Seth's Road Journal...

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08:21 p.m.
Friday, February 6th ; GAINESVILLE FL – I am sitting in a café on my laptop (not really sitting ON the laptop, you know, but I am sitting, and I am, “on”, in a sense, my laptop), and I have just finished listening to the free preview of the new Jonatha Brooke record, “Back In The Circus”. Three things are going through my mind: 1.) DAMN. 2.) This free preview thing AOL has is wicked cool! You can listen to the whole record (without downloading it) to see what it’s like before you buy it… I’m gonna have to do that if I can… 3.) I can only hope everyone likes MY new record as much as I like Jonatha’s.... and 4.) DAMN. She rocks. (did I say three things?) …so what has been happening? I have been in Florida now for just over a week, with one week to go. I have visited Gainesville, Orlando, Delray Beach, Plantation, Miami Beach, and Pensacola, pretty much in that order! I haven’t been playing every night, but pretty often, and I must say; based on experiences so far, Florida’s acceptance of singer/songwriters has certainly come around since I went to college here!!! I have had such a great reception everywhere I’ve gone, and met so many cool people… Gainesville, Delray Beach, and Pensacola: You folks are awesome! I will definitely be back to play for you again. I play in Orlando tomorrow night, and am eager to bassify Disneyworld… I’ve also had the chance to reconnect with some friends, not limited to, but definitely including the uber-talented gentlemen Peter Parente and Peter Wallace. Both these guys and I went to music school together back in the day, and they’re doing alright for themselves… Mr. Wallace has played keyboards with Julio Iglesias (SENIOR, mutherfo… look out…), and Mr. Parente played guitar with Julio Jr. and is currently in Gloria Estefan’s band. They both have nice places in So Florida… Pete W. is married… wow… sometimes I remember how different my life is than everyone else’s, even if we’re all still doing music… … and there’s other stuff on my mind, too. I’ve always been hounded by two facts as I’ve gone through my solo music career: 1.) I left a band called Darwin’s Waiting Room, a band I was one of the two founding members of here in Florida, and after I left they went on to sign with MCA records. 2.) I left a band called Vertical Horizon, a band that I didn’t found, but that I played in with one of my old friends from college, Ed Toth, and I left shortly after they signed with RCA records in 1997. Being that close to what I thought was the pinnacle of a career in music, and then backing up and starting over, TWICE… man, there was a period of time where I thought I just didn’t have what it takes… but just in the past week I have reason to pause and reflect on leaving both of these bands to pursue my own songwriting and touring. I got to hang out with Ed just last weekend at the University of Florida’s Music Law Conference, where I was a showcase artist and a panelist. It was a fantastic time; well-run, very informative, and a great networking tool, but the message that was made clear to me while attending this thing was this: THE MUSIC INDUSTRY IS CHANGING FASTER THAN EVER, and NOTHING IS EVER GOING TO BE THE SAME. It’s all gonna crumble in the next ten years, ya’ll. And the proof is in the pudding: Ed Toth was able to take the time to fly down to Florida and do this thing… and THAT’S ALARMING. Vertical Horizon just put a new album out on RCA this past October, and they have gotten next to NO promotion or radio support for it. No music video, either. That means the record label hasn’t been forthcoming with the money. They toured all last fall, and they have no plans to tour again until April… They are a great band, a band that had a number one song and a double-platinum record, and their future suddenly looks uncertain… Ed, when he spoke on panels at the conference, was candid about the rockiness of vh’s relationship with RCA… and it makes one wonder… …and now, this evening, it was just officially announced that Darwin’s Waiting Room has broken up. They were dropped from MCA late last year, and a legal battle to retain the record they were about to release ended, I guess, unsuccessfully… the guitarist just joined the band Cold (who lost their guitarist to the band Evanescence), the singer, bassist, and drummer have all formed a new band, and the rapper, Grimm, is apparently going solo in more of a hip-hop direction. But they were RELENTLESS. They toured the whole country like, four times in a year, or something ridiculous (…sound familiar?), and they built their (VERY loyal) fanbase one fan at a time, and it’s almost like it was all for nothing. They have to start over now from Square One, or at least Square One Point Five… as bad as things ever got between me and some of those guys, I was always happy that they found success, and I was proud of them… …. It just makes me nervous about going forward into this new digital era and trying to make my living as an artist… So here’s hoping you all come with me for the ride, ‘cause I need every one of you! ……more soon…. –Seth

12:11 a.m.
