Stevenb.speaks

Lydia Walker- Singer/Songwriter

2011-01-24T12:31:00.000-08:00

The Songwriter's Toolkit: From Pen to Push Play
Click here to download sample pages of this 174 page book.

2010-12-16T07:22:00.001-08:00

Ayiesha Woods

2010-10-18T16:05:00.000-07:00

Ayiesha Woods "Never" from Gotee Records on Vimeo.

View The Book Trailer

2010-08-18T16:41:00.000-07:00

Click here to download sample pages of this 174 page book.
The Songwriter's Toolkit: From Pen to Push Play

To View The Book Trailer Click Here

Labels Indies and DIY- Keepers of the Gate

2010-06-11T10:38:00.000-07:00

Click here to download sample pages of this 174 page book.
The Songwriter's Toolkit: From Pen to Push Play

To View The Book Trailer Click Here
Click on the book to purchase now. Pre-sell purchases include a free download card of the new EP by Aaron Blanton (a Grammy nominated and multi Dove Award winning artist.) Aaron Blanton has sold over 1 million CDs. You'll get a free ringtone and at least six brand new songs recorded in L.A. and Orange County. The download card will ship at the time the book ships. This is a limited time offer!

I find myself having the same conversation over and over. Friends in and out of the music business are all asking the same questions. When it comes to the enormous glut of music, with all its variations and mutations and genres, how does any one artist rise through the noise? The field is vastly overcrowded and shows no signs that a slowdown of new music proliferation is imminent. A statistic I cited in my last article of 98,000 new albums in 2009 is a stunning and nearly unimaginable quantity, even in a land that loves music such as the U.S. Who are all those artists? How do you find the one album or single that you might love to hear but are unaware of, hidden among the masses? It is the proverbial conundrum of the “needle in a haystack.” It’s in there somewhere, but how will you ever get your hands on it? Fans can’t enjoy music they don’t know about.
There are at least two remedies for the “lost” music dilemma. One is more obvious and clearly understood to nearly everyone as “marketing.” Marketing a song, album or band is one way to expose a great piece of music or an artist to those who are eager to learn about something fresh. Marketing includes all of the concepts we have explored in previous articles such as, building fan bases, touring and advertising, social media and much more. Some of this can be done with little or no cost; and some at the price of a Ferrari. Publicists and marketing teams are expensive but do bring a level of ROI (return on investment), in most cases. Their job is to take an unknown, little known, or forgotten product or person and raise the profile enough to produce consumers. Through a series of ad campaigns that might include TV, radio, print media, internet and many other exposures, they work (for a limited time based on budget) on reaching a specified market with a specific message. The clever strategies they employ are probably the reason you are reading this on whatever brand of devise you purchased. The work of marketers and publicists has a nearly unscalable influence on what we actually think or want to buy. This can be done to some degree, by any DIY-er who has the will and stamina to commit to the goal at hand. It is tough but can be done.
The second remedy for locating “lost” music is much less manageable. It isn’t about ads or hits on an internet site. It has to do with what I will call “filters” and is completely outside of one person’s shear brute will power to succeed. “Filters” is the old method of culling bad music. It separated the wheat from the chaff and helped the most durable music get to the top of the heap. When you heard a hit on the radio, it was there because it had met with certain scrutiny of record execs who cleared the production for that song. It meant that an artist, producer, A&R guy, a team of songwriters, radio promoters, session players and several others had had a hand in making it a hit. They were responsible for giving that record the green light to get where it was. They were the filters who held back the music that was of lesser quality (based on their set of criteria) and allowed only the music they believed in to go forward. This was further supported by radio, record stores, and jukebox vendors. With all these entities focusing on “the single”, consumers ran by the millions to buy the hit record they had been dancing to and hearing on their car radios.
Now we see few if any filters to help us locate and fall in love with “the single.” We are left to our own devices in trying to uncover the great music of our time. The idea of DIY was that anyone and everyone who had some talent could make a record and so we all did. At last we had slipped the surly bonds of the “corporate system” that had held us all at bay. Little did we know that our newfound freedom to be creative would also produce the lowest record sales in the history of commercial recordings. But where a vacuum exists, something always rushes in to fill it. So what will our new filtering system be? Only time will tell.
©2010 WalkWayGroup

Click here to download sample pages of this 174 page book.
The Songwriter's Toolkit: From Pen to Push Play

Click on the book to purchase now. Pre-sell purchases include a free download card of the new EP by Aaron Blanton (a Grammy nominated and multi Dove Award winning artist.) Aaron Blanton has sold over 1 million CDs. You'll get a free ringtone and at least six brand new songs recorded in L.A. and Orange County. The download card will ship at the time the book ships. This is a limited time offer!

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MORE Labels, Indies, and DIY... and My New Book

2010-05-21T08:46:00.000-07:00

Click here to download sample pages of this 174 page book.
The Songwriter's Toolkit: From Pen to Push Play

Click on the book to purchase now. Pre-sell purchases include a free download card of the new EP by Aaron Blanton (a Grammy nominated and multi Dove Award winning artist.) Aaron Blanton has sold over 1 million CDs. You'll get a free ringtone and at least six brand new songs recorded in L.A. and Orange County. The download card will ship at the time the book ships. This is a limited time offer!

I read a statistic this week from Digital Music News that really muddys the water. "... Nielsen Soundscan offered some sobering stats. A total of 98,000 albums were released in 2009, and just a handful crossed the million-mark. Perhaps more sobering, just 2.1 percent managed to cross the 5,000-mark, a group that made up 91 percent of total sales. Suddenly, fresh artists are staring at a near-zero chance of selling even modest amounts, part of a continued drizzle on DIY optimism." Believe it or not, there does seem to be some life remaining in the big labels. Many of the big radio/MTV acts are indeed signed to labels. One might argue that as long as there is an excessive volume of cash flow, artists will continue to be willing to sign deals with labels. The point is well taken. Some artists will go with a major label for the world-wide exposure it could bring. Since we aren’t privy to the deals they sign, we cannot speak to the issue of remuneration in exchange for whatever compromise they may (or may not) have made for a chance at the golden ring. However, the stories abound of contracts known as “360’s”, named for the encircling financial absconding that engulfs the artist to control every single item marketed with the brand of the artists from downloads to tees to dolls to tours. It basically means that virtually everything the touches the artist is owned by the label. The cross-collateralization (redirecting of funds away from the songwriter) of the publishing catalogs for songs written by the artist, as well as recoupment clauses, take an enormous bite out of the artist’s take home pay. This is one of the reasons we are hearing the loud outcry from artists (signed and unsigned) desperately trying to collect moneys from a variety of revenue sources. They simply need the cash. Who can blame anyone for wanting to get paid for the work they have done?

But that same argument goes for the hard-working labels as well. If they really get behind an artist, there could be hundreds of thousands, if not millions of dollars spent on marketing, branding, recordings, duplication, tour support and publicity. The contracts they write are intended to support the bottom line and reward the stockholders (regulated by the Federal Gov.) without a creating Congressional investigation and showing up on C-SPAN. It is a sword that swings and cuts both ways. In my estimation, everyone who works should get paid for their labor. Labels and artists should reap the bounty as co-workers toward the same goal. The reality is that greed drives too many decisions and the smell of money has an intoxicating affect on those who get engulfed in its aroma cloud.

Conversely, there are artists who would give up everything of value and meaning to have the applause of the cheering, approving, world audience. They need to play. When these two extremes of label and artist meet up, it is more like a drug dealer supplying an addict than like a business arrangement. By now you know I am always about balance and moderation and it is no less true in the music business. The labels tend to be an over-the-top entity and the seeds of destruction are within. The more it functions like the old model, the more destructive it is to its own survival. These are of course, generalizations. There are labels with different and healthier business models that may take them through to continued viability, but not without some morphing.

