUNTRY song of my little experiment. Ironic, really.

Here it is. Judge for yourself:





And just for fun, here's that Blake Shelton song: