Clay Anderson Johnson

Reading, listening, and posting here has been very enlightening. I have been fascinated by the songs, some of which have been very good, but more by having an insight into different people’s perceptions and processes as well as by their cognizance (or not) of what they do. As I remarked to John last evening, “There is no Right or Wrong in Art although artlessness is always a possibility.” I am a firm believer in the studies which show variety of taste in musical listening is in almost direct proportion to intelligence levels in most people. Being here has also led to a journey of self discovery in things which I have never thought about regarding myself. My note choice and phrasing on lead guitar are much more heavily influenced by Jazz horn players than by Rock guitarists. ( One of my friends I have played with professionally said this was obvious. I never knew as I had never thought about it before. ) My creation process for most, not all, numbers is almost exactly the reverse of the traditional. I begin with the drums. I start by recording a drum beat then add complementary percussion in 2-4 other tracks. After I complete the parts for the drum score I either lay down a bass line or choose which instrument will carry the melody and begin it. It is one big, mad, wonderful world out there with room for everyone and everything.

Great point! I well remember albums having a deliberate sequence intended by the artist. It adds to the listening experience immensely. A parallel one is sequencing a set as a show not just a group of songs. Keith Richards says the worst decision of his entire life was due to this. In 1964 the Rolling Stones had the option of preceding James Brown or following him at the TAMI Show in Los Angeles. Following him meant being the headliner which they chose although they had only been a band for two years. James Brown was a pro who went on and KILLED. He worked the audience into such a frenzy they were jumping up and down. The Rolling Stones were an anticlimax afterwards. Richards says it was the most embarrassing moment he can remember.

Don't think of it as a shortcut. Envision it as a hybrid approach. Purists self-isolate. There is no right or wrong in art although artlessness is possible which you eluded to earlier.

I reread the article I had read when it originally came out. When I got to the end about " America does four things better than any other country in the world: rock music, movies, software and high-speed pizza delivery" I almost broke out laughing. I thought we're now down to pizza delivery. Our Rock music and especially our movies may be the world's most expensive but certainly not the best. Software is pretty much an international effort. People willing to drive their own cars to make money for a corporation still ranks high though.

One of my biggest irritations is people who don't care enough about their audience to dress the part. You don't have to wear designed stage clothing but JFC don't wear the jeans and shirt you wear to your day job. Show some respect for your audience. If you are attempting to be noticed get a clue that people don't pay money to see their grocery clerk with a guitar.

Great response Greg! You have obviously thought about this. I kind of fell into the business more than having a career goal and have played music along with producing live events and at one point having a web development business building commercial websites during the Wild West days of the Internet when it was first really becoming popular 1999-2001. I'm all for genre busting. Japanese accountants at record labels segmented the business into niches more than actual audience preferences did. People are steered like cattle into a chute for their listening choices. We don't differ so much on issues as much perhaps differing on what I was attempting to say. I outlined what are the foundations for MY music not what I think should be guidelines for anyone else. My PERSONAL preferences for playing are simple melodic lines and heavy percussion for myself. I was not implying that it should be anyone else's. I have extremely diverse tastes in music. I listen to everything from Merle Haggard to Beethoven. I mostly play single note lead on guitar. I can chord a keyboard easily but am a lousy rhythm guitarist. I got started in college acting as a stand-in soloist with different groups for certain numbers because I could play Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, and Jeff Beck. Things just took off from there. I am a musician more than a writer. People have strong reactions to most things I do in anything not just music. They either love me or hate me, I am very polarizing. This makes me a show biz natural. Although I have never had anything more than regional success I have appeared in a feature film as myself, my wife refers to her friends as my fan club, and I have around a dozen small investors who don't really have any significant financial impact but are wildly enthusiastic and supportive of anything I do.

I actually learned something about myself I had never realized and was not intentional while I was mixing the track on showcase. My note choice and phrasing on guitar is more influenced by Jazz horn players than Rock guitarists.

I posted the first one on my Facebook page last week. I'm taking his course on Masterclass.com also. There are lots of great artists there. I'm always getting emails on new teachers. They added Yo Yo Ma last month. They just added Metallica on running a band. I alternate between subjects just like in college. I'm also taking Steve Martin on Comedy and Neil Gaiman on Storytelling. Before I laid down the drums for the track on Showcase I took Sheila E's course.

I always liked what was written on his guitar too, "This Machine Kills Fascists." My current fav for that type of art is Tom Morello's guitar which reads, "Arm The Homeless."

I could not agree more. You get out of something what you put into it.

