It is no secret that I make fun of a lot of singer-songwriters in my shows. Especially the ones that are oh so pretentious (I’m talking to you, Sting). My views of writing and performing can be found in two quotations, the first being from a transcript of a lecture given by William Faulkner at the University of Virginia. (And yes, I know this could also be construed as pretentious. But Faulkner makes an excellent point, so deal.)

“...I think the—the writer is not really interested in—in bettering man's condition. He really doesn't care a damn about man's condition. He is interested in all man's behavior, with no judgment whatever. That it's—it's motion. It's life. The only alternative is—is nothingness, death. And so, to the writer, anything man does is fine because it's motion.”

The job of the writer--to repeat what Faulkner said in a more concise manner--is to show man as himself. It is not the job of the writer to editorialize, condone, or condemn. When a singer-songwriter starts giving a “message” in their songs, talking about people should be doing or what people should not be doing, they’ve left the writer’s desk and moved on to the pulpit. Since I believe that most preachers are full of their own self-importance and false sense of epiphany and wisdom, I view this leap as a negative thing.

A popular sentiment among the truly serious singer-songwriter is that the function of art is to “tell the truth.” They could not be more wrong. That declaration is an example of the self-indulgence most artists wallow in, thinking that their painting or their song or their fictional work is going to save the world and cause another enlightenment. It’s bullshit. It’s bullshit when a preacher says it and it’s bullshit when an artist says it.

The best line regarding the true function of art was found in an episode of the West Wing. “An artist’s job is to captivate you for however long we’ve asked for your attention. If we stumble onto truth, we got lucky. And I don’t get to decide what truth is.”

That quote is a perfect companion to Faulkner. I, as a writer, am not judge and jury. What I depict in all of my writings are human beings acting like human beings in a hopefully entertaining way. Nothing more. There is no revelation, divine or intellectual, in what I do. If a work means something acutely important to somebody else, if it happens to cause an epiphany of some sort, then it was an accident of creation.

My job--every artist’s job--is to entertain. Not to show off how talented you are, how smart you are, or how clever (Christina Aguilera, Sting, and Jason Mraz respectively). The moment a singer-songwriter forgets that, he/she does something asinine...such as taking the Reggae beat out of Roxanne and putting it into a full-blown orchestral arrangement. (Yeah, I’m still talking about you, Sting.)

 

I want to personally thank everyone who has come out to the shows and supported live music, whether in Nashville, Lexington, or Louisville. It's been a great run with great crowds, and I've had an abs...

Boss cuts our monthly bonus. We have eggs. What would Easter Bunny do?

Radio Crystal Blue is an independent online radio program hosted in New York City and features independent artists from around the world. Crystal Blue has long been a supporter of my music and this qu...

Boss posts drunk pics on facebook. An email I don't mind being CC-ed.

Main & Maple set list:1. Pleasure To Burn2. Better Mistakes3. Mississippi Rain / Just My Imagination4. Liar's Game5. Black Tuesday6. Crossing The River7. The Edge8. Funny How The Old Moves Com...

In honor of this weekend's shows, a tribute to my favorite critics.....