I may be a Michigan boy who grew up on a chicken farm, but I know BS when I step in it. The Music industry in the USA has completely gone the way of corporate pyramid capitalism. By only producing solo artists or bands that appeal to 12-24 year old females, the largest buyer demographic in music sales, the best of the best of musicians in the USA have been overlooked and under-produced.
Too many big words? Do a bump and read it slowly. Now the badder part – as a result of Republican funding cuts of public schools and the local decisions of public schools to de-fund the arts instead of sports and “security”… we see a generation of people with 10-20 IQ points lower than their predecessors.
Now don’t think it bothers me to be smarter than a whole generation, but these morons are taking over the world I have to retire in! Anyway that is bad humor, we need to get music and art back into public schools at all ages. Also teach the religions of the world to kids instead of trying to force them to not think about the #1 cause of war on earth…maybe understanding could help, eh? But I digress…
Our Western civilization has descended into the sleeping medicated TV culture prophesied by George Orwell, so what do we do? Fortunately History teaches us that any populace is run by some society – about 30% of the folks who care enough to sacrifice chasing the almighty buck for a few hours a week to make sure the infrastructure of their current region of residence is somewhat civilized. All we have to do is INFLUENCE SOCIETY.
This is why I got into media. I have produced TV, Film and radio as well as multiple web sights, and a blog and vlog or 2. I don’t want to BE a producer, I want to be the talent, but my talent was not getting put out there, so I studied the SYSTEM to find out WHY I was not getting the airplay I thought I deserved for my level of talent. It was in this search I discovered the financial capitalistic reasons i was not getting any open doors in American Music, although I was undisputedly the best musician anywhere I went.
I began to die my hair and try to look 30 at 40. I did OK for a while (in my mind…) but around 50 I realized this was folly. I was not going to be a rock star – shoot, I didn’t even enjoy rock anymore. I was playing classical and blues, while studying jazz. To ad insult to injury, a local small town cop decided to fight the medical marijuana movement by attacking me, and manufacturing false evidence against me. I found myself in jail for 8 months unable to beat a felony drug charge for something I never did!
This after losing my wife to mental illness and our son to medical malpractice at the age of 10 (No, we did not sue anyone). My landlord decided to take everything I had since I could not pay rent for 8 months even tho he rented it out to another guy a month before I was arrested. If that last statement seems impossible due to space and time, call me for the details. I was suicidal; a minister in jail facing 3-8 years in prison for something I had not done.
I was reading 4 books a day simultaneously to make time pass, and it worked well. I stumbled upon a little book called “reinvent yourself” by Steven Chandler. this book helped me to get out of the victimization mindset. OK I was F-ed royal by some small minded haters; I was NOT the bad guy, and I was not dead. What I was was a victim in my mind. I made a decision while praying to God for help – I will get out of this jail and I will fulfil my destiny. I will work harder, stay up longer than anyone else around me, if need be, but I will plan my work and work my plan until I see my dreams come true. If I fail, I’ll sleep good for all the hard work and, when I awake, I can walk with my head held high.
I got out of jail and began to work my plan that I had so prayerfully developed over the last months of my incarceration. I went back to college and learned to live on next to nothing. I scrimped and saved and bought a house in Detroit for $3600. I remodeled and fought off gangsters and street thugs for 2 years while practicing my instruments. Then I launched a contest on my media company website…”The World’s Greatest Musician”.
It occurred to me that the Music industry was overlooking an amazing thing – they were not producing the BEST American musicians anymore! All I had to do was 1) Be my best; 2) Produce the overlooked other best’s. The music industry, in their Lemming-like drive to the cliff off corporate profit, was falling in carrying multitudes into mediocrity, and the time was ripe for me to make literally billions of dollars producing GREAT OLD MUSICIANS! Not old rockers from the 70s’ Artistic closet musicians and religious gospel musicians, shy folk artists and the multitude of other amazing gifted individuals all over the country who are not heard because of the corporate pyramid hierarchy model – great for the dark ages, not profitable today!
So now I am not a victim, I am a VICTOR. Nothing about this unfair world changed. I changed, and am changing a little of those with whom I interact, and the ripple will eventually change the world a bit for the better. This is the amazing excitement of life for any human with free volition – we can and do alter the course of history every day. Some of us participate in this process as social leaders and have great effect. Others- the majority- are swept along by the fads and trends of the world and have little effect. I do not like a world where a child dies of hunger every 20 seconds, so I am working in society (30% – politically active) to make that CHANGE.
The simple fact is if Duke Ellington walked into the US music scene today UNKNOWN he would have to wash dishes and likely die unknown.
I’M NOT OK WITH THAT EITHER!
So I launched a nationwide talent contest. It is not based or limited to age – in fact young people are DISCOURAGED from even trying out. We are finding the best UNKNOWN trumpeter, violinist, 4 singers (SATB) , etc. – new unsigned artists. We will develop solo albums, hire back-up musicians, arrangers, all talents put to work – and finally the GREAT American music will again be heard.
Also we will have a contest to determine the best all around musician – a title I currently hold by my lonesome. We scoured the USA and nobody can beat me, so we are going to Germany and Eastern Europe to search the “Off the radar” Gypsy talent, and later China, Russia, India, The Middle East and Africa – literally everywhere on earth – to find the best all around living musician alive today. Don’t worry – I’m 58 and I eat junk food, drink and smoke, so I’ll probably be dead soon and somebody else can be best!
Now for what you have been asking yourself all through this – WTF? Why is HE the best? Really? REEEEEALLY????
Here is why:
● I have over 100 copyrighted songs; compositions of words and music, in the library of congress – I have written thousands of others… that is just what I copyrighted.
● I sing over 3 octave range – 50+ years
● I play the violin – 50+ years
● I play the Steel String “Folk” Guitar (pickless) – 40+ yrs
● Piano – 40+
● Harmonica – 50+
● I also can play with varying degrees of skill upon the: Trumpet, Saxophone, Clarinet, Viola, Cello, Bass Viol, Organ, Synth, Xylophone (marimba, bells, et al), Classical Guitar, Electric lead guitar, Bass guitar, Zither, Mandolin, basic trap set (drums), tympani, and many others as I can get my hands on them.
Come one, come all – let’s get scientific about who is good at music – we can’t let the old system of “competing for chairs” determine who can boogie down or not. All we’ve gotten for that system in the last 3 ½ decades is alcoholics and show-offs like Miley Cyrus – talent-less “insiders” programming our youth to think “That’s the best music available”. Just let nature take its course. The cream rises to the top – unless you are trying to unload canola oil whipped up with hydrogen as butter.
Peas -n- Loaves
RevPops – www.HisHouseMedia.com
6256 Penrod St, Detroit MI, 48228
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/blue-collar-families-disenfranchised-music-industry-matthew-pittaway
[Editor’s note: Rev. Pops presents some interesting ideas and proposals. Please contact him if you are interested in working with him. A family discussion also brought up that a lot of yesterday’s stars found their fame on radio — while they sounded really good, would they have made an impact on television as well?]