As musicians take back ownership of the music they create the less they need the glut of the label and all its excesses. These players will seek out and find Indies who can and will step up in a partnership with the artist. Indies don’t generally offer 360 contracts but look more like 180 deals. 180’s allow for the artist to direct and control rights of the publishing, merch and certain marketing pieces in an amicable arrangement with the Indie label. Some Indie labels are offering ala cart deals that allow for picking and choosing the most needed areas of support. Some share the cost of the record production rather than shouldering the cost alone. This gives the artist much more power and shifts some of the successful marketing and sales back to the music maker himself. In some cases, you must come to the party with some financing in hand in order to take on your share of the expense as you partner with the Indie. This is a model that has existed in one form or another for many years. It has moved in and out of vogue and has had a bit of a bad reputation because some of the Indies (formerly called custom record labels) were little more than glorified record mills. They simply recruited anybody who had money to make a record, good or bad, and put a label on the record. But the more recent incarnation of the Indie is a much healthier iteration of the custom recording company. They generally offer some form of distribution (an ever evolving thing) to get the record in the marketplace. Theoretically, they can and will do all the things that one individual couldn’t, wouldn’t or shouldn’t do for his musical career. Besides distribution, they know who will help build a buzz through the right publicity and who’s who in the music business for the right kinds of connections. I alluded to this in the previous post but, what is all that worth to you? You are trading something whether it is points (percentages of sales) or something less monetary such as limiting your rights in some area. It is about trading and compromise. It is true; we can’t have it all. If 98,000 albums are released in 2010 as well, how will you climb to the surface for some airtime? If you are one of the fortunate 2.1%, you will only sell 5000 units. That isn't enough to buy the baby milk. You must decide what you need help with and find someone to partner in your musical venture, formally or informally. Find someone who has what it takes to help move your music out into the world where it can be appreciated. Strategize a plan as soon as you finish reading this and go make it happen! And even if you aren't a songwriter, you need to pick up a copy of my new book to give you insight into the world of music. Until next time... Go Get Creative!

The Songwriter's Toolkit: From Pen to Push Play

Click on the book to purchase now. Pre-sell purchases include a free download card of Aaron Blanton's new EP. You'll get a free ringtone and at least six brand new songs recorded in L.A. and Orange County. The download card will ship at the time the book ships. This is a limited time offer... REALLY!

©2010 WalkWay Group

Labels, Indies, and DIY... Plus My New Book!

2010-04-27T14:59:00.000-07:00

Click here to download sample pages of this 174 page book.

The Songwriter's Toolkit: From Pen to Push Play

Click on the book to purchase now. Pre-sell purchases include a free download card of the new EP by Aaron Blanton (a Grammy nominated and multi Dove Award winning artist.) You'll get a free ringtone and at least six brand new songs recorded in L.A. and Orange County. The download card will ship at the time the book ships. This is a limited time offer!

A few weeks ago I met with several record label execs in separate meetings to discuss an artist I am working with. It was fascinating to listen to their stories of success and failure and the lessons they had learned from each. The proudest moments they had were those spent building a career from almost nothing into a prominent act that changed the course of their company and the artist. In fact, that is what everyone dreams of; going from the struggling artist to the world famous internationally known star.

The stories of “rags to riches” successes have gotten fewer and farther between. The fact is that regular labels are struggling to find a new gravity. The siphoning off of sales from on line download stores that don’t require hard copies is only the tip of the iceberg. Add to the mix pirated sales in countries like China and Spain, file sharing, desktop CD replication and even the reduction of plays as terrestrial radio share declines, and the problem of revenue loss is self evident. Where dollars were being realized from the sale of each CD now has become only pennies. The business model that has worked for a hundred years has been turned on its ear without apology. The reduction in profits has taken its toll on the cash flow of many major labels and some, like EMI have hit bottom. As a music attorney friend said, “the business has changed and it’s not coming back.”

The challenge for the “business as usual” crowd is how to keep the lights on. They are sandwiched between the “all music should be free” crowd and the “I demand to be paid for my work” consortium. While some may believe that making a profit is somehow evil, the fact is that without profit the next big music act may be a long time in coming. Profit is the single motivator to keep companies involved in development and without it, well, why bother. Altruism is a fabulous ideal but doesn’t pay the bills.

Something always rushes in to fill any vacuum and it is no less true for the music business. The indies have done a great job, in many cases, of being the support and extension of the artist. They are less duty-bound to long histories and big staff payrolls. This makes them more agile and able to turn instantaneously to meet market demands. However, they do have considerably less influence than their leviathan counterpart. But when it comes to the music business, this is the day of miniaturization where less is more and smaller is better. An indie label is a sort of miniature label that is independent of the usual well-heeled “big boys” industry expectations. Often they find new and innovative ways to get the music delivered to the fans with a minimum of cash flow and a maximum of effort. Sometimes it is entirely a grassroots achievement and they just help the grass grow. Indies, who were the “outsiders”, have moved up in prominence and prestige. And as long as they can remain the source for new and burgeoning artists to find help, they will continue to enjoy their own levels of success.

The irony of any small and agile label being successful is of course, the possibility of becoming so successful that the “small and agile” parts become large and lumbering. In which case, they would simply be a major label. Weird, huh? That is the two edged sword that follows them around threatening to dethrone them. There is always another small-label-startup trying to take their slot in the marketplace.

Sometimes, even an indie label can’t help you make a living in the music business. They either don’t have a slot for your music, or are simply maxed out on their resources. I believe that we should be as self directing as we can be and have advocated that musicians should take control of their own careers. If you think through what is going on in signing with any label, you will discover that you are hiring someone, sometimes for an outrageous fee, to do things you either can’t or won’t do; and sometimes for good reason. Each artist has his skill-set limitations but I think we could all do more for our own careers by focusing more on what matters to the success story.

If you have read anything I have written you will see a reoccurring theme here. I am always saying, “it is about making fans.” Whatever you are selling requires that someone somewhere wants what you are offering. In music, it is and ever shall be the need to create interest in your music and the peripheral merch. The fan is the quintessential factor that holds any career together. You are the best advocate for bringing people on-board with you. If you are unknown, it will be your invitation they will respond to. Giving them music they love and an experience they crave are the key factors in developing fan loyalty. And this is something you can do yourself; no label needed. As your fans grow in number, you will become of greater value to labels that are looking to expand their roster with artists in your genre. You will in fact, have done the hardest work of surviving and developing your sound pre-label. If you are going for a label deal, this will make the negotiations a little more tilted in your favor. Fans are valuable to the entire music food chain. Without them, there cannot be a success story to tell. So get out there and DIY.

The Songwriter's Toolkit: From Pen to Push Play

Click on the book to purchase now. Pre-sell purchases include a free download card of Aaron Blanton's new EP. You'll get a free ringtone and at least six brand new songs recorded in L.A. and Orange County. The download card will ship at the time the book ships. This is a limited time offer... REALLY!

