Gimee Three Steps, Mister

Lately I've noticed myself waxing between ranting and snarking about the tendencies of music people to isolate and remove themselves from fan contact. This story today made me feel a little dickish about my views:


AUSTIN, Texas — Country singer Billy Joe Shaver shot and wounded a man in self-defense outside a bar, his attorney said Monday.

A drunk, aggressive stranger with a knife followed Shaver into the parking lot of Papa Joe's Texas Saloon in Lorena on Saturday night, said Shaver's attorney, Joseph A. Turner of Austin. Turner would not say whether anything had occurred inside the bar.

Police in Lorena — about 80 miles north of Austin — have not issued an arrest warrant, but Shaver will turn himself in if they do, Turner said.

"We're working with the police to get this resolved," Turner said.

The victim was shot in the cheek but was talking and alert afterward, according to police.

(AP via chron.com)

Until I saw this at Billboard:

Arrest Warrant Issued For Billy Joe Shaver
Billy Joe Shaver
April 03, 2007, 10:45 AM ET
Police have issued arrest warrants for country singer Billy Joe Shaver after he shot and wounded a man outside a Texas bar, the entertainer's attorney said.

After Shaver left a bar in Lorena on Saturday night, a drunk, aggressive stranger with a knife followed him into the parking lot, said attorney Joseph A. Turner of Austin. Shaver shot him in self-defense, he said.

Police in Lorena, about 80 miles north of Austin, issued arrest warrants late yesterday (April 2) on charges of aggravated assault and possessing a firearm in a prohibited place, Turner said.


Any fan of Billy's knows what a Christian man he is, so shooting a man in the face has to have an explanation somehow that makes sense. Right? I mean, look at that photo above with David Allen Coe. He is sweet as can be. I guess fans are so crazy these days it just pays to keep a loaded gun handy at all times?

Maybe We Can Sell T-Shirts?

Stop telling me how to do things right in the music business. You know who you are. You don't know shit. You suck at your job. To keep it up another day is to confirm you are frauds, conmen, or desperately holding on to an idea whose time has fled:

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The biggest stars of the music world are gathering in Los Angeles for Sunday's Grammy Awards, while the business slides deeper into the abyss.

Every day brings more bad news for the $21 billion industry, which cannot work out how to get fans to pay $18 for a CD instead of stealing music from the Web.

Just this week, Grammy-winning jazz singer Norah Jones' much-anticipated new album opened at No. 1 on the U.S. pop charts, but its sales were less than half those of its predecessor three years ago.

Warner Music Group Corp. -- home of Madonna and James Blunt -- reported a worse-than-expected 74 percent slide in first quarter profits. And EMI Group Plc., home of Coldplay and Robbie Williams, laid off a number of U.S. staffers.

Still, don't expect the bad tidings to infect the Grammys, which begin at 8 p.m. EST (0100 GMT Monday) at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.

"It's not really the time to say, 'We don't know how to sell albums anymore. Please help us,'" said Craig Marks, editor in chief at music magazine Blender.

I will be happy to give your clients some pointers:

1. If you are in a musical act in it to sell CD's, then get out;

2. If you are competing against karioki, then get out;

3. If you think your babydoll, pillow-talk voice is going to make it, then get out;

4. If you think your musclular, fancy hat, aw-shucks stuff is going to make it, then get out;

5. Say something, stand for something, be somebody.

DJ's are committed, professional, experts on music. Let them play what they want. Pay them what they deserve.

Promote your music online with downloads.

Club owners cannot continue to promote a business model that exploits artists. Let them find a way to make money without you paying for it.