The comments in Ms. Mac Donald’s articles sums up the surge of anti-Sandow Declinism can be found here: http://www.city-journal.org/comments/index.php?story=6427

Add to that some very insightful words from Drew McManus and a number of additional comments here: http://www.adaptistration.com/2010/08/13/an-ugly-war-of-words/

Thank you for the fantastic discussion and for your refreshing honesty. I am a big fan of 8bb and Steve Mackey but when I saw Slide last summer at Ojai last summer I was bored out of my mind. I don’t expect you to agree but I don’t think the problem is your marketing skills but that in this case there is a lack of something “meaningful, unique, interesting to say.” The 8bb recital at Stanford next spring is the first opportunity to see the group that I will pass up.

I am looking forward to the next 8bb project whatever it is!

Thanks all.

Perhaps the issue is with the compositions themselves. Our original writer (who probably no longer ever wishes to write anything ever again, but I hope I’m incorrect) wrote: “There is a sense, I believe, that while enjoying new theater only requires you to be human and open, appreciating new music requires training, initiation into the secret meaning of all those farts and squeaks.”

Exactly…but not because of the sense of required initiation, but let’s highlight the last three words: “Farts and Squeaks” (blog/band name, anybody?)

Not every composer is great, though they should strive daily to be. Not every work they produce is a masterpiece, though they should yearn for it to be so. Maybe everybody should do the best they can, at composing, performing, marketing, etc…and just relax about the meta-issues of the State Of Art Music As We Know It, And Our Impending Doom Or Victory.

“Do your work, then step back. The only path to serenity.”

While I understand this perspective, particularly when it is an reaction to an overemphasis on marketing, I’d caution against the very real possibility of slipping into a disregard for the audience or complacency regarding the extraordinarily competitive world of professional performing arts.

For example, none of the birds has commented on this blog. It’s not that they don’t care, they are all reading and discussion the comments, it’s simply that they don’t have time. I’m on the road with them right now and seeing firsthand how much work they put in. Between traveling, loading in setting up, rehearsing, tech, performance, meet & greet, etc., a 12-16 hour day isn’t unusual.

In a very real sense, they are doing what James and other suggest; they’re just focusing on their art. They play music they love. What it’s called, how relevant it is, their popularity, etc., is secondary. No doubt their relentless focus on mastering their craft has been essential to their success.

On the other hand, I am paid to think about these things. So is our publicist, marketing consultant, graphic designer, booking agent, etc. Our Board thinks about these things, and pays us for the privilege. We all collectively think, talk and worry about these issues. We have to if these six musicians we all adore can be let free to just focus on their music, and still pay their rent.

eighth blackbird performed Rinde Eckert and Steve Mackey’s Slide at the Harris Theater in Chicago recently. We had a very small audience and lost money. We didn’t have a small audience because eighth blackbird didn’t have something “meaningful, unique, interesting to say”; we had a small audience because I didn’t market the show well.

The more I focus on eighth blackbird’s popularity, the more their audience grows, the more money they make, the more they can concentrate on creating great art. This is not a new formula.

I don’t think James is suggesting that artists work without any regard as to how their art reaches an audience. I’m confident he is rather cautioning against paying too much attention to it at the expense of the art itself. I am just likewise cautioning artists against taking for granted the tremendous amount of work it takes to make an audience aware that the art is out there. An independent artist needs to know who their audience is, what they want, who else their competing with for an audience’s time and money, how to market, etc. If such an artist is lucky and can grow, then they can eventually pay someone else to do all of that.

I just realized: arts administrators are really matchmakers. Call me Yenta.