….Okay, so record sales are down worse than ever, but people are listening to more music than ever before. Has online downloading and CD copying affected yours truly? Absolutely. Every show it seems someone has no quarrel about coming right up to me and telling me how much they love my music, and following it up almost immediately with a story about how they didn’t pay a cent for any of it. It gets better; these same people are usually the first ones to say things like, “You know? It is just SO unfair that you’re not signed to a big record label!” or “You deserve to be way bigger! I can’t believe the big labels won’t spend money on you!” ….Well why would they if YOU wouldn’t??? ….Even the most noble music fans are sometimes guilty, and hey; we gotta roll with the times. Instead of rubbing it in about how I’m still just getting by even though I make more money per record than Madonna, I’ve decided to experiment with a new form of Fan Amnesty: ….The Online Tip Jar. ….On my homepage: http://www.sethsbase.com, there is now a button that sends you to a PayPal account where you can send an online “tip”. Did you hear “Notwithstanding” in a friend’s car and demand they burn it for you or go home and rip it off Kazaa? Did you find yourself listening so much that you’re now a genuine fan that just never got to pay for the record? Well here’s your chance to do the right thing, and support the artist! Click that button and make it right. There will be no finger pointing, name calling, or bad blood between us; only appreciation. This is 100% real, and you’ll feel good about doing it. ….Now, everyone who’s already on the up and up, if you feel like tossing a few bucks in… well hey; Poppa DOES need a new pair of shoes! ;) ….More soon... -Seth

07:29 p.m.
SATURDAY, JANUARY 24th ; SANTA MONICA CA So I have nothing new to report right now, as I am simply hanging out in Cali, visiting some friends and waiting for the rest of the country to get this warm. BUT, I have been thinking about some things that I want to expound on. (You know this is gonna be good; I used the word "expound") Some interesting things happened at NAMM at various points, most of them during my showcase slots at the Marriott Hotel after the conference each day. I performed Thursday night as a soloist to an AWESOME crowd; I had a good set, and everyone had nice things to say. I had forgotten my CDs in Flagstaff (a REEALLY stupid mistake, considering how many people I played for), so I had to tell everyone that if they wanted to take the music home with them, they could come back and get it the next night. A lot of people took me up on that, as I saw a ton of repeat audience members on Friday. That next evening I performed in a duo setting; my friend and frequent musical collaborator Larry Marciano came down to join me on guitar. We had an equally killer performance, and with only about seventy-five minutes of rehearsal that afternoon! (Larry and I hadn¡¦t seen each other since July, in Reno, Nevada, at the recording sessions for "Conduit"; the new album I'm almost done making). Afterwards I got to talk to a ton of people, sign a lot of CDs, and get some great feedback. And I was reminded of a phenomenon I've noticed before: It's always interesting to note how people react when their first experience with my music is seeing me play ALONE, and they hear an album or see me play with someone else afterwards. It sometimes happens the opposite way; when they hear a record first or see me in a duo/band setting first and THEN experience a solo show. People get very... well, POSSESSIVE, I guess... it's like I'm ruining something of theirs if I do something differently from performance to performance, and that's disappointing to me. The point is this: some people who saw me solo on Thursday night came back Friday, and told me they preferred to hear me solo. The people on Friday night (who heard me with Larry on their first listen) just enjoyed the SONGS. Sure, they thought the bass playing was cool, but they didn't leave; they took it in, experienced the music for what it was, and had just as many complimentary things to say as the Thursday night people. I think I'd rather appeal to a wider audience. Look; I KNOW the fact that I'm a bassist/singer/songwriter is somewhat unique. There are at least half a dozen of us out there, but I seem to be the most visible performer in this very small niche at the moment. However, I am, first and foremost, A SONGWRITER. It doesn't phase me in the least when people come up to me and say things like, "Wow man! You rock on that bass!", but it absolutely rocks my WORLD when someone tells me