Reaching for the Stars

     The more I think about the title of my new recordings, "Astronomy", the more I feel it's a very fitting theme for these tracks. 

    When I was younger, (BG-Before Guitar), science was my favorite subject in school. In the 5th grade we learned about the planets and stars and I got a telescope. It was magical to be outside on a Summer night looking up at the sky and seeing the craters on the Moon and feeling the wonder of how a pinpoint of light would become a globe with rings around it, the planet Saturn so many millions of miles away. Later I moved on to cars, guitars and girls, but I never outgrew my love of science, and I feel like I passed some of that to my daughter, who chose a career in biology.

    Art and Science are often seen as being similar. You might say that the both have as a core principle the idea of exploration, of learning more about oneself and this Universe we inhabit. Philosophers have suggested the meaning of life is to seek this knowledge, and I like that idea, as well as the idea that music is one way we connect with the fundamental frequencies that are constantly vibrating around us.

Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA

    The six tracks each are meant to evoke a particular sense related to the natural world. The titles are: 

     "Waking to Rain"

     "Earthbound"

     "Andromeda Run"

     "Stratosphere"

     "Mediterraine"

     "Terra Aeterna"

    

    "Waking to Rain" starts off the playlist and was the first song I recorded, though it's not the newest song. I had a couple of songs that were from earlier records that had minor seventh chords, not jazz in the strict sense, but leaning that way, and by updating them and adding some elements they fit into this concept. "Waking to Rain" is about that feeling when you start a morning looking out to a gray sky and everything dripping wet. For me, that usually means a laid back day, where you stay inside and maybe put off some chores. The song features Jen Ambrose on flute. Also, Paul Sandberg contributed sax solos on "Andromeda Run" and "Terra Aeterna".

        I really enjoyed making these recordings. I had no preconceptions other than wanting to make clean, crisp tracks with close attention to capturing the instruments as naturally as I could. "Waking" set the standards. I experimented with amplifier and guitar settings with the idea of using a consistent sound throughout the project and for the most part I achieved that. One exception was "Stratosphere", where I played a Fender Stratocaster and took advantage of this instrument's distinctive sound to give the idea of flying at 40 thousand feet.

    All the tracks are basically done. At this point I'm reviewing some of my improvisations and having fun seeing if I can top myself. That's right at the core of "Astronomy"; I'm exploring to see how far I can go.

Singer/Songwriter Rick Millward lived and worked on the West Coast until moving to Nashville in 2000. He was part of the Music City songwriter community, collaborating with other artists and producing over 30 projects in his boutique studio, including two EMMY nominated soundtracks. Now in Southern Oregon, Rick has discovered a vibrant local music scene centered around the many tasting rooms. 

His latest record “Loveland” is available on Spotify and other streaming platforms.

LOVELAND ON SPOTIFY

Astronomy

This is the artwork for "Astronomy", my upcoming EP of instrumental tracks. 

    These songs are a departure from my singer/songwriter persona and lean towards jazz. One of the things I did during COVID was to spend more time practicing guitar and piano and these six tracks resulted from the new things I'm learning. 

    Astronomy is the branch of science which deals with celestial objects, space, and the physical universe as a whole. It's a big subject and well suited for a musical journey. With each song I've tried to express the wonder of the physical world, here on our beautiful, tiny planet and out there across the unimaginable reaches of interstellar space. Astronomy is about exploration and discovery and can also be applied to our personal lives as well. For me, this foray into unfamiliar musical territory has been exciting and rewarding. As these songs evolved they have led me to places I never thought I'd visit. As it turns out, a lifetime of listening to jazz, including favorites like Pat Metheny, Zappa and Steely Dan, had tuned my ears to this genre, so it's just been a matter of focused study to open the door and venture into this territory.

    The recordings are coming along and I should be putting the tracks out soon, along with some posts about how the songs were developed. Here's the info on the image from NASA's website:

The galaxy captured in this image, called UGC 12158, certainly isn’t camera-shy: this spiral stunner is posing face-on to the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope’s Advanced Camera for Surveys, revealing its structure in fine detail.