©2010 WalkWay Group

Watch Where You're Going / Ten Things to Know for Discovery

2010-02-04T12:14:00.000-08:00

It’s funny, the things you see by simple observation. Just peel back those eyelids and things just happen right in front of you. You may not fully comprehend it all when it is occurring since the eye simply sees what the light brings in. Eyes don’t do any translation; they simply take it in. It is in the brain that all those pixels get turned into meaning.
For example, while shopping in a shoe department, without notice, I saw a guy put on a brand new pair of his favorite shoes and just walk out without making the obligatory stop at the checkout. I couldn’t believe my eyes as I stood there in stunned silence. My brain took in the data and after a few seconds of processing, I shared the intel with the store clerk who promptly did nothing about it.
On another occasion I once saw an accident when a pickup truck, trying to avoid hitting a car, ran up on the sidewalk. The interesting thing was that the spare tire, which rides along under the bed of the truck, got caught on something and flew out into the air. It must have been compressed by the object and then all that energy got released into inertia allowing for a wingless-tire flight. The height of its air travel was inexplicable as it must have reached 30 ft before being reclaimed by gravity. It was an amazing sight for sure and all I did was simply see it.
There is plenty to learn by keeping one’s eyes open while moving through the time-line continuum we call life. Recently, I spent some time on the shores of South Carolina. Even in the winter, or maybe especially so, the sand and the beach extend the Siren’s call to come closer. I walked for miles nearly everyday I was there. It was relaxing and gave perspective to the rhythms of life as the waves met the sand in their tidal swings. One afternoon, I headed down to the ever-changing shoreline and followed the beach in my usual westward-windward route. The Carolina beach there has coarse, gray sand and thousands of seashells litter the water’s edge where the tide washes them in. Beach-combers and metal detectors rule the day. I always wonder what people think they will find up from the deep and beached. They are surely on a mission to find that which was lost and perhaps cash-in on the misfortune of others, mercenarily speaking. It is the one who has a sharp eye and can spot a tiny glimmer in a momentary glint of sunlight who is gratified for his efforts.
Mine was a less than mercenary walk; I was just clearing my head and getting some perspective on the New Year and life in general. It seems to give proportion to the little bothersome things that tend to grate on me. I really had no intentions of dragging my eyes along the sandy surface in some futile hope of finding anything at all. It was like looking at a seashell mosaic multiplied by millions. I was not a beach-comber and had no designs to become one.
It is so strange how things have a tendency to converge in the most unlikely of scenarios. The chances of such convergences are beyond comprehension and boggle the mind when they are considered. On a certain day I went down to the beach and the tide was at a certain point and the sand was just wet enough and the sun was just high enough and the walk was on just the right trajectory. And at just the right moment I looked down to catch a glimpse of what appeared to be a small circular object on a nearly uninhabited beach. My brain went to work and sorted through all the memories of things I had ever seen that resembled the object. There among the strewn jetsam was a small treasure that appeared to be a semi-buried aluminum bottle cap. In those brief seconds of “thin slicing” the information carried by the eyes I reached out to scoop it from its shallow and watery grave. Retrieving it, I brushed away the residue of sand to reveal its identity. It was a man’s ring, silver and new, with creative images forged into its surface. It was crafted with comfort edges typical of the wide band that it was. And it was my size. Incredibly, it was salvaged from the certain ruin that awaited it as the moon made its rise and departure to reclaim the shore. How improbable that I should find this surprise amongst the flotsam refuse. Had I not come along in the providence of time, it would be sitting in the silt just off shore.
So, what are you looking for? How are your powers of observation invested to bring something unexpected and new to you? When you wake in the morning, take a look around you to see if anything in your life projects an unexpected glimmer. Find better ways to “thin slice” the data your brain is feeding you to help you discover enhanced opportunities to be good at what you love. It requires times of solitude and ponderance; times of keeping your eyes open and your brain engaged. You may feel as alone as a man walking on the winter beach. But it is in those moments, undistracted by the noise of the mundane that you are most capable of seeing the overlooked and hidden. When your career looks like a “seashell mosaic” indistinguishable from others, open your eyes to let in some light. You may be seconds away from stumbling over your own personal treasure and one simple blink away from finding it.

Ten Things to Know for Discovery

1. Learn to expect the unexpected
2. Follow the disciplines of solitude and the contemplative life
3. Dare to reach into the mud to grasp something shiny
4. Develop new instincts for knowing and discovering
5. Learn to trust your instincts and act on them
6. Realize that there is a rhythm to discovery
7. Walking a familiar path brings its own rewards
8. Some discoveries allow only one chance
9. Time and life have converged for this very moment
10. Not everything that glitters is gold

©WalkWay Group, all rights reserved. Steven Blanton

Begin with a Backup/Ten Ways to Backup Your Life

2010-01-22T12:30:00.000-08:00

On the last day of the year, that’d be New Years Eve, I experienced what some might call a “catastrophic failure” of a main hard drive. The description of catastrophic is such a mild term in light of the fact that my life flashed before my eyes. My unbridled shriek of pure terror still resonates around my sonically treated listening room. This wasn’t just any hard drive crash. It was the main hard drive of my studio computer which was residence to 320 Gigs of all manner of creative data. It included multi-track music, images, Photoshop and Dreamweaver CS4 edits, video and the adjacent edits, and every program that supported all of those with their various updates and freebies. Time is still giving up its secrets of what else I lost in those impinging moments. And this came just hours before I would have packed this computer to travel on an extended writing and editing trip.
It wasn’t the fault of the hard drive. It is or was a great hard drive. Fast and efficient, the HD did what it always did every time I called on it to deliver. But the unforeseen happened and I had not made any provision for the potential of such a ruinous occurrence. I had simply gone along as though there was no chance of failure. Fearing nothing, I had not backed up the data for months. Of course, after the fact I am very sensitive to the need to backup and backup often. It was reckless of me not to have done so all along.
That got me thinking about the creative world most of us live in. We love what we are gifted to do. We want it to be everything we are about. We cannot see ourselves doing anything else but be creative. This is a noble and honorable thing. We should do all we can to lean into our gifting and rise to its call. I have been writing about that idea for months. But it is often our view that any training or job we engage in must be either a stepping stone for our hope of being full time or it is simply a hindrance to it. In effect, we are saying that jobs and even college don’t really play any part in our quest to do what we see ourselves creatively doing. There is plenty of truth in that statement. But it isn’t the whole truth.
When I meet with musicians, especially young, enthusiastic and capable musicians, I often see the potential for a blind-sided catastrophe. I have borrowed the phrase, “unbridled exuberance” to describe their head-long plunge into an all-or-nothing partnership with music. It is a precarious position to be in when it comes to deciding how committed you must be to be successful in any creative field. Lacking the fortitude to survive is certain death for anyone trying to break in. But there must be balance to every choice we make. Lack of vision for the potential hazards can be crippling while living in a “do or die trying” mode. As Creatives, we simply want to be about our creativity. It is the view from the helicopter that gives perspective to the surrounding landscape. Sometimes we are just too close to the situation to perspective-take.
Whenever I am confronted by the eager “I’m going full-time in the music business” exchange of ideas, I immediately try to build a case for the what-if scenario. In an effort to protect against catastrophic failure, I point out the need to “backup” your life with some options. These are some of the questions I ask, "What happens if style changes and you are put out like yesterday’s news. What if you are unable to perform your music for whatever reasons? What is the plan in the event that you have overestimated your marketability and there is not enough demand for your music? What will you do to pay bills and live a rewarding life? How will you reconstruct the data of your skill set when you were bred to do just one thing?" Every creative person needs someone to ask such things and that someone should expect cogent answers.
Having coached musicians through full-on career changes, the challenge of being ill-prepared for another life is formidable. This is further compounded by time and age. As you move into marriage and household responsibilities the opportunities for changes greatly diminishes and choices are narrowed. Being less agile, you begin to react to circumstances rather than being able to plan your future. The college degree you abandoned for the dream of being a full-time musician is much more difficult to afford and make time for. The job you could have had has long been occupied by someone who trained for it. You are forced into menial jobs as you near the brink of catastrophic failure. Having few options is very painful for a brilliant and creative mind. It is tantamount to having a lobotomy forced upon you while you are still awake and then living with its unpleasant results.
The very successful career is rare and few survive more than a few years. Fame is fleeting and many lose the limelight and move into obscurity with little to show for their hard work. The answer to backing up your life is found in your ability to surround yourself with quality advisors who will say the tough things no one else will. Failure to “backup” will bring what it always brings; fear, frustration, and heartbreak. When it comes to hard drives, it isn’t a matter of if failure will come but when. A plan to deal with it is sweet compared to the option of being surprised by the hopeless bewilderment of “now what?”

Ten Things I Can Do to Backup My Life

1. Finish high school and college no matter what
2. Work some jobs that aren’t creative for the experience of it
3. Check yourself for areas of vulnerability in your field
4. Expand your friendships beyond your circle of Creatives
5. Become familiar with stories of failures as well as successes
6. Look for people who were in the biz and find out where they are now
7. Lean on people who know the ropes and have seen the cycles of the business
8. Become an expert in something everyone needs
9. Imagine yourself doing something else in life that still brings you meaning
10. Realize that being obstinate isn’t the same thing as being persistent

©WalkWay Group, all rights reserved. Steven Blanton

You Don't Know You Don't Know; Respect the Gray

2010-01-19T08:43:00.000-08:00

There was a commercial for a cable company that used a young couple with a baby to say, “You know when people tell you that having a baby will change your life and you say, ‘I know’? You don’t know.” And, being a father, I can attest to that for sure. There are hundreds of assumptions, misunderstandings, beliefs and preferences that are shattered when you actually have the baby. It really doesn’t matter what set of skills you bring to the game, you still need some help and advice.

