by Mike Errico | Feb 3, 2023 | Books, Lessons, Music Lyrics and Life, Text Journalism
Excerpted from Music, Lyrics, and Life. The popular expression, “You never get a second chance to make a first impression,” has a less-celebrated corollary: You don’t get a second chance to make a last impression, either. A major songwriting challenge is how to construct those first and last impressions in order to bookend the musical universe writers have created. Unlike artists who work in other forms (novels, paintings, etc.), songwriters have a tool that takes advantage of the audio medium: the fade out. Part technological, and part metaphorical, the fade out can imply continuity—the song goes on forever—as easily as loss—the song goes on forever without you. One reason a fade is so expressive is because it reintroduces us to the universal language of silence—fade outs remind us that, as in life, silence always gets the last word. There’s just one problem: At the moment of this writing, fades are very out of fashion. I teach songwriting at several universities, and when a student of mine uses one, they get applause from classmates for the audacity. Fades are retro. They’re vintage. They’re even cinematic, which is actually true: the term “fade” is borrowed from film, which originated around the same time as recorded music. The gradual deprivation of sound in a fade out parallels the deprivation of sight when a scene “fades to black.” In order to better understand why writers and producers choose to fade, I spoke with Jim Anderson, producer and sound engineer; former president of the Audio Engineering Society; multi-Grammy Award–winner; and nominee (along with partner Ulrike Schwartz) for this year’s Grammy for Immersive Audio Album, Jane Ira Bloom’s Picturing the Invisible: Focus 1....
by Mike Errico | Jan 5, 2023 | Music Lyrics and Life
January FREE BOOK GIVEAWAY Three winners will be chosen every week in January. http://errico.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/MLL-ad-higher-res.mp4 Here are the rules: 1) Share this page to your socials 2) Add your favorite song quote from any artist 3) Tag me (@mikeerrico) so I can find you I’ll contact you for a mailing address, personalize your copy, add a handsome and functional bookmark, and pop it in the...
by Mike Errico | Dec 5, 2022 | live shows
New music, new intimate listening room (I recommend buying tickets in advance), and the Holiday Omens—curious gifts given to audience members that bear a message it is their job to decipher. THE MIKE ERRICO HOLIDAY SHOW DECEMBER 8, 8:30P ROCKWOOD MUSIC HALL STAGE 3 $15 PURCHASE TICKETS HERE...
by Mike Errico | Nov 4, 2022 | live shows
Honored that @laurenmonroelive asked me to open her @citywinerynyc set on Nov 9. And yes, Rick Allen is the @defleppard Rick Allen – I couldn’t believe it, either. Only a half hour set, but that’s cool. Should be a great night. Click for tickets ...
by Mike Errico | Oct 13, 2022 | Text Journalism
Inside Fender’s Plan to Rock the Guitar Industry With New Hits and Classics CEO of Fender Musical Instruments Andy Mooney is placing bets on new avenues and repeat performances for an iconic American brand. By Mike Errico October 12, 2022 “At my very first town hall in Scottsdale, I’m getting introduced as the new CEO, and all they know about me is that I’ve worked at Nike, I’ve worked at Disney,” Fender chief executive Andy Mooney begins, settling into a story enhanced by his gruff Scottish accent. “And I start to tell them about the first Stratocaster I had, and how I modified it to place the metal pickup down like [Deep Purple guitarist] Ritchie Blackmore did, and how I added the extended tremolo bar, and so forth. And at the end of the presentation, one of the more tenured employees came up to me and says, “I really thought I was going to hate you…but you might actually get it.” He deadpans, “Which I took as a compliment.” In the midst of a very uncertain historical moment, guitars have been having a good run: the pandemic spiked instrument sales, reinvigorated hobbyists and broadened the fanbase to include new players. But this is more than a business success to Mooney, who spent his twenties pursuing a career as a professional musician before taking on corporate roles. He remains an avid guitar collector (he had his eye on Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour’s coveted Fender before it fetched a record price at auction), and since 2015, he has balanced a sensitivity to history with a sharp eye toward what’s next for the iconic brand....
