I was taking a nice afternoon nap yesterday when my father bounded down the stairs and tossed me the phone. My aunt was on the other end, giving me the exclusive dish on a wonderful film making its debut in Nashville, TN. Its creator happens to be a friend of my cousin's. Not that I can recall meeting this man when he lived in Paris, TN, but he's got an AMAZING documentary to share with the world. It makes me regret not being able to land a ticket to the film festival next week to sneak a peek. Ladies and gentlemen....feast your eyes on the masterpiece that is "Broke*"
What's It All About?
A hot-topic documentary by independent Hip-Hop/Americana artist Will Gray exploring the depths of the struggle of artists thriving in today's industry world, as well as his own journey as an artist recording his debut album. The trailer alone has me on the edge of my seat. The first line from Seth Godin is ear-catching and extremely poignant. "There will never be another Beatles..." is the kind of thing that makes you sit and think about the worth of today's music, and how many artists who ARE worth something often get overshadowed by artists who just come and go with an industrialized, generic brand attached to their music. And it goes on with "In ten years, this Industry will break", and that's EXACTLY how I feel! I know that I'm technically "old" now and certain kinds of music aren't for me, but I feel like the end is near when your mother can pay three thousand dollars to make a video where your voice is saturated in auto-tune, and you make millions on iTunes, although it's pure garbage. We have people eating this up, PR agents pushing it and selling artists' souls for the love of money. Will Gray has an amazing brainchild with Broke*. Watch the trailer, watch it again, and absorb the message. You'll find something new every time. What I consider to be the most important part of this trailer is the theme of "shifting". That term just rolls off the tongue. Shift. I think it would be great for an artist to switch the industry game up and make it on their own terms, with their own teams, and their own foundation of fans behind them. That's a beautiful thing! I know of quite a few artists who have done just that. They've come from Youtube, from message boards, and even backyard shows to end up become very famous and in contact with well-paying projects. Social sharing and word-of-mouth can be a very powerful thing.
Examples to Sample...
Take the group Pomplamoose, for example. Some people might say "who?" I was one of them, until my facebook friend Billy posted a video of the lead singer Natalie Dawn singing a version of "Cigarettes and Chocolate Milk". I was in love with her smooth, creamy voice with just one song. She was hip, she was indie, she was herself. There wasn't a thick layer of pretense all over her. She and her partner, Jack Conte were pretty much making their music with some mics, actual instruments, recording tools, a computer, and heart. I was no longer saying "who?". I was subscribing to their Youtube account, trying to watch all of their videos, googling my butt off trying to find extra pages of their material, and trying to download and save every single free song they had to my iPod. I was washing my hair and grooving to Natalie's rendition to "September" by Earth, Wind, and Fire by the end of the week. I was an instant fan and wanted all I could soak up of their presence. When they did "Single Ladies", that was IT! The duo took the Internet world by storm. This was all about two years ago, by the way. By this time, they were already warm and ready to be on fire. They already had the status of thousands of hits and an endless host of comments on Natalie's physical and vocal beauty. People loved their indie spirit. All of a sudden, they're doing jewelry commercials. Hell, all of a sudden and a year later, They're doing car commercials for the Christmas season! Even Wikipedia has given them their own page. Although the Wik is a great way to get the basics (and remember kids, anyone can change the information if it's not a locked page...), not every artist out there has this so-called "honor of the Internet". In this world of tomorrow, today, that kind of notoriety means something. It usually means you've gone beyond the million count of viewers and listeners. Instant success is very very possible in this day and age. It can be meaningful (as in an Indie artist getting the views necessary to create fanbase), or it could be for all the wrong reasons (as in getting passed around certain sites, having parodies made, etc. Basically the negative side of the previously mentioned positive.) In ten years, the industry just might fall indeed. With the power of social sites, Youtube, and word of mouth, good old-fashioned elbow grease will be the thing that gets artists that piece of notoriety. They won't have to compromise their style or their person via a stylist or a PR person. They'll be able to be heard and seen and evolve naturally and more than likely be able to do what they love and live well from it in the process. I tell you what, I'd love to be able to do that with my writing.
