Singing, Songwriting, Music Business -- Not for Sissies

Having been in the music business, as either a performer or management, for over 40 years now; I still don’t claim to be an expert but have definitely formed some opinions on the subject. I recently got a call from a young musician/singer/songwriter looking for a manager/representative to promote his career. I receive a lot of those calls and refuse them all – been there and still doing that -- only because my one and only client is family.

I’ve managed the business end of my brother, Steven Fromholz’ career for umpteen years and therefore have a pretty good handle on the music business both then and now. I’m finding that many facets of the business have changed tremendously. One good example of that is when Steven began his career nearly 50 years ago, a kid could pick up his/her guitar, hitchhike wherever a gig could be found and be a member in good standing of the “couch circuit.” The couch circuit being a friend’s couch for the night rather than paid lodgings. Being on the road was a lot cheaper in those days.

Steven hitchhiked for years and years before he got a vehicle dependable enough to go more than a few blocks. Prior to that he was out there with his thumb up in all kinds of weather, had more than his share of rather harrowing experiences, and didn’t eat all that well a lot of the time. He’d try to plan gigs in Texas – in close proximity to wherever I was living at the time – so we could get him a new pair of boots ‘cause he’d walk the soles off a pair in no time. He arrived at my front door many times with his boots taped on with duck tape so he could keep them from falling off.

My brother and I have discussed the fact that when he started out in the music business one didn’t have to have a truck, trailer, sound system and a fat bank account. All those things certainly come into play today. First of all, hitchhiking is illegal in lots of places now and dangerous as hell everywhere. Secondly, the network of folks offering their couch as a sleeping surface for itinerant musicians doesn’t exist as it once did. The biggy that’s glaringly evident is most would-be singer/songwriters can’t eat one day on $20 in today’s economy much less the small amount of pocket money Steven usually had when he’d hit the road.

Conclusion to be reached here: If anyone’s considering a music career as a singer/songwriter they’d better want that career more than anything else in the world and be ready to do without a lot of creature comforts for many years. There’s the occasional “overnight star” but not only is that unusual it takes a lot of promotion (money and think Taylor Swift) for that to happen. It’s also a fact – sometime overnight stars are just that – they shine brightly for a year and disappear into obscurity.

Another factor as far as songwriters goes – Steven got in the business just in front of the Woodstock days and that was a time that original songs with a definite message were the essence of the music business no matter the genre – Folk Music being the strongest. He was, in fact, in New York cutting his first album for ABC Probe when Woodstock was going on and he and his singing partner at that time, Dan McCrimmon, (they were known as “Frummox”) debated whether to make a side trip and attend that event. They decided against it and when they finished their first album Frummox – Here to There they packed up their guitars and went home. They had to hit the road and go back to work or starve as the music business was the only income they had. (Authors Note: The "Here to There" album is today considered a collector's item by many and somewhat rare. It can, however, be found on the internet with prices ranging from $5.00 to $125.00. As the record company ABC Probe is now defunct there will never be another release.)

It might be a good time to mention that other than my youngest brother, James (now deceased) and myself, Steven didn’t have a lot of family backup as to his music career. It was the rest of the family’s concensus of opinion that any young person with a college education should get a “real job” instead of being a hippy musician – ah, yes, those were the days of flower children and protests. It took most of the family 15 years to decide that Steven just might, one day, be successful enough to pave the drive so they got behind him with a bit of encouragement – not much but a little whenever his minor successes would be newsworthy.

One thing in a singer/songwriter’s favor in those days was club owners welcomed performances of original songs. Today, most clubs want tunes that are easily recognizable to their patrons and songs often must have Top-10 status which means they won’t book entertainers who do original music. That cuts out a lot of venues where young musicians can make a living much less become known.

For “pickers” – meaning musicians who are instrumentalists -- the road to success is equally as hard. First of all one’s talent as a guitar player, bass player, etc. must be out there to get a gig (usually as a backup musician). Getting out there is easier said than done and becoming associated with a known act, where one becomes known to one’s peers, is even harder. Some of the greatest pickers in the world have become studio musicians (they play for singers when they record in studios) and make great money – but, again, it’s a long road to get those gigs, too.

Steven suffered setbacks on the music road of unfathomable proportions including albums that were cut and never saw the light of day. For instance The Monkees’ Michael Nesmith produced an album which had some of the best songs Steven’s ever written on it and Steven sang his heart out – but How Long Is The Road to Kentucky has to yet see the light of day as of this moment. Why? Well, seems there was a huge corporate shake up within the record company and everything changed including releasing the record – the day before it was to be released!

That was disappointment in its highest form then and would be now, for any entertainer. In fact, Steven wrote an article after suffering multiple career disappointments and setbacks which is funny – but still true. Having garnered his permission to share it; I quote:

THE GREAT ROCK AND ROLL LIES

By Steven Fromholz

In the beginning there was no Rock and Roll save for that occurring during an avalanche or earthquake. Nor was there any money, disaster then being more physical than financial or psychological. Disaster must have a certain ring of truth to it -- find 'em and bury 'em, say ho-hum, and try to make some more of whatever you lost.

