String Theory Media

New Stuff from the STM Garage

We finished a new video piece with Joe Diffie, in which the distinguished and very funny country star of the 1990s talks about his upcoming project on Rounder Records. Yes, like just about every other  traditional country singer out there, he's making a bluegrass album. It truly has become a refuge, and a beautiful one, for people who really deeply love traditional country music. Unlike some of them, Joe is genuinely coming home to the music that launched him as a professional singer. If you haven't heard him sing with Ricky Skaggs, yo. Good stuff.

Joe Diffie: Back To Bluegrass from String Theory Media on Vimeo.

Less Platform, More Performance

I've been part of music and technology panels at music conferences for several years, and they've all been great in their own way and we've got another one today (Tuesday) at IBMA. But I'm struck in this week of the release of MySpace Music and the ongoing obsession with the iAnything and a billion blogs that we're talking too much about platforms and too little about the production and presentation of talent. Radio worked because it had producers who found artists and got them to do their best work - LIVE - over and over. TV worked the same way for about 25 years. Now we've got this gift of the internet, and while there's no end of applications and gadgets, I see precious few examples of crafty, well-staged offerings of serial talent by musicians. A very very few are creating their own webisode series, and that seems like a promising direction, but it's just a start. Producers, investors, sponsors, patrons and artists are going to have to step up to the plate to get us past the idea that the web is only good for streaming old-wave music videos and dowloading recordings.

Music City's Biggest Month

So far I'm loving Next Big Nashville, and I'm hearing folks say it's the Other Nashville music festival/conference the city has been attempting and needing for years. I had a good feeling about NBN just from knowing co-organizer Jason Moon Wilkins from journalism and sensing that he has high standards for how music should sound and how it should be presented.

Thursday I had a great time moderating a panel about the psychology of artist management with some giants of the business who were not shy about telling pretty amusing stories about everyone from Kid Rock to Slash to Everlast, who turns out to be a frightening shit for brains. That morning's What Does Nashville Need? panel threw some ideas and attitude around. I liked Big Fella's optimism and clear thinking. I haven't seen a ton of music so far, though I'm set to see a lot tonight. At The Basement on Thursday night I saw a few acts who work with the ultra discerning producer Neilson Hubbard. I was really glad to get a chance to see Judd & Maggie in person after meeting them last spring and getting into their Kingdom of Noise EP. Their harmonies are completely enthralling. I very much enjoyed Megan McCormick and Audrey Spillman. Yesterday's Digital Nashville patio hang at the ICON was brilliant for the company and the view. And in one of those synergistic music fest happenings, my pal Roger Nichols told me about his latest studio project, Mean Tambourines, and there they were today rocking tightly at Grimey's backyard beer fest and record sale. I found a record that changed my life, one I'd never had in any form other than casette, on prime condition vinyl for a dollar. Also found some sweet Les Paul, Ricky Skaggs and an obscure DJ named Sientific American.

So music festival month is fully under way, with the Americana Music Association gathering to follow this week and the International Bluegrass Music Assn. soon thereafter. This is Nashville at its most extraordinary.

Open Source and more new stuff from STM HQ

I'm pleased to announce that this week David Ross and I launched a new e-blast newsletter called Open Source, billed as Nashville's Tech Digest. It's a lighthearted but hopefully smart-headed bi-weekly scan of the technology and media frontier for stuff we think needs knowing. To quote ourselves from Issue #1:

We'll survey must-read stories and bulletins from the interweb covering playful work and serious play of all kinds including Music City's music business. In the hellstorm of media that is our digital lives, we're an early morning briefing designed to de-clutter your inbox while keeping you current on technology, media, networking and all things creative.

The FIRST ISSUE went out Thursday. PLEASE SIGN UP FOR OPEN SOURCE. ITS FREE!

In other news, yers truly was on the radio here in town yesterday and coast to coast this morning. Locally, I filed a piece for WPLN about the Nashville Symphony's opening night with an all Gershwin program. And this morning I had a piece on Weekend Edition Saturday about Steve Cropper and Felix Cavaliere's new Stax album Nudge It Up A Notch.