The Conversation

All right, so Friday was a big day in music. At night, the show was a success. Jason played a great set, I played; I got to sing harmonies on his "Lion Song" and "Carolina," which was just peachy. A good crowd turned out, and at the end of the evening, filed out pleased. Yes, it was a venue in which "filing out" was the default manner of exiting.

Hours earlier, Friday afternoon brought its own small triumph. A conversation commenced in an unassuming office, twenty-some stories above the canyon of Times square, launched by the meeting of an earnest young, demo-wielding artist with a well-connected, well-versed music industry executive. He asked me if I wanted to know specific things from him or if he should just spew things as they came to mind. I told him to please spew.

I'm going to try to capture the gist here. The gist is, he thinks I can go places. He's willing to help. He had some good solid critical advice for me regarding my vocal performance, and regarding playing out. Some of his connections are with people who have been or are currently involved in the careers of my favorite piano-singer-songwriters (RW. BF.) We were talking on a loose timeline. We talked about concrete details. Before I left he set me to task with a couple "assignments" while he meanwhile was going to talk to a couple of his connections on my behalf. He asked me if I wanted to make a living doing this, and then he told me that I can.

What makes me more hopeful and simultaneously calm about this situation, compared to situations in the past where I had a record label contact and wished upon a star that it would lead to somewhere, is the closeness, the accountability, the familiarity. This is my very own connection. I see this gentleman on a daily basis. We're already acquainted. He and my own boss work closely together on several projects. I'm friends with his assistant. He passes by my desk a dozen times a day by default. That is to say, he is under no obligation to invest anything in me, and yet now that he is expressing that he will, it is particularly significant that we do interact daily, because inherent in that is a measure of accountability, for both of us! "Following up" in the past meant me bothering a friend of a friend for the fourth time to find out what Mr. X thought of my demo, or waiting for a phone call from Mr G. about whether he thinks I have a future in music. Following up in this case means, walking down the hallway, knocking on his door, and sitting down for another chat -- once I have finished my assignments, that is.

So we'll see.