A Sista and Her Soapbox (The Intermission)
The artist will become their own industry. The team of people who honestly love them will become their support. They'll be able to become that "overnight success" by hard work. Suddenly those tracks they've put on iTunes will be worth millions. Fans will clamor and max out their cards to see them. And at the end of the day....THE INDUSTRY WILL NOT BE THERE TO CHANGE THEM. I had to put that in all caps for a reason. So many artists I love like Brooke Valentine and Jazzmine Sullivan have disappeared from the limelight not because they are no longer relevant, but they simply refuse to buckle to some of the "requirements" of the industry. They refuse to obey these rules and have become so frustrated that they part ways or seek other outlets to grow their material. I'm sure it hurts like Hell to come up one minute, and then have to fight battle after battle only to come crashing down after all that hard work. And why? All because people want you to be something you are not.
Intermission Over--Last Call...
Let me get off my soapbox and get back to this amazing movie. According to the website, there's a reason why that little asterisk is there. A strong reason indeed, considering such a rich topic under discussion. It's a "symbol of hope" meant to "break through barriers of life" to obtain that status of a champion and step over those rules we've been told to follow. Ah yes, a "badge of courage". Doggone it, lucky Nashville folk. I'm all the way up here in Chicago, getting so BUZZED off this tip. It makes me regret choosing to live here, lol. I had a chance to reside in TN and I should have taken it! OY! I'm getting schooled on a man I should have known all along, but feel like I get to know him on another level. The entire world needs to get to know this man. Outside of the movie, Will is also a a muisician. We're talking sick beats, polished rhythm, and AMAZING energy. This isn't genre-specific where only one or two people will like it. This music drips with just as much diversity as the film Mr. Gray has created.
Broke* has starpower. And I'm not even talking about the ntimate interviews with a host of well-known people. There's a message and a movement. I cannot begin to do this documentary justice because I'm completely overwhelmed at all the wonderfulness before me. I've been on the site for well over 5 hours and counting, scrubbing and scouring and reading and grooving and wondering where the heck I put my credit card. I'm glad my aunt called me and I'm jealous of my cousin, because he gets to be there to meet up with Will! LUCKY LUCKY! In the meantime, I suggest you favorite this page and keep checking back. I sense a lot of fast changes as Will Gray blasts off (further/farther) into the cosmos as a musical superstar. Stay connected with Will & Broke*. There's Twitter and Facebook if you want to "like" the movie and be updated.
What's It All About?
A hot-topic documentary by independent Hip-Hop/Americana artist Will Gray exploring the depths of the struggle of artists thriving in today's industry world, as well as his own journey as an artist recording his debut album. The trailer alone has me on the edge of my seat. The first line from Seth Godin is ear-catching and extremely poignant. "There will never be another Beatles..." is the kind of thing that makes you sit and think about the worth of today's music, and how many artists who ARE worth something often get overshadowed by artists who just come and go with an industrialized, generic brand attached to their music. And it goes on with "In ten years, this Industry will break", and that's EXACTLY how I feel! I know that I'm technically "old" now and certain kinds of music aren't for me, but I feel like the end is near when your mother can pay three thousand dollars to make a video where your voice is saturated in auto-tune, and you make millions on iTunes, although it's pure garbage. We have people eating this up, PR agents pushing it and selling artists' souls for the love of money. Will Gray has an amazing brainchild with Broke*. Watch the trailer, watch it again, and absorb the message. You'll find something new every time. What I consider to be the most important part of this trailer is the theme of "shifting". That term just rolls off the tongue. Shift. I think it would be great for an artist to switch the industry game up and make it on their own terms, with their own teams, and their own foundation of fans behind them. That's a beautiful thing! I know of quite a few artists who have done just that. They've come from Youtube, from message boards, and even backyard shows to end up become very famous and in contact with well-paying projects. Social sharing and word-of-mouth can be a very powerful thing.
Examples to Sample...
