Loud Music

This week Donna and I worked on a lot of different music; mostly country blues classics, some folksy pop stuff and a few ragtime tunes. She’s really into the ukulele and this was the first time since taking up playing that she felt confident enough to come out with me to a coffeehouse and play in public. There was so much receptivity and enthusiasm for old time music at this one particular place - such a great venue for intimate, live acoustic music.

There should be a lot more places seeking to create that kind of atmosphere. It is unfortunate that most business owners don’t see the value in it because there are a heck of a lot of people who really enjoy that kind of experience. They come there just to drink coffee or have breakfast, and they want to be able to talk, visit with friends and listen to quiet, relaxing live music. In many cases, places that do have live music are too dang loud. You can’t talk, and you’re just pummeled to death by the ferocious volume coming out of the P.A.

Anyway, this past Monday Donna and I played for a nice crowd, which was partly due I suppose to the “after Christmas” travelers along the Interstate. On Thursday (new Years’ eve) we went back there and played again for a slightly smaller group and had an equally enjoyable time. Later that evening some neighbors invited us to a party, so we showed up with guitar, uke, harmonica and a bottle of wine, and sat around the kitchen table with a few friends and played and sang some more.

Not everyone liked our country blues and folk tunes though. In fact, there were a couple of people who were annoyed and waited around for us to stop so they could crank up the stereo and play some contemporary dance music. Wow, what a contrast! But one woman who had stayed to listen to us with her grandson said, “Your music is so much more soothing than that stuff.” But the thing I finally realized is this: there is a genuine sense of longing in many people to experience a kind of life-affirming kinship that only live acoustic music can provide.

So when they cranked up the stereo, turned on the flashing disco lights and started wildly gyrating to “Mustang Sally”, the atmosphere in the room drastically shifted from people relaxing, visiting, talking and sharing songs to one of stress, tension, even an odd feeling of enmity. No one could talk because the music was so loud and aggressive. There was a harsh sense of disconnection that seemed to take over. It was so weird to see it happen. Obviously the majority of us could feel it, but the “others” were absolutely oblivious. They wanted the music to be loud and they wanted to dance. And they did. So they simply took over. There was no more relating or sharing with one another. Everyone just stood around watching the two or three drunken dancers whooping and hollering.

Donna and I stayed a little while longer and watched the crazy scene unfold, surprised that the good energy had died out so quickly. But we were happy that we had been able to visit with some friends. After a few minutes and a couple of pieces of fudge, we packed up the instruments, left early and went home.

The next day she and I went for a long walk and talked about the party the night before and concluded that there was something significant about that hour we had created a setting of relaxed camaraderie. I think that was the first time Donna ever had that kind of experience around playing music. But I’ve known about it ever since high school. Nearly all my friends played in the school band or were into guitar. And we used to spend hours sitting around at my house drinking beer, eating pizza, playing songs, laughing and singing. It was one of the best times of my life.

I felt it then, as I do now, that this is one of the best ways to connect and relate to others. Unfortunately you don’t see it much these days in the lives of young people. Too much technology has busted the desire or need to come together in singing circles. Though many of them love their digital music, they are still eager to go out to clubs and listen to extremely loud bands. But these kinds of gatherings are not so much for the purposes of social networking. They’re not getting together to discuss issues of social injustice or causes they believe in, they’re going out to relieve frustration.

This new generation, more than any other before has a completely different idea of what is important. To them the American dream is not so much about having an opportunity to work for and build a modest home, learn wisdom from elders, raise a family, cultivate relationships, learn creative life skills, or develop some form of art - for many teens, 20 and 30 something’s, it is simply about wanting to be famous like the people featured on popular reality shows like American Idol, Big Brother, Dancing with the Stars, and so forth.

When I heard this mentioned on a public radio program recently I was stunned, but it does make sense. I’ve noticed that many young people who are into playing music seem to be more concerned with putting together a band, performing on a stage, earning money playing gigs, or simply hoping to gain some recognition or fame. What ever happened to just getting together for the sake of playing and sharing music?

My friend, John Baute has the right viewpoint, that’s why I admire his approach. He’s been learning to play the guitar for about a year now, going along at his own pace, just trying to create a solid groove so he can experience the pleasure of playing music for his own enjoyment. He describes it like this, “I just want to be able to sit on my porch and play the blues.” Too me, John has discovered a profound secret, which is that the seed for satisfaction and success in music exists whenever someone plays for the sake of the music first. Anything else just stirs up ego and corrupts the creative energy. But if a person participates in music with the purpose of sharing their own joy and enthusiasm with others through learning, listening and playing songs, there is a whole other dimension of experience available to them, one where making other people happy is more important. I’ve seen this happen over and over, but sadly, it is something that few musicians seem to be conscious of.

That’s why I really like places that offer open mic performances (as long as the place has the right atmosphere, which I’ll talk about in another post). An open mic is an opportunity for an amateur musician to get up there in front of people and just pour their heart and soul out. It takes a lot of guts to get up in front of people and sing, but the cool thing is audiences love it. The majority of people would still rather experience live music rather than listen to the TV or digitally recorded music. And I’ve found that in certain situations, the simpler the music is, the better it is for the listener to enjoy.

Many hard-core rockers would disagree. They assert that if more instrumentation is louder and better, increasingly more louder is even better! But I still maintain that the music that has the most “spaciousness” is far more enjoyable to experience. Once you get beyond three or four instruments, it gets too hectic. There are exceptions of course, depending on the song and the mood of the music, but for the most part, I’d say, keep it simple and people will appreciate it more.

There is just too much NOISE these days in most public venues, too much happening all at once. I think it is crazy that restaurants have 5 televisions going on at the same time, especially when there’s a band playing. And now-a-days bands are even louder than ever before. People sit there in front of the PA speakers like it’s no big deal, constantly screaming at one another trying to talk. What in the world is going on? Are people that oblivious and deaf that they can subject their body to that kind of noise and pretend like it’s not abnormal?

I actually watched a 20-something year old girl sit inebriated and seemingly comatose just four feet from a PA speaker on the balcony at Boudreaux’s & Thibodeaux’s in Baton Rouge while this deaf-inducing heavy metal blues band blasted out the most outrageously loud and darkly inert music(?) I’ve ever heard since seeing Ritchie Blackmore at the Centroplex in 1977. I actually went downstairs to the street still plugging my ears from the volume. It’s just unbelievable that young people can subject themselves to that kind of assault without blinking. To me it is a symptom of a society desperately trying to feel something they sense is missing and the only way they can is by exposing themselves to as much noise, entertainment, pleasure and intoxication they can get.