LETTERS FROM THE ROAD: Jon Pousette-Dart
Guest post this week from legendary singer-songwriter and one of the best musicians I know, Jon Pousette-Dart.
Dear Wandering Musicians,
A few thoughts, from a road well traveled. The truly great thing about music, is that it transcends everything that is passing by. In the end, the ones who were focused on what they should be, the song, remain standing.
Any young man who tells you he didn’t pick up the guitar to get laid, is probably lying. It is a seductive, physical and empowering instrument. Especially after one makes it through the immediate minefield the music industry lays at your feet. I was exactly the same as so many of the young bands I see and hear now, though I might have done bit more homework, listening and studying, and gleaning every note I could get off the records my older sister would have in her collection. But I succumbed to every pitfall, temptation and pure joy out there, playing every roadhouse from Coast to Coast, sleeping with as many women as I was physically capable of, and ingesting every substance I could inject into my system to prove to myself that I was indestructible. I was luckier than many of my contemporaries. I survived all of it, and I learned the most important lesson of all.
Is success based on how much money you make?
That is a question only you can answer. I don’t believe it is and I know that fame is a horrible thing to have happen to you. So many people think those two things will make you happy. They don’t, and they never will.
I have had both and neither one opens any doors to your own happiness. I have never believed great art is measured by the amount of money it commands. Yet, in our society, the so-called greatest artists, musicians, actors, are measured by who is paid the most money for their services.
Don’t get me wrong. Money is a good thing when it gets you what you want. The question is, how much do you really need to be happy. Do you need a few chateaus and a fleet of cars? Perhaps an island?
What is it that brought us here?
The song.
To me, the song is everything. It is the question the answer, the end, the ruler, the provider, and the teacher. If I can connect with it, and make it be the best that can possibly come out of me, I have done my job, and the rest of this discourse holds no importance. All I am concerned with now is walking away from every song knowing that I gave it the best that I have in me. After 38 years playing music and still being in the game, it is the one friend I have at the end of the day that is still the measure of everything that is right in this world, and will remain with me till I am long gone.
May your journey be long and fruitful, and full of the things that made you fall in love with music.
Jon Pousette-Dart
http://www.pousette-dart.com/nav.php
Tags: CUT THROUGH THE NOISE, Jon Pousett-Dart, KATE BRADLEY, LETTERS FROM THE ROAD, OUTLANDOS MUSIC —
9/1/08
Categories: CUT THROUGH THE NOISE • KATE BRADLEY • LETTERS FROM THE ROAD • OUTLANDOS MUSIC
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Wonderfully put… if only the Industry could come to terms with it! It HAS to be about the music, not about the money.
It’s always good to be reminded that — when in doubt — remember what’s really important. The songs are what made us fall in love with music, and they’ll be here after we’re gone. First things first, indeed.
I lived in Boston 74-78 and fell in love with this band. I went to see them where ever I could. I would love to see if I could get the music (guitar sheet and word) to some of this music as I play and want to play some of this. “Woman of my dreams” is my favorite. I now live in florida and its hard to get anything with JPD band around here. If you can help WOW that would be awsome. Thanks
Pete Byrne
Dunedin, Fl