It has been my experience that I am completely unaware of the things I don’t know. I think that is a reasonable assumption. How can one know something before it is known? The Beatles had it right conversely speaking in All You Need is Love, “There's nothing you can know that isn't known.” So, what do we do about our oblivion? How does one gain knowledge about things of which he has no understanding? This may be an over simplification but it can’t be stated any more clearly; just ask. That is the short answer.

For most of us in the music and creative community being a self starter is something for which we may be proud. But there is also honor in seeking out someone who has walked a mile in our shoes before they were “our shoes.” It seems a redundant waste of time to reinvent the wheel when all we need do is simply inquire of the wheel maker. There is an incredible advantage to learning something in a conversation with someone more experienced and wise. This could save us a couple of year’s worth of head-banging during the learning process.

It is my humble philosophical opinion that I may grow and be a stronger, better human being because of the experiences of others. Isaac Newton said, “If I have seen a little further it is by standing on the shoulders of Giants.” We are in good company when we inquire about styles, gear, methods, history and a thousand other important topics. I say “respect the gray” and befriend someone who is years ahead of you in your career. There may be a gold nugget in the conversation you are about to have over a cup of coffee. The way I see it is that everyone has the potential to teach me something new and fresh. This is true in spite of the fact that I am creative, a musician, a self-starter, and strong headed.

I discovered maybe a little late but not too late, that I don’t know what I don’t know. I didn’t know that early on but I know now. So I make it a point to get exposure as often as possible, to those who have the wisdom and experience that I may not. They inspire me and prove that what I aspire to accomplish can be and indeed, has been done in some measure before. Their knowledge spares me the time-consuming encumbrance of mindlessly plowing a field that someone else has already plowed, to use an agrarian metaphor.

While we all want to take responsibility for the successes we build in our creative careers we must still do obeisance to those who have gone before. They have made what we are doing much easier. They may have learned how to do something before there was someone to ask but we now have them to ask. Thank God for a little wisdom in our lives.

There are a few very simple steps to knowing something you don’t know.

1. Realize that there is a wealth of knowledge in other people
2. Don’t make presumptions about people based on age or other imposed limiters. Some of the greatest lessons are learned from an eight year old and an eighty year old
3. Listen to what may seem to be “unrelated” stories for new insight
4. Open up your friendships to people outside of your area of expertise for a healthy cross-pollination of information
5. Be deliberate and purposeful in your quest to learn from others
6. Find innovative ways to inculcate your creative craft with the new wisdom you have acquired
7. Don’t forget about reading… all leaders are readers. Some of the most brilliant and wise have already left the earth
8. Find a mentor
9. Check back with your dad or a mentor at least once a quarter
10. Ask and keep on asking

©WalkWay Group, all rights reserved. Steven Blanton

A Charlie Brown Christmas

2009-12-22T08:01:00.000-08:00

Adam Lambert and Tiger Woods-Bigger Than Life for Real

2009-12-07T19:04:00.000-08:00

There is a saying in show biz that has echoed in the ears of performers with some trepidation. I am not sure of its origin. Maybe you can track it down and drop me a comment. It goes something like this; “All publicity is good publicity.” Hummm, I am not sure about that given the possibility of being immediately roasted alive by the jokesters on late night TV and every internet outlet on earth. Many a politician, athlete, and entertainer have had an abrupt end to an otherwise fabulous career by protracted discussions among the various talking heads because of some malfeasance or indiscretion.

We have all seen the endless reruns of the footage of Adam Lambert and Tiger Woods, for example. This says two things to me when I analyze the impact of living a public life; 1. Sins will find you out and 2. Some sins are easier to forgive than others in the public eye. I think there can be forgiveness for some very bad judgment choices and some careers can recover from negative publicity. Lambert expresses no remorse while Woods has openly apologized. We have yet to see the ultimate cost of their public and private actions. But why risk a shipwrecked career and the scorn of the public. It seems much more reasonable to just keep your nose clean, so to speak, and work on building your career with positive press.

Many of us have a ways to go before we are up on the radar of most of the media moguls. Still, fan-base building is about connecting with your fans on their terms. My advice to all creative people on their way up is to build bridges rather than burning them. Careful attendance to how you are perceived by the public is of utmost importance.
As your fans hear and see your name, they will form an opinion of you which is actually only an image from their perspective. You will actually be bigger than life for real to them. They will imagine they know you and will require and even demand certain things from you. I believe in acting in a professional manner at all times. And if there is any possibility of it affecting your influence as a performer, whenever it is within your power, always do the right thing.

There is another saying in show biz that should be the mantra of everyone who aspires to earn an income while living the life of a public performer. It says that you are owned, at least in part, by the public and have an obligation to be a real pro without disappointing your fans on or off the stage, “The show must go on.”

©2009 WalkWay® Group All Rights Reserved, Steven Blanton

Reframe a Bad Gig Thankfully

2009-11-20T15:35:00.000-08:00

Often, the source of disappointment and discouragement is our own inability to find proper context. We sometimes get caught up in the ideals of someone else’s career. From the outside we look and seeing success, we imagine that their journey will be our journey as well. After trying to replicate that journey, we realize that things aren’t working out in the same way for us as it did for them. It can become “career envy.” This can be a source of struggle for the musician or other creative brains out there.

We should always capture as much knowledge as possible from those pros, but we must distill from that knowledge only the transferables. Transferables will be those concepts that work in a universal sense including work ethic, connectivity, networking, commitment, creativity, and longevity. Those are the things that will make for a successful career in any field. The biggest challenge for musicians and the creative community in general is to act on that belief. Success will be about the individual as much as it is about the music. In other words, healthy, long-term, success is built on doing the right things and abandoning those things that are not. When we are able to look at our careers from a bird’s eye view, we can see that some things seem to work and some things fail. If we learn early on what those things are, it will move the process forward, perhaps saving us years of “hard knocks.” We then can better appreciate the success of others to get a leg up on our own future.

It is a great time to reframe our failures; to see what good can come from them. Each failure is a real opportunity to replace it with something that works. Every bad gig gives us a chance to redesign the show. Maybe it is the order of songs or perhaps the wrong songs altogether. Maybe the band needs more rehearsal or the frontman needs a key change. Just don’t beat yourself up. No good can come from that. These are the pieces that come together as we choose to view “failures” as points for “course correction.” This is what reframing is all about. And when you see it that way, it’s something we can be thankful for.

And in the spirit of the last blog, here is a list of things we can glean from some tough exposure to reality in the music business.

10 Things You Can Learn From a Bad Gig

1. Never work for that promoter again.
2. Get clear directions to the venue.
3. Bring your own sound guy.
4. Get in-ear monitors.
5. What’s a “Rider?”
6. Rehearse more.
7. Do some cover tunes that people know.
8. You are also in marketing.
9. Use good gear.
10. When do we get paid for this show?

A lesson learned is a success earned. Flops and failures are the perfect opportunity to do it better the next time.

©2009 WalkWay Group, Steven Blanton, All Rights Reserved

When to Call it Quits / Top 10 Reasons to Pack it In

2009-10-06T14:14:00.000-07:00

Being a music publisher and a career coach to creative people, I have sat across the table from some wildly successful artists. It is one of the easiest things I do. When working with these people, we are finding new and better ways to build on their past successes. The second easiest thing I do is work with new artists who seem to be on an unstoppable path to fame and success. The world is before them and my task is to point out and help them build on the necessary stepping stones for career and mental sanity in a crazy-making business. These people represent the top of the heap and are the pacesetters for the world of music.

