creekwater - Posted - 07/04/2009:  09:49:38

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In the above I meant to say "I don't remember Rocky saying anything hateful to anybody. Of course I didn't either !

''" too much to pick, too short of time"

[URL=http://entertainment.webshots.com/photo/2749996820105254586HemFRI][/URL]

jack crowder - Posted - 07/05/2009:  07:20:54

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I have heard it said when you reach a certain point, you are no longer playing music, you are in the music business. If you are in the bluegrass music business you should know that bluegrass fans have a different set of expectations. We want to be able to spend a moment or two with the the folks we paid to hear perform.
Since I call myself a banjo player I tend to want autographs from the various players I truly enjoy. Doug Dillard, Kenny Ingram Sammy Shelor, Bill Keith, Ben Eldridge, Greg Cahill were all more than happy to spend a moment signing a banjo head and exchanging the pleasentries of the day.
In Southern Gospel music I have heard this type of interaction called, "A shake and howdy."
The performers who won't come to the CD/DVD table and chat to the people who are buying these CD's and DVD's certainly have that right and I will respect that right.
If I remember right, most CD's are $15 at the tables. That means I need to work at my day job for a little less than an hour to pay for that CD. I will buy a CD's from the folks that cared enough about their fans, me, to to extend a couple of minutes of their time. I will get in my pickup and go to the concerts of those who have shown me they want my business.
I've met Ricky Skaggs at a bluegrass venue and to be honest I felt as though I was intruding into his time or space or something... I know I'll never get to meet Jimmy Mills because I won't be attending a Ricky Skaggs concert.
I am on the other side of the music business, I am one of the people who spend my hard earned money to support the artists and their products.
I've made a very simple business decision, if an artist wants my support, they need to earn it, I have that right.

Retropicker - Posted - 07/05/2009:  07:47:18

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Standing applause

quote:

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Originally posted by Studebaker Hawk

quote:

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Originally posted by 10gauge

My favorite artist is Paul Simon and for a long time wanted to meed him and have a short coversation. This interest lead me to research a little about others experiences in meeting Mr. Simon. Of course the reactions were mixed, and I was a little disappointed to find out that it wouldn't necessarily be a magic moment. After some reflection I think that the kind of self-discipline that is required to reach that level of proficiency can often lead to cold or seemingly aloof behaviours. Of course there are plenty of celebrities that are the nicest people you'll meet, but then that same self-discipline could be used to create a nice person facade that is always presented to fans. Which is better, a little rude and nasty but real or always fake nice. I suppose it would be great if people were genuinely nice all of the time, but that just isn't reality. I bet that if you could hang out with Ricky Skaggs day to day you would get a real picture of who the man is and it would be hard predict who that would be.

Jonathan O''bug

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You have to ask? Being fake and nice all the time wins out, hands down... it's called being CIVIL to strangers.

There are days when I absolutely do not want to talk to anybody, but I do it anyway and with a smile on my face. After a while the smile usually becomes real and it becomes easier to be nice. I have no respect for surly people, celebrities or otherwise, who distain interacting on a decent level with folks they encounter. If a celebrity can’t be nice to a fan -- to the kind of person who fattened up that celebrity’s bank account in the first place -- then I say to hell with that celebrity, and I'll encourage that fan to spend his/her hard-earned money elsewhere.

--Dean

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____Keep the hay in Bluegrass__________________________

Retropicker - Posted - 07/05/2009:  07:50:24

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quote:

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Originally posted by brokenstrings

Wait a second, folks! A musician's (or actor's, or baseball player's) business is TO MAKE MUSIC (or &c). Not to be a nice guy. He/she doesn't owe you his/her life. If this person chooses to be gracious, that's nice, but it isn't required.

Jessy

Frailaway, ladies, frailaway!

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Of course, and we have the option to sit here and say KMA and not support them. RK is a business man who also plays music IMO. I've always found him arrogant. As someone else here said earlier, if it wasnt for Jim Mills I wouldnt listen to him at all.

____Keep the hay in Bluegrass__________________________

DHoffmeyer - Posted - 07/05/2009:  12:51:32

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These topics make me nervous.

