Nashville, TN '07 Part Four:

Check it out everyone. This picture is taken from the lobby of the BMI building. (BMI is a company that looks after performances of songs and distributes royalties to the writers)

This is what the message says (you can also click to enlarge):

What passion cannot music raise and quell?

The trumpet shall be heard on high,
The dead shall live, the living die,
And music shall untune the sky.

Very nice. :)

Ok, so we started the day off with a cool workshop with Janis Ian. She wrote "I learned the truth at seventeen, that love was made for beauty queens." Apparently it's a hit for Jan Arden right now in Canada but I'm not sure. Anyways she's really cool and has quite a bit of spark in her still after all these years. She talked mostly about the nature and responsibilities of being an artist and keeping integrity in your work.

When I first sat down for the workshop I received a bit of a surprise too. Some people recognized me from the blog. Apparently this little blog is starting to get noticed thanks to you guys, the loyal viewers! (and would it kill you to leave a comment once in a while? I read all of them and you don't even need to register!) but I digress.... Thanks for taking the time to read routine ridiculous ramblings written rottenly. (alliteration! the 'w' in written is silent!)

Here's Rob and Debbie: fans of the blog! They work for the college in some capacity! Woo!

You may be wondering why I never have pictures of the people doing workshops in my blog. It's because I try to ask people if it's OK if I feature them on here when I'm taking their picture, unless it's a concert or show or something like that.

In the afternoon we had a workshop with Gretchen Wilson (Redneck Woman) and Vickie McGehee (one of her songwriters). It was really interesting. Gretchen talked about what it was like to be famous and life on the road. We got to ask questions and we watched a couple of her videos. She was really nice and down to earth.

I also went to see a workshop on marketing techniques with Echomusic marketing guruMark Montgomery and a panel of marketing thinktank experts. He recommended a lot of books to read. (sorry social life, my dance card this Summer is full) He also talked about his theories about the new frontier of the music business and how consumers will take advantage of technology to purchase and find out about music in the future.

In the evening we went to a restaurant called The Boundary for an alumni reception (and free food)! Matt and I worked the room a bit and met some cool people. Schmoozed it you will. We talked to alumni about what it's like to live in Nashville and finally got to meet a lot of the other people on the trip. We plugged The Middle Eights a little bit. *cough* LINK! *cough*


I'll leave you good folks with Jiro. He's from Japan and plays the Dobro. For anyone who hasn't seen one, a dobro is kinda like a guitar except you play it flat on your lap and with a slide. It's a traditional bluegrass instrument. Apparently after the US, Japan has the largest number of bluegrass musicians in the whole world. Who knew? Anyways, have a great night and we'll catch up more tommorow.