they got something from one of my SONGS. The bass is my primary instrument; I enjoy playing it differently than most other people, and I enjoy how that gives me a "sound". But if I was limited to solo performances for the rest of my life, I'd quit! That's just not always the way I want a song to sound when I hear it in my head. People are entitled to feel however they feel about that, but I find it incredibly insulting when people have the audacity to tell me, "You should just play solo, man. Never play with a band; it takes away from who you ARE." Because who I AM is a songwriter, and if I want to play the goddamn Jamacian Nose Flute and whistle at the same time with the Benny Goodman Big Band behind me, I will practice my ass off and make it the best Jamacian Nose Flute/whistling/Big Band performance I possibly can. Music to me is not always about making a solo statement, and frankly, if I had to watch myself play solo bass and sing for ninety minutes or longer, I'd fall ASLEEP. I need more variety in my listening, and I strive to bring that to other people. Don't misunderstand: I will continue to play my songs as a soloist, and there are some songs that I will never play with a band, ever. In fact, at least six songs on the upcoming record will be recordings of me, alone, either just singing and playing, or singing and playing with my loop pedal. But the band will be featured, too, because some songs just cry OUT for it. I never aspired to be a "folk" musician; I aspire to rock out, y'all, and though I aspire to do it on a bass guitar, sometimes you just need that collaboration to make it fulfilling. Trust me; the new record is sounding as great as can be, and when the band DOES play, it doesn't take a thing away. So don't turn this into a "Less Filling!" "Tastes Great" argument, okay? Let's all just bassificate in the friendliest fashion we know how, and everyone have a good time. ƒº More soon... -Seth :]

05:58 p.m.
ORANGE, CA -- Monday, January 19th; Hello all, and Happy New Year! It's been a month since I updated this page, and I apologize... I took it extremely easy on my holiday break, and it was much needed... But, I am rejuvinated and back in action, and more importantly, back in California. Ahh. I just spent this past weekend performing at the NAMM (National Association of Music Merchandisers) Convention in Anaheim, and I had a FANTASTIC time... I performed each night of the convention in the Marriott Hotel lobby, and each of my showcase slots was a resounding success! Thanks to all of you who came out, and to those of you who just happened to be passing through the hotel who stopped to check it out and buy a CD. It was great to see some friends of mine in the industry who I haven't seen since last year's convention, and a good time was had by all. Thanks also to my friends, Justin Simison and Larry Marciano, each of whom performed on a night with me while I was there. Y'all rock. :) I'm lucky enough to have good relations with a growing number of companies, and one of those companies, Dana B. Goods, has included me as one of the featured artists in a DVD they just released to promote Warwick Bass Guitars! I will be one of a number of artists featured via live video footage on an in-store play DVD that music stores all over the country will be playing-while-you-shop. So the next time your favorite musician-nerd friend wants you to go with them to the guitar store and you don't want to do it, just consider than you might be able to spend part of that time checking out some bassification concert footage.... food for thought... Anyway... I'm spending the beginning of 2004 travelling, not TOURING, persay. I'll be performing a small number of shows here and there, but for the most part I'll be making select appearances at conferences around the country, and finishing the new record, which will probably be released sometime in early April if we stay on schedule. Those of you in Florida will have a chance to catch some shows in just a couple weeks when I come down for the University of Florida's Music Law Conference; Cincinnati and Indianapolis will see me later in February for the NACA conference (National Association of Campus Activities), Reno will see me again when I finish my record in early March, and Austin will see me for the South By Southwest Music Conference in mid-March. After that, we'll get a new record out, and I'll hit the road again they way we're all used to it: CONSTANTLY. :) ....That's all for now; now that I'm not in one place for too long again there will definitely be more to report, so start checking back again! See you all soon... Seth :)