UGC 12158 is an excellent example of a barred spiral galaxy in the Hubble sequence — a scheme used to categorise galaxies based on their shapes. Barred spirals, as the name suggest, feature spectacular swirling arms of stars that emanate from a bar-shaped centre. Such bar structures are common, being found in about two thirds of spiral galaxies, and are thought to act as funnels, guiding gas to their galactic centres where it accumulates to form newborn stars. These aren’t permanent structures: astronomers think that they slowly disperse over time, so that the galaxies eventually evolve into regular spirals.

The appearance of a galaxy changes little over millions of years, but this image also contains a short-lived and brilliant interloper — the bright blue star just to the lower left of the centre of the galaxy is very different from the several foreground stars seen in the image. It is in fact a supernova inside UGC 12158 and much further away than the Milky Way stars in the field — at a distance of about 400 million light-years! This stellar explosion, called SN 2004ef, was first spotted by two British amateur astronomers in September 2004 and the Hubble data shown here form part of the follow-up observations.

This picture was created from images taken with the Wide Field Channel of Hubble’s Advanced Camera for Surveys. Images through blue (F475W, coloured blue), yellow (F606W, coloured green) and red (F814W, coloured red) as well as a filter that isolates the light from glowing hydrogen (F658W, also coloured red) have been included. The exposure times were 1160 s, 700 s, 700 s and 1200 s respectively. The field of view is about 2.3 arcminutes across.

Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA

Singer/Songwriter Rick Millward lived and worked on the West Coast until moving to Nashville in 2000. He was part of the Music City songwriter community, collaborating with other artists and producing over 30 projects in his boutique studio, including two EMMY nominated soundtracks. Now in Southern Oregon, Rick has discovered a vibrant local music scene centered around the many tasting rooms. 

His latest record “Loveland” is available on Spotify and other streaming platforms.

LOVELAND ON SPOTIFY

Like, Jazz, Man!

 It started innocently...

Django

    I added "Careless Whisper" by George Michael to my song list and it has a B flat major seventh chord in the progression. This chord has a variation that required learning a new hand position. After a couple of weeks of diligent practice I was able to play it without the frustration that one feels when their hands aren't cooperating. The first time you get it right is always a cool moment. "Careless Whisper" is a very simple pop song otherwise, but it does have a jazz feel and I think it will endure and become a standard in the future, also due to that signature melody, played by a saxophone on the recording, but just as compelling on guitar. 

     From there I started adding some other standards that led me away from the folk/rock/pop songs that make up the majority of my repertoire. It required me getting out of my comfort zone and I realized that I had stigmatized myself with regard to my ability to advance as a musician. 

    Jazz is intimidating at first; for me it's like standing on the edge of a limitless expanse that extends far beyond my sight. The musicians who play it seem superhuman in their virtuosity and mastery of their instruments. I see now that believing I could never achieve that level of playing I simply avoided trying.

F Minor 9th Double Flat 5th

F Minor 9th Double Flat 5th

    Simply put, jazz is adding one note to the traditional three note triads that compose the familiar chords of popular music. This changes the tone of the sound, making it slightly dissonant or complimentary to the others, and this complexity requires learning new hand positions and the muscle memory that goes with it, some of it pretty gymnastic. Gifted players have longer fingers that make this easier, but for normal  guys like me the stretches are awkward at first. With practice one's hands become accustomed, but it does take time. 

    One of ways to master these chords is through learning some of the many standards that use them, but another is to compose one's own. By applying what I'm learning to a composition I'm getting much more comfortable with some of the established conventions of jazz as well as making myself a platform to improvise melodies, which is the other part of jazz that's challenging and compelling. I'll be writing about these songs in a future post. One, "Mediterraine", is a song on one of my first recordings way back when, which was fun to update and rework with a more jazzy vibe. 

    My point of entry is a sub genre called "Smooth Jazz" which evolved as a more commercial alternative to the styles that frankly require a more educated ear to appreciate. Examples of this are songs by artists like George Benson ("Broadway") and Nora Jones ("Don't Know Why") that crossover to pop radio, and there are many others whose instrumentals define the genre. The other common element is typically a 4/4 rhythm percussion and bass line that propels the songs, rather than the more syncopated beats and time signatures of advanced jazz composition.

    I'm just beginning this journey; at this point I'm a tourist visiting the land of Miles and Bird, but I'm on a well worn path and excited to see what's just beyond my musical horizon. The six songs I'm working on will eventually be released as an EP, and in the meantime I'd just encourage anyone who feels that something is beyond their reach to make that stretch. You may discover, as I have, it's not as far as you might think.

