The Rolling Stones Next Tour

I spoke with a guy who has the inside track at Live Nation. Like many, The Rolling Stones are going to hold off touring for a while…BUT have just finalized paperwork on their next stadium run, to begin in 2083.

They wanted to give ample time for the world to settle down a bit and feel the heightened anticipation of 63 years will drive record setting ticket sales.

Mick was overheard saying, “Sixty years on the road and now we’d like sixty off. I have a Peloton and a stack of books so I’m very much looking forward to the break”.

Keith, taking a bit of a different take, “There’s two things I hate, downtime and shirts”.

My rep at Live Nation still doesn’t know who the other guys in The Stones are but is pretty sure they’ll be happy to be a part of whatever Mick and Keith are doing.

Contracts are signed, stadiums booked, new t-shirts being printed…”The Rolling Stones 2083: Wheel Me Up, Prop Me Up, Whoops…Help Me Up”

Happy April 1st.

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One Good Song

I was reminiscing with a friend the other day about all the awesome bands that were around when we first moved to Nashville.

And one of the things we landed on was that while every band could play a thirty minute set filled with seven or eight songs, they all had that ONE song that was clearly the best song. It would usually go at the end of the set and it was easily the most catchy, best chorus, most cohesive and connecting song. Everyone could tell.

It was rare that a band didn’t have one song that stuck out like this.

When you’re young and in a band you don’t want to copy yourself because you’re scared and insecure that you’ll be put into a box you don’t like. But all of us in the audience wish you would just use that best song as a loose template and write a bunch more that kinda sound like that one!

What are the elements? Why does it work? What key is it in and what’s the vocal range?

Do more of like that.

You’re scared of being put in a box but we all need to know what box to put you in. It helps us know you and remember you and know when to bring you up in conversations with our friends.

So don’t be scared of a box but rather decide which one you want to be in and stay the course.

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Will vs. Might

Odds are you want more people to listen to your music. And that’s great…with a good marketing team and strategy you can do just that.

But if you’re the artist it’s worth asking…

Are you making music for the kind of people who MIGHT hear it or the kind of people who WILL hear it?

»» On a different note, for those who are following along…My bracket is up from the 99.4 percentile to the 99.6 percentile. Also, Gonzaga was up by nineteen at halftime tonight. They won by nineteen.

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Middle Of The Madness

I love March. I love March Madness. When I played basketball in high school we’d be playing our regional and state tournaments at the same time the college tournament was happening…so it felt like we were all wrapped up together in the middle of the madness.

This year the tournament looks a little different. All games being played in one city and the people in charge changed the scheduling a bit. Not to mention the absence of fans, pep bands and handshakes this time around.

But I love it. I watch almost every game. Here’s some things that came to mind this time around…

Every team in division one basketball has a chance to win the championship. Starting with the conference tournaments, each team controls their own destiny. If you keep winning you keep playing. You have a chance to prove you’re the best.

Every team has a chance to win, only one team actually wins. All the other teams end their seasons with a loss…and that heartbreak is the underpinning and glue of the tournament. It’s how most teams and fans will experience the end of their season. All teams are hopeful ‘maybe this is our magical year’ and yet for all but one of those schools, that dream will be dashed.

The heartbreak and those dashed dreams, we all know what that feels like. The hard work and skill and long hours and camaraderie, and still don’t get the desired result.

Another wonderful aspect of a single elimination tournament is that there’s no use in not going as hard as you can. No reason to save energy or hold back. If you lose the game but still have a bunch of gas in the tank, you don’t get some extra prize. So it’s full throttle. College athletes trying as hard as they can. And I like watching things where I believe they’re trying their hardest.

The last thing worth mentioning is momentum. It’s real. And these games have it on full display. When a few things go right it seems more likely that a few more things go right. And it’s clear what you need to do to start gaining momentum…do the next play really well.

And one other thing that relates to momentum. I’ve played hundreds of basketball games in my life and watched thousands more and here’s what I’ve seen…something happens when a team gets up by twenty points. Once the lead gets to twenty it seems to just hang there. Maybe it gets to twenty at the beginning of the second half. If the game keeps going like this they should win by almost forty. But usually they don’t. Usually they end up winning by nineteen or twenty one or twenty four. I’ve seen so many more teams win by about twenty than win by about thirty…or forty.

Why? It’s because teams stop working towards momentum and instead focus on sustainability. Protecting instead of building. Yes, each have their place. It’s just more fun to watch team building a lead than keeping a lead.

And only because this is probably the only time I’ll be able to say this…As of this writing, my bracket on ESPN in the 99.4 percentile.

Hum Love on Spotify and Apple

People Are Doing...

everything you can possibly think of.

Restoring old furniture. Coming up with a better cheeseburger. Working on a cancer cure. Painting a house. Reading the news. Designing the next style of pants. Teaching kids. Building a band.

Who are you going to join? 

What are you going to build and invite others to join?

You can’t join everything and not everyone is going to join you.

So what will you choose? 

Maybe more importantly, what will you say no to? Because you're going to have to say no to most of it.

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Springboard Of Freedom

Being comfortable on stage is not the goal to display to the audience.

They expect you to be comfortable, now you have to do something with it.

Experience can get you comfort. Comfort can be a crutch that breeds mediocrity or it can be a springboard of freedom that opens you up to connect in the way that only you can.

Hum Love on Spotify and Apple