One of the most anticipated panel discussions available on my schedule for South by Southwest in 2021 was “We Want Live Shows Again! Concerts in a Post-COVID World.” Hosted by Adam Shore (the US General Manager/Programmer of Driift, a global live-streaming company), the conversation took place between Michelle Cable (Booking Agent & Manager/Panache Booking, Panache Management) and Tom Windish (Sr. Exec/Paradigm Talent Agency) as they addressed the future of live concerts.
Adam Shore jumped right in by asking Michelle Cable what aspects she saw being different that pre-COVID, once artists begin touring again. She is sure that a lot is going to change, “The protocols are going to be a lot more specific, not going to be as relaxed. From guest lists to ordering drinks to loading in to a venue; how we structure deals and confirm shows and how last minutes changes happen because of the precariousness of the COVID situation. I think we can expect a full overhaul of the live touring industry. We don’t know what that’s going to be yet.” In addition, Cable works with Australian artists that have started playing again. They are having to check-in when they travel from state to state. If they go to the grocery store or get a coffee, they are scanning a QR code that keeps track of COVID hotspots. Additionally, venues are paying for a COVID marshal “who acts as extra security to make sure people use their masks and follow protocols.” She sees the artists and crews are going to have to provide COVID safety plans.
Things in the United States are going to be a different situation: Tom Windish thinks the artists and crews will take on COVID protocols themselves – he doesn’t see a national protocol or even a state protocol. “There may be just some regulations or guidelines for venues in certain cities or states.” Windish also said, “It is too early to see how it will pan out. I think a big thing is we don’t know yet is how will the money, the additional costs that are incurred for any sort of COVID protocol, whether government-mandated or not, will affect the artist. Unfortunately, I’m afraid it will affect the artist negatively. It will be different for every venue – it’s really too early for any venue to really know what the finances will look like. We’ve got a ways to go to figure it out.”
Shore’s next question for Cable addressed the artists’ personal lives, “How have you seen your bands take advantage of this time away from the road?” Her response indicated that it has been a fruitful time for the artists:
It’s been a different experience for most of the artists I work with. Fortunately, a majority of the artists I work with have taken this time to get really creative. Those that have been on the road for a decade have taken this time to heal and get healthy and be a little more human again. This has been a time for people to accomplish goals that are outside of touring. Some have collaborated, done more writing, producing other artists. A few artists that I have managed have started their own labels. It’s been a healing time, a time to restructure. A lot of started families during this time. People have gotten really creative with, like, their merch, like direct to consumer and fan engagement.
Shore’s next question was directed to Windish: “How do you see the agent, and the service the agent provides, being different going forward?” Windish explained:
There has been this hamster wheel for years – band makes a great song, gets interest, meets with tons of labels, signs a record deal, puts out the record, tours for like a year, and then does that again for as long as possible. How are we going to make the most on the shows, sell the most records? This time has given artists a chance to sort of step back and evaluate all the different sections of their business, all the way they communicate with their fans, gather new fans and try to make them better. There’s a lot of tools out there that most artists and their teams barely use or don’t use them very well. An example is selling merch on your website. There’s a lot more that can be done, and I’m not just talking about more products. How can you communicate with your audience the best? Also all the socials and everything.
To your question, I think a lot about services that agencies provide, or traditionally provided, versus what artists really need. Social media, for instance, is a big one. Most artists don’t have experts that are helping them with their social media strategies. Another is all this e-commerce stuff. People that help, like, look at your e-commerce or e-strategy across everything are really, really interesting. I’m talking to people that kind of go out to any creator out on the internet, podcaster, or people who have huge audiences and look under the hood of your business and see how you’re doing everything, and barely anyone’s doing it very well. Why would they? They’re experts at the thing they do. Who do you hire? There a few people that are awesome, but that’s who the biggest artists in the world are using. I don’t know that agencies will do it, but I think those are valuable additions that I think they should consider doing.
