Tools
Street Eats
- Northwest Hiphop Rockets to the Top: Major Players Break Down the Scene
- Other Breaking-Talent Hiphop Events of Note
- The Meaning of Clothes: A Thread Runs from Fashion to Art
- Huffing the Spoken Word: Choice Literary Inhalants
- Dance Picks: Moody Movements
- Theater Preview: Super Stagings
- The Original Tripper: Donovan Sets the Tone for Narcotic Sonic
- Look and Listen: Ben Rubin Gives Shape to Sound
- The Impresario: Warren Etheredge Makes a Safe Haven for Film Fanatics
- Shorty McShortersons: The 1 Reel Film Fest Puts On a Show
- Pizzazz!
- Blow Your Mind Wide Open: Expansive Hiphop from the New and Old Schools
- Pharmaceutical Pop: The Dandy Warhols Bring It in Spades
- Boo-Tay-Licious: Bobby Bare Jr.'s Advice on the Birds and the Beeyotches
- All You Need to Know About the Ink Spot: But Were Too Confused to Ask--Plus, What to See and When
- Hot or Snot?: The Deeper Question of Who's Hotter, Writers or Rock Stars?
- Advice for Young People: From Musicians Who Know Better
- Poet vs. Poet: Andrei Codrescu and Sheri-D Wilson square off in Bumbershoot's Heavyweight Poetry Bout
- SELECT SHOWS: For Your Listening Pleasure and Pain
- SELECT ART: For Your Visual Pleasure (no pain)
"Always carry a dime for the pay phone." "Stay away from the brown acid." While some advice once readily dispensed by folks of older generations now seems as outdated as a hand-crank Victrola, much of it still rings true. (Nobody wants to get wheeled into the emergency room with skid marks on his or her britches if he or she can avoid it.) Recognizing that young musicians are rarely lauded for their common sense, The Stranger rang up four Bumbershoot participants aged 65 and over, and asked them to pass along some knowledge they've accrued. And then, for a reality check, we polled a quartet of local performers who aren't yet eligible for Social Security, and solicited opinions on how their forebears felt.
1. PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE
Stranger Personals
At 81, jazz drummer and bandleader Chico Hamilton still tries to practice every day. "You've got to, to keep your chops up," he says. "The instrument demands it, and so does the music." If you aren't up to speed, mentally and physically, then new ideas can't flow through an artist as freely, Hamilton insists.
No argument there from Pedro the Lion's David Bazan; the morning we called, he was preparing to run through his piano scales. "Over the last year, I've been making a concerted effort to [practice every day] and study all the instruments I play in a more focused manner," says the 27-year-old multi-instrumentalist. "I see a lot of limitations that I have, and there are so many guys who can kick my ass, on whatever instrument, that I just want to be better."
2. DON'T BE HALF-ASSED ABOUT YOUR CAREER
Wanda Jackson has never held a day job; a radio regular by the age of 13, performing is all she's ever known. But at 65, the Queen of Rockabilly realizes not every hopeful may enjoy her good fortune. "I tell people that if you can do anything else and be happy, you should probably do that instead. But if you can't, then follow your dream."
Just remember, it's easier to rock for a living when you don't have mortgage payments. The 35-year-old father and husband who quits his six-figure programming gig to pursue postponed adolescent dreams of being in Van Halen will probably wind up broke and single, observes Eddie Spaghetti, 36. "But when you're a kid, like I was when I set out to conquer the world, putting yourself out there 100 percent seemed the right thing to do," says the Supersuckers' singer-guitarist. "I was 19, I had literally nothing to lose, and that was the only way to do it."
3. BEING DEAD CAN PAY OFF
When the big-screen version of The Blues Brothers originally came out in 1980, '60s soul giant Solomon Burke claims he was surprised to find his song "Everybody Needs Somebody to Love" incorrectly credited as a Wilson Pickett composition. "My attorney said, 'Say nothing. Wait until the movie is in 75 percent of the theaters,'" recalls the Grammy-winning King of Rock & Soul, 67. Once the box-office numbers were out, they contacted his old label. "When we called, they said, 'We thought Solomon died.' Well, he has risen and he would like a check!" He received one within 48 hours.
