by Mike Errico | Feb 6, 2015 | live shows, Stories, Text Journalism, The Solo Show
My experience auditioning for a record label. Dedicated to anyone who has done something weird. I reminded myself that there was no one to ask for permission. I could play solo, and write the words I needed to say. I could record, live tight, and strip my life to its essence, with its familiar silence and the weight of everything being exactly where I left it. I could go on without anyone, but I didn’t want to. What I wanted was a team. Everyone wants a team. Even dogs group together in the wild. https://medium.com/cuepoint/the-sometimes-platinum-window-43a71a2c24e8 This is the latest from “The Solo Show,” my ongoing collection of essays, playlists and stories. Check out the growing library and follow along here: https://medium.com/@mikeerrico The Sometimes Platinum...
by Mike Errico | Jan 29, 2015 | audio, Teaching, Text Journalism, The Solo Show
Plus: A 59-song playlist of happy(-ish) endings. [This is an excerpt from “Hi. I’m Your Songwriting Professor,” from the ongoing story series “The Solo Show,” by Mike Errico, on Cuepoint.] “…I love the last songs on albums, the ones where the agendas and obligations lift like the dampers of the piano, allowing all creative strings to vibrate at once. This is when the artists reveal themselves, tell their inside jokes, and foreshadow their ambitions. I know that the whole idea of an “album” always was a construct — once upon a time, album length was determined by the amount of music a graphite disc could hold — and if that construct disappears completely, no one will even know what I’m talking about. There won’t be “last songs,” there will only be “unpopular” ones. UnPop music. Maybe that’s what I like.” Check out the rest of the article here: The dying art of the last song on the also-dying art of the “album.” And see what I’m talking about with this playlist of last songs from “albums”...
by Mike Errico | Jan 23, 2015 | Stories, Teaching, The Solo Show
“Hi. I’m Your Songwriting Professor.” “Don’t throw your guitar down the staircase and tell me you’ve written a new song, because the artist in me will agree. The problem is only that there is no criteria by which I can inform or instruct you on that impulse, so that would be an example of something that falls outside the scope of the course. Informally, perhaps over a crisp ginger ale, could we talk about whether the staircase should’ve been carpeted? Or whether it’s a sonic metaphor of 20th-century iconography colliding with the noble architecture of the Federalist style? Could we title it something snappy like, “The Wisdom of the Staircase,” or “Soundtrack to ‘Nude Descending a Staircase’”? Oh, sure. I have all day for stuff like that. I am, after all, the one who assigned a book of blank pages.” Hi. I’m Your Songwriting Professor. BONUS: Last Songs on “Albums” Playlist “The real truth is that I love the last songs on albums, the ones where the agendas and obligations lift like the dampers of the piano, allowing all creative strings to vibrate at once. This is when the artists reveal themselves, tell their inside jokes, and foreshadow their ambitions.” – From “Hi. I’m Your Songwriting...
by Mike Errico | Jan 20, 2015 | Teaching
I hand this out at the beginning of the semester. Excerpted from “Hi. I’m Your Songwriting Professor,” on...
by Mike Errico | Jan 19, 2015 | Stories, The Solo Show
Thank you for the unbelievable response to “The Solo Show.” I’m overwhelmed by the number of people who’ve written me and shared the stories with friends. The Vince Guaraldi piece hit #7 on Medium’s Most Recommended chart – I don’t know what to say, except thank you, and I’ve barely gotten started. “The Solo Show” is an ongoing story series that is basically my live show, but flipped inside-out: The between-song talking is the focus, and music backs it up via sharable playlists that enhance each storyline. New story every other week. Meaning, one’s on its way. Best, M Mike...