Shore’s last question addressed what happens next: “Since there seem to be so many new services, as an agent and a manager, where do you see the responsibilities lie and how do managers and agents ramp up?” Cable said:
I think what’s happening right now with live streaming where artists are doing live streaming with merch add ons, some managers are taking on this role, some agencies are taking on this role. Or creating their own platforms so there isn’t a third party that you have to pay. Some agencies have been creating streaming platforms on their own and then working directly with the artists and managers. I think that’s going to continue because artists have found that it’s a way to make money, engage with their fans more and do it well. I think the structures of hiring a social media within a booking agency or a management team, or someone who is really savvy at that has suddenly become much more real because that street marketing that we’ve been so used to, the print media is a thing of the past. Social media the sizing, the stories, the algorithms of your posting, those are all things we need to teach ourselves. The bottom line is everyone was impacted with this, especially the live entertainment industry. We were the first to shut down and we will probably be the last to open based on what we’re seeing, so we need to think about how we can all work together and of course take care of the artist and keeping them safe and happy. That’s something we need to keep brainstorming as we’re in this weird holding pattern.
Windish expanded:
I think it would great if what came out of this was artists could figure out how to make the same amount of money as they did before and have more time to focus on other things. Between song writing, and families, and doing other things, mental health is something, there has been more attention paid to it in the last few years, but not nearly enough and artists need to step back and get off the hamster wheel a lot. And I hope that this has actually been a good thing for them in that regard in a lot of ways. I know financially, it’s devastating, but I’ve talked to a lot of my clients and they do appreciate not being on the road all the time and seeing their family more often. It’s really important. If they can figure out how to do that more in the future, that would be great.
I found this conversation interesting on a lot of levels. I am very grateful that artists have been able to take this time to re-tool and rejuvenate. When you understand the hamster wheel, as Tom Windish described the musical routine, it is not sustainable for a balanced life or for an artist’s mental health. Fortunately, they have been able to prioritize themselves, which I am sure, leads to greater creativity, more output, and more money in the end.
I am encouraged that the people who are in the artist’s orbit are finding their own creative paths to support the artists without further grind. More engagement with fans is also a positive takeaway from this forum. I am anxious to see live shows again, as I am sure everyone is. However, as someone who has watched a lot of live streams this year, subscribed to more podcasts, and listened to a lot of music, I am grateful that care is being taken with the health and safety of both the artists and the audiences.
Petoskey, Michigan bred folk-rock quartet Michigan Rattlers – expertly comprised of Graham Young, Adam Reed, Christian Wilder, and Anthony Audia – is probably showing up close to you sometime soon. They mounted a three-month tour in February, and don’t show any signs of slowing down. We got a few minutes to catch up with lead singer Graham Young ahead of their March 12th show in Kansas City.
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Was there a moment when you realized you wanted to pursue music as more than a hobby?
Graham: I feel like I’ve always kind of been somebody that goes all in. When I was a kid, probably between the ages of 5 and 11, I played hockey and I was going to play in the NHL. It wasn’t just for fun.
Then I got a guitar for my 12th birthday and I’ve seen some live ACDC videos. I needed to get a guitar because that’s what I wanted to do. I needed to be in a band and play a big stage and be a guitar player. So it was kind of like, from the moment I started it was all I wanted to do. And do it seriously.
It really was never a hobby to begin with. I went in full steam ahead.
That’s incredible, to just know in your bones. You found your people pretty quickly too, yeah?
Graham: I grew up in a small town so there weren’t that many kids and people around. Seemed like I got a guitar and Tony – everybody that’s in the band now – we’ve all been playing together in some iteration since we were 12 or 13 years old.
Part of it too, where we grew up the school band program was pretty intense and pretty respected and we were all part of that. Kind of going to school every day and playing music and learning different instruments. Saxophone was my first instrument. All the other guys played percussion. You’d go to the band room every day from 6th grade to 12th grade and play that. Then after school we’d kind of do the rock band thing. Playing music together was always part of what we did.
I’m just happy your region had resources to be hard! That’s amazing. Over the years – and maybe even more recently – how have you noticed your music shift and maybe your approach to it?