Believe it or not, some musicians will fail at being successful. This is antithetical to all I have been writing in the previous blogs. I know this is self-demising too, since I am in the business of helping musicians succeed at their craft. It’s hard to get someone to pay you to tell them to pack it in and go back to Peoria. We all want encouragement and need to be bolstered along to strengthen our confidence. It’s kind of anti-American to say to someone, “It’s time to stop accumulating gear, quit pitching your songs, stop spending money on your demos, give up on your dream and get a job in radiology so you can pay the bills.” The very thought of that goes against everything we have in us that says we must be successful and have a right to try.

It is incredibly difficult to fully predict who will “make it” in the music business and who will fail. But there are some very strong indicators and people with the right kinds of experience and insight can, with a high degree of accuracy, predict who will go on to make a living and who will fail and move on to some other field. The following list will help in identifying some of the main areas of concern for the musician who wants to succeed. If you find yourself listed among these “negatives” it would behoove you to address them now or make the tough decisions for a career choice.

I am going to give you the Top 10 Reasons to Pack it In (or make a change).

1. You aren’t organized enough to make contacts
2. You hate criticism and are immobilized by it
3. You hate rehearsals and the thought of repetition
4. You think of fans as a nuisance after the show
5. You have an all consuming job that occupies your every thought
6. You quit easily
7. You don’t have fans who follow your music and don’t know why
8. You don’t have your music in a purchasable form
9. You are uninspired and uninspiring
10. You are out-of-control in the rest of your life

There are at least 10 more, but any one of these reasons can be devastating to your music career. If you have several of these reasons working together it is nearly a sure thing that you will not succeed in the business of making a living in music. Make the changes necessary to put yourself on the road to a great living in this crazy music business.

I Want in the Music Biz Part IV: Success… Habit or Hobby

2009-08-15T09:29:00.000-07:00

There are many ideas of “success”. I think success has more to do with your goals than anything else. For example, if your goal is to learn to fly without crashing, then every time you take off and land and don’t break stuff, you could call that “success”. It says nothing of the ride in between the take off and landing. You may have had several near misses… just barely avoiding the electrical wires, the water tower, the cell tower and that tall guy standing on the hill. The idea of success for your potential passengers will be based on an entirely separate set of goals! This speaks to the fact that quality is part of the story of success. Who dares fly with a guy who can’t keep the plane upright even if he never crashes? Most people would rather take the bus. And so it is, metaphorically speaking, in the music business.
Maintaining a consistent image, a solid sound, good recordings, and a reputation for doing a quality show, has everything to do with your success. Getting by with near misses can sustain you only so long. If your goal is only to put together a band and go play, with no view to the future, you may have short-circuited the real success story you are trying to accomplish. You may imagine yourself in an arena playing your newest hit but it takes more than imagination to make that happen. Like the unstable pilot, there is a lot that needs to happen between take off and landing. As I mentioned in the last blog, you must take a step back and decide on your vision statement that encapsulates the philosophies for accomplishing your goals and objectives. Then you act on them to put the pieces in place.
Bands and artists who want to make a living in the business will have to take the necessary steps that lead to the intended goal. It is rare; very rare that success simply happens to musicians. In most cases, the band or artist is deliberate in their attempts to build on past experiences, leading them to positive results. Like stepping stones over a creek, forward progress is made one step at a time, and sometimes you have to throw a new stone into the water. In the same way every footstep is deliberately placed on the stepping stones, a business plan can be put in place. This is true for any business and is no less true for music. The fact that the product we musicians deliver is creative in no way diminishes the need to plan for success.
Being a musician myself, I know the challenge it is to manage the business side of things when all I really want to do is play the gig. But without setting parameters for what “success” looks like, I may never know if I am building an organization that will deliver what I am thinking of for my future. The downside of failing to plan could mean that I may play and play for years, while working at a side line job, that after time becomes my only income and music is only a hobby. If I want music to be my hobby, then I have been successful. But if I am trying to earn my living from the thing I love to do, then I must do the things that will make that a real possibility for me.
The fact is that we must brand ourselves as a product in order to help people find us and identify with our music. It doesn’t mean we have to be an international pop icon like Michael Jackson or U2. We simply need to find the group of fans who will be endlessly loyal and follow our career to every level, buying every piece of produce we put out. Without buying fans, we cannot hope to move our career from the hobby level to the pro level. Again, I ask the question… who is looking for your music?
©2009 WalkWay Group, Steven Blanton, All Rights Reserved

I Want In The Music Biz Part III; Branding My Music

2009-08-02T09:03:00.000-07:00

Last time, we took a brief look at the beginning process of building fans through name recognition. This is a tall order and requires repetition and consistency. The process takes months and sometimes years to see meaningful results. It is a full-time commitment for the serious band or artist. Nearly every story of success will reveal how many hours the band spent connecting and building their brand before they “made it big”. There are those groups that pop up on a fluke. But “flukes” are not a plan and most successful bands or artists make it happen by planning for success. Plans drive longevity and therefore, careers. This is one of the ways groups like the Rolling Stones, are still playing and drawing enormous crowds.
The first thing you must do to brand your band and music is to identify who you are. Can you describe your sound, look, and goals in what is known as an elevator speech? This is a brief statement you could deliver on the way between floors, inside a minute, if someone asked you about your music on an elevator, though you don’t have to be on an elevator to share it. It must be concise, but very descriptive in order to elicit interest in your music by the potential fan, and should include repeating the band’s name. This “elevator speech” is the basic vision you will use to determine what your focus will be in building a business in music. This requires that you step back from your music to take a global look at who you are and what you want to project to your fans. The questions you must ask are; “What is my goal for my music, what do my fans want from my music, and how can I deliver on the image I project?” When you can establish a baseline on these questions you can begin to build an image and sound that will separate you from the rest of the crowd. The specifics will vary and may morph as you define yourself and your sound. Individuating yourself is the process of branding. It is a process requiring time, commitment and some capital.
Obviously, the music itself is a brand that is uniquely yours and yours alone. It is your number one asset in the branding process. Having a cool logo, flyers, photos and a MySpace are only the pictorial images of what you sound like. The sound is the single-most important identifier of your band’s brand mark. When you catch a song on the radio, you know who the artist is because of their sound… no image needed. This is what you must aim for to build fan response and loyalty on or off the radio. This is accomplished by doing or using unique things that others cannot replicate easily. The frontman vocals, the keyboard sounds or lead guitar licks and on and on can differentiate your sound from thousands of other groups or artists out there. Even the type of arrangements you write for the music you play is a strong force for making you identifiable.
Another way to brand your band, or you as and artist, is the actual live show you produce. I saw a group play a small venue that I had heard on MySpace. Their sound was unique and their show was first class. They used different back drops and special lighting. The lead singer sang one song from a standing position on his piano… the whole show made a deep impression on me. The show coupled with the skill and sounds of the players left me with an indelible memory of the band, MuteMath.
You may not be able to produce a crazy light show or be willing to stand on your piano, but you can deliver a memorable experience to your fans and those who happen upon you and your band in whatever venue you are playing. Even the softest-vocal folk singer like Alison Krauss, can deliver on the goods when it comes to branding their sound for their fans. It may be the way you place your vocal mic or the type of guitar you play. Or it may simply be the quality of your voice. Whatever your mark is, use it with finesse and let it speak to your fans. They will remember you for a number of things, but it is always about the music. Brand building will help send them home with your fabulous CD tucked under their arm. That helps keep you out their doing what you and your fans both love... music.

©2009 WalkWay® Group All Rights Reserved, Steven Blanton

I want in the Music Biz II: What’s My Name Again?

