What do you do with the singer?

 

Everyone remembers the singer in the band. The singer was the director of the music. The singer added words to the music (or otherwise it would be an instrumental). The singer was in the spotlight while the band plays behind.

The crooners of the last century were the headliner on the billboard and the draw of the show. Most would just sit still and belt out a song. Between songs they would work the crowd with banter and jokes before breaking into the next song.

In the 50’s there were groups of singers with one lead. They had some dance moves but there was a star and the back-up singers. They were booked as “star singer” and the whatever names they came up with.

The folk music craze started with Hootenannies of group singing, like casual choirs playing guitars. Now and then a single singer, supported by a guitar and a standup bass would pick up the baton left by the crooners.

Then Elvis arrived. Though he wore a guitar his charisma was the magic. A long group of white boys with good hair followed but none captured the audience’s appreciation.

The 60’s brought boy bands from England with sharp suits, electric guitars, long hair and 3-part harmonies. A few had a front man who was the singer.

A singer could keep the audience attention while the boys in the band tuned their guitars, got a drink, figured out the next song, took a leak…

The singer was in the spotlight until there was an instrumental.

Then what do you do with the singer?

Some got some fancy dance moves. Some had fancy clothing that shimmered up the lights as they waved their arms. Some would wander the stage appearing to be lost or cheerlead the front row. Some would just stand behind the microphone stand.

When the drummer took a solo the rest of the band walked off the stage. At the end of the solo the rest of the band came back and the drummer continued to play. When an acoustic song started, the drummer would still sit behind the kit.

Some singers try to put on a guitar or sit at a piano but then they are distracted and forget the words. Some singers jump into the mosh pit and surf the crowd hopefully getting back to the stage in time for the next verse. Some singers will run offstage and change outfits trying not to have an unfortunate wardrobe malfunction.

So the next time you see a live performance (if that ever happens) pay attention to the singer. They are strippers.

Want to be creative in a pandemic?

Painters and dancers and musical performers are all in a funk over this pandemic. There is plenty of time but every theatre; club, museum or other platform to show creative works is closed.

Most creative’s would normally appreciate this free time but this time is not inspiring. This time is covered in a cloud of anticipation and fear.

Everyone is writing dark novels about apocalypse. Mix in some religion and it would be a best seller.

Filmmakers are making scary movies on Zoom and handheld phones with unknown actors to upload to their websites.

Painters can make landscapes or skylines but there will be no people and people like faces to relate to. Photographers will have the same problem; a pallet without a cast.

Dancers can dance in the kitchen but if you dance outside you maybe hauled away or if you decide to perform at the grocery store stay two carts apart. Clean up on aisle 8.

Now songwriters can have a field day. With a single guitar or a piano and a piece of paper and pencil, the next Billboard hit could be knocked out. If you have a computer you can record multiple tracks and upload to an array of sites to get noticed or have your song stolen.

If you want to write a pop song, make it about a relationship. All the hit pop songs are written about a relationship forming or enjoyed or breaking up. To prove my point, look at the Beatle’s catalogue.

Write that dark end-of-the-world song for heavy metal or trash talk rap but they will not be chosen for your wedding tunes. Try a slow dance to Motley Crew.

Hope you get inspired in these dire times.

Oh, and turn off the television.

Innovation

What if television hadn’t been invented?

Now you have to stay home with your family and find something to do to fill the time.

This is like when a rainstorm hits that cabin on the beach and the power goes out.

There is no timeline for when the power will come back on and you can focus on the blue tube instead of being creative with your time.

Phone service will only last as long as the battery then you are stuck looking at each other.

Cards, board games, puzzles just pass the time until the electricity comes back on.

Now is the time to be innovative.

Build a kite out of whatever supplies you have. When it flies everyone will feel the accomplishment.

Cook whatever supplies you have on a burner and everyone chip in the ingredients. It will be the best meal of your life.

Without a camera take a picture of a memorable scene and sketch it in the sand. The waves will wash it away but you will always remember.

Make up a song or a poem or create a story of the moment. Present a play where everyone is an actor or a dancer or a musician.

When the power does come back, you’ll forget about television and digital electronic devices for a while.

Then it will end in a memory.

No Excuses Now!

The world is on ‘pause’. Meetings are cancelled. Appointments are done online. Travel is suspended. Bars and restaurants and movie theaters are closed.

What are you waiting for?

If you are an artist or writer or dancer or anyone with a creative tinge, this is your time.

This virus pandemic has slowed the hurry race down to a string of holidays at home.

No Distractions!

