'I'll Have The Vanilla, Please'

By Scott Coner

Country Artist

         Yesterday (35 years ago), music had depth. It always seemed, to me at least, to be taking us somewhere different. Today, I find myself less taken back with most of it. The other day I heard Adele's new release, "Hello", and it touched a deeper chord. Last summer, Eric Church caught my attention with "Wrecking Ball", and a year ago, Alt-J blew me away with "Left Hand Free". The trouble is, I have listened to an awful lot of music in between. A while back, I talked about really liking the newest double album by Warren Haynes, but you probably won't hear his material on the radio, and the radio is what I'm really talking about. If you get off the beaten path, you can still find some things of value.

         I find myself wondering why radio has settled for such normalcy. I read quite a lot about the business, its artists, and music history, and it always hasn't been this way. Even though I was just a small child in the '60s, I still remember music from that moment. I just wasn't old enough to attempt to grasp what was actually happening in that moment. The '60s obviously got off to an amazing start with The Beatles, and I wonder what it must have felt like to have heard their sound for the first time. There were so many artists just blowing the doors open I couldn't begin to list. Glen Campbell was one of those people, one of those sounds that I have grown up with that always seems classy and fresh. Herb Alpert is another. Consider George Jones or even Willie Nelson. "The Red Headed Stranger" was truly a gift if you ask me. 

Country artist Scott Coner works on his Indiana farm (Photo by Cyndi Coner)

         Maybe, today's radio releases only mirror society's drab, unexciting culture. The investors in radio, the people that purchase ad time, are looking for sheep, not out-of-the-box thinkers. They want their radio ads to target car buyers with bad credit. Ad purchasers want to promote their products to a "C" curve of our society instead of a smaller listening crowd that enjoy Lucinda Williams or Chris Knight. As with everything, our culture is driven by the dollar bill. Radio is a perfect example.

         I suppose what I am hoping you will do is to look around a little bit. I don't know how or where you should look, but you found me didn't you? By the way, I wonder how you found me?  I challenge you to take control of the music you listen to and step away from the vanilla flavor of our current world. The low-information crowd must be willing to eat whatever they are given and like it, but that doesn't mean we have to. If we dig deep, we can find music that we can identify with. It just shouldn't require so much energy to find music with power and depth. And if you find something that really shakes your world, let me know because I'm bored to death.

         Scott Coner is a country artist who has recorded with legendary country artists such as Tanya Tucker, T. Graham Brown and Charlie Daniels. You can learn more about him and hear his music at www.ScottConer.com, www.Facebook.com/ScottConerMusic, or www.YouTube.com/user/ScottConer.

Labels and Bad Coffee: Slow Down A Little Bit

         It’s odd how we all want to put a label on every type of music there is. We stick our little labels on this and that, but it doesn’t always describe the artist or the band.

         Somebody wrote back to me earlier this week in reference to my Molly Hatchet blog and said today's country is just yesterday’s Southern rock. I appreciate the input, and it kind of got me to thinking. Of course there may be some Duane Allman or  Toy Caldwell peppered into this or that, but today's music is simply music that represents who and where we find ourselves today. The sad truth is, I think we might need a sticker that says, “disposable” or “forgettable”. It’s probably not that the music isn’t good or even great in some instances, but our world has become like that bitter instant coffee you may find in your break area at your place of work. We just move so fast that we forget how to slow down and listen.

         I don’t mean to preach, but yesterday I bought the new Warren Haynes album, “Ashes and Dust”. I had dinner, then went to my studio alone to listen to his newest masterpiece. It was a pretty cool experience as the needle glided through the vinyl taking me to places I hadn’t been yet. Each note was new and fresh, and I just sat there alone very happy and content. It was soothing to just listen for a change with no cell phone, no computer, and no one around. If I had to label Warren Haynes, I would simply give him a “smiley face” sticker because his music just makes me pretty happy.

         I have always hoped more than I can say that people might simply give me 40 minutes of their time and just listen to whatever project I have just recorded and released. I can think of no higher calling than to have my music, my songs, be the backdrop of someone’s dinner, their drive time, or even their thoughtful times. I wonder what type of label sticker I would get. Would they call me country? Southern rock? '70s pop country? I have no idea. I may not even deserve a label.

         But let me tell you something that matters: Slow down a little bit and don’t forget why we’re here in the first place. We don’t have to sip out of styrofoam cups and drink bad coffee. Find something new and interesting that you can be passionate about, and get off of this giant wheel we have become too accustomed to riding. 

         Learn more about country artist Scott Coner and hear his songs at www.ScottConer.com. Follow him at www.Facebook.com/ScottConerMusic and www.Twitter.com/ScottConer. Subscribe to his video channel at www.YouTube.com/user/ScottConer.