Singer/Songwriter Rick Millward lived and worked on the West Coast until moving to Nashville in 2000. He was part of the Music City songwriter community, collaborating with other artists and producing over 30 projects in his boutique studio, including two EMMY nominated soundtracks. Now in Southern Oregon, Rick has discovered a vibrant local music scene centered around the many tasting rooms. 

His latest record “Loveland” is available on Spotify and other streaming platforms. Rick's latest, "Astronomy", will be released in early 2022.

LOVELAND ON SPOTIFY

    

Onstage II

Mick

It great to live in an area where there are many venues that have live music regularly. At a time when I might have been at loose ends I embarked on a path to master a song list and practice playing onstage, and it's become very engrossing and fulfilling. 

    In a way this is a logical progression. In Nashville I played occasionally at writer's nights, but mostly worked in the studio on projects for other artists. There are a lot of tourist bars downtown and the bands that played in them had A-list musicians and performers who were vying for the attention of the record labels. This was not something I aspired to, being more focused on songwriting and recording. Besides, the competition for those gigs was fierce and I was frankly intimidated by the amazing players who were in that scene. I did watch and learn, though, and that has served me well as I've found my own way to the stage. 

    One thing that became clear was that the best of the best could not only dazzle with their virtuosity, but that they also could entertain. Time after time what came through to me was that if a performer could connect with the listeners and project a sense of joy and fun, that was the key to success. I think this is what compels one to perform; to be able to communicate the pleasure they get from music to others. It sounds like a simple thing, and on a basic level it is, but on another it's quite a bit more complex and elusive.

    This month the Rolling Stones are on the road. Touring, even at the comfort level I'm sure they must enjoy, is grueling and yet there they are, in their 70s after a half century of performing and arguably the most successful rock band in history, still hitting the stage night after night. It's very lucrative, but it's difficult to believe they need the money at this point. Something else must be driving them and I think it's because they love doing it, even as they kick off "Honky Tonk Woman" for umpteenth time, and their ability to share that joy is what brings audiences.

    One more thing. As I make the effort to perfect my own performance, I'm heartened by seeing Mick and boys out there. My guess is that we share something fundamental about being onstage.

    It's extremely rare to have a flawless performance. Even when a piece is mastered there inevitably are glitches that occur, usually, hopefully, unnoticed by the casual listener, and in fact part of being accomplished is the ability to make a mistake and not let it disrupt the flow. Every musician walks offstage vowing to do better the next time, because one always can, and I'm betting that it's no different for the Stones than it is for me. 

Singer/Songwriter Rick Millward lived and worked on the West Coast until moving to Nashville in 2000. He was part of the Music City songwriter community, collaborating with other artists and producing over 30 projects in his boutique studio, including two EMMY nominated soundtracks. Now in Southern Oregon, Rick has discovered a vibrant local music scene centered around the many tasting rooms. 

His latest record “Loveland” is available on Spotify and other streaming platforms.

LOVELAND ON SPOTIFY

Onstage!

 I thought I was done. 

    It's possible to categorize people into two groups: those that like to perform and those who don't. Or maybe I should say those who are compelled to perform, and everyone else. There isn't a lot of research into why some people feel the need to get in front of others, mainly one finds lots of information on how to master performing, as if it's expected of you and a skill everyone should have, whether they want it or not.

    Shakespeare said, " All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players". I think what he was getting at is that in many ways life is a performance; we learn as children how to "act", and as we get older we make decisions about who we are and adopt behaviors that express that self knowledge. Society expects us to behave in certain ways appropriate to our age and station. So to a certain degree we all are performers in our day-to-day lives, but that doesn't quite explain those who seek the spotlight as a primary source of self identity. 

    You probably have heard performers who say, "I only feel alive on stage", which I find a little sad and limiting. Yet it is those who are driven that find success as performers; it's not something one can undertake half-heartedly. In Nashville I met many musicians who came to town with a fire in their belly, and spent literally every moment singularly focused on getting onstage and noticed. Sometimes they seemed a little manic and I wondered if it was healthy, since the odds for fame and fortune are slim. 

