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U.S.A. Tour 2006 Review.
Arriving in Memphis via Amsterdam and you immediately knew you were in Memphis. Everything from buses, roads, shops and restaurants were named after legendary blues artists such as B.B. King, W.C. Handy and of course The King himself plastered all over the town. Whether you believe in the myths or not you could certainly sense that the statues and posters were not just a celebration of his life but a reminder he was still about. Despite the reputation Memphis has of being the centre of Rock and Blues the town was particularly poverty stricken surprisingly enough, and apart from Beale Street itself it was considerably run down. It was a lazy town with shops and restaurants opening when they wanted to, way past 10.30 A.M. which suited me! Everyone seemed to know each other and on our first day in town we saw a parade of Corvettes which scattered across the town. Apparently we had stumbled upon the annual exhibition. There were literally 100's of them! I was joined by Jake as we busked along the streets to soak in the atmosphere around us. There were many bars and music venues along the main streets but they were all late starters (about 10ish) and were almost exclusively geared towards blues. The circuit seemed dominated by seasoned musicians of 40+ years of experience, not many young guys about at all. In past years Memphis had churned out some of the greatest young musicians ever to walk the earth but it didn't look like there was much of the same happening at the moment. While playing we met a trombonist who was also busking across the park. He was a nice guy and although he was reasonably good he charge $20 for a home made C.D. which converts to about £15 for a ten track DIY job! However as I later found out this was pretty much in keeping with the extortionately expensive prices of Memphis in general. We enjoyed playing along the streets of Memphis where so many greats had done just the same, treading the same ground they once had on the road to success. We played tunes by Dylan, The Beatles, Clapton, Van Morrison and some original stuff like Hollow, Broken Door and Fallen Angel. Whilst we attracted a few passers by we earned a grand total of $0.00(nothing). It appeared that either too much competition was indeed a bad thing for buskers or Memphis tourists just didn't like giving their money away. The next day we decided to check out the legendary Sun Studios where greats like Jerry Lee Lewis, Elvis, Roy Orbison, Johnny Cash, June Carter and Carl Perkins had all started out making their first recordings and hits and signing their first deals. For those of you who have recently seen "Walk The Line" at the cinemas it is the studio Johnny Cash first visits. Despite the huge fame surrounding the place and a reputation beyond the imagination of any other studio the place was very understated and left pretty much as it was. No signs saying " Visit Elvis' Home Studio" or "Home of the Hits of Rock 'n' Roll", just the humble corner building on a main road that you would pass without a second glance if you didn't know better. It was a small building with a big history. The minute you walked in you knew you were somewhere special. We took the tour which included all areas of the studio for a small fee. The studio itself is still used today for $45 an hour (about £28) which is very reasonable in any studio let alone "The" Studio. Obviously all updated equipment had been installed for this reason but all the original instruments and equipment was left in as they were the day the studio originally closed its doors before opening up years later. Many famous artists have recently recorded there such as Paul Simon and most notably U2 recorded most of there milestone "Rattle and Hum" album there. Hits such as "Pride (Name of Love)", "Desire", and "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking for" spawned from that album. It was eerie to think that you were standing in the very room all those hits were recorded in such and where all the greats had stood. They even still had the same microphone used by all the artists ever recorded there. It was a great experience and one I won't forget in a hurry. Maybe one day I will record there. We also dropped by the world famous Gibson Factory and took the tour to see how the guitars were made. It certainly made you realise how much work went into one guitar. Unfortunately our trip was cut short after The American Secret Service stormed in and told us to clear the building or be subject to a "high security check". We learnt later that some high profile Japanese Diplomats had flown in to see the factory and so security had to be skin tight. Only In America! Finally, no trip to Memphis would be complete without a visit to" Graceland". Although admittedly not an Elvis fan myself you couldn't help but admire the history of the place and being inside the four walls from which one of the most famous men ever once walked, talked and played music. Obviously the whole place is grand with decor. The finest of everything money could buy. Even now some of the gadgets brought back then seemed still futuristic if not modern. For example he had a sofa which seated 25 people from one end of the room to the other. Most things being gold plated. However despite the great scale of everything the house itself seemed very homely and intimate which you sensed was intentional. Also most notably the mansion was only 100 yards max from the main road and only separated from the public path by a small wall of about 4.5 foot. I just had automatically assumed that a mansion of that calibre and the house of a man who obviously valued his own privacy would be tucked away through forestry and miles away from roads and people but in actual fact had you been driving down that road a few years ago you might have seen the man himself riding one of his horses in front of Graceland. This too was a great experience just to say I had been there. We saw the famous Pink Cadillac and all of his motor collection as well as his Airplanes he used to travel the world. And although it hasn't swayed my opinion of the man and his music and converted me to a fan you couldn't help but feel moved by the man's legacy which was highlighted at the family burial site within Graceland. The words "God looked down on him and saw he needed a rest." seemed very fitting. We arrived in Nashville after our short stay in Memphis. Nashville like Memphis also had a strong character in itself. Very musical in appearance but of course being the home of Country Music it was based along those lines. I was joined by Jake once more as we were bored one afternoon and we played a "Rooftop" gig on top of the block of apartments across the quad. This went down a storm as we got plenty of applause and bewildered families coming out to watch. We had a great laugh. The next gig on the tour was at a venue called "The Commodore". As I checked in I was shocked to see there were over 35 people on the bill! That is one hell of a long gig! But as I was about to find out on this tour in Nashville there is no limit to how long a gig is.
