JCHRants

A compendium of musings on music and this business we call show

That Big Finish

10.27.2016

Beethoven sure had it rough. Composing for that big finish. Will Progress ship on time? More on Yes. Structure. Julia Roberts. The rare Yellow Bellied Sapsucker. Close To The Edge. Creating on cue. What breaks up relationships. Fertility treatments. Self-pleasuring.

Roger CortonWe’re getting down to the wire if your plan is to get Progress done by Thanksgiving, right?

JCHIt’s gonna be tight.

RCTighter than a drum, Homer?

JCHTighter than a frog’s butt, Jethro. Haw, haw, haw.

RCThat’s pretty tight. So, I see no new snippet. What’s the deal? If you’re so close to finishing, why don’t we see some results, son?

JCHI’ve been obsessing over Beethoven the past couple of years.

RCOh no, not another lecture on Structure. Anything but that!

JCH(laughs). No, man. No music appreciation today. Maybe it started as minor delusions of grandeur or self-pity with the ‘sick artiste’

RCYou mean deafness?

JCHNo, man. I […]

The Steve Howe Chattering O-Face

10.13.2016

Albums, Songs

More on what’s wrong with the third snippet from the new album, Progress, called We Danced. Donald Trump? A tribute to Steve Howe. Chattering. The O-Face. Wah wahs. Yessongs. Stolen video.

Roger CortonAlready you’re not happy with We Danced.

JCHWell, it hit me what the problem is.

RCI hesitate to even ask.

JCHNo O-Face.

RCThe what?

JCHOh c’mon. You know exactly what I’m talking about.
RCI do know what you’re talking about. But in the wake of the current election, can’t we be a little more uplifting?

JCHUplifting? How’s this for uplifting? FUCK DONALD TRUMP. Ya know why? I could care less about the guy’s politics. But the net long-term effect of his campaign will be to single-handedly make the world even more insufferably ‘PC’ than it already is.

RCDone?

[…]

We Danced (Third Progress Snippet)

10.9.2016

Albums, Songs

The third snippet from the new album, Progress, called We Danced. Tapping. Hedley Lamarr. John Gotmann marriage counseling. Tom Morello vs Mark Knopfler guitars. Saw. Ferraris. A Clockwork Orange. Masters Of The Universe. Sammy Hagar. Straight head rock in Prog? Tales From Topographic Oceans.

Roger CortonNow this is more like it. Some actual GUITAR PICKIN’, son!

JCHIn the immortal words of Heddy L…

RCThat’s Hedley…

JCHShit. You beat me to the punchline. Well forget that joke. I finally figured out why you’re getting more of a sense of a humor. It’s to cut me off at the pass!

RCYou finally caught on.

JCHLike I tell ya, I’m not as sharp as I used to be!

RCWell let’s try to focus on the song for once and not your failings as a man.

JCHI’ll try, ma. What do you wanna know?

RCWell, first of all, as a guitarist I just have […]

Take A Picture (Second Progress Snippet)

09.27.2016

Albums, Songs

We interrupt our multi-part rant on ‘Criticism’ for the second snippet from the new album, Progress, called Take A Picture. Famous fretless bass players with two syllable names. Pino. Jaco. Jon Anderson and Olias of Sunhillow. The Roger Dean planet. Unconventional finger picking. Bach. Superbia. Catholic sin. Satan. The usual.

Roger CortonI was going to publish the other parts of our mega-chat on (cough) ‘criticism’ but this site is supposed to be about your music and not ‘Humanities 101’. So I made an executive decision to get this up. ASAP.

JCHWhat’s that old business joke about ‘asap’?

RCIt makes a sap out of you and me. Us oldsters really know how to tell a joke, eh sonny?

JCHNo doubt. Probably nobody under thirty has even heard that knee slapper. But in reaction to your ‘executive decision’, allow me to be a bit more with the youth of America. “What…ehhhhhver, dude.”

[…]

Priceonomics: The Economics Of Selling Out

09.18.2016

Culture, Music Business

Another great article from Priceonomics: The Economics Of Selling Out. A discussion on the tipping point between authenticity and popularity in music and politics.