Afterblog

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how to make things work. This thinking extends to pretty much every area of my life, and after a lengthy hiatus, I decided to finally turn my mind back to music and art and inevitably this site.

I’ve accepted that, given my current bargaining power concerning booking shows, that I’m not going to be able to support a family by playing music. I’ve also accepted that the songs I write which give me the most satisfying feelings of accomplishment, are songs that would never sell through a traditional publisher in a million years. Aside from the feeling I get whenever I think of someone taking something I put every ounce of myself into, and exploiting it for the purpose of reaching an equilibrium between safe and bland, I just don’t think that the material is something that would translate into market-contingent media. I don’t enjoy thinking about numbers during the writing process, at least not the types of numbers that mean anything about the profitability of the thing I am working on. I have no problem with people who can do this, it’s just not what I do.

So back to purpose…It’s always been my purpose with this site to showcase, not only my work, but the work of other people that I think has merit. I’ve fallen behind on that, time and time again. It seems that life has a way of taking away time from projects and adding new projects to the remainder of the time that’s left. For anyone who checks up on this site regularly, I do apologize. Updates have been beyond sparse. Between my son, school, and trying to intermittently pick up a guitar, I just haven’t had the patience to sit down and spend an hour a day working on the site. I’d like to change that. I will, but it’s a gradual process.

As far as changes I have planned, I want a total shift in philosophy. Centralia is now licensed under a Creative Commons, which means that anyone is free to download it and share it with whoever they wish, granted they don’t make any money off of it without consulting me first. I encourage anyone interested to do so. All of my other work is following suit, and the download portion of tonymarshallmusic is getting a much needed face lift. I am giving all of my music away for free, because I want more people to hear it. It’s really that simple. I love what I do and I want more people to have access to it.

I’m still going to be selling CDs. I’ve just come up with a new strategy. Starting February 4th at Locals Only, I will be selling “Centralia” and “I Make Mine” on CDs decorated with individually hand drawn artwork. The concept behind this is twofold. For one, you can download the album for free and do whatever you like with it (besides make money off it, let me stress this again) but if you buy a CD, you are buying something entirely unique. Secondly, I’d like to think that if you enjoy what you hear, you will support the artist. CD sales are a means to that support. I’m not asking for charity here, just noting that I put a lot of hard work into what I do, and I want to do everything in my power to keep from having to resort to traditional licensing. The world is different than it was 10 years ago. I’d like to move forward with it.

So long story short (after long story), if you enjoy my music, pass it on to anyone else you think will enjoy it, and do it guilt free. Also, come to a show and consider buying a CD, because that will help me tremendously to be able to continue doing this. I’ve always wanted to make a life out of making music, but now I have to be smart about it. I feel like this is the right thing to do, and I’m putting a lot of faith in anyone who reads this to help me out a little bit. Isn’t that what separates fan from consumer? I like to think that people who listen to me are just that; people. You’re not just amalgams of likes and dislikes, waiting for a soundtrack to fit into a formulaic set of circumstances. You’re people, and if you’re like me, you’re struggling. I’m offering some songs, which in reality, are just blueprints of how my mind deals with the struggle. Listen to them. If you’re so inclined, enjoy them, and please share your enjoyment with the people around you. All I ask, is that you, as a person, remember that there is a person singing those songs. Please extend the same respect to me that I am extending to you. Thanks so much.

Tony Marshall