I’m back to writing every day, it would be nice if I had something to write about. I have been feeling under the weather and spent my first free day after the WFUV member drive not moving. My plan was to not leave the apartment and not even get dressed. My plan succeeded. My health is still not 100%. I’ll still get sporadic deep coughs. I will get sleepy, but I was able to stay awake most of the day even if all I did was watch TV. Part of the plan was that it was a good TV day. There was game seven of the NLCS, Dodgers vs Brewers, Prime Video put Antman and the Wasp on sale for $2.99, and the third season of Daredevil was on Netflix.
I’m feeling better today but still didn’t go out this morning to see The Whiskey Charmers. They played a brunch gig in the City. I knew it would be difficult for me to get out that early on the Sunday after a member drive but they rarely play New York and I very much wanted to go. They aren’t just a great band but Carrie and Lawrence are also kindred spirits. They describe their genre as “Alt Country Desert Noir.” This is a band from Detroit. On Instagram Lawrence calls himself, “the other Whiskey Charmer.” Sorry guys, next time you’re in town I’ll catch you. I’m still deciding on whether I’m up for going out tonight to see Simon Chrisman & Wes Corbett//Hannah Read at the House of Love. I’m not familiar with Simon and Wes but I love Hannah and I trust the taste of Amy, the host. It also means socializing with Amy, Hannah, and the Brooklyn Scene people. My brain is telling me to stay home. My body is telling me to stay home. My soul is saying, go! I’ll have to decide soon, I don’t want to cancel at the last minute. Just had a flashback to a far less gracious house concert host that put me on a permanent “difficult” list when I had to cancel because of a Crohn’s attack. Amy will simply be disappointed if I can’t make it. I’m going to let my body tell me how strongly it feels about this. If I cough before I finish writing and posting this I’m staying home. Otherwise I’m going. My body has spoken. I didn’t cough but my sinus started hurting. I’ll disappoint myself and stay home.
There’s something I forgot to write about yesterday. I wrote that Emily Elbert rarely performs with a band even though that’s how I like her best. She’s not the only artist that’s true of; the economics of music is unforgiving, it’s difficult to make enough money to pay a band. This isn’t new, it’s what killed the big bands in the thirties and forties. It’s caused the demise of many of my favorite bands.
Money also gets in the way of recording music. Side musicians and production values cost money. It’s very difficult for an independent musician’s recording to match someone with corporate backing. Financing music, financing art, has always been a conundrum. One period where it worked well was Renaissance Italy, where the great, da Vinci, Michelangelo, Raphael, and the rest were supported by wealthy patrons. The Medicis and Borgias might have been brutal and corrupt but they had a deep appreciation of art and knew what was good. That’s not only a system we don’t want to duplicate I doubt it’s one that one that we could. There was a lot of chance involved. Rich patrons are just as likely, perhaps more likely, to be more like Donald Trump than Lorenzo the Magnificent.
The entrepreneur model of art has its advantages, it brought us Rembrandt and Beethoven, though it failed Mozart. It’s the primary way pop music is financed today. Artists sell their wares. The problem is the one I pointed out, it costs money to make recordings and hire musicians. There is so much chance involved in this. Kevin Bacon happens to catch a video of Lake Street Dive and they become stars who can afford all the production values they need. They are great musicians but the same system gives the resources to untalented people that make a media sensation.
Can we do better? Yes but there is no panacea. The National Council of Arts is always fighting for its life. It could, and should, play the role that the great families filled in Renaissance Europe. But how would they decide who gets the financing. That’s what I’ve been thinking long and hard about. The only part I’m sure of is that it’s very difficult. I’ll be honest, the system I want is for people, (I’m thinking people including me) are giving a budget that they can spend as they wish. But how do you choose which people? The key is to have a variety of ways of choosing them, then give more money to the ones that prove more successful. Some should be community based, the art patron would be a local elected official. Some could be chosen by committees of artists . Others can be people from the critical and academic communities.
When suggesting something new you need to find the weaknesses of the plan. Here’s the obvious one is cronyism. People will choose to fund their friends. Then there’s corruption, funding people willing to give kickbacks. If you give grants the way they are given at present the problem is that it rewards skill at grant writing as much as it does artistic talent.
Even with government funding it can’t only be government funding. Art critical of the government would have trouble getting funded. Art that offends some would have trouble in any democracy. Great art has a great power to offend. We have festivals dedicated to banned books, films, and music.
If I win the mega-millions one thing you can be sure of is that I’ll do my best to be a Medici, without the intrigue. I’m looking at the downside of that now. Sure I’d love telling Emily, buy as much studio time and the production team you need. I’d hate telling people, “sorry, you don’t move me enough for me to finance you.” I’d even hate telling The Act that I don’t want to support their music.
The one thing we can do is work to elect Democrats, the Republicans are always suspicious of spending on the arts. They don’t see it as a proper government function. That does not make them terrible people. The negatives loom larger for them and the benefits smaller. But it does make them people I don’t want in power.
I didn’t fall asleep writing this. That’s a victory. I have CDs to rip and photos and videos to edit that go back ages. Maybe I’ll be able to get some of that taken care of today. I wouldn’t count on it. I see acetaminophen in my future.
Wise Madness 