Pick up your brush or pencil or pen or instrument and create. You have the time you’ve always been complaining about not having.

If you are a dancer you can create new moves in front of a mirror to a boom box soundtrack. If you are a symphony musician practice your parts or create your own. If you are a writer, now is the time to write the next great American novel. Photographers, if you are sequestered, open the windows and check out the light and shadows. If you are a renowned chef, make a dish from whatever ingredients you have on hand that will bring the hungry in when the restaurants are open again.

Creativity is time and inspiration.

Now you have the time.

Perception is Reality

Remember who you audience is.

Sounds simple but if you (as an artist) want to make enough scratch from sales to buy a delivery pizza and a six-pack, know whom you are selling to.

If you are an artisan with a tented booth at the rural volunteer firefighters and library craft fair bazaar and book sale, don’t expect the local newspaper art critic who has been educated with ‘Art for Dummies’ to give your talent front page review that will increase sales.

If you want to make some dough, create for your audience.

You can fake it and trick most people all of the time, but only a few will buy it.

If you want to present interpretive innovative dancing check your booking. Don’t plan to play soft folk songs at an arena fronting heavy metal. Don’t set your amp stacks up at a senior center birthday party.

If you are presenting your artwork at outdoor crafts fair or a school auditorium, make small landscapes, trinket jewelry, cute animals and items that can take a few sickles.

If presenting in a well-defined artistic venue like a gallery, be prepared for a different audience asking informed questions with different persuasion techniques to make a sale. Also be prepared for smart phone payment technology.

Remember perception is reality.

If the viewer or audience or reader or listener believes what they are seeing or listening to is art…. Then this IS ART.

Create your dreams for yourself, but to make a living selling your creations know your market.

Know the latest trends and adapt.

Everyone recognizes Leonardo Da Vinci as a renowned artist written about in all artsy-fartsy volumes and placed on the museum exhibits, but he had a sponsor.

Make your brand, promote your product, present to your audience and know that what is your perception is not always reality.

Fantasy

We seem like to enjoy getting lost in fantasy. Look at the books and games and movies (and politics) we lose our reality into worlds of make-believe.

Children create fantasy worlds and adults wonder where they get the ideas. Now those fantasy worlds invade out laundry, banking, education, transportation, manufacturing, entertainment, faith and yes, politics.

To follow or becoming fanatical engrossed with ‘Harry Potter’ or ‘Star Wars’ or ‘Twilight’ or ‘Friends’ can go from enjoyment to emotional fascination (addiction?) to create Comic Cons and theme parks. Beyond Halloween, social media has promoted these fantasy characters to become part of our family.

Quotes and images appear in our language for others to relate too. This is similar to quoting passages from the Bible.

Fantasy can spark the imagination to come up with space ships, cell phones, giant flat screen television, microwaves and clogs or crocs. Fantasy can be innovative.

There are no zombies. There are no giants or vampires or things that go bump in the night. There are no space aliens (yet) except us. There are no people who can fly or shoot rays out of their eyes. There are no rom-coms where they live happily ever after.

When you close the book or put down the remote, that stack of bills is still sitting there. Your daughter’s unwanted pregnancy has not gone away. Your front tire is still going flat and hole in your roof is leaking on a day like today. You son is still flunking out of school and your mother is still drinking. You’re dog just barfed on the floor and your toilet is clogged.

You will never be invited to beam up with Captain Kirk or have a cup of java with Rachael and Ross. You can have dreams or delusions, but you have to wake up.

Paint Us A Picture

If you are aware and thus have an artistic eye, how do you relate what you see to another?

If you are a performer you dance or sing or play an instrument. If you are a crafter you make clay or stone or wood presentations. If you are a artist you draw or paint visual presentations.

There has already been a discussion on how do you describe your art to another, but how would you describe it to a blind person?

How would you describe the Mono Lisa to a person who could not see it?

There is this woman with long hair looking at you with a hint of a smile.

Do you describe colors no one has seen? Do you indicate the position of the figure in the space of the frame? Do you delve into the history of the time period and the artist to try and indicate why this painting is renowned?

Can you relate to someone who cannot view the painting what the artist was trying to present?

What if the person was from Côte d'Ivoire and didn’t know anything about Italian Renaissance? Suppose the person is from Xinjiang and knows nothing of Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci?

Try to describe the Sistine Chapel without getting religious. Describe the pyramids compared to Notre-Dame de Paris flying buttress. How can you relate Peter Rabbit to Harry Potter or Superman to Alice in Wonderland?

Tell a good story and remember to listen to the questions. You are the interpreter.

What is the color red?