I have attempted to sum up the music industry from the start of this blog by referencing websites, talking to a few reps and going from just the knowledge that I have accumulated through research and a little experience (leaning heavily on the research). Because my experience is lacking, hearing things straight from a reputable source is probably the best place to get great information (obviously).

With that in mind, I wanted to figure out what it was like for aspiring musicians starting out. What sort of things they go through and what their aspirations and thoughts on the music industry are.

For this reason I introduce to you: The Roland Jones Orchestra. Based in Boone, North Carolina, the core members of this bluegrass group have been playing together for about a year and are attempting to create a name for themselves in the Boone music scene.

Jared McEntire (banjo), Caleb Humphries (mandolin) and Drew Parrot (guitar) began playing together the Spring of their sophomore year at Appalachian State University. They have since added bass players Chris Jones and Troy “T-Bone” Harris as well as fiddle player Jacob Wolfe, who has only recently filled the final position in the bluegrass group. The band describes their sound as music with bluegrass instruments. They have original songs written by Caleb, as well as dabble in old time bluegrass and funnel anything from Jack Johnson to The Beach Boys through banjo, guitar, mandolin, stand-up bass and fiddle.

Their first gig was on October 24th at an Open Mic night at Murphey’s Bar, a watering hole on Boone’s main drag, King Street. The main things Jared, Drew and Caleb remembered were that bluegrass is awkward in an Irish bar, and nothing in the placed worked right. Things were difficult. Jared said the pickup shorted out on his banjo, nothing but bass picked up on the guitar, and they ran out of mics. Drew rebutted, “But the crowd loved it.”

From that point on the group has had sporadic gigs at coffee houses, fraternity parties and fund raising events. They are currently taking gigs on a “just ask” basis. They described their current status in the Boone scene as being at the very bottom of the totem pole or lowest of the pecking order.

School takes up much of their time so they haven’t yet made it up there with the big players, but they are doing some pretty inventive things to get their name out there other than just playing shows. For one they are on myspace, ilike and facebook. Another pretty inventive thing is that they are instituting a business card policy, where they will hand out business cards at a show and each time you come they will stamp your business card. If you go to 4 shows you get to request them to play any song of your choosing at the fifth show. Note to those of you that cash in on this, don’t ask them to play rocky top or free bird. Choose something a bit more original, like “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go.” Ok so that’s a bit lame too, but it was just a suggestion.

Although their first bar crowd loved the show, Jared says the group tries to keep bar gigs to a minimum, “It’s hard to play soft music to a bunch of drunk people.” He also said that at bars bands tend to be just background music and until you get a crowd just coming to see you, you’re just fighting to keep a crowd’s attention. “Original stuff sets us apart, but right now songs people know keep their attention.”

On my personal favorite music industry topic, the group is for downloading and sharing of their music, for now. They support it because it is the best way to get their name out there, but they would hold a different position if their income was based on their music sales.

As for aspirations for the band Jared, Drew and Caleb aren’t really sure where they want to go with it. Jared said, “Mainly we are just hoping this gets us women” and Drew said, “To make the world a better place.” Caleb just seemed content to eat his sesame chicken.

They indicated the interview was up with a group statement, “Listen to us and tell all your friends, if not we’ll hunt you down with all of our bluegrass.”

If you want to check out a sample of their bluegrass sound check out this slide show featuring a live recording of a Caleb Humphries penned tune called “Down”. You can also visit their myspace or facebook pages.

So I ditched the whole Excel thing and decided to do a cool time-line thing instead. I attached it to the previous post about random things (including summer music festivals). However, this post is the sum of the information I was going to put into a cool Excel graph/chart.
Who likes lines and numbers anyway??? Enjoy the bout!
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Now I want a good clean fight, no swearing, no poking people in the eye or taking your mother’s name in vain. Now touch gloves and let’s get it on!

In the red corner we have Hard Copies: standing 12 or 7 inches tall (depending on the vinyl record), they are the perennial veteran of the music world.

Reputation: From Vinyl to CD’s, hard copies have ruled the at home music championship since 1912 (until recently was only challenged by radio). The analog or digitally recorded champion has more than established itself as the favorite of many. They have sold millions of copies in many genres.

Notable Victory: Most notably Michael Jackson’s Thriller selling 104 million copies world wide.

Downside: Bulky jewel cases, it’s no fun to run with a CD Walkman and you can’t play vinyl in a car.

Upside:You can hold them, you can touch them and you can even cuddle with them if you so like. They have the best sound quality plastic can provide: HARD COPIES

VS

In the blue corner we have Digital Copies: the new kid on the block. The next generation of music enjoyment capabilities.

Reputation: Recently the powerhouse hard copies have fallen a bit to mp3s, wmas, m4as and wavs. Their accessibility and ease of use have propelled them further than ever before. Has come under fire for ease of illegal distribution of material that has been copyrighted. Illegal music downloading is easier than ever with digital copies and cd burners.

The down side: Sound quality and DRM protection can hamper the digital format. Not all digital media is created equal.

Upside: Point, Click and listen. They are the easy, breezy easy to carry (with the right accessories): digital copies.

Which do you prefer??? Who will win in the fight to the death??
(Well not death… thats a bit violent, but you get the point)

The Unofficial Decision: A poll of 15 people (including some random strangers and some people I know) resulted in an 11-4 victory for the hard copies.

So for now the records survive until the next bout.

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A bit of what some people had to say about their medium of choice:
For Hard Copies:

“Natural sound that humans hear in everyday life is analog.
Birds and babies, the wind and rain; our best friend’s voice or a distant train are all heard in analog.
Our favorite musicians should be too.
Buy a record player.”
-Jacob – Boone, NC

“I like having CD’s because i feel the artwork is important- vinyl is cool too because the artwork is so pronounced– but i prefer to have CDs and then make digital copies, always having the cd there as a back up copy.”
-Krissy – Boone, NC

I have to say that a hardcopy of anything is best. In particular music has much more character when presented to me in vinyl form than when it’s glowing at me from my computer screen. Personally I don’t own many CDs or records mostly because I reserve that wonderful feeling of buying AND holding a new album for people who truly appreciate it…I just can’t seem to get that type of emotion when I walk into a music store. All in all it’s a matter of character for me.
-Adam – San Francisco, CA

“If you want to look at it this way…you get to pull out the insert that makes the front cover of the cd case and put it up on your wall like a mini centerfold. the boys of hanson enjoyed being up on my wall when i was in the 5th grade.”
-Juni – Greensboro, NC

For Digital:

“With the philosophy of sound aside, wouldn’t it make more sense to download new and buy used vinyl whenever possible simply on the basis of environmental impact?”
-Hart – Cincinnati, OH

“It depends on the artist. I would prefer the CD of most but some such as well known r&b artists i would prefer the digital but i i generally don’t care for anything other than their singles…”
-Emily – Rutherfordton, NC

“You don’t have to carry around a bunch of cds or stuff to listen to different songs – if you have an mp3 player you can have thousands of songs on a piece of equipment smaller than your cell phone.”
-Hilary – Chapel Hill, NC

“You’re not buying the crappy filler songs on albums, so you can save money by buying only the songs that you like. Because you’re saving money in that manner, you’re able to buy a wider range of music and experiment with different types as well. You can find pretty much anything immediately through digital music stores. Digital music is easier to mix, and its format makes it easier to navigate through songs (as compared to, say, tapes). It’s also much harder to damage digital music than it is to scratch, break, and lose CDs, tapes and albums.”
-Jennifer – Boone, NC