4. SOAPBOXES ARE SLIPPERY
"My daddy would be the first to tell me, 'Don't you give your opinion about politics or religion,'" recalls Jackson. Since becoming a Christian in 1971, Jackson has added a brief testimonial to her secular sets, but she still sides with Daddy on politics; she expresses sympathy for Dixie Chicks' Natalie Maines on her outspoken opinions on Bush, but stresses that artists should be aware of the repercussions of voicing controversial opinions.
Surprisingly, considering his band's involvement in raising awareness about the West Memphis Three, and his friendship with Steve Earle, Spaghetti eschewed politics entirely until he grew older and developed concerns more pressing than scoring extra drink tickets. "But I think a lot of bands are guilty of seeing an artist that they admire stand up for a cause that they believe in, and thinking, 'Okay, this is part of your resumé,'" he observes. "'I have to be an ex-heroin-addict, I have to drink Pabst Blue Ribbon out of the can, and I have to have a cause.' That's when it rubs me the wrong way."
5. MAKING COMMERCIALS SELLING OUT
In 1966, Hamilton started composing for TV commercials. His clients included Volkswagen, Ivory soap, and Revlon. "There's nothing wrong with writing music to sell [products]," says the drummer. "It's still music. Whether anybody did or didn't dig it, that's their problem. During that period, the only jazz that got played on television was in commercials."
Improvisational saxophone whiz Skerik (ex-Tuatara/Critters Buggin'), 38, notes that while it was an impressive accomplishment that an artist of color landed such high-profile gigs back then, he wouldn't be comfortable writing jingles himself. "We have an expression at the studio where I work a lot: By the time you've heard a genre of music in a car commercial, you know it's over."
But Spaghetti doesn't see the overlap between music and commerce as evil, and once happily pocketed a check from Mountain Dew. "You're talking about artists that have to struggle to make ends meet as it is. Do you want them to be able to make music, or have to get a job flopping Whoppers somewhere?"
6. DRESS FOR SUCCESS
In her 1996 autobiography, Miss Rhythm, R&B singer Ruth Brown recalls her manager instructing "more is less" when it came to attire, so she always selects her outfits carefully. "When I get ready to go on stage, I don't want people to feel like I was just in the neighborhood and walked in," she insists. Maktub frontman Reggie Watts agrees. In personal style as in music, he aims to strike a balance between the casual and the calculated. "I want to come out looking good," he explains, "but comfortable in what I'm wearing."
7. BUT CHECK THE DRESS CODE FIRST
With her custom-made dresses and high heels, Jackson was the first female to give country's dowdy image a shot of glamour. But her look backfired the sole time she played the Grand Ole Opry. Opry regular Ernest Tubb caught sight of the spaghetti straps on her gown, and told her she had to cover her shoulders: official Opry policy. "Apparently he wasn't worried about the cleavage," she chuckles. "Just the shoulders."
8. HAVE FUN!
Elvis famously encouraged Jackson to give rockabilly a try, but she picked up another pointer while touring with the King in the mid-'50s, too: "I learned about not taking yourself too seriously from him. He was always laughing at stuff he did wrong. He had fun on stage, and helped everybody else have fun."
"Taking yourself too seriously gets old fast," agrees Bazan. "We opened up for the Breeders a year and a half ago. And Kelley [Deal] had a tough time getting most of the licks right, and she screwed up the lyrics to one song, but the band was just having such a kickass time that so was everybody in the audience, so it didn't matter."
9. SAVE SOMETHING FOR YOUR MEMOIRS
At 75, Brown has outlived many of her peers. "I'm older than Aretha, Etta James, everybody! And I'm the one that's got all the gossip. They know I know the truth, and they're scared of me," she laughs. Publishers, take note: "I am ready to write book number two!"
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