Graham: When we first started the band it was really a bunch of songs I had written by myself in my bedroom. It was just me and a guitar. That was kind of where it started, then as personnel expanded and instrumentation expanded, you just kind of are able to do more things. It was kind of a natural evolution in terms of how we create the music, what it sounds like. And there’s a little bit of an audience too. It’s not something you like to think about, but it does certainly factor.
When you think about creating this body of work, I feel like we are far enough down the road a little bit – almost like 10 years – and you can kind of get a bird’s eye view of where we were and where we’re going and kind of take that into consideration.
I did feel more connected to this third album. It is such a journey, is there a particular song on this release you identify with the most or have a story about?
Graham: Good question. I mean, all of them. For us, as a band, I think it’s true that this third album does feel kind of like the first album that we really made in the way that we wanted to make it. We really took our time with it, with the songs. Some of these songs started in Covid, 2020, 2021. It took years to kind of shape them in these different ways.
The title track, “Waving From A Sea,” is pretty important to me. In the past I didn’t do a lot of rewriting. I was kind of just like “This is how it is.” But with “Waving From A Sea,” we were in Burlington, Vermont on tour and had a couple of days off. I was sitting in the Air BNB and had a moment. I had the guitar out and was flipping through some notebooks and just fell upon some lyrics from… I don’t even know how long ago I’d written them. And it was kind of like a verse. And I was like, “Well, this is pretty sweet” and then just started messing around with it. So it was a process of finding these old bits I’d completely forgotten about and working with them. It kind of sparked this new feeling to just take these and run with them. So that was that song.
And “Heaven,” sonically and phonetically, was one of the touchstones for this album. Just the bigger, more filled out sound with the synths and guitars. And the idea of just kind of not living in this weird, nostalgic past and not being in this anxious, uncertain future. Just telling yourself; “You’re living right now and your life is going to be over soon, you’re going to be really pissed that you missed it.” You’re here, in Paris, with a beautiful lady. So let’s live here and not worry about what’s coming next. So that was kind of “Heaven.”
The little spoken outro was something too. We got some gear this time so I was able to do some recording and demos on my own. We had kind of been going in and out of the studio here in Nashville. I was just at home and I felt like there needed to be something at the end. So I was messing around with this weird spoken, half sung thing that I would have been way too embarrassed to do in the studio with everyone else just watching me try this thing. Since I was by myself, I was just having fun. And I was like, “Oh shit, this is actually pretty sweet.” So I was able to take a chance and if it sucked, I was the only one that knew about it. So that was kind of a fun piece of it.
It turned out so well, too! What a lesson in confidence. Speaking of “Heaven,” how did the concept for the video come about, or do you have any stories from set?
Graham: The “Heaven” video was directed by my girlfriend, Ally Bernstein. And then her friend and our friend, Shelby Goldstein who has taken a bunch of photos for us over the years. We were doing things on this album we hadn’t done and we wanted to create this world visually too. We knew “Heaven” was gonna be one of those singles and really it was just kind of Ally and Shelby who came up with the concept of it.
Kind of in tandem, though, we shot “Heaven” and “Gridlock” on the same day in the exact same spot. We didn’t have a ton of money, we shot it in LA and Shelby had some connections. It was a whole crew, it was a real deal production which was really fun. We did the “Heaven” video around 11am and finished at 4pm. And then we reset and did “Gridlock” after that. So they are kind of connected in this way where it’s kind of “Heaven” and then “Gridlock” kind of descends into this dark red, hellish vibe.
[The “Heaven” video] was fun [to make]. It’s easy to have fun when you’re playing, it’s a little strange when you’re lip syncing and dancing around and trying to vibe out in front of the camera with a bunch of people watching.
You are NOT wrong! Michigan Rattlers are stopping thru KC on March 12. Anything you’re looking forward to?
