McNary's Music Biz Musings - January 16, 2010

Recent Rundown>>>>
Lately I’ve been focusing on songwriting, prepping for my upcoming EP recording sessions, and working on collaborating with a new musical friend I made in August ’09. The work we are doing together is compelling and we are beginning to gel musically. The first show we worked on together was “McNary & Friends” in Nov. ’09. The thing I like most about her aside from her vocal talent and compelling songwriting, is her work ethic and her willingness to be a team player in all aspects of the business. Her name is Anne Harper and we’ll be playing a full set together for the first time on Friday, February 26th @ TNS Sushi in East Atlanta. The show will be sponsored by Pabst Blue Ribbon and it looks to be a well attended event. Josh Carples of Montgomery, AL will be opening for us. We’ll each be playing some new songs getting their first public run. ’10 is getting booked. I’ve booked in-town shows through July and am now looking to fill up my out of town schedule with shows in Alabama, Tennessee, Florida, out of Atlanta metro GA, South Carolina, and North Carolina…..Holler if you have any leads for me. I’m down to play anywhere form living rooms to 400 seat rock clubs….

Jamming anyone?
It’s very rare to find a professional musician who wants to jam…..Most professional musicians(musicians whose only job is music or musicians whose main focus is making a career out of music) are so involved in their own musical goals that they don’t take the time to play music for music’s sake…….I’m looking for more of those people…..Making music for making music sake is one of the best things about being blessed with musical talent……so holler if you want to grab a few drinks and make of night of making music just because it feels good.

The Atlanta Music Scene
I get the feeling that the indie rock/acoustic/even country music scene in Atlanta is growing more quickly than in many other cities. I’ve actually met a couple of non hip-hop/R&B musicians who have moved to Atlanta just to get involved in music. Whether they are completely clueless and should’ve moved to Nashville, Austin, New York, or LA…..I don’t know……But based on some of the national/international acts like Manchester Orchestra, Snowden, Black Lips, Deerhunter(by way of Athens), Zack Brown Band, Corey Smith….and if you want to look further back, Shawn Mullins, Indigo Girls, Collective Soul, and John Mayer….. just tot name a few bands from different genres/niches……I get the feeling Atlanta is not such a bad place to get a music career off the ground…..The biggest obstacle I see at this point is lack of work ethic in the musicians in Atlanta AND a little disguised reticence to collaborate/work with other artists. I believe that widespread collaboration and hardcore work ethic is what makes towns like Nashville such fertile ground for new music and new successful bands…among other things like incredible infrastructure, music culture, etc, etc, etc…….At the same time, a city like Atlanta has the potential to bring a fresh look on music and music culture. …….hmmmmm…just ramblings……I only have two subscribers at this point, so my musings are about as likely to be read by the masses as my persona journal is : )