Show 20 Friday April 1 9 2002 Standard-Examin- Success in music business not By TONY HICKS Knight Ridder Newspapers er cookie-cutt-er there’ve been a few mini-wavof music (gangsta rap Lilith Fair Mickey Mouse Club graduates electronica Latin pop etc) that caught some public attention but didn’t exactly qualify as rap-met- al Love the of the man for the last music revolution is on stage and on a roll slamming the major Earth-moverecord labels So what’s next if She’s criticizing other artists for not standing up for anything? What will make people excited about music themselves She’s dissing again? g bands like Puddle of Mudd for being mediocre Doing it their way Ninety minutes later as The good news is that hundreds of writers lawyers Eaton may be right What he musicians and publicists file calls “honest rock” is gaining out of the ballroom at the momentum now that the Austin Convention Center (rap-metlatest mini-trenone independent record and muses on his own boy bands) are deflating producer antidote to the music world’s commercially That could mean an latest creative ills infusion of artists who “The major labels are so focused on repeating their depend upon their own successes” says David Eaton creative instincts instead of an Los Angeles-base- d hype major record-labsuch as in town last for producer month’s South by Southwest Ryan Adams John Mayer and music festival “Someone who Pete Yom are becoming more goes against that grain will be visible as are stripped-dow- n rockers such as the Strokes the next big thing and the White Stripes Even “Honest rock is coming the politically motivated back - performance rock” metal of System of a Down is Honest rock in this case is pretty ambiguous It’s as getting wide praise One could easily argue that vague as the direction the “honest” music took over this music itself will take in the near future year’s Grammys where For more than a decade critically hyped soul singer Alicia Keys dominated and popular music has lacked a the bluegrass musicians of cohesive trend big enough to the “0 Brother Where Art cross lines of age race gender etc There’s a gaping Thou?” soundtrack brought home void just waiting to be filled honors The big question is whether there’s any prtist out there “There’s some bright signs with the right stuff to out there” says Gary Bongiovanni eclitor of artistically (and positively) have an impact on the music industry magazine Pollstar world anytime soon “Like a lot of people I’m Since Nirvana Pearl Jam amazed by the (‘O Brother’) Soundgarden and Alice in phenomenon Bluegrass has Chains seemingly overran the traditionally been relegated to small clubs (The planet in the early 1990s Courtney rs big-sellin- al el Singer-songwrite- rs album-of-the-ye- ar popularity) is coming from the people it’s not from radio play “It seems like until you’re in the middle of it no one can predict the next big thing” Songwriting’s the key It’s unlikely that bluegrass truly catch on because there’s really no radio niche for it but the success of “0 Brother” may point listeners toward other roots-base- d music Yet other than having deep-seate-d roots in rock soul and folk music many of the newest buzz acts have little in common with each other save for a couple of important factors Songwriting is again the most important aspect and the public is slowly but surely catching onto what critics already love “People are much more open now to a variety of music” says Bongiovanni “There are some encouraging acts that are proving they can will sell” It’s not very cut and dried System of Down but there are indicators that singer-songwrite- rs are beginning to ride a wave of popularity Adams and Yom are getting play on radio and MTV as are the Strokes Bongiovanni says more artists are following the Dave Matthews model of focusing on the music which has made him immensely popular -despite not having a gimmick “Dave Matthews is capable of doing multiple stadium tours” Bongiovanni says “Acts like that tend to stay around longer by making a name for themselves by playing live” Abounding music It’s not exactly the that the convincing anti-poiSex Pistols were to disco but maybe that’s what’s good about it It’s just music Whether anything out there materializes into an nt trend remains a mystery “I think we’re going back where we were in the ’40s See SUCCESS21 Get out your musical crystal ball and take a peek at future stars By TONY HICKS Knight Ridder Newspapers in their right mind to predict what the Big Thing will be the predictor is on a record company payroll If I say you must check out punkers And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead they would in all Nobody likelihood fold up over creative differences the next day So let’s take the safe route and steer toward the bands who have been around for a while and you can probably find in any mall record store These artists already sell records and have collected critical raves but may have slipped by many listeners They might not be the Next Big Thing - and chances are you know the names - but it’s a welcome change from what is being churned out on MTV and pop radio The White Stripes: Minimalist garage rock from Detroit It’s a band of two which supports that basic premise of simplicity Some of it is hard-edgeand some of it borders on sweet Check out the band’s 2001 d release “White Blood Cells” Pete Yom: Just a great songwriter with very accessible material You might have already heard some of it on the “Me Myself & Irene” soundtrack or on television’s “Dawson’s Creek” It’s legitimately good without getting too wimpy The Strokes: Already became the See FUTURE21 |