MLK Day in VA

As I posted yesterday I spent MLK day giving a presentation at Emory & Henry College in Emory, VA.  After I made the post I had an opportunity to hang out w/ the kids for a smaller workshop & we had a really inspiring conversation.  The opening question was "what can we do to sustain the spirit of change that we've cultivated at school, when we leave & go out into the real world?"  I think the only way to truly achieve what you want in life is to surround yourself with people who share a similar vision.  That's not to say you ought to hang out only w/ people who agree with you - every prize-fighter learns to spar long before they become a champion.  It is to say, though that the people around you will inevitably help to enhance or diminish you.  As my mom always told me growing up "show me your friends, and I'll show you who you are."

Our culture has a tendency to lionize the successful, without necessarily acknowledging the full cast of characters it takes to make a leading man or leading lady.  It can be daunting for anyone to aspire to the heights achieved by those you admire, without realising that they didn't make it alone - no one ever does.

We are all products of our community, and our success or failure is heavily influenced by the people we surround ourselves with.  This doesn't mean, if you came up in a community where no one has done what you aspire to, that you need to lower your aspirations.  The reality is, sometimes to transcend the constraints of the community we're in, we need to go out and build a new one.  I'm blessed to be part of a community of artists, thinkers & change-makers who have something to say about the world we live in and are committed to making a positive impact.  I'm happy to have found some kindred spirits down in Emory!

Check out the video of the event they put together above, plus a bonus excerpt below.

D.N.A

THE MILLION DOWNLOAD CAMPAIGN

You wanna be down? DOWNLOAD!

Million Download Campaign - Voices of Change

I'm spending this MLK Day at Emory & Henry College in Emory, VA giving a keynote & a workshop looking at the "power of music in times of social unrest."  I love that I was asked to give a talk about artistry on a day when people are commemorating an icon of the Civil Rights Movement, because I think too often music and other forms of art are relegated to a kind of sideshow in discussions of societal change.  Music is fun, it's cool to kick it with at the club, but when we're talking about serious economic, political and social challenges, there's no room for that sort of "frivolous" thing.

To that I say there's always room for Jell-O.  And there's even more room for creatives to take a place at the table in any discussion of where society is going.  I was asked today before I began my talk about what has happened to "real music" or "music with meaning" in our culture.  I know artists who are making meaningful statements in beautiful and impactful fashion on a regular basis, but who are not necessarily the ones you hear.  The reality is, the consolidation of the Recording Industry has arguably constricted the breadth of traditional outlets for development and promotion of talent - if the best Indie labels are gobbled up by majors, the economics of running a multinational corporation will more often than not trump the kind of risk required to develop, launch and ultimately "break" truly groundbreaking voices.  The very risk that was historically taken by those Indies.

This is not to say that there isn't amazing music being made in the world today, even in the mainstream industry.  But when you peer past the initial veneer of artistic success, you start to wonder how many of today's major acts are actually doing something new, and how many are revisiting and reinventing sounds & styles of the past?

In the end, it may indeed be true that there is nothing new under the sun; as artists we are all discovering, interpreting and building upon those who played before us.  But if we truly want to reframe the kind of music we hear, we need to start by reforming or replacing the systems that deliver that music to us.  

The voices of change may not be perceived as profitable by the Major labels, but they've never mattered more than in these times of global upheaval.  I want to hear songs that speak to my heart & soul, as well as those that stimulate the swaying of savory hips.  In the end, we will vote with our feet, our tweets, our pocketbooks and word on the street, for the music that ultimately matters most to us.

D.N.A

THE MILLION DOWNLOAD CAMPAIGN

You wanna be down? DOWNLOAD!

The Power of Peace

So it's coming upon Martin Luther King day and I've had the opportunity to give a couple of really cool talks this week on some of the lessons we might learn from him.  I also had a chance to write a piece on the subject, and I decided to take a slightly different tack from the usual.  Typically at this time we talk about MLK in the context of race relations.  But I feel his message & what we can learn from him goes far beyond the limited arena of race.  So here are my thoughts on what our reflection on MLK might teach us about one of the key issues of our day - the challenge of global terrorism.  Check out The Power of Peace on Oprah.com.