Man-made disasters (wars, politics, business, etc.) are more or less controllable now and then, here and there. Occasionally peace and/or prosperity may break out somewhere and that can lead to Rock and Roll or another disaster, insuring the return of chaos.

You take your average music business deal. Now, there is a disaster looking for a place to crash. If this business of music were an oil well fire someone would have called Red Adair the first time Hank Williams sang "My Bucket's Got A Hole In It" on the Grand Old Opry back in the fifties, a period of peace and prosperity.

Your average music business deal is supposed to work like this: A singer, songwriter, performer has a manager, supposedly to look after his welfare and career and keep him from dying broke and alone in a home for itinerant pickers, and this manager, through his business connections and expertise, finds a record man who believes this manager's client can be commercially exploited. Together, they pick a producer. The producer and the artist go into the studio and hopefully emerge with "THE HIT." Meanwhile, an agent, in cahoots with the manager and the record company, organize a promotional tour for the new star, financially backed by the company.

First you need a piranha or pariah (agent, manager, record company exec). It doesn't really matter which as long as they can talk fast. Most of my former piranhas are now following other pursuits, some are being pursued as a result of their following. Piranhas and pariahs specialize in the Rock 'N Roll Lies. They are as follows:

"Steven, the sound check is at 4:00." (They begin to chortle).

"Listen, man, we can take it out in the mix."

"I know a place down the road that has a great chicken fried steak."

"Fromholz, your check is in the mail."

After these years in the business I have found there really is a check in the mail but there is no way of knowing how much the check is or when it will arrive. Mystery Money is what I call it and it is my favorite sort, seeming always to arrive when I need it the most to pay for something I have already done!

Having the courage of your convictions is a fine way to weave through the web of rancor known as the "Rock & Roll Lies." I, myself, have only one conviction and that was a misdemeanor -- nor are convictions limited to musicians. After all, the music business has not a monopoly on "crapola.

" How about Great Aluminum Siding Lies like:

"Yes, Sir, lucky neighbor, your home has been chosen the only home in a square _parsec to receive, free of charge, the Amazing Anadarko Aluminum Applique, etc. etc."

I've always been fond of Great Military Lies such as:

"Senator, there was nothing wrong with the LSD issued to personnel manning the hand detonation of said atomic device."

As for Great Political Lies, who counts?

The Rock and Roll Lies are rarely, if ever, found in print unless you read the trades. Home of the type and the Hot 100, where stars are charted and hits are picked and pix of your fave 'up and coming' or "tried and true" are spaciously displayed and paid for amidst endless articles pertaining to arrangements between Piranha Incorporated and Pariah International.

For a songwriter or singer a slot in the Top Ten is a slice of Heavenly Pie and a hearty trip to the bank. How many slices of pie you get and the number of trips taken to the bank may largely depend on the quality of your piranha and that piranha's proficiency in dealing with all the other piranhas encountered on the road to stardom ...or at least on the road to Hutto, Texas! Learning to speak pidgin piranha is also helpful when reading contracts, letters from piranhas, and French menus.

The Rock and Roll Lies ripen to full-fledged hype when planted in a bed of money, preferably some else's and the more the better. This bed of money needs the active hype in the atmosphere to form the compound, hyped-up-money, or HUM as it is known, and this HUM is what enables the music industry to operate. The contention in the industry is for control of the HUM.

That's the problem with HUM, you see. It requires much more varied control than its ordinary counterpart but hyped-up-money can do a thing never before considered by regular money. Hyped-up-money moves live music and entertainment around the country and songs up the charts and through the hands like coal oil through a horse. Hyped-up-money, like the piranhas who feed on it, is slick and shiney and is sometimes lost up the human nose.

I have found the most difficult part of staying in the business is staying in the business. Show Biz takes its toll of the timid and rigid who want to play and neither hype nor HUM was ever a sure bet. I guess luck is "where it's at." You're lucky to have talent and timing and you're lucky if by the time you figure out how to use 'em you're not too jaded, tainted, old, tired and ugly to enjoy them.

StevenFromholz©1978 All Rights Reserved.

Did you notice the date on Steven’s copyright? He wrote the piece 34 years ago when he was 32 years old. He’d had a hard 10-12 years in the music business by then and had a pretty good handle on the whole deal. Although his discouragement is evident in the piece he never quit or changed directions. When Willie Nelson recorded a tune Steven wrote called I’d Have to Be Crazy he finally got his first hit. It went to No. 2 nationally and stayed there for 13 weeks (which was rare in those days). A reporter once asked him his opinion on why the tune never made it to No.1 to which he promptly replied, “It was too damned weird!”

And that, dear hearts, sums up the music business in a nutshell.

First in a series of articles entitled "In The Music Business You Dance Alone"

AngelaBlair©2012 All Rights Reserved