2009-07-26T08:38:00.000-07:00

The greatest band in the entire world could, in theory, spend its entire life expectancy locked into a rehearsal room. Being sequestered during rehearsals is pretty normal. Nobody wants to show the clunker licks you are still trying to get right. And that one weird vocal thing you are working on should stay sequestered until you are really good at it. In fact let me just say, “Thank you” for not forcing me to hear it until you have it nailed. But there must come a time when you have to put it out there, in front of someone, if you want to play where people can enjoy your hard work.
This is where we discover “The Fan”; a fabulous, creature made of enthusiasm, loyalty, devotion and a taste for more. They have been known to camp out at the prospect of getting a good seat or simply a ticket to the show. And these wonderful people cannot wait for your next piece of product to hit the street. The Fan is the backbone of why we do what we do, where we do it and how often we do it. And they have total influence on how well we get paid for our hard work.
I drew an analogy between the book publishing industry and the music business in my last blog. Every author needs someone to buy his book. And every band needs someone to buy their concert tickets and CDs or downloads. The question is then, “How do I make fans?” The answer to that question is pretty broad. I can’t give you a total business plan in this blog but I can point you in the right direction. Every band will need to develop and utilize its own opportunities as they arise. Some strategies can be planned for, but others seem to fall on us and we just seize the moment.
Assuming you have a decent show and have a viable sound, you start by playing everywhere there is a stage. I heard in a Disc Makers’ seminar that the first thing that happens after you play is that everybody forgets your name. Since we know this, use every chance you get to mention your name, using collateral (handouts and printed info) to reinforce the impression, anytime you can. Get volunteers to be your “street team”; guys and gals who will help you connect to your fans. I saw this used in a concert where this one guy with a guitar was playing BETWEEN the real acts, who had to introduce himself. After each of these really terrible spots on the show, he had his street team moving through the crowd handing out flyers about his new album coming out. I remembered his name because of the flyers… John Mayer; the new album coming out… Room for Squares. The point is that every player needs name recognition for people to decide they want to follow the music and people have short memories.
This is a given, but I must mention the fact they you all need to be out in the social networking scene. MySpace, Twitter and Facebook are three of a number of places to connect virtually. This is free advertisement that you should tap into. You should get help from your street team if it becomes too tough to manage on your own. You are electronically passing your name out through the crowd… maybe by the millions. Every possible point at which you can build name recognition should be used with succinct purpose. Think of it this way; you are building a brand. Your brand has a look, a feel, a sound, that triggers an image in the mind of the fan. That fan will be responsive to that brand if you take care to build it correctly. Your fan will walk past a hundred other CDs to buy yours because you have developed a “relationship” with the fan-base that more or less requires loyalty. This may come as a surprise but bands don’t make hits… fans do.
Next time, we will explore more ways to build your brand so please stay in touch… I am building my brand for you. Thanks again for reading.

©2009 WalkWay® Group All Rights Reserved, Steven Blanton

I Want in the Music Biz (But Nobody’s Looking for Me?)

2009-07-11T19:01:00.000-07:00

I recently signed a publishing agreement to publish my new book, Right Words & Music: A Songwriter’s Manual to Writing Great Songs! It should be out near the end of 2009. Apparently the chances of getting a book published by submitting a four chapter query are about as good as getting a record deal by sending in a demo. Hummm… It makes me wonder if the two industries, book publishing and music production, are perhaps cousins; maybe the kissing kind. They certainly do have many things in common. Since I have my hand in both pies I am not casting aspersions on either. There has been plenty of mud-slinging at both since the digital domain began to reign supreme.
I did my research, as I am wont to do, and I discovered that POD (print on demand) is a huge industry. No more does an author stand with hat in hand, humbled by the shear brute strength of a massive conglomerate referred to as The Publisher (the ‘p’ capitalized out of respect for its eminence.) And for thousands of authors who would never have a real chance at getting published, POD is fantastic news! One can write a book on his laptop today and have it in print within the week. That is no small change in the paradigm. It means there is a colossal proliferation of books in circulation in a dazzling array of topics with very proud authors hawking books through every conceivable outlet. But, as Hamlet noted, “there's the rub.” There are now millions of books where none existed before. I recently read that the average self-published author sells about 170 books after two years of talking his relatives and friends into buying his book; a demoralizing thought for the author and the friends. Having written a book, I know the work it takes and the time commitment to get it into a submit-able manuscript form. I want somebody to buy, read and tell others about this fantastic brilliant new author… er hum… but I digress. The real problem has to do with who is looking for my new book. Having it in every known bookstore will not sell books, since the chance of someone stumbling and accidently happening upon my book is quite low.

It isn’t that hard to make the intellectual leap to what this means allegorically speaking, for the new CD you just made. Now that music is digital and vocals are often cut in a master bedroom instead of a master session, everyone who has access to recording gear can make a CD, have it manufactured like a pro by Disc Makers, or just burn it himself. This has made the music market very crowded, often with subpar product. The usual and time-honored system of filtration by A&R, radio DJs, producers and record distributors has disintegrated. Everybody can now, distribute to millions of outlets simply by connecting with CD Baby or TuneCore. But the question is the same as it is for POD; who is looking for your music? It won’t matter if you are in every music outlet on earth if nobody walks in asking for your record. The real issue is demand; creating a need and then filling it with your music. Check in next time for more on that subject… Thanks for reading… you make writing worth every minute!

2009-04-23T13:41:00.000-07:00

We Are The Hands by artist, Aaron Blanton
Words & Music: Aaron Blanton, Nate Sousa/Don’t Forget My Music / ASCAP, James Thiele/Universal Music Publishing and Cumberland Belle Music (Admin. by UMPG) / ASCAP
All Rights Reserved

Hummingbird Wars

2008-07-27T17:36:00.000-07:00

I always thought of hummingbirds as being a sort of magical creature aloof from the trivial and mundane. You know the kind. In flight like little angels, they are the genus of bird that would be model citizens in the terrene of fowl. After all, they can fly backwards. That is quite special in the birds’ macrocosm. How can you have a beef with a backward-flying bird? But I guess when you live in a world where everybody flies backward it isn’t really all that special.

The little guys are very territorial. Anybody with a hummingbird feeder knows about this. They find a bountiful supply of that delicious sweet nectar and stake a claim. All other comers beware. I don’t care if you just flew in from Brazil parched and your elongated tiny tongue is lagging out, you aren’t invited over for drinks. The little bug-eating carnivores stop at the feeder for some carbs and to wash down the bug guts, I guess. But each one wants his own space and his survival depends on it.

Gentle as they may appear there is good reason to defend their territory. He has a wife and three kids who need shoes and they are counting on him to bring home the bacon. So, if hummingbird Joe just barges in and lands on the feeder there will be war among the birds of a feather. Frail but fierce these mighty miniature warriors dominate without fear. Proof that even hummingbirds if provoked, will do what they must to survive.

On June 5^th 1967 the Israeli army launched what would be called a “preemptive” strike on Egypt. The Egyptian’s and allied Arab’s caucus belli or “justified” act of war that provoked Israel’s audacious anticipatory operation was to blame. Ports were blockaded and trade routes cut off to the Israelis. That coupled with the forayer on their borders was proof enough. The mantra of the Egyptian soldiers was “defeat Israel-death to the Jews”.

The Israeli response to these very real threats was so severe and swift that the offending armies were overwhelmed. They simply never anticipated the fury of the little nation with something to lose. Like stinging yellowjackets whose nest had been disturbed they soared up from the ground. In quadrangle formation the Israeli sorties flew low through gaps in Egyptian radar. As one set of planes finished its bombing run the next set of four was already in route with another load of hurt providing no time for recovery. They targeted the Egyptian Air Force runways first followed by the destruction of parked bombers to demise threats to Israeli cities. Most of the Egyptian planes lie burning on the ground and never got into the air. Their crack-trained ground troops moved into enemy territory with lightening speed and rolled over their belligerent opponent. The hopes of Egypt and their Arab neighbors were shattered as their offence turn to defense, then to full on retreat. Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt from which they had staged the port blockade fell without resistance. Having already heard of the defeat of their comrades, all the opposing soldiers fled the scene.

Thusly did the Six Day War find eminence in world history. It was not just a skirmish over which ship got to come into the harbor on a given day. It was not about rhetoric or political posturing though all of those may have been ongoing. It was not even about territory. Ultimately it was about the preservation of a people. So strong was their resolve that they would rise to the occasion or die.

