[Harp-L] Musical acts

[William Jennings <will@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

The '12 year old Monster' wow factor, to my mind, is part of the  
'gunslinger'
mentality that, in my humble and often misinformed opinion, stalks  
musical
venues with a seductive, though mostly vapid appeal.

Give the kid a break. He's 12. He's learned to perform within a  
somewhat narrow
range. He's young, he has a stage presence, he 'fronts' a band, and  
he can do
a 'wow' thing on an instrument that many people have picked up and  
tried to play
thinking it should be easy, but found otherwise.

It's not being critical to note that none of these make what he does  
particularly musical, let alone 'monstrous'.
Being 'on TV'  doesn't confer anything other than someone in the  
industry
thought that plugging your clip would keep people from changing the  
channel.
If you want to equate musical achievement by that standard, then one can
as easily say that the ubiquitous high speed police chase from a tv  
helicopter footage
confers Indy Circuit or NASCAR status to the car thief or drunk  
driver who chose to
bolt rather than pull over.

I hope the kid enjoys what he does and that his career is long and  
healthy.
And for his sake, I hope he never turns into Danny Bonaduce...there are,
after all, far worse things than obscurity and anonymity.

I don't know who first coined the phrase, but 30 years of performing  
have
brought me to amend the original vaudeville adage (and I've done all  
three):

When performing, never, ever follow:
1) trained animals,
2) kid acts,
or
3) lone gunmen.

-Will
www.bigwoodenradio.com