Talking ‘Bout My Generation

Green chairs and small wood tables at Mass MoCA
Green chairs and small wood tables at Mass MoCA

I should not be depressed at a birthday party. The room was crowded, a band playing and many people got up to perform. Some solo and at times there were six guitars on the stage. So what is my problem?

Let’s say you are in a position to go out to see a band. Maybe you would like to hear something creative, exciting, maybe something with an edge. What qualities do you look for? Maybe throw the dice and catch something wildly unexpected. If there was a room full of people and they were all around my age there would be a lot of water under the bridge. Just think where we came from with Motown and garage rock and straight up pop. Hendrix and psychedelia and jazz pushing frontiers. Punk offering a major correction. EDM for crying out loud.

Let’s say you play an instrument. What qualities would you be thinking about adding to this lexicon? Would you go out of your way to do a mediocre version of some roots, Americana thing?

1 Comment

One Reply to “Talking ‘Bout My Generation”

  1. Thank you for this. Our ‘musician’ friends come in two flavors: Those who remember why they got into this and those simply doing the same thing over and over. It has soured me on a lot of live music.

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