    So why do some of us feel the need to get up onstage and why do we reward them so royally? Psychologically, one theory is that some feel the need to be "seen", and performing is a way to get the attention missing from their childhood. The spotlight and the applause becomes the parental approval they were denied.  On the other hand, we've all seen "stage parents" who push their kids as well. While this analysis goes pretty deep, it does make sense and perhaps explains why some performers don't really enjoy performing for its own sake, aren't particularly entertaining, but nonetheless feel compelled to be the center of attention. Much more can be said about this and I'll have some more thoughts in future posts.

    Personally, I have always been sort of neutral about performing. I started doing piano recitals when I was nine, was in theater in school, in bar bands and so on, so it sort of came naturally. I don't get stage fright, which of course can be paralyzing.  As it turned out I stopped for twenty years and didn't particularly miss being onstage and only started up again when my passion for songwriting began. During that long hiatus I didn't really think I'd ever want to perform again, that part of my life was over.

    In Nashville songwriters are expected to perform their own songs as part of networking with other writers, since most successful songs are co-written with two or more writers collaborating. I found I enjoyed the challenge of "selling" my songs in a competitive atmosphere of a writers night, but when I moved to Oregon I didn't think I'd continue. I was happily surprised to find a lively music scene here where one could perform in a winery tasting room, so I gave it a try. I'm playing solo doing my favorite songs and producing "Nashville style" shows with other local songwriters.

The result of this has been a whole new "act" in my play, to paraphrase Will S., and I'm having a great time!

Singer/Songwriter Rick Millward lived and worked on the West Coast until moving to Nashville in 2000. He was part of the Music City songwriter community, collaborating with other artists and producing over 30 projects in his boutique studio, including two EMMY nominated soundtracks. Now in Southern Oregon, Rick has discovered a vibrant local music scene centered around the many tasting rooms. 

His latest record “Loveland” is available on Spotify and other streaming platforms.

LOVELAND ON SPOTIFY

    

 

Really?

"New Rules"

In a recent episode of Bill Maher's HBO show "Real Time with Bill Maher" the comedian did a "New Rules" segment that talked about the Millennial Generation's supposed entitlement syndrome. 

    He mentioned participation trophies and how they supposedly give kids the attitude that they deserve special attention and that they all essentially just want to be famous without achievement. He went on to say that that was against the values of a meritocracy, and then weighed in on Spotify:

New Rule: Equality of Outcomes 

    While one might question the virtue of Woody Allen in other ways, he did say "90% of success is just showing up".  That's the motive behind the trophies, it's acknowledgement for showing up. Bill went on to say "54% of millennials would want to be "influencers" and 72% want to be famous", but didn't mention where the stats came from. I googled around and found a report from The Morning Consult, the big marketing research company ( Here it is. ) and YPLUSE (Here ) that had that data. What Bill didn't mention is what motivated them and it's not being famous. The #1 reason was "to make a difference in the world".

 

    He then goes on to mention a recent Rolling Stone magazine article about how a minority of artists on Spotify are paid a majority of the revenue from streaming. This is true, but then he went on to imply that it's because Spotify, and the music business in general, was a meritocracy and that the majority of music didn't earn revenue because it wasn't any good. 

    In fact he said, "Music is hard and most people suck at it". (2:59)

    He goes on to suggest that just because a song is on Spotify it will be judged by the market as to whether it's "good" or not, which seems to mean he believes that all songs are equally visible on the site, saying:

    "You can't complain no one heard your song because no label will sign you." (3:42)

    Really?

    Whether any particular piece of music is good or not is another discussion for another time. In this case he's suggesting the metric that matters is commercial success, as typified by Grammy awards and internet plays, so I'll try to address that.

    To begin with, while it's not difficult to get on Spotify, it does take the time, effort and money to write, record, mix and master a track. That's the showing up part, when an artist makes the commitment to put his work out there with everyone else. But that's just the beginning and this is where the actual difference lies and it has little to do with the quality of the music. 

  Music is a product and like any requires marketing to expose it to customers. It's well known that as much or more is spent on promoting music as making it. It's a huge business, Nashville is home to a small army of people who make their living working in promotion and PR.  It takes upwards of a million dollars to launch a new artist nationally, which, by the way, is a debt the artist then must repay out of income. Some of that money is spent on social media campaigns that lead to exposure that generates plays on Spotify. Not everyone can make that investment, and most accept the fact that the odds of success are slim unless everything breaks in your favor. It's always given the labels an advantage.

