String Theory Media

Irving Waugh on WSM

Many people were saddened this week by the news that Irving Waugh, a major force in the shaping of Nashville's music industry, had died at the age of 94. (Here's a news release with a basic bio.) Mr. Waugh is one of the most important characters in my forthcoming book about WSM and the making of Music City, and meeting and interviewing him was one of my favorite parts of the research process.

Most of the coverage has dwelled on Mr. Waugh's instrumental role in landing a telvision deal for the CMA Awards, the opening of Opryland USA and the launch of Fan Fair. But those were mere manifestations of the ethic and energy he brought to his many jobs at WSM over five decades. Like Jack Stapp, Owen Bradley and others before him, Waugh was an ambitious concept man, a business executive with a creative streak and a gift for letting creative people under him work up to their potential. There aren't many like him left in media companies.

I searched my archives for a good quote from Mr. Waugh and found one that addresses a question that will be front and center when the book is published, and that is what is being done with WSM-AM today? In March of 2004, Waugh told me this:

The AM station today is a sleeping giant. It is a unique property. There are ways to do something with it because of where they’re located. And I can’t believe that they ignore it, because the average time buyer will not buy AM. But that station, if you had that station, you could call it the nation’s station, the star maker station, the hit maker. You could play every new release. You could make a deal with all the labels. You could create your own list of hits. You could be the hit maker. There are all sorts of things you could do with that probably, and it’s a shame it just sits there.

I share Waugh's sense that WSM is run these days with a sense of resignation about being a middle-ranked radio station in its local market and not much more. It recently lost its nation-wide exposure over Sirius satellite radio. Its format is conservative and its commercial load is extreme. Where there might a 24-hour Prairie Home Companion-meets-Merlefest sort of format with tons of live acts and interviews, there is a fairly standard-issue country gold-format station. I mean no disrespect to GM Chris Kulick or certainly to the station's greatest DJ Eddie Stubbs, both of whom are doing a great job. But I do often wish Gaylord would think as dynamically about WSM as it does about the Opry and the Ryman. I think Mr. Waugh would agree.

The Infamous Stringdusters

About a year ago, STM was fortunate enough to meet the Infamous Stringdusters, the most exciting new bluegrass band in ages. Then in March, I got to spend four days with Andy, Travis, Chris, Jesse, Jeremy and Critter on the road in Colorado. I'm working on a short doc about this slice of life on the road with a band I've been shouting about since I first saw them at SXSW. Happily they got signed to Sugar Hill Records, and their debut album "Fork In The Road" has been out for a couple of months. They're playing Merlefest, Telluride and a raft of festivals this summer. Do yourselves a favor and see them. In the meantime, here's a live performance from community radio station KSUT in Ignacio, CO, just a few hours before the band played a spectacular show in Durango, just down the road. The sound was captured on my camera mic.

And here's "Starry Night," another great song, captured apparently from a TV broadcast with even better sound. I'd be curious where if anybody knows.

Music From The Inside Out

A music doc for the ages recently came out on DVD -- one I can’t recommend highly enough. Music From The Inside Out by filmmaker Daniel Anker grew out of a series of conversations Anker had with members of the Philadelphia Orchestra when they were on strike in the late 1990s. He wound up spending the better part of five years with the orchestra, at home and on the road. But the film is not about the orchestra specifically. Rather it’s billed as an “essay” about music, and indeed it’s an abstract, beautifully crafted sojourn through some of the most important elements of music with members of the orchestra as guides. Never didactic, the film unfolds like a good piece of music, introducing layered themes and engaging characters who speak about their art from many angles and with remarkable insight and originality. Anker individualizes key orchestra members, penetrating the phalanx of tuxedos we usually see when we attend a concert, and he manages to connect the life histories and outside pursuits of the musicians (marathon running, painting) to their music in ways that transcend the usual clichés. I’m going to be giving this as a Christmas present a lot over the years I have a feeling, and no doubt Music From The Inside Out will influence how I film and talk to musicians for years to come.