Do you have a musical philosophy? Have you ever thought about where your music comes from? By this I mean other than "a burst of creativity", "it just comes to me", "I have to create", or similar things you hear people say. You may only play one style of music but have you ever wondered or explored what the guidelines are for your thought? I can list a handful of statements made by artists, none of whom I sound like musically, who define the structure of my musical thought and process. Woody Guthrie: Any damn fool can be complex, the hard part is keeping it simple. There are thousands of technically great musicians who will never go anywhere or will have a niche audience. They don’t speak to people on a simple emotional level. James Brown: Every instrument is a drum. Rhythm preceded Melody. Even if you just tap your foot to a song it is rhythmic. Name the last ballad you paid money for. Jimi Hendrix: Most of today’s music is rooted in the Blues. The operative word in the sentence is “Most”, he didn’t say All. Jazz is a direct descendant of it. Rock & Roll was a melding of Country and Blues. Arguments could be made that even Techno/Electronic Music is simply a progression of Rock or evolved from some form of dance music and “most” modern dance music is rooted in Jazz, Rock, or Blues at some point. David Bowie: Pretense is everything. They don’t call it Show Business for no reason. People have a deep desire to be entertained, to have someone or thing to take them away from the dreariness of their day to day lives. Many people aspire to be musicians to escape their mundane everyday existence. I ran away from home the first time when I was 6 years old. It wasn't the last. These artists's statements are the foundations of my own personal philosophy. Emotion is the only thing which matters. This is probably different from your point of view. What is yours and where does it come from?

Good point! Another which goes hand in hand with this is reading the author's entire post, not just the part submitted for critique, and asking questions before making statements. Why did you choose this phrase? What was your intent in your choice of words or music? What is your goal with this piece? I posted one set of lyrics on the critique board. Previous to the lyric was a fairly detailed explanation of what my goal for the number was and why I made my choices. I tried to provide as much insight as possible because what I wanted to know was if other people felt it would work to achieve my goal in the context intended not for suggestions in word choices, length of phrases, or emotional direction. "I consider sets stage shows not just groups of songs. Start Big, Build, Continue High, Drop Emotional Level to lowest point possible, Build again, Climax, Finale. This song is the tear jerker Show Stopper to make people cry at the low point. It is solo piano with vocal, no band. The tempo is Lento in the key of A minor with Gershwin style chording." The majority of comments glossed over the explanation entirely. I spent most of my time in responses restating the same things in a different manner or explaining it was not a Pop radio song and meant to be depressing not a happiness booster shot. None of the comments answered or even addressed the question I was attempting to ask. Do you think this will work in the context it is intended for?

Good post! I admit I have a weakness in only commenting on someone's work if I have something positive or encouraging to say. If I don't like something I won't say anything. I don't feel being picayune about trivial issues is helpful. This is probably not a good thing in many ways as this is not good leadership or mentoring on my part. However I don't want to be destructive as I know most people do not have the obnoxious level of self confidence I do. Therefore I am hesitant to rain on anyone's parade. There are also styles of music I simply don't like, such as acoustic guitar songs without percussion, so I feel biased in critiquing them. For all my faults, of which there are many, I would never be intentionally or unfairly unkind.

Can you reach people on an emotional level other than the simple, easy happy, sad, or angry? Can you be emotionally complex while remaining musically assessable to your audience? As an experiment listen to people who were Master Musicians and you may increase your impact tremendously. Beethoven is regarded as a genius and his work still reverberates today. Obviously his technical prowess is remarkable and he was groundbreaking in his presentation. The undying factor is his emotional command and the ability to tell a story with or without words. Most often considered his greatest Symphony #9, The Choral Symphony, known for the Ode To Joy segment not only introduced the combination of vocal soloists to symphonic music but also it celebrated liberation from both repressive governments and the tyranny of the Roman Catholic Church with his use of pagan imagery. My personal favorite is Symphony #3, The Eroica (The Hero). It tells the story of the French Revolution without using any words. It progresses through the discontent of the people, the frivolity of the court, the plotting against the throne, the uprising, the reign of terror, the rise of Napoleon putting down the mob, and ends with Napoleon being crowned Emperor. All without a single word. Although on a much smaller scale Carlos Santana has done the same. Soul Sacrifice is an Aztec sacrificial ritual told strictly through music. It moves from the anticipation of the crowd, the offering walking up the steps of the temple, the gathering of the priests, and climaxes with the stabbing heard in the three organ bursts before ending with the ensuing celebration. Miles Davis does similar thing in his albums Sketches of Spain and Bitches Brew. Jimi Hendrix often did much the same thing in his three studio albums where the introductions set the emotional mood for the song before he sings a word. None of these may be in your personal catalog but all are excellent lessons in how to reach an audience on an emotional level using music. Listening to great music that is not in your preferred genre is an excellent tool for growth.