The system was a strange one. Three artists at a time were elected to go on stage and sit next to each other and proceed into a quick sound check. The each artist would perform one song and then it would move to the next person and the third and then back around to you etc.. Each song had to be no longer than 3 minutes or they WILL cut you off. It was quite a strange experience and a format I wasn't keen on. It was a bit geared up like a competition and of course the songs you play would be determined by the songs that your fellow artists would play before and after you. That and the fact you had to edit your songs almost on the spot for 3 mins with no prep. All that with record bosses in the room. No pressure. Despite this the gig went smooth as I breezed through a set which included "Fallen Angel"," Julia" and "Hollow".
The following day we were due to play the "Bluebird" which is one of the most famous showcases in the world for new songwriters with record bosses meeting regularly to check out the new talent. We were informed that you could just turn up to this place a few hours before and put your name down to play. A kind of open mic format. How wrong were we? Amazingly we were told that you had to audition to play and the waiting time to play after you passed it was over a year and a half! For a half hour set with no pay! Determined to salvage the day we went to visit another famous studio. The RCA Studio. Although this one is not available for hire anymore it is now owned by a local University that uses the studio for training for their young music students and engineers. Elvis recorded most of his catalogue there including "Are You Lonesome Tonight" and "Sister Sister" and Roy Orbison recorded "Only The Lonely" among others. Legends such as Dolly Parton and Waylon Jennings were also major names which almost exclusively used the studio. Most notably Dolly Parton's "I Will Always Love You" which has earned here personally $15 million on airplay alone! The old part of the studio was left how it would have looked when Elvis graced it. His piano still in the corner which he would warm up with his bad for up to 5 hours before recording, belting out hits and personal favourites. This was after he usually turned up a few hours late and had talked to his band for a couple of hours to feel at ease with them before recording or otherwise he wouldn't record at all. Most of Elvis' recordings were done from 3am to 8am in the morning. His band didn't mind much however, they were paid by the hour! "Are You Lonesome Tonight" was amazingly done in two takes and it would have been one had the backing singers not messed up on the last note! Special lighting rigs were installed with colour filters so that Elvis felt "the mood" as he sang the song.
The next night we were invited to support a band at the prestigious "Preston Lounge" where many of today's most successful writers had been discovered for such artists as Shania Twain, Garth Brooks, Faith Hill and Keith Urban. The gig went well as I did a set including "Hollow", "Break Away", "Pictures" "Living On A Prayer" and "The Rising" which Keith Urban had also covered the previous night at the CMA's which we watched. I got a great reception and was delighted to speak to a lady who invited me to come and play some of my songs for an invitation only night showcasing new artists and material for a major label Catagory5 Records.
