Something to Say

I think I have just had a bit of insight into why I am like I am.
For years (years are not digital are they like inches and centimeters?  I know I was about 5 foot 9 inches but I do not know what that is in kilometers) when it came to music I would go for the obscure.  The no name artist.
I thought it may be snobby, but I was not intending to be.  It was just that I have had a theory.  So often it seems people go for the big names.  I have been doing more of that of late and there is a reason the big names become big names.  To me it is more than marketing.  No matter how well a person or product is marketed if they do not deliver, their flame will be short lived.  Big names tend to have consistently brought out good stuff.
Yet I was tending to go for the no-names.  My thinking was, there are a multitude of voices out there and people tend to produce something because they have something to say.  The lack of fame to me does not make a story less legitimate.
When it came to music, I would often buy budget stuff that had not sold, to hear what was being said.  Often just one song that stood out made the purchase worthwhile.  I also wanted to encourage no name artists by purchasing their music.  I have been burned and I have uncovered gems.
This is where the insight about myself kicks in.  Every three months I would organize music events.  I would ring around.  Who I was after was a bit like my approach to music cd’s.  I was not seeking those who had a name already.  Those who were well known.  I was seeking those on the next level or the one below that.  Those that had legitimate talent and a story to tell but were often overlooked in favour of their more famous contemporaries.
Without exception the artists picked appreciated the opportunity.  They had come to the wrong place if they expected a lot of money for their efforts.  We were not for profit.  Proceeds would go to them to help cover costs.
It is probably a stretch of the imagination, but it may be the only opportunity I get to share the story of the best takings we ever took for artists.  We had invited a blue grass band.  They were terrific and very well received.  I employed something I had heard a busker in Brisbane say.  He said, “I don’t mind what you give as long as you fold it neatly.”  I loved that line, so I used it on the night of the blue grass band.  As I say what we were able to give them was like no other we had ever had.
I find myself doing something similar in other areas now.  I do not chase the big names, but the ones perhaps never heard of, but with something to say.  It is always worth it to them and to their listeners.