I'm usually afraid to talk with bluegrass folks who I don't know, limiting my conversation to a few lines.
When I saw and wanted to meet Tony Trischka, I said, "My name is Dean Hoffmeyer, and I couldn't let you go by without saying hello."
He replied, "Hi Dean."
Then I had a choice - I could chat him up about head tension or Deering or whatever, or I could let him go back to doing his thing.
I said, 'Thanks for your music. Your practice techniques dvd has helped me a lot."
"I appreciate that."

that was it.

Same with every bluegrass master I meet. I was too afraid to talk to Crowe. I've thanked Earl 9 times. For what, I'm not exactly sure. Mostly, I try to leave them alone.




http://www.deanhoffmeyer.com
http://www.nationalfingerpicks.com
http://www.banjohangout.org/forum/t...PIC_ID=45886

mrbook - Posted - 07/05/2009:  15:22:49

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Probably not so much in bluegrass music, but I think in other genres the desire to be famous is almost as important as the music itself. I have heard a lot of artists on stage talk about how important their fans are, so I expect them to civil off stage. Most are nice, and a few had more to say to me than I had to say to them. . Once I complimented someone, and the person seemed to take if wrong and started arguing with me - I just said, "Forget I ever said anything," and walked away, only finding out later he had a bit of a drinking problem. I usually just ask for an autograph on their CD (or record in the old days), and make a favorable comment about their music. I assume they are not that interested in me or my playing, so I don't mention anything. I was pretty tongue-tied talking to Bill Monroe, but he was more interested in talking to my wife, anyway.

I cheerfully sign my band's CDs when asked, and have signed a few thousand copies of a couple books I've written. If I ever become famous I suspect I will always be grateful that someone takes an interest in things I do.

Bill

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Edited by - mrbook on 07/05/2009 15:25:14

eagleisland - Posted - 07/05/2009:  15:45:21

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quote:

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Originally posted by DHoffmeyer


Same with every bluegrass master I meet. I was too afraid to talk to Crowe. I've thanked Earl 9 times. For what, I'm not exactly sure. Mostly, I try to leave them alone.

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That's typically my reaction when I see an artist whose work I admire - tell them how much their music means to me, thank them, and move on.

Having thousands of people who want to meet you comes with being famous, and there are those who seek exactly that. For serious artists, it's not why they got in the biz. I've found that they appreciate the fans to the extent that the fans make it possible for them to continue doing what they do - but they still have their own lives to live. We might own copies of their music, but we don't own them.

eagleisland

"I was halfway to Old Kentucky when the drugs began to kick in." - Hunter S. Monroe

midnightcall72 - Posted - 07/05/2009:  16:07:24

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i have gone to a few Ricky Skaggs concerts. The music is top notch. You can't find beter musicians. Skaggs, every time I have seen him has talked down to us poor hillbillies in the crowd. It was my impression that he had risen above being from the same area as us. I think he was born in Blaine which s maybe 40 miles down the road. But he was way uptown now. Anyway I did get the impression that he thought he was far above us all. A few years later a talked to a guy from a local band who had gone to one of the IBMA or SPBGMA or something and played. He said he ran into skaggs in the elevator and tried to talk to him, he said he didnt even acknowledge his presence. Even with all this I do not feel RIcky owes us anything. I am a nurse. A while back I learned a valuable lesson about my job. People love to be babied and Sugared and dumplin'd, Allthough I never did anything bad or wrong to a pt, the fact that i would call them ma'am and sir and not ooh and ahh and coo and all that garbage... I got reported several times for silly things until I started callin people sweetie and suagr and darlin then i started getting all kinds of good things reported on me, i have got my name in our hospitals newsletter several times now. i RESENT the fact that i am not allowed to do my job and that be enough. I have learned to disike most people so maybe all this just sour grapes. I feel that we dont have to like him to listen to his music. I still listen to him i just dont go to shows. I really dont complain alot about how i felt he was. He is a musician to me, not a clown or escort or best friend. Maybe we expect too much from him. Or maybe I expect too little. I can see where people would be upset when we are paying him to entertain. So who knows. I would imagine he would also be offended by us talking this way about him. But either way he makes 500,000 a yr or more and I complain about him on the internet LOL

You shut your mouth when your talkin to me!--Ricky Bobby