Graham: We’ve been to Kansas City a handful of times. It’s one of those places where it took a couple times to feel like we had kind of broken through in a certain sense. The last time we were there was definitely the best turnout. But yeah, Kansas City was fun. I feel like we always go to Arthur Bryant’s, so done that 2 or 3 times. Everywhere we go we try to find good food and a bookstore or something.
Fantastic! Now, you all started tour already and you’re going through, more or less, the middle of May. How did you prepare yourself for that?
Graham: I feel like I’m still preparing, we’re still figuring it out. We did a lot of rehearsal. Outside rehearsal, you just have to do it live and figure it out. We have been touring for a while, so we kind of know what we’re getting into with these long stretches. It has been a while, we didn’t do much touring last year at all. This is the first time in a while that we have really hit it hard.
You just take it a day at a time and you try to treat it like you’re waking up and doing it at home. Don’t treat it too differently. Find the little things to make yourself comfortable.
Any items you have to have with you on the road?
Graham: Healthyish bars, protein bars, things like that. Can’t snack on Chex Mix all day long. You gotta have a water bottle and some vitamins.
Good! We take care of ourselves! I’m proud of you guys.
Graham: It’s been about a decade. When I was 20, we weren’t as conscientious about being healthy. And we have so much more gear now. Back in the day, it was a couple guitars and a bass. SOundcheck took 15 minutes. Now, it takes almost 2 hours to load in, soundcheck. It’s a little more physically intense than it used to be so you have to prepare yourself and be able to just do it. It’s not just oplkaying the show, you’ve got to be in shape enough to do the other things. Otherwise it’s truly miserable.
If you could be any superhero… or have a specific power, who or what would you choose?
Graham: Umm I’ve always kind of been drawn to Batman. He’s just a regular dude that’s trying his best. I mean, regular, filthy rich guy. He’s just kind of like a weird guy doing his thing.
A superpower? I think being able to hold a book by the covers and absorb everything that’s in the book. Like, all at once. That would be incredible. It would save a lot of time.
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Michigan Rattlers play Encore at the Uptown Theater on March 12. Waving From A Sea is out now. Check out the “Lilacs Bloom” video here.
In the post-COVID era, it’s completely changed what it means to go to the movies. Nowadays, with ticket prices higher than ever and more audience members wanting to wait for streaming as opposed to going out, the few films that are successful commercially do so by either being a known IP or is an original that breaks through with their marketing. The former is obvious; as everyone knows that the highest-grossing films per year are sequels, remakes, adaptations, or connected to something recognizable. Yet for the latter, an original film that still makes its money back and gets people talking, it feels more like an event than a movie. Longlegs, the new horror film by Oz Perkins (The Blackcoat’s Daughter), was a movie that I saw simply because of how much I heard about it online. This came down to the film’s stellar reviews (being from NEON, an independent film distributor rivaling A24 as a stamp of quality for original work) and guerilla-style interactive marketing techniques that gave the film an unavoidable presence for film nerds like myself or otherwise.
Longlegs is a serial killer film that wears its references on its sleeve, with obvious influences in Se7en and especially The Silence of the Lambs. It stars Maika Monroe (It Follows) as a newly recruited and possibly clairvoyant FBI agent named Lee Harker in the early 90s (very Clarice Starling-like), assigned to investigate a decade-spanning case of a serial killer known as Longlegs. The killer, played by the always insane and polarizing Nicolas Cage, conducts brutal family murder-suicides, yet has no trace or imprint at each crime scene except for a note containing Satanic coding and his signature. Along the way, Harker discovers the case may have connections to her personally, with potential links to her mother, played by Alicia Witt.