To the disciples of Jesus that is known as courage, a word rarely used and perhaps rightly so. Courage is rare indeed. It describes the selfless, altruistic, gallant, valiant man or woman whose cause is Right. They are those who would literally die for The Faith. We must first learn that Faith is not subjective but objective; that is it is outside of ourselves. The Faith isn’t designer jeans we put on if we like them and take them off when the fad fades. It stands ever the same; immutable because it is synonymous with God’s character. When we as believers really believe that Jesus is the Christ and the only Christ, we will have a war on our hands. Jesus Himself said, “If the world hates you, remember that it hated me first. The world would love you as one of its own if you belonged to it, but you are no longer part of the world. I chose you to come out of the world, so it hates you.” (NLT)

Evidence says there have been more Christians killed for The Faith in the past one-hundred years than in all the previous years the Church has existed. Paul wrote, ^“Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be men [and women] of courage; be strong. [But]do everything in love.” (NIV) There are those who have learned that there is nothing worth living for unless it is worth dying for. 470 of us died today.

How does Syncretism impinge on you and your Faith in Jesus as the only Christ?

Visit Voice of the Martyrs; http://www.persecution.net

Steven Blanton

Floatation Device

2008-07-13T16:16:00.001-07:00

I never flew at all until the early 80’s. There were a lot of reasons for that. One was that I didn’t want to. The others were as follows; aviophobia, acrophobia, anthropophobia, xenophobia and to some degree claustrophobia with a touch of cleithrophobia. My first flight was a white-knuckles experience. Not that the flight was rough or even uncomfortable. The January air from South Carolina to Kansas was smooth as a decaf Venti soy latte with whip and caramel drizzles. The brilliant blue winter sky with its wandering puffy clouds should have been a picturesque jaunt as we flew the dark inner edge of space. The subtle roar of the powerful jets soothed the weary travels into a listless sedation; many of them truly quiescent. I of course, had the sleepless look of someone plunging into a forty-thousand foot abyss. Except for being scared spitless, I was relaxed. It was just that I was holding on to the armrests with a blood-choking clench that would rival that of King Kong. With the grip I had, there was no way that plane could get out of the sky until I let go. We would still be up there except for the sweet newly wed couple sitting next to me who talked me into letting us land so they could get on with their first year of marriage.

For me the most intriguing part of the flight was actually before the flight began. As we prepared for departure three well trained stewardesses (make that steward-persons) took the isle to help us find the exits and let us all know how to buckle our seatbelts. I was an avid seatbelt wearer while driving so I got it. The end goes into the buckle and you lift to release. And while eyeing the nearest exit I sized up the three people in charge of opening up my door. I gave them a nod of approval. We would all follow the lighted markers in the floor and file calmly out. Then we learned about the oxygen masks that would automatically fall from the compartment overhead in case we should loose cabin pressure. We must help ourselves in an act of altruistic responsibility before we help someone else get their mask on. This was getting serious. “I can’t breathe already”, I though. But some respite from my anxiety came just in time. Mercifully my attention was redirected to the speaker whose disembodied voice announced that, “in the case of a water landing” our seat cushion could be used as a “floatation devise”. What a relief! I didn’t even know planes could land on the water. I re-read the instructions in the flap of the seat in front of me to be sure I had this all down. The worst thing about a fall was the landing. This was really about survival.

I have flown many times since, both domestically and abroad, and have seen the illustration countless times in different languages. In every airline the information is nearly exactly the same and the demonstration is quite similar. Whether you fly once or once a week you will be subjected to the liturgic litany of emergency survival. Interestingly few if any pay attention to this life-saving message. I have observed the captive audience during the take off prep “schpeel”. The disinterested are sleeping, talking, or reading. Perhaps they know it all or are message-hardened by the simplistic repetition. Conceivably it may seem the information is useless and no one is going to survive so what’s the point. Perchance they may believe they have a better plan; their own well thought out method of escape.

It strikes me how remarkably alike the response to Truth tends to be. For many of the same reasons people abandon the reasonableness of God’s plan of escape for their own. Having heard it over and again they may turn a deaf ear to the Truth. Though planes rarely crash we all are leaving this life. The ratio is one to one and we all will face the Truth Giver. Our own method of self-salvation will be in every respect inadequate no mater how well we have devised it. The Pluralism and Syncretism of post-modern society is simply a band-aid for the conscience. When it comes to escape and survival, it is best to read the instruction manual and follow it.

How do you feel about this. Or better yet... what do you think?

Steven Blanton

Vacuum and Lips

2008-07-04T13:50:00.000-07:00

As a kid I was always fascinated with the “how and why” of things. Like, why are we opposite when we look into a mirror; and why when you hold a mirror to a mirror do we see hundreds of reflections ad infinitum? How does it do that? And is there an alternate universe back in all of those reflections somewhere? And then there is the universal question troubling all mankind, why does the water swirl down the drain in the same direction every time, Australia notwithstanding? These are some of the heady and weighty, philosophical and physical matters I pondered. Late at night, sometimes I still do.

We are told that where there is a vacuum something is always waiting in the wings to rush in. Apparently it can’t help itself. Being some sort of a law of physics or something, it has to happen that way. I am not even sure there is any effort made not to rush in. Though, there may be substantial effort to leave once in there. Such would be the case for me when “experimenting” with my mother’s floor model Hoover vacuum.

We never had the coveted Electrolux. But for my eight-year-old-mind experiment, the Hoover would do quite nicely. What would happen if I turned it on and put my lips on the hose? Of course I spent the necessary thirty or forty seconds gathering data needed to substantiate this in-depth analysis. With a flick of the switch I was enlightened beyond my wildest expectations. It seems that lips are subject to the same law of physics and vacuums as everything else. They rushed in. Interestingly, you can’t really wail for help when that law of physics is in play either; a result which I didn’t expect from this experiment. Fortunately for me, a vacuum can also suck sense into a very limited juvenile cranium. And it dawned on me that I might want to turn it back off and quash the law that had formed my lips into the shape of an elliptical inner tube.

Thus was another experiment flawlessly executed and the data properly documented and filed away for the good of mankind. It was a Nobel effort on my part though no prize would be forthcoming. Of course as an adult I now know there are plausible answers to all those queries of an eight year old self-pronounced scientist without giving my lips for the cause of science.

From the great mind of no less a scholar than St Augustine do we get perhaps the most succinct statement ever uttered; “All truth is God’s Truth”. Some may be terrified by this statement, almost as if we must hush-up anything said about new discoveries. Or as if there may be something uncovered that would clench the fact that there really is no God. But if we look with any deliberateness at all, we will see the hand of God in every dinosaur bone unearthed. Every layer of silt says, “God was here” with complete and unreserved shamelessness. In my view, the archeologist is doing the work of God by virtually uncovering His finger prints on the earth. Every newly discovered sea-going creature with all its unexpected anomalies audaciously speaks to the magnitude of a God without limits to His creative power. Every time there is natter of nanotechnology it announces the enormity of God, the Inventor of irreducible complexity.

More than “who is God to us”, the real issue here is who is God. When other beliefs and other entities rise to greatness in our world-view they displace God in His rightful situate, becoming a god defacto. This is of course out of alignment with God’s # 1Top Ten; “No other gods; only me” [The Message]. Since knowledge brings Truth then the absence of knowledge is undeniably a vacuum. That vacuous space begs the law of physics be satisfied. The French physicist Blaise Pascal said, “There is a God-shaped vacuum in the heart of every man which cannot be filled by any created thing, but only by God the Creator made known through Jesus Christ.” As I have learned; where there is a vacuum something will always rush in to fill it. It is a law of physics and it is a law of the Spirit. Our beliefs must be fixed in the Immutable, Ineffable. Now that we know, we must think before we flick the switch and unexpectedly get sucked in.

