The Jugglers & The Clowns.

"You never turned around to see the frowns

on the jugglers and the clowns

when they did their tricks for you....."

One can interpret this particular line of Bob Dylans in so many ways. For the purpose of this entry I'll be borrowing it to use with regard to the music caper. It's so blatant that the frowning jugglers and clowns performing tricks are the musicians trying to make something of what they enjoy doing.

They do this for a number of reasons. Initially it's out and out enjoyment but listening to ones' own music wears pretty thin, to this writer at least, after a very short time. The next logical thing to do is to have others hear it. If enough people enjoy it then it's obviously worth pursuing further if one feels that need. This is where things begin to 'bend.' By bend I mean one can lose ones' focus.

Not many musicians start off with the notion of making a career out of it but when the remotest of possibilities of this becoming real occur, people tend to literally lose their minds. All of a sudden they begin to dress differently, speak differently, behave differently and worst of all treat people differently, depending on who they are.

I consider myself fortunate in that, ever since I was old enough to be allowed, I've always liked wearing drainpipe jeans, winkle-picker boots & truckloads of jewellery. My hair has varied from being down to my backside, shaved bald and even bleached white more than once. By the time I became known as a musician, no-one batted an eyelid at my appearance. Even now I can walk around the small town where I live and be 'normal.' This is, unfortunately, not the case in other towns and cities in Tasmania....so I don't leave here much.

The most irritating aspect that I find with some musicians is that they seem to think they're doing the world a favour merely by being present. We all know the sorts; the ones' who look around to see who's looking at them. I've been introduced to many such folks who overly-proudly introduce themselves. More than once I've replied, "Neither am I."

So us musicians, us jugglers and clowns, are performing tricks for whom? We're performing our little tricks for an unbelievably constipated mass. So congested is the internet that one really has no idea of who and how many people really dig our music.

Primarily we're performing for people who truly enjoy our music and enjoy it enough to purchase it and provide well-informed feedback that displays that they are actually listening. Some musicians are also doing their tricks for major distributors hoping that somehow, some major player will find their needle which is placed in a multitude of haystacks.

Far from being a frowning juggler or clown, I'm more than happy getting my music across to people who may get enjoyment from it. I have made it as accessible and affordable as I can for those who enjoy it enough to download it, infact just this week I have found an avenue for making physical CDs available. This happened one day prior to me being asked (again) if I had any CDs for sale. I was absolutely over the moon to finally be able to say "Yes."

I shall continue recording in the knowledge that there are a few folks paying attention and will also be continually on the lookout for cheaper alternatives for people.....happily.

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