The immediate praises that the film has been getting from everyone else are the technical aspects, namely the directing, cinematography, and sound design, which are truly immaculate and meticulously thought out in every scene. Every shot maximizes suspense and unsettlement through framing, lighting, mood, sound, score, and pacing. It’s cold and atmospheric, with dread and tension consistently present in every scene. Perkins is always confident in where to put the camera, where/when to move it, and how long a shot should stay for full effect, and I’m excited to see his future projects. (I also enjoyed the detail of the film’s aspect changing whenever there was a flashback.) The score by Zilgi (aka the director’s brother, Elvis Perkins), is suitably creepy and adds to the stressfulness of some scenes, and the sound department led by Eugenio Battaglia is damn near perfect. The sound of Longlegs is crisp and dry, with enough emphasis on certain details and the tiniest of sounds to keep your eyes peeled on the screen. However, what disappointed me was the infrequent, but still annoying, use of obnoxiously loud jump scare-type noise to elicit bigger reactions from the audience during certain moments. It’s cheap and feels deeply amateurish considering how expertly crafted the rest of the sound design is.
I liked Maika Monroe’s acting in this, being an intentionally muted agent who seems like a blank slate and seems to lack deeper connections to most of the other characters. That’s another way Perkins builds intrigue with his shot composition, by focusing on one character per shot and rarely featuring two at once to deepen the disconnect between each other. The film keeps her character at arm’s length for much of it until it reveals more about her. Nicolas Cage, as Longlegs, is suitably over-the-top in his usual Cagey way. His somewhat hammy performance intentionally contrasts with the more reserved characters and setting of the rest of the film, which is stressed by Cage’s usual great screen presence that bounces between slithery and creepy to loud and freakish in seconds. Sometimes he can seem to overdo his performance, but he remains entertaining throughout. As a music nerd, I admired the 70s glam rock references to his character in terms of look and performance, as well as having songs by T. Rex as a motif. The heavy makeup and campy portrayal of the killer from Cage gives the impression of being influenced by several musicians of that era, such as David Johansen of New York Dolls, Rod Stewart, or even outsider folk singer Tiny Tim.
Unfortunately, what really determined my thoughts about the film was the resolution to the plot. Giving nothing away, the main issue with Longlegs is the dump of plot exposition that explains every mystery to the central case towards the film’s end. The film follows a similar plot structure to a lot of thrillers and serial killer investigation films but feels fresh and exciting because of the style and craft behind it. There’s a lot of promise and intrigue early on through new questions being introduced, and it seems to build up to a thrilling climax. Yet the explanations provided not only feel too vague and unsatisfying, but they’re too sudden and close to the end of the film to have the shock and impact it could’ve. It’s a shame that the film stumbles in its final act through its writing and plot development, and ends on a note that leaves it less than the sum of its parts.
Still, even if I had my problems with it, there’s still a lot to admire here. Longlegs is such a marvel in its visuals, direction, and technical aspects as a thriller to make it worth a viewing, even if your enjoyment may depend on your suspension of disbelief as its plot reveals.
With her first, deep inhale at the top of the title track – which just so happens to be the first on Byland’s new release, Alie Byland signals a deep sigh of relief for us all. “Heavy For A While” is the vulnerable, soft intro to this 10-track masterpiece release, which is officially out now.
Byland – officially a duo comprised of Alie and her husband Jake, surname Byland – has chosen to create an album so beautifully relatable, especially post-pandemic. Says Alie, “It’s more so my own unfettered journey of finding a sense of home and comfortability with myself, wherever I am.”
With songs like “Postcard” and “Settle My Mind,” Byland addresses isolation in an expansive and thought-provoking way. The dissonance toward the end of “Settle My Mind” feels almost like the chaos that has been occurring inside of every human over the past 4 years, as we all grapple with our emotions and identities in the wake of so many mind-blowing global issues.
Alie and Jake, in particular, zoom in on emotions and thoughts from the darker COVID days, and a time when they were contemplating a cross-country move. They both worked separately, then married some of their ideas together and refined their work as a team to really work through the aforementioned isolation organically. And you can feel it in the songs – the composition and the lyrics. Melodies and lines serve as organic puzzle pieces building toward the whole picture – a true masterpiece of an album. To extract us from the humbling events of today, Alie’s voice carries us to another plane.