©WalkWay Group, all rights reserved
Steven Blanton

Eat More Dove

2008-06-16T11:46:00.001-07:00

You may know by now that some things are bad for you. Trans-fats for example, will kill you for even imagining that you allow such a vile thing to cross your lips. In some states it is actually illegal to serve up a tasty dish of trans-fats. Shopping for the week has become a course in nutrition by which we have all become experts. Of course you must now read the labels. The whimsical days of nonchalantly gathering your favorite packaged foods at the grocery is a thing of the past. Now that we know, we are responsible. So with bloodshot squints dedicated men and women brave the isles scrutinizing the fine print to see if there could be, lurking in that box of corn flakes, a sinister trans-fat. And I am right there with them, contacts dried to my eyeballs and blinkless. As it turns out, Cheese Curls may now not necessarily make the list of wholesome foods; unless of course it’s the Big Game. In which case, Cheese Curls may actually be a staple. But I digress. I keep a mental running list of the foods I may and may not eat in any given week. And this list is subject to change without notice. The foods I am presently allowed may be banned next time I reach for those exquisite dainties.

But mercifully, there seems to be a balance to life and with balance parachutes in the most delectable unexpected extravagance one could ever hope for: dark chocolate. I was totally blindsided by this. How could this be? Isn’t that candy... the stuff your mother told you would ruin your supper? This is a godsend for the no trans-fat taste-deprived. One could pour over a list of adjectives and never quite describe its luscious decadence. And wonder of wonders it is supposed to be good for you.

Armed with this fabulous news I began my search for the smoothest, most readily available dark chocolate I could find. Such is the life of a healthy eater. And then I found it; Dove. Three or four of these toothsome beauties a day and all is right with the world. Plus, it is doctor’s orders and I wouldn’t want to disappoint my doctor. But with Dove you get something no other chocolate gives you.

Wrapping these dark delights is a red foil with a proposition printed on the inside, the likes of which we haven’t seen since Conversational Hearts candy. They read, “Sing Along with the Elevator Music” and “Hey, Why Not” and “Listen to Your Heartbeat and Dance” to name a few. These are no doubt thought to be indulgences usually denied the individual. One other message I found buried under this treasure of chocolate said “Live Your Dreams”. The inference then must be that eating dark chocolate and living your dreams are indulgences. And I thought, “Is it an indulgence to live your dreams?”

For those who can’t seem to capture their dreams, it may be viewed as an extravagance. But much more of our life is under our own influence than we may have assumed. We have power and responsibility as free-moral agents to take the giftings God has blessed us with and live out His dream for us. But as James puts it: You don’t have from God because you don’t ask God or... “Because you know you’d be asking for what you have no right to. You’re [like] spoiled children, each wanting your own way.” [The Message] Or said another way, we want to consume His goodness without considering His plan for our lives.

But some extravagant indulgences are actually good for us. So discover God’s plan, live your dreams, and eat more Dove. Now that we know, we are responsible.

Drain Your Clepsydra

2008-06-12T20:05:00.000-07:00

Every now and then you run into a word you don’t get to use very often but would love to. I could list several that come to mind but we all have a limited attention span. Clepsydra is just such a word. I can’t remember how long it has been since I was able to work that one into a conversation. “Say, would you happen to have your clepsydra available; would you mind if I looked at it?” So for the uninitiated, a clepsydra is the Greek word for “water clock”; literally “water thief”. The brilliant inventor, Ctesibius (285-222 BC) worked on a very basic, previously inaccurate, water clock producing vast improvements. Water dripped at a known, measurable, rate giving the Greeks an effective time piece. Little did Ctesibius know the avalanche of expectations his invention would impose upon the lot of us. Man could now, not only request that you be there by sun rise, but could say to be there at a specified time. So everyone’s eyes were fixed on the clepsydra to see if you would be late. And the boss says to you as you gallop in full throttle on your breathless donkey, “You are three dribbles late” and off you go to be drawn and quartered; effectively wrecking your morning.

With profound intensity we have time built into our DNA. Thus we are all on to do lunch at 11:45. There certainly can be no denying that we are all built with a measure of rhythm from breathing to heartbeat to the gate with which we lumber along. Meter is all around us beginning with the phases of the moon and the ride we take around the sun that lasts 364.25 days. And we are keenly aware of the passage of time in some of the most unlikely places. For instance, everybody knows where the longest red light in town is and how long it stays red. No clepsydra needed. We know where we can get through the drive-thru fastest. And for those of us whose god is our belly, we may be willing to compromise quality for speed to meet the compulsions of the body-call for food now. Or we may just be driven by a limited lunch “hour”, being hindered by all the other lunch fanatics.

Time and its demands are so commonplace that we can scarcely fathom being out of its reach. Many of us have no concept at all of the need to step out of time to rejuvenate. The addictive drug we all make for ourselves known as adrenaline is coursing through our veins. It is not FDA approved but is not illegal either and requisitions a new fix in increments of seconds. Few escape its ambitious clutches.

Perhaps surprisingly, Jesus often took time out and "departed into a desert place by ship privately". The way I see it is that if the smartest man that ever lived needed to "turn off" so must we. The Sabbath was “made for man”. Not only is rest a Spiritual discipline but is blatantly listed among the top ten of God’s Commandments. Time is a thief. Don’t forget to drain the clepsydra at least once a week. It‘s part of the rhythm of Life.

Steven Blanton

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unBundled

2008-06-07T19:12:00.000-07:00

The English language is filled with the most interesting expressions. After a cursory moment of research you can see that many of them come from actual day to day experience. For example, when purchasing a new computer, we find that most of the time they come with bundled, mostly useless, software. Thus we use the term bundled to mean “getting a bunch of stuff we didn’t really want even though it seemed free and sounded good to begin with”. And this has gotten me thinking about life.

At Panera one sunny morning I went inside from the patio to get my usual refill of their all-you-can-drink coffee. You can do that at Panera. I encountered a small line of anxious coffee drinkers awaiting the completion of four cups of coffee being individually added to for someone’s personal taste. The young lady doing the adding to was obviously on a coffee run for everybody else. She worked on one cup adding Splenda with half & half and another with skim but sugar. The third and fourth cups were black with sugar and just black, respectively. There are four different brews of coffees from which to select. I cannot even speak to the various flavors and combinations she must have been dealing with before I walked up. The number of variations is mind numbing. I waited there patiently, since I had already had one cup of coffee (lucky for her). She had engaged the help of the manager for a Sharpie to encode the various and sundry lids ensuring everyone got his flavors, sweeteners, and creams or lack thereof per preference. Then she placed the specified lids on the predetermined cup. As she completed her complicated, time-consuming task and gathered all the coffees and her separate bags of breakfast breads I noticed the line printed on the side of her purse in bold letters; “Live Simply”. I smiled and poured myself a cup of black decaf with a shot of Hazelnut.

The world is all about complications. The things we think we really need are actually about absorbing time. Every toy needs to be oiled; every pool chemicalized. Every cup of coffee needs special attention. Every consumer item has a learning curve and will take much more from you than you imagined it ever could. And in a few days, weeks or months it will have much less meaning and appeal than the marketing team and your dreams could bring into reality. The real trick is to see this before you get caught up in the bundle. Most of the “stuff” you can have never brings true satisfaction or purpose. It is usually a package of clutter that has only one usable program included. True, we must take what life hands to us but we do have a choice in how we spend our time. Live Simply; it is a Spiritual discipline. Unbundle before using.

Steven Blanton

Who Wants to Know

2008-06-06T18:55:00.000-07:00

I am forever amazed at the interest that anyone has in the lives of others; I mean to the point that we should all have our own blog. Truthfully, it is a bit voyeuristic to sort of peak into the window at someone else's view of things. And then there is the other vantage of this blogging craze; that I would sit down at my keyboard and tell you what is going on in my life and that I assume you would want to read it.
I won't be stating the obvious here i.e. "I had a bad day/ I had a good day" kind of stuff (nothing wrong with that). I don't do anything of stunning impressiveness anyway. So I will be discussing other, deeper points of interest. Not issues like the Presidential elections or the War in Iraq, both of which are certainly worthy of every word I could muster. But there are things of eternal consequence that I believe have been largely ignored or overlooked or simply forgotten. I am not the first or only one to see this absence of these "deeper points". There are greater minds than my own such as Phillip Yancey and Dallas Willard who have delved into the ponderous with great finesse. I stand on the shoulders of those greater than myself as I discover who wants to know... next time.

Steven Blanton