Music Smarts

Greetings and welcome to my new Berkleemusic blog.  For starters, I’d like to introduce you to my new book MUSIC SMARTS.

Music Smarts features hundreds of quotations from a vast array of artists and industry gurus, reflecting on influences, heroes, integrity, performances, and many more critical aspects of being a music person. These gems of hard-won wisdom cover not only the highs of success, money, and fame, but also frankly reveal the lows of missteps and rejection.

Drawn from 25 years of feature interviews by notorious studio insider, Mr. Bonzai, and edited by Mix magazine creator, David Schwartz, Music Smarts features razor-sharp insights from the music industry’s savviest artists, producers, technicians, and business execs, and showcases the brainpower that has made popular music the most influential force in modern culture. This handbook also includes a visual “who’s who” of the music biz with original portraits by Mr. Bonzai of the featured artists.

Order it now on Amazon.com
As esteemed Berkleemusic colleagues, please share a moment with me from the making of this book:

Who:
Since her debut Angel With A Lariat in 1986, k.d. lang has intrigued and surprised fans and critics alike. The provocative torch singer behind such Grammy winners as “Constant Craving” and “Crying,” lang’s got “gumption”: an archaic colloquialism for initiative, energy and good judgement.

Where:
I was invited to join k.d. back in 1995 at L.A.’s Chateau Marmont for a listen to her latest album, All You Can Eat, her most forthright and personal statement up ‘til then, which was co-produced with Ben Mink, engineered by Marc Romaer, and recorded at dual home studios in Vancouver.  Soaring over compelling grooves, surrounded by colorful instrumentation and sensual rhythms, she came across confident and carefree, bold yet vulnerable.

What she said, from MUSIC SMARTS:

The Girl Can’t Help It
“I don’t think true musicians, actors, and artists have any choice.”
—k.d. lang

photo by Mr. Bonzai