“Two Circles” addresses space and time itself, and was one of the first tracks I connected with upon first listening to Heavy For A While. Explains Alie: “[The track] feels like it changes meaning each time I get to sing it. I see myself in this song. I see others. I see love, pain, anger, frustration, joy, shame, angst, everything and nothing.” Its simplistic lyrics are open for interpretation, though each version feels like it addresses a relationship — with yourself, another, an emotion, an event in your life.
The pace of “Temporary Everything” wakes you up out of the gorgeous melody in “Two Circles,” giving sonic momentum to this section of the album. It grapples with the acceptance that everything in life is temporary. Alie gets a bit cheeky with the line “The end of the fucking world,” but she’s only saying what we are all thinking.
“Darts” comes back in slowly, almost like a lullaby when juxtaposed against the tracks that come before and after it. Then “Monstera” comes in wielding a whole different energy, a song Alie wrote about her childhood best friend – the first person she had musical dreams with – and how she grappled with the change of a big move – and a lifelong dream together. This track has a sense of urgency about it, a bit more grit, and also a sense of beautiful acknowledgment of those people who helped to set you on your trajectory. Alie took such a liking to the track that last fall’s tour (2023) was titled the “Monstera Tour.”
Sonically, “Like Flies” feels like a Tim Burton movie, especially when compared to its predecessors. There is almost an eery tone to the melody, cinematic and beautiful in its own right. Last track “End Scene” comes in like a brisk walk a the end of a daunting journey. The piano is the centerpiece of the track, the simplicity establishing a sense of peace – a firm ending to this whirlwind of emotions (and talent).
Upcoming Shows 3/29 – Seattle, WA – Easy Street Records (Album Release Celebration) 5/2 – Tacoma, WA – New Frontier Lounge 5/3 – Portland, OR – Alberta Street Pub 5/7 – Reno, NV – Cypress 5/8 – Eugene, OR – Sam Bond’s Garage 5/9 – Seattle, WA – The Crocodile (w/ Noah Gundersen & His Band) 5/11 – Santa Fe, NM – The Mystic (Alie solo) 5/16 – Everett, WA – Fisherman’s Village Music Fest 2024
Since 1990 – give or take a few years here and there – Candlebox (updated lineup: Kevin Martin, Adam Kury, Brian Quinn, Island Styles, BJ Kerwin) has been lighting the stage with its endearing (and enduring) brand of Pacific Northwest grunge rock. Consistently, they’ve brought heavy-hitting sets to dedicated crowds with hints of glam metal and blues in tow.
What the band has not always conveyed in their performance, is a sense of nostalgia or wide-spanning appreciation. Citing the pandemic – and other circumstances over the years – lead singer Kevin Martin took things a little slower, leaving space for reflection during their set at Starlight Theater in Kansas City, MO on Wednesday, September 6.
Martin told us about his flawed and wonderful immigrant grandmother and his incredible parents – including a wonderful anecdote about a cradle-robbing father. He later took time to appreciate the people he – and we all – have lost too soon. Grief is a tricky bitch, and we have all been touched by it over the years. A sense of true empathy fell like a blanket over the Theater, on what was – admittedly – one of the most temperate and enjoyable evenings of the summer. (Despite the additional quilt of smog over us, brought down from the fires in Canada. Oops.)
Setlist Don’t You Change Blossom No Sense Elegante Arrow Mothers Dream He Calls Home Cover Me Far Behind You
With COVID cases on the rise (despite what your local news might omit from its reports), photographers were not allowed a wide variety of angles to shoot from. However, the energy and the wild abandon are palpable through our Candlebox highlights, below.
On Friday, September 23rd, the rock aficionados of Kansas City fled to the Midland Theatre in search of a beauty they hadn’t witnessed in years. The Gaslight Anthem recently announced their full-time status together again after a 4-year tour hiatus. Just two weeks into this leg of the tour, they almost immediately had to cancel a show. It had been scheduled earlier in the week in Denver, and openers Tigers Jaw were able to finagle a last-minute headlining set for all ticketholders to the original show to attend in addition to the reschedule.
