We Want It All

It’s not enough to get the desired outcome. We want to script the journey too.

If the journey isn’t going our way, we highly doubt the outcome is going to happen.

And the journey is almost never following our hopeful script. So we live in constant doubt of the desired outcome.

The times the desired outcome has come to pass, we quickly forget how greatly the journey differed from what we wanted it to be.

We know we can’t set the script for the journey or the outcome and yet the main thing we get discouraged by is when they don’t live up to this ideal.

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Alternate Originals

Last week I went to listen to a song I love from a band I love off of an album I love.

But when I clicked play it was a different song. Well no, it was the same song, same chorus and all…but a different intro, much different mix and slightly different arrangement.

And then coincidentally it happened again just a couple days ago with a different band, different song, different album.

In both cases, all the other songs on the album are the same as they ever were. But the song I was looking for? The original version? The version that hooked me? No where to be found. Scrubbed from the record (pun intended). Nowhere to quickly be found.

Now it’s one thing if you come out with an alternate version, a remix, an acoustic version, a punk ruck version, that’s great. But replacing a song? That is not for the benefit of the fans. Neither of those bands have ever got fan mail complaining about the arrangement or that the post chorus hook needs some layering.

It might be that the artist wants the new version instituted for personal reasons. It might be a master rights ownership issue. It might be a publishing or licensing matter. But it isn’t because the fans want a redo.

Releasing an alternate version is great. But if you’re going to take away the original and replace it with something that is noticeably not the original…Be very clear about who it’s for and whether or not it’s worth it.

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Approachable

Everyone you see is only a smile away from seeming more approachable.

In the same way, you are only a smile away from seeming more approachable.

»» Some family friends from my home town of 550 people are in the news this week for something really great. If you have kids, check it out.

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LA

I played a gig down in Florida years ago and after the show there was a super cool, suave, cocky, loud, brash guy trying to impress everyone at the club, telling everyone he was from LA. Going on and on about LA and how great it is.

It turns out the guy was from Louisiana.

So it’s not that he was wrong, he just wasn’t trying to tell the truth. He was using a sliver of the truth to create a false narrative that he thought would better serve his purpose of looking cool…while not being helpful to anyone else.

As we talk about ourselves and what we do we can’t possibly share the entire landscape of of who we are and what we do. So we highlight things. We turn up certain knows and turn down others. And when done properly it’s of great benefit to everyone involved.

A good Instagram page, a good interview, a good Instagram page, a good restaurant menu.

But when we find out you’re from Louisiana and not LA, it just feels like a wasted conversation. We like good surprises, not weird ones.

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Allnighter

Back in college pulling an allnighter was a badge of honor. Staying up all night studying meant you were pretty serious about getting a good grade.

But if pulling an allnighter is a badge of honor why was it only done the night before the exam? I never knew anyone who studied all night during the first week of the semester in hopes of getting the badge.

The truth is you stayed up all night studying at the end of the semester because you didn’t study at all during the first week. Or the second. Or the third…

So maybe pulling an allnighter is a sign of something else?

Hum Love on Spotify and Apple

Favorite

In order to give people their favorite moment or part of what you do, there are almost certainly going to be other moments or parts that you offer up that aren’t their favorite.

To have a favorite there must be non-favorites. That’s the deal. So it’s important to remember that the non-favorites have a very important place.

They are the backdrop that the favorite sticks out from.

Hum Love on Spotify and Apple