1965 Still playing the Sears Silvertone guitar he used all the way to his band Jimmy James & The Blue Flames in 1966. This is his last band in NYC in 1966 before moving to London. He gave Randy California of Spirit his stage name in this band. Randy California was only 17 and his parents wouldn't let him go to England with Hendrix. Hendrix didn't do well in NYC. He was half American Indian and half Black. He said he wasn't Black enough for Harlem or White enough for Greenwich Village.

It is Jimi Hendrix in back, the Ronettes in front. Hendrix was a backup player for years before moving to London and achieving fame. Little Richard actually fired him. 😱

I have never sought audience approval. I go onstage to "work" an audience. I enjoy toying with peoples emotions while they simultaneously enjoy it. It is similar to sex.

I record with Logic Pro. It is a tremendous advance over paying for studio time while listening to an employee telling you how your music should sound. Also there is no pressure to get a take right because of the cost of the studio. Conversely the more electronic the instrumentation sounds have become, the more I have returned to the sound of traditional instruments even if they are software created. My musical voice is heavy percussion, Hammond organ, electric guitar, and horns. The horns and organ are created with software using a digital piano. The drums are primarily live with the addition of loops for congas.

It is funny that our paths have almost opposite directions. I started out learning guitar and writing songs. Then in college I started doing stand-ins with different bands as a soloist because I played Clapton, Beck, and Page while playing in other college type bands. Next I was in the Chitlin' Circuit with Black guys for a while. Later I tried songwriting again after learning keyboards and adding that to the mix. Then I moved to LA, took courses at UCLA in Music Business, and played lead guitar in a band for 5 years which played original music with none of my songs but I was happy with that. I also made some great connections with music business people in my time there. I have friends in Nashville where I am a union member, but overexposure to Country music has kept me away from there for the last two years. I'm a heavy percussion guy and that is not my scene. Lately on my own, I record band music but I play all the parts including drums. I've found my musical voice but for the most part it is instrumental. I am an adequate singer but prefer to back someone who is great. I would like to play live again. My biggest obstacle now is my musical style requires a 6-8 person band, multiple percussion with horns and female vocalist, which means union musicians who have to be paid. I have a small group of investors who see a future in me but are not heavy enough to pay for forming and rehearsing a tour band.

People write songs or other forms of music for many reasons. Some write music. Some write lyrics. Some write both. Some write to express themselves. Some write to communicate an opinion, an idea, or a vision. Some write as a product or a service. Some simply write because they “have to”. I write strictly to have a vehicle. It is my least favorite part of the music process. I write simply to have new material. My creative drive revolves more around playing than writing. What is your reason?

This is my fault entirely. This is because I view the business as a performer not as a writer. With BMI I am both a writer and a publisher. Many of today's artists self-publish as their goal is selling their music not their songs. Publishers take 50% of the the royalties. If you are a performer that is a bad deal as you can use Songtrust to collect all of the publisher's share of rights for you including streaming internationally. If your goal is to sell songs obviously you need a publisher who uses song pushers to make your material know to artists.

First let me draw a distinction here on a line which may be blurred. A publicist is a PR, Personal Representation, agent. They get you promoted any way they can. They work for you as one of your team of representatives. Your comment seems to be about a publisher, someone who publishes your song for sale to artists. I have a publicist although I do not have a publisher as I am not in the business of selling songs to other artists. You can find lists or even books listing publishers on Google. What you need to do then is find out what their individual requirements are for submitting material and in what format they accept it. Some will not accept any unsolicited submissions at all. Some will although they have specific guidelines as to how to go about it. Don't contact them by email unless they provide a specific guideline to do so. Any correspondence should be in a written letter until you have a contract or they ask you to email them. The worst thing you can do is become overwhelmed and give up. If you believe in yourself Go Big! My strongest quality is I seem to be impervious to doubt. I have more courage than talent.

Very nice! I really enjoy music which is not song form. Like yourself I prefer extended melodies. Also very creative with the guitar strap. I just had a button put on the back of the neck on my classical where it glues to the body (Not that I am a classical musician in the first place).

This is A+, easily the best post I have read on this site. You hit on three major themes. Learning by keyboard layout, I never understood this as a guitarist then I learned piano. Music as mathematics (the only concept I can fully remember from Music Theory class) almost every Rock musician I have ever tried to explain this to looked like I was talking Greek. The Nashville Number System, I actually learned this playing the Chitlin'Circuit as a boy before I ever saw Nashville. Bravo! Well done! Take an extra bow!

I use Logic Pro X. I am accustomed to loading my computer with full slot RAM to smooth buffering/bouncing. I am hesitant to upgrade to a M1 Mac because of the unified memory which maxes out at 16 GB. I would like to hear opinions from anyone who has actually used 32 GB or higher DDR4 on a Mac for music production who has moved to a M1. Is the CPU speed really enough to make up for the loss of RAM?