While they didn’t want to postpone the show altogether, lead singer Brian Fallon had to keep himself and the fans safe and encourage his healing while he dealt with some form of sickness. (Not Covid, but he was a big congested.) Fallon had quite a bit to say about the fan reaction to that decision, which was entirely supported by his empathetic – and emphatic – fans in the heart of America. He even took time during the set to explain that – while he wasn’t at 100% quite yet – he was doing his absolute best on stage because he missed this crowd in this particular city.
Whether it was pandering or not, his stories were sincere, the joy on everyone’s faces was moving, and the night was a blissful continuance of a band we have all come to know and love.
Who was a band or artist you played on repeat in your adolescence? Were you band or genre-loyal in your teens? Did you cling to lyrics, composition, or a specific type of energy to help inspire you and get you through the insanity of high school? Chances are, many millennials are getting into their feels thinking about emo and emo-adjacent music right now. A genre known for hosting nasally voices, lyrics that utilize a person’s entire vocabulary, titles that are longer than most novels, and theatrics that harkened a bit of darkness. While Panic! at The Disco absolutely belongs in this genre, lead singer (and now solo artist) Brendon Urie’s voice didn’t quite belong in the “nasally” category, as was the case for a handful of others who dominated the genre in the aughts.
2006 brought us “I Write Sins Not Tragedies,” an edgy track that immediately caught my attention, with a music video that utilized more stage makeup than a three-ring circus. In the words of Blades of Glory’s Chazz Michael Michaels, “it’s provocative.” Emo kids rejoiced as they saw themselves–their hair, at the very least–in the music videos and performances that ensued over the years from Panic. Even with the band’s evolution – from a band to a (mostly) solo act, with phenomenal cohorts, session musicians, and tour players, and as they’ve dipped their toes into different genres and sounds – their fanbase has held strong.
February of 2019 was the last time Urie made an appearance in the Kansas City metropolitan area. Aside from a less crowded atmosphere on the evening of September 13th, the crowd was no less invigorated and was loud enough to cause a visceral reaction from the entertainer multiple times. He looked shocked, he noted that he was impressed, and the pure joy on his face could be felt all the way “in the back back back back.”
Panic! at The Disco has always done its best to incorporate a wide range of tracks from various titles in every single one of their shows. While the Viva Las Vengeance tour was pretty meticulously planned – from pyrotechnics to sound effects, lighting and confetti – there is still wiggle room for a variety of songs to be interspersed depending on the date. Our stop seemed particularly magical, as the crowd sang along to the following tracks.
The tour itself – as high energy and incredible as the performance has been – has experienced some setbacks over the first few weeks. As most may know by now, two dates were postponed because of Covid, and the night after they were in Kansas City, there was a small fire incident on stage in Minnesota. And still, Brendon moves on with the energy and enthusiasm that we have come to know and love him for.
“Just because a lot of art comes from pain does not mean the artist has to suffer.” – Naithan Jones
During the 2021 SXSW Conference, I watched a virtual panel and the topic addressed how touring would change for artists once the world opened up. It was a fascinating discussion about how art was made during the lockdown and how artists were creating more balance in their life with their work. This year, I was able to attend a panel that is taking the concept one step further – “How Do Artists Make Money Now?”.
Moderated by Tiffany Gaines, Found and CEO of SS Global Entertainment, the discussion focused on mindset; mental and physical health and perspective; the power in community; and the advancement of technology. Panelists Naithan Jones (Founder of web3 platform Royal), Andra Liemandt (Founder and CEO of The Kindness Campaign), and Matt Ott (Vice Chairman and Co-Founder/Executive Director of Black Fret) came together to address some different forms of creating income that may not have existed, even a couple of years ago.
