Monday, November 10, 2008
Creamtastic Informal Poll: Should Geoff G. Move to Nashville?
Posted by Tracy Moore on Mon, Nov 10, 2008 at 2:13 PM
Every songwriter eventually reaches a crossroads where he or she must grapple with the existential dilemma of where to plant his or her earnest, feelings-core seeds. For Philadelphian Geoff G., his thoughts naturally turn to Nashville:
I live in Philadelphia and I want to break into songwriting so bad – I am not sure if I can afford to take classes at the moment and wanted to know if you had an alternative or knew what I could do. I have been thinking about relocation to NYC to hone my skills, but the thought of Nashville, TN always pops up in my head since that is the heart of Songwriting. What are your thoughts? I am self taught at guitar and have been writing song lyrics and songs all of my life. This is my passion and the thought of being stuck in an office all of my life really doesn’t appeal.-Geoff G.
"Multiplatinum recorded songwriter, performing artist and educator" Andrea Stolpe answers in a thoughtful, if incredibly long-winded way. But there's always the nothin'-much-there-but-country smack-down hidden among the riches:
"If your goal is to write mainstream pop, alternative rock, or work with bands and artists stretching their styles in the independent music scene, then Nashville may not suit you."
It's like she's never even heard Ligion!
Comments (6)
Showing 1-6 of 6
Dear Geoff,
If you think moving to Nashville will help you become a better artist in any way, shape, or form, you are mistaken. Nashville may help you with your image, gig frequency, marketing, merch, publishing, and general industry douche-baggery (I SAID IT!) but as for improving your ART, it will do nothing positive and maybe even set you back a bit. Because if you think what you are trying to do isn't already being done here, and (technically) better than you could possibly do it, then you are in for a hard truth.
It doesn't matter WHERE you live. But to you I say this: Philly is a REAL city with real resources and a real hard-scrabble identity and plenty of crazy vibes floating around and some amazing artists of every possible medium. I unabashedly love your city because you have all the resources of New York without the pretense.
Nashville is a fraternity of insiders surrounded by many more hangers-on and posers, all trying for a bite at an ever-shrinking pie, and whenever someone DOES manage to break out into new musical ground, they are lambasted by a legion of jealous shit talkers (and I'm guilty of this as much as the rest), which ultimately weakens our foundation and prevents us from ever having something resembling a cohesive and supportive musical community.
Do yourself a favor and stay put. Plus they'll never have Gino's down here.
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PS - people who walk around with self-imposed titles such as "Multiplatinum recorded songwriter, performing artist and educator" are NOT to be trusted, and believe me, we're INFESTED.
geez, burrito... you know... there's more to nashville than industry schmoozers, good old boys (and girls), fraternities and insiders. there's relatively cheap living, a unique wealth of resources- studios, gear, people that know how to fix shit/make shit, a 9-0 nfl team, and plenty of amazingly talented people that make great music that really don't give a fig about "making it BIG". your post just sounds so cynical. i'm not saying it's entirely off base but it leaves out all of the good one can benefit from in this city. depending on what circles you keep with, you may see more of the good/bad than the other. i welcome anyone who wants to move here. lord knows we gotta fill all those new condos.
No, you are absolutely right sideman, and I think we could fill a few threads with things that are good about old N'vizzle.
I just meet so many people who move here with a completely off-base picture of us as a mythical place where the streets are paved with royalty checks and anybody, even a random plumber could get signed- wait, wait that actually happened. I give up.
At any rate, Dengar, you win this thread.
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