I had only been there a week and I had already achieved more than I thought I would. I had been in Nashville less than a week and I hadn't been invited to play in front of A&R bosses in person for my whole 2 years in Brum playing as a pro. Although evidently there was strong competition in Nashville the music industry was far more accessible to up and coming musicians. What major record label would set up a showcase for new artists and material over here? None. They are all to busy accepting demos only from lawyers associated with the firm which nobody knows anyway. Absolutely impossible. The showcase itself was one of the most incredible nights ever. Artists were to register their attendance with the label and then the first 30 would be drawn out of a hat one by one to play (if more than 30 came). Each artist would play 2 songs each. Incredibly over 70 people came! It started at 7.00 and it was gone 10.00 before I was beginning to think I wasn't going to be one of the lucky ones when my name was called out number 38! I performed "Pictures" and a new track "Distant Goodbye" and was met with a very appreciative applause to my surprise as so many talented individuals had gone before me with years of experience and yet my applause was no less than theirs. The night ended up seeing over 75 acts as certain members of the audience crept out and treated us to a short set from some absolutely incredible writers for some of the biggest names in Music. These guys just looked like average Joes, they had just turned up to watch the new talent but it just enforced my impression that music here was for everyone and the local and up and coming players were closely involved with even the big boy labels. The night was still going on when I left at 4 a.m. I was told it went on till 6 a.m.! That's nearly 12 hours. As I was about to leave, I think noting that I had come all the way from England more than anything a few of the label reps approached me and told me how impressed they were with my songs and my voice and told me that I am " going to do well" and I'm " definitely going to go places". Coming from these guys, the best in the business, that meant a lot. Of course I couldn't leave Nashville without taking the tour of The Jack Daniels Factory. The only place in the world they make the whisky of choice of musicians around the world. Amazingly it was absolutely free and yet was one of the most incredible things to see. There is such a long process to go through and there is such attention to detail in each individual bottle it is staggering to think how often they produce it with such consistency. The whole process alone rests on one spring which runs from a cave at the factory. It runs iron free and no one knows where it comes from and yet if it stops running there would be no more Jack Daniels because every Jack Daniels must be made from the same recipe exactly as the original bottle. Each stage is individually manned including taster sections, labelling sections, fermentation sections etc.. About 15 people are on shift each day yet they produce gigantic amounts. It takes 4 days alone for the water to run through the charcoal barrels to make the first stage of the whisky! The rest of our stay in Nashville we spent on the world famous Music Row and watched plenty of bands playing in all the bars pretty much 24/7. There were buskers in pretty much every alcove and doorway going. We were 10 metres away max from your nearest busker. The atmosphere was fantastic and everyone seemed interested in what was going on. They had got the system right. No licence needed, just set up and play. No one was moved along and everyone had lots of fun. I experimented with playing some country songs from artists like Joe Nichols and Mark Wills which went down well. Other gigs in Nashville included us playing outside "The Grand Old Oprey". One of the most famous venues for Country artists to play in the world. I was joined by Jake for part of the set as we drew quite a few passers by and earned a bit of cash.
As we moved onto Florida I got the strong impression that while there is undoubtedly lots of talented musicians in Nashville and no shortage of competition they have certainly got their system right. Right from the top to bottom. The music industry as a whole was much more accessible over there and maybe it will be something I will consider in the future. Who knows. No matter what though, I thoroughly enjoyed my stay in Nashville and playing there.
In sunny Florida I played in plenty of Malls, beaches and boardwalks. One that went particularly well was at "Johns Pass". I busked there for about 35 minutes playing original material and some Springsteen tunes and managed to earn 12 dollars! If only it was that easy in Birmingham! Unfortunately I was moved on as apparently the system in Florida was not quite as good as the one in Nashville. A licence was needed and you had to go in designated areas much the same we as the way it is run over here. I proceeded to move along anyway and play a bit more and was able to sell a c.d. to a passing family.
Unfortunately my last week in Florida which was meant to be my break I caught an ear infection in my right ear from which I went deaf for several days. Not the ideal thing for a musician to have. I also developed an abscess ulcer on the back of my throat which wasn't too comfortable. It is not a good idea to get ill in America. It cost me $60 a go to see the doctor, $100 to see the specialist and £115 for some eardrops! I will never moan about our National Health service again. However, it is slowly healing up now and I should be ready to get back on the road by Saturday. Overall, I really enjoyed my stay in the U.S. and particularly enjoyed playing over there. It was a different experience and it was good to see how music works in different parts of the world. This is something I would like to take further. Paying in front of the A&R guys at Catagory5 Records was a great experience and one from which I will draw much optimism and confidence from their comments. I would never had thought I would have done that at the beginning of the tour. It was a great success. Thanks for reading the report guys. I hope you enjoyed it. All the best, Matt Tyler.
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