All of the panelists emphasized the importance of community. When asked about an artist just starting out without a lot of resources, Jones pointed out that, although “streaming is like a map of the industry and specifically to artists….it doesn’t give you the topography, which is who are those 200-300 fans who are willing to support your bills for a year?” The industry doesn’t have a good way to track this. “If I have a super fan in Des Moines, IA and I’m not touring for the next two to three years, I can’t activate that intent.” Jones shared that if these fans are token holders, you can do all kinds of things with them now from music releases just for them, to free merch, to arranging a FaceTime together because you have a token, etc. These are things that enhance relationship management as well as generate an income that allows the artist to live a life, rest, work, and create in cycles outside of the normal 9-5 most people work in. “Creatives don’t really work that way. Where they can express their gift in a healthy way, where they have the economic base to do that, that’s a critical goal.”
Liemandt expanded on that thought: “Nate, I love what you were sharing about giving rest to musicians, to be who they are and work in their passion and their purpose. What we want to be able to do is put musicians to work right now, pick up gigs when they’re in the mood, not have to do something, but when the mood strikes, pick up a gig that is in line with their craft.” The Kind Music platform supports independent artists with songwriting workshops and recordings – all created through community.
“Community is more important than ever to help ourselves and help each other.” – Matt Ott
Black Fret operates in various cities using the patronage model that symphonies have used – people pay for subscriptions to hear local music. Ott said, “When we started Black Fret, we wanted to get some members, throw some parties, and give money away.” But he discovered in the process that people are always looking for ways to help and give back. As an artist, he suggested hanging out after shows, playing early gigs (“old people like to go to early gigs”), networking, playing corporate gigs. Ott thinks that Kind Music is “an incredible opportunity for musicians to lay down a track on a song written by people in a collaborative effort that gets that musician paid”. In the same vein, he loves the Royal business model “to find a revenue stream that helps them find the 1000 true fans”.
Each of the panelists emphasized the mental health and mindset aspect of creating art and being paid for it. Leimandt summed it up best when she said, “When I started seeing dollars roll in, it related to my self-worth. Purpose, value and what you’re doing daily to support them equals joy.”
As a publication that focuses on mental health issues and the arts, we found this panel to be comforting. More people are seeing the value in a holistic approach to wellness, and artists are slowly (but surely) being praised for the wellness opportunities their art provides to the masses as well.
Vonnie Kyle just released her newest music video for her newest single, “Imperfect Parts,” and it has such a cinematic edge to it! The feel of the video was almost theatrical, but in the best way. The video itself mixed with the vibe of the song, created this cinematic type of music video, and I really enjoyed that.
The video managed to tell a story really well. From the beginning when she is first looking into the briefcase to the different objects making an appearance throughout different parts of the video, it all flowed really nicely together. “Imperfect Parts” is also very aesthetically pleasing. I really liked the lighting that was used as Kyle was playing the instruments, as well as the scenes that took place in nature. I particularly liked the part where she is walking through the greenery, it looks so beautiful. It was really amazing that she was shown playing the instruments that are featured on this track in the video! It adds something to the music video and even shows a different part of her musical talents.
Of the song, Kyle admits:
I wrote Imperfect Parts when I fell in love with my best friend. The timing was awful, to be honest; my marriage had just failed, Covid had just started hitting the US, and I was still trying to figure out where the hell I was even going to live. I was still punishing myself daily for having married the wrong person and then letting them down. I hadn’t processed any of this, yet there I was on the phone with this other person, every single night for hours on end, somehow feeling for once like I actually did deserve some sort of joy. I hadn’t felt real joy in years. I had been a shell of a human constantly making compromises to avoid facing a harsh reality, which was that I had been living a life I didn’t belong in.
This song wasn’t going to be on the record, originally. I had already written the whole thing and had no plans to add to it. One night though, I was sitting on the floor of my practice space after a long phone call with the person who is now my partner, and this whole song just sort of fell out of my brain. It didn’t take long to realize this was going to be the title track. It perfectly summed up all of the challenges that the whole record represents, and that’s self-forgiveness, acceptance and moving onward.
So, if you can’t get enough of Portland native, Vonnie Kyle, make sure to check her out and keep up with her upcoming releases.
Directed, filmed, and edited by Joshua Rivera (Rollstars Productions) Produced by Joshua Rivera (Rollstars Productions) and Vonnie Kyle