    Occasionally a song goes viral on it's own. But it's pretty rare relative to the amount of music that's out there. Also, a song probably isn't going to get much attention unless it's attached to a video, another expense an artist has to incur, although some have broken through with low budget iPhone videos. 

    I'll also mention there are many who have chosen the touring lifestyle as a way to promote themselves, build a fan base, and make their living as working musician, something I admire. I'm constantly discovering touring artists who have thousands of Spotify plays each month just from years of constant gigging. 

    I take issue with Maher's attitude because I think it unfairly criticizes young people as being entitled, but then goes on to generalize about musicians, not all of them millennials, who are disadvantaged by a system that is skewed towards money as well as merit. Yes, it's a meritocracy in some ways, but in others more of a lottery.

    It seems a bit surprising considering what comedians, or anyone in the arts, face trying to start a career and be successful.

Anyway, here's a track I consider "good" that Bill might enjoy.

Singer/Songwriter Rick Millward lived and worked on the West Coast until moving to Nashville in 2000. He was part of the Music City songwriter community, collaborating with other artists and producing over 30 projects in his boutique studio, including two EMMY nominated soundtracks. Now in Southern Oregon, Rick has discovered a vibrant local music scene centered around the many tasting rooms. 

His latest record “Loveland” is available on Spotify and other streaming platforms.

LOVELAND ON SPOTIFY

RIP CD

 There's probably no better example of how technology has changed music than the rise and fall of the Compact Disc. When Edison invented sound recording in 1888 he could not see how in less than a century his ingenuity would be implemented on a 4" disc that would be the last physical manifestation of sound before it became virtual and integrated into, ironically, the telephone, invented a few years before.

    In high school I worked at the school "radio station", playing records over the school PA during lunch. Other students would bring their records for me to play, and I had some of my own. When I first started recording I aspired to make a 45rpm single; a vinyl record. This was the standard I had grown up listening to, and for me represented the pathway to success in music. Later, when I started my recording career the first projects I did were for bands that were making singles.  

    

    By the mid 80s commercial records began to be released CD and vinyl record sales plummeted as record labels embraced this less expensive format and players found their way into cars. At first digital recording was an exotic option for artists, with multi-track digital recorders rare and expensive, so albums were still recorded on tape, but with the advances in PC based recording systems by early 90s most recording was all digital.  

    From it's beginnings, digital recording has been criticized as being "harsh" by audiophiles while tape is characterized as "warm", and that debate has continued, so much so that tape was never quite been abandoned and various methods are used to add warmth to digital recordings. Personally, I use analog processing equipment, tube mics and preamps, during the initial recording to give my recordings a natural sound, which is a compromise that works for me. At any rate CDs took over the market and dominated sales for nearly 20 years. The iPod changed all that. By using data storage technology, file compression,  and a portable package it quickly took over the market. CDs were an alternative at first, but by around 2010 they had faded until now the only vestige left is the square format for album artwork. 

    I made 250 CDs of my album "Limited Edition", and packaged 25 in a custom metal case in 2013, partly to take note of the need to do something unique with the discs. The rest I put into a recycled paper sleeve to sell at gigs. I still have about 50 left! Like most independent artists I sold a couple every time I performed, but I've seen the interest wane in recent years, even for what I appreciated was an impulse buy. 

    On my latest release "Loveland" and the two that preceded it I've opted to go completely online, which is the equivalent of throwing my music into an ocean where it swims with all of the millions of other songs from all the other artists. I'm ok with this, but there was something about holding a CD that at least gave me the feeling that it was a unique work of art that I still miss. 

    All of this is to answer a question I get from my clients about whether they should have CDs made. I have to say no, don't, unless you plan to give them away. As for those few I have left, they sit by the tip jar with a sign saying, "Free CD with tip, Thanks"... Otherwise:

Who would have thought we would one day listen to music on our phones? What's next? An implant? 

Singer/Songwriter Rick Millward lived and worked on the West Coast until moving to Nashville in 2000. He was part of the Music City songwriter community, collaborating with other artists and producing over 30 projects in his boutique studio, including two EMMY nominated soundtracks. Now in Southern Oregon, Rick has discovered a vibrant local music scene centered around the many tasting rooms. 

His latest record “Loveland” is available on Spotify and other streaming platforms.

LOVELAND ON SPOTIFY