I honestly think that Audible Sigh is the reason that I’ve never been able to embrace Wilco, SonVolt, or even Ryan Adams for that matter. Audible Sigh was really my first “alt-country” experience and all those other “alt-country” tagged artists/bands/albums just don’t even come close.
It’s also interesting and heart-breaking to read Bill’s assessment of his place (or lack thereof) in the music industry. I think his assumptions are spot on. For all their talking and posturing, posers like Derek Webb and Caedmon’s Call are not really as far removed from Casting Crowns and Mercy Me as they (or their audiences)would like to think. It’s just that they’re a little hipper about it.
For that matter, I recently read an interview with Don Chaffer (it may have been here) where Don even admitted that looking back, waterdeep was guilty of following the CCM money/fanbase a little bit and he seemed to carry some regret about where WD ended up artistically because of it.
What is even more abhorrent is the fact that the CCM community not only did NOT support true artistic endeavor like V.O.L., but that there was just enough of an association to hinder V.O.L. from making headway with the No Depression crowd.
It seems that now, with Magazines like Paste, and webzines like the ooze and relevant, there would be more people open to embracing sincere artistry like Bill. Unfortunately, if you spend any time reading those zines, you’ll find they’re just as likely to embrace mindless drek like Tomlin, Webb or Agnew.
Bill, like Mark Heard or Van Goh, seems just too serious and sincere about living out his art authentically to build a fan base that could sustain livelihood. This is not a criticism. It is an awed observation. I struggle to reconcile this with God’s design for art’s place in human existence. All I can can do is cling to the belief that God’s economy is not man’s.
The only thing I didn't mention in my comment is that I do have to disagree with Bill on one point. His self-editing is not as stringent as he contends. Over the course of his albums, he's got a number of filler. Especially over the solo records. I think I have 4 or 5 of them, and would say there might be one album's worth of quality songs. His going solo and doing the "homespun" records has given him the freedom to release material quickly and easily. Unfortunately, if he were limited to 1 record every year or so, I think his output would be of higher quality.
What is it with alt-country guys? This is the same problem Ryan Adams has except that he's yet to put out a masterpiece like Audible Sigh. IMHO
I love you, Bill. I wonder if you might be happier if you let your art be your passion rather than continuing to beat your head against the wall trying to make it your vocation. I only say that because that's where I'm at and trying to be. It's not easy and it's not fun and I sometimes have severe doubts, but I've yet to give up on the possibility.
3 comments:
I left a comment on the site in response to your comment-I'd be interested in your take.
For what it's worth, I thought of you while I was reading that story. Like Bill's story and yours aren't particularly dissimilar (despite the disparity in your levels of genius; sorry--you're just not Bill Mallonee, heheh).
But when the time came, you got out of music professionally, rather than being wicked broke and even more bitter.
From your family's perspective, I'm sure you did the right thing. I'll be interested to see how it affects your music in the next several years. And I'd like to hear your reaction.
Considering Bill was getting started with VOL at a time when there was no "Industry" as the same way as today (think 77's, the Choir, Chagall Guevara, etc..), I never expected him to be embraced by the mainstream industry.
Unfortunately for Bill, the quality of his music since Audible Sigh and Summershine (possibly better than AS) has gone so far downhill I barely listen to it anymore. It's no mystery to me why he gets no traction these days in either market.
Bill's gotten every bad break in the world no doubt, but he's also probably had a hand in pushing good bandmates and good labels and people who care about his music away as well.
I am a little offended that you would equate Derek Webb with Chris Tomlin (and even Caedmon's Call). While Paste has reviewed and interviewed Derek Webb for The Ringing Bell, I'm pretty sure they've completely steered clear of those running the worship scam like Chris Tomlin.
While Derek Webb may have ties to the industry, it serves his purposes well as an agitator within the church to ask difficult questions and write about things that no one in that world is talking about a great deal. I have more respect for Derek Webb than I do for almost any artist for his committment to making great music and writing honest songs with little regard to bottom line sales. If he really cared about that, he would've stayed in Caedmon's Call.
Bill was trying to do something different than Derek Webb to be sure, but I'd have to say that his songwriting isn't nearly as strong as it used to be. Seriously, pick any song from Blister Soul, To the Roof of the Sky, Audible Sigh, or Summershine, and compare to any track from the last few solo records.
The quality just ain't the same.
What up, dogg? Long time!
Hey, Bill! Sorry it's taken me a bit to respond. I started a comment the other day and had to scrap it to go get the girl.
You're right; I shouldn't have lumped Paste in with the likes of theooze or relevant. I was burnin' and words flew.
However, I'm still unimpressed with Mr. Webb and I don't know why he's so embraced by the hipster/christian community which is what Bill was talking about in the article. Yes, he likes to say things that he thinks are provocative, but I would propose that he's not really saying them in such a way as to encourage discussion. In fact, I think he's quite adept at preaching to the aforementioned hipster/christian community. The fact is, I agree with a lot of what he says, what I can't tolerate is how little artistry he uses to say it. I should mention that I'm really only talking about Mockingbird. Some of the music may have been interesting, but I couldn't get past the lack of poetry of the lyrics. He wasn't trying to stimulate discussion with the lyrics/songs on that record. He had already decided in his own mind and made know effort to use the beauty of language to paint pictures and help people draw their own conclusions. He simply stated what he had decided was truth. In spite of the fact that I agreed with the sentiments that I heard, I was completely turned off by the fact that I thought I was listening to a propaganda tract set to folk/pop music. This is exactly what has been wrong with "Christian" music for a long time. Like a paraphrase of something Sam Phillips once said, propaganda art makes for bad art AND bad propaganda.
It's been a long time since I listened to that record, but it really did him in for me. I've seen live a number of times (once even with you, bill!) and I've always been turned off by his arrogance and pomposity whether referring to sociology or theology.
It's good to hear from you, bill. Drop me a note.
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