Last Train Home's Homecoming

I’m just back from Washington, D.C. where on Friday and Saturday night, our friends in the wonderful band Last Train Home put on a couple of intense and happy shows for their most loyal fans at Iota in Arlington, VA. I worked with a group of excellent camera guys to capture the sets for a live DVD release later this year by LTH on its new Red Beet Records label. The shows loosely marked the band’s tenth anniversary, and while the core of the group moved to Nashville a couple years ago, they’ll always be part of the Washington Americana scene, a lineage that includes the Seldom Scene, Emmylou Harris, Bill Kirchen and Danny Gatton. Fronted by singer/songwriter/journalist Eric Brace, LTH has grown far beyond its origins as an alt-country band into a sophisticated pop/rock outfit with rootsy leanings. During the shows I grew to really love some of the material on their newest album Last Good Kiss, especially a song called Flood that roils with a slow Neil Young groove and flowers into a big, triumphant chorus. It would sound good on the main stage at Bonnaroo, and maybe with this release, somebody will see fit to invite them to play the big festivals. Watch here for updates on the DVD. In the meantime, go buy Last Good Kiss. It’ll make you want to kiss someone.

Would you stop for Bach?

Today's Washington Post Magazine cover story, "Pearls Before Breakfast," is one of the best pieces of music journalism I've ever read, not because it insightfully parses an artist's work but because it provides a surprising and somewhat depressing look inside our music culture. It poses vital questions about music itself; does it matter to people? Are we equipped to recognize it and let it enliven and enrich our lives? In brief, the Post arranged for an exceptional violinist (it's a surprise) to play for 45 minutes in a Metro station in downtown D.C. for an audience of passers by. What would happen? What would you expect to happen? Would you stop? Would you stop with your child and let him or her get close? The story offers up answers in its own contextualized pace, so I urge you to read the story and then, if you care, read my comments after the jump.

Exotic punctuation rocks

Exemplary blogging. A brief history of the umlaut in rock and roll. I wouldn't be able to put an umlaut over a letter with my computer if you put a gun to my head.

Breaking China

The Herald-Tribune gives huge play to a feature about the rapid rise of Western classical music in China. A sampler:

Music-related manufacturing has also exploded. As of 2003, 87 factories made Western-style musical instruments. By last year, the number had grown to 142 factories producing 370,000 pianos, one million violins and six million guitars. China dominates world production of all three.

The Communist Party, which three decades ago tried to wipe out classical music, now deems it an essential component of the "advanced culture" it vows to create in its effort to make the country a true great power.

It is somewhat infuriating that the same regime that criminalized cellos and Mozart not all that long ago is now trying to take some kind of credit for raising the cultural level of China by encouraging the same. It's a little like the Vatican apologizing for beating up Galileo. I'm not really buying it yet.

The question now is whether a semi-controlled social movement can produce happy and real musical experiences for the young players involved, as well as opportunity for the best players to reach a world stage. I'm sure the latter is more the agenda, which is a little scary. But in a nation as big as China, I'm optimistic that most of the kids who get a huge dose of musical training will be getting exactly what I think American kids need.

Actually, I'll get a chance to seek my own answers in the fall. It looks like my wife has lined up a couple of travel assignments that will take us to Shanghai and beyond. Hey, China's going to the moon. Don't bet against them.

Tupper Saussy on NPR

Never before have I set out to do a profile that turned into an obituary. But sadly that's what happened when I made plans to attend Tupper Saussy's CD release last weekend at the Basement. The songwriter and all-around renaissance man died virtually on the eve of the event. The more I learned about Tupper, the sadder I got that I didn't get a chance to interview him. Thanks to the urgings of Warren Pash, I got on board the Tupper bandwagon just in time. I appreciate the flood of information, contats, introductions etc. All went into producing this appreciation that ran this morning on NPR's Weekend Edition.