“Becoming famous and selling a lot of records doesn't change a thing.”
- Macy Gray
Back in the early nineties I was in Nashville for some reason, unremembered by me now. I wandered into a small bar downtown. It was nearly empty, maybe there were five or six other people in there. There was a band playing in the corner. I ordered a drink and sat myself down at a table. What I witnessed then has always stayed with me because it drove home for me that talent alone might only get you so far.
The guitar player in the band made me gape in astonishment. He was the filthiest virtuoso I'd ever seen. In musical parlance he was a MONSTER. I thought, what's this guy doin' here in this no-name bar playing to no more people than it would take to field a baseball team? I still think about that guy and his prodigious skill. I wonder what happened to him.
I know most everyone's probably had a similar experience. You happen to see or hear a band or artist that is virtually unknown and are gobsmacked by their talent. You think, “How is it that they are not famous?" You then probably think about people who are famous that you consider hacks. ”They couldn't carry that person's guitar case." you think. Unfair! Thanks again, life.
There are lots of variables that go into “making it”, whatever that means: talent, luck, ambition, stubbornness, right place, right time and whether someone actually desires to “make it.”
Over the last few years I've had the good fortune of being around musicians who are off the charts talented. Without any doubt, they could stand on a stage with anyone, anywhere and never miss a lick. I can't speak for them, but my sense is that most don't covet or crave the life that comes with “making it.” And a few of them I know have experienced what that world is like and have chosen to step away from it.
Whatever the case, I'm just thankful for all the musicians and the music they make, in big and smalls ways, from the stadium-filling famous to the street corner buskers. What would life be without them?
Back in the early aughts, when new music was still something you had to work at to find, I came across this bunch. The Damnwells are a Brooklyn band that had a couple of albums out at the time. I was hooked right off. Why they've never caught on, who knows. I've yet to run into anyone that's familiar with them. They're still out there banging away, though. Rock on, fellas.
Who has dazzled you that nobody knows?