Take the group Pomplamoose, for example. Some people might say "who?" I was one of them, until my facebook friend Billy posted a video of the lead singer Natalie Dawn singing a version of "Cigarettes and Chocolate Milk". I was in love with her smooth, creamy voice with just one song. She was hip, she was indie, she was herself. There wasn't a thick layer of pretense all over her. She and her partner, Jack Conte were pretty much making their music with some mics, actual instruments, recording tools, a computer, and heart. I was no longer saying "who?". I was subscribing to their Youtube account, trying to watch all of their videos, googling my butt off trying to find extra pages of their material, and trying to download and save every single free song they had to my iPod. I was washing my hair and grooving to Natalie's rendition to "September" by Earth, Wind, and Fire by the end of the week. I was an instant fan and wanted all I could soak up of their presence. When they did "Single Ladies", that was IT! The duo took the Internet world by storm. This was all about two years ago, by the way. By this time, they were already warm and ready to be on fire. They already had the status of thousands of hits and an endless host of comments on Natalie's physical and vocal beauty. People loved their indie spirit. All of a sudden, they're doing jewelry commercials. Hell, all of a sudden and a year later, They're doing car commercials for the Christmas season! Even Wikipedia has given them their own page. Although the Wik is a great way to get the basics (and remember kids, anyone can change the information if it's not a locked page...), not every artist out there has this so-called "honor of the Internet". In this world of tomorrow, today, that kind of notoriety means something. It usually means you've gone beyond the million count of viewers and listeners. Instant success is very very possible in this day and age. It can be meaningful (as in an Indie artist getting the views necessary to create fanbase), or it could be for all the wrong reasons (as in getting passed around certain sites, having parodies made, etc. Basically the negative side of the previously mentioned positive.) In ten years, the industry just might fall indeed. With the power of social sites, Youtube, and word of mouth, good old-fashioned elbow grease will be the thing that gets artists that piece of notoriety. They won't have to compromise their style or their person via a stylist or a PR person. They'll be able to be heard and seen and evolve naturally and more than likely be able to do what they love and live well from it in the process. I tell you what, I'd love to be able to do that with my writing.
A Sista and Her Soapbox (The Intermission)
The artist will become their own industry. The team of people who honestly love them will become their support. They'll be able to become that "overnight success" by hard work. Suddenly those tracks they've put on iTunes will be worth millions. Fans will clamor and max out their cards to see them. And at the end of the day....THE INDUSTRY WILL NOT BE THERE TO CHANGE THEM. I had to put that in all caps for a reason. So many artists I love like Brooke Valentine and Jazzmine Sullivan have disappeared from the limelight not because they are no longer relevant, but they simply refuse to buckle to some of the "requirements" of the industry. They refuse to obey these rules and have become so frustrated that they part ways or seek other outlets to grow their material. I'm sure it hurts like Hell to come up one minute, and then have to fight battle after battle only to come crashing down after all that hard work. And why? All because people want you to be something you are not.
Intermission Over--Last Call...
Let me get off my soapbox and get back to this amazing movie. According to the website, there's a reason why that little asterisk is there. A strong reason indeed, considering such a rich topic under discussion. It's a "symbol of hope" meant to "break through barriers of life" to obtain that status of a champion and step over those rules we've been told to follow. Ah yes, a "badge of courage". Doggone it, lucky Nashville folk. I'm all the way up here in Chicago, getting so BUZZED off this tip. It makes me regret choosing to live here, lol. I had a chance to reside in TN and I should have taken it! OY! I'm getting schooled on a man I should have known all along, but feel like I get to know him on another level. The entire world needs to get to know this man. Outside of the movie, Will is also a a muisician. We're talking sick beats, polished rhythm, and AMAZING energy. This isn't genre-specific where only one or two people will like it. This music drips with just as much diversity as the film Mr. Gray has created.
Broke* has starpower. And I'm not even talking about the ntimate interviews with a host of well-known people. There's a message and a movement. I cannot begin to do this documentary justice because I'm completely overwhelmed at all the wonderfulness before me. I've been on the site for well over 5 hours and counting, scrubbing and scouring and reading and grooving and wondering where the heck I put my credit card. I'm glad my aunt called me and I'm jealous of my cousin, because he gets to be there to meet up with Will! LUCKY LUCKY! In the meantime, I suggest you favorite this page and keep checking back. I sense a lot of fast changes as Will Gray blasts off (further/farther) into the cosmos as a musical superstar. Stay connected with Will & Broke*. There's Twitter and Facebook if you want to "like" the movie and be updated.