The image of a 37 year old man waking up on his parent’s couch in the basement and shuffling to the kitchen at 2pm to have a bowl of cereal before he “starts” his day is a stereotypical view many have of musicians and other creative types…are they justified in thinking so?

There are always exceptions to every rule, however, I would argue that even the most hard-working creative type can err towards the ease of saying, “I’ll just finish that project later” - the statement that usually leaves painters with canvas upon canvas of unfinished paintings, authors with novels and short stories that trail off before resolve is found for their characters, and songwriters with dozens of songs that have a first verse and a chorus, but the elusive second verse is lost in a sea of Word documents and eraser shreds.

Is that to say that all artists are lazy? No. Is that to say that we all can’t benefit from some discipline in our craft and the practice of our art form? Almost certainly, we can.

Inspiration is very difficult to generate – some might even say impossible. However, we can train our brains to be more prepared to expedite the creative process when inspiration rears its mysterious face.  This can involve anything from training your mechanical skills (practicing your scales with your instrument, bettering your brushstrokes, etc.) to developing the process by which you get into your creative mode.

I’ve begun (at the advice of a book entitled Writing Better Lyrics) writing for a designated period of time each day – that’s something that I haven’t done for years. The purpose of doing that is to train the creative side of my mind to more easily get into the “creative zone” and for the flow of the writing process to go more smoothly and more expeditiously. I love exercises like this. No matter how far along we are in whatever we do, there is always room for growth. The illustration of athletes in training is perfect to draw an analogy to this – the creative “muscles” can certainly go into a state of metaphoric atrophy if they lie dormant for too long. Keeping them in training and practice makes them much sharper and able to be called upon much more quickly when inspiration strikes.

So, as any personal trainer, tutor, music teacher, creative writing professor, or brew master would tell you – just keep doing it, it’ll get better.

Stay creative my friends,

-TRMJ

I Am Entertainment magazine reviewed my EP, New Eyes, and gave it 4 out of 4 stars...swish! Read the review here:

http://www.iaemagazine.com/music/2012/012012/matt-jones.html

-TRMJ

Thank you to Mr. Ben Gibbard for capturing in nuance how so many feel when a new year unfolds. 2012 is here, and unless you’ve already moved your stockpile of canned goods and CB radios into your basement to prepare for Dec. 21^st, you’re probably excited/uncertain/curious about what this year will bring.

Musically speaking, it feels like a time of transition for the channels we all use to discover and listen to music. Itunes posted record revenues in 2011, but the app store accounted for a greater share than music sales did, and predictions show that music sale growth will be flat for 2012 onto 2013. Services like Spotify are definitely increasing in membership, but with a user base of about 1.6 million people, it currently is reaching a fraction of what Pandora’s listener base is on a monthly basis, and conventional radio is continuing to see a steady decline in listenership...that’s the business/delivery side.

The creative side is seeing more people having the capability to create some fantastic music, both in artistic integrity and sonic superiority. This era has never seen its equal as far as ease, affordability, and access to almost any tool or instrument imaginable in order to make music. Truly, it’s an exciting time.

What does that mean?

Both of these elements support my theory that, unless 2012 brings a format or channel that completely redefines the way we hear music, I believe the era of seeing “Megabands” surface is over. That’s a double-edged sword – on one hand, it’s great because we will start to see (and are already seeing) bands who continue to write and perform music with less of an emphasis on getting paid, and more for the sheer enjoyment and art of it. On the other hand, bands in which labels have invested time, money, development and all sorts of resources are becoming a thing of the past, so we aren’t seeing the same kind of talent development take place on the label level, or for that matter, at any level.

Where do we go from here?

I think we are going to see a further increase in artists and musicians that are creating for the sheer sake of creating – not that anyone will turn down money given the opportunity to make it necessarily, but the dollar factor will continue to decline as a motivator because it might have to. I’m looking forward to 2012 as a year where I will release my record, History, (which, I will provide more information on in the coming weeks), and I am focusing on writing and co-writing more this year than I ever have before.  I’m also working on new ways to make concerts better for everyone going, and I’ll roll out those ideas as the year progresses.

Thank you incredibly to everyone who supports music, who is a fan, and who continues to listen – we’re here, making music, and will continue to no matter what the economy or the industry looks like.  Here’s to a great year in front of us.

-TRMJ

I've had a lot of people getting in touch with me on facebook, by email, or almost any other means asking for the chord chart and lyrics to Christmas Anthem...here they are.

The version I'm posting is the one that my home church, Desert Springs Church, did for our Christmas Eve service in 2010. My close friend and music minister, Drew Hodge, and I added one more verse that we wrote (not in the original hymn) to emphasize Christ's purpose for coming to Earth. There is also a diminished chord that's a passing chord that's added to the chorus progression, it's up to you whether you would like to use it in there. It's also in a lower key than the original version so that it's easier for a congregation to sing.

I hope this helps those who are looking for the chords, tabs, lyrics, etc. - the only thing that I ask is that if you do a version either on your own or at you church, share it! Download the .pdf here:

Christmas Anthem Chords

Happy playing, and Merry Christmas.

-TRMJ

"Clunk" or "Check Engine" are familiar sounds and sights that we've all heard or seen from our cars at one point or another. Some of us are then bold enough to pop open the hood and snoop around for the issue, and some others are even a degree bolder in actually pulling out some tools and trying to fix the problem.

If we are that bold, it's obviously important to have the right tools to get the job done. I've had numerous posts about new great tools for songwriting, networking, and selling music in the past, but I have neglected to mention that those tools are essentially useless if the "hands" that are using them aren't as capable as the tools themselves...

Don't hear me wrong - I think we live in an amazing day and age where anyone in the world has access to write, record, and distribute music on a worldwide basis, and that fact alone should open our ears to many amazing artists that we've never heard before. It does, however, also open our ears to many artists that might be using the right tools, but probably don't have the right understanding of how to use them or maybe (forgive me), shouldn't really be using the tools at all.

I will take a jab at myself here - I have a nice set of adjustable dumbbells at my house.  If used properly, it is possible (as much as my genetics and body frame will allow), that I can use those "tools" to get an Olympian-esque build. Now, my personal trainer friends who are reading this are pulling out their soapboxes to let us all know that it's not as easy as that. Besides knowing how to use the tools, and actually using them, you also have to combine that with a good rest schedule, a diet that matches up with what your weight gain/loss goals are, and proper technique and form in using the weights. It's not just enough to have the tools...

That brings me to the main point of this post - the tools are there for musicians, and they're easily accessible and pretty user-friendly for the most part. So, why aren't we all rich and famous? I think the answer lies in having the right hands to operate those tools. What are we doing as artists to make sure that we're becoming the best songwriters, musicians, singers, etc. that we can be? I've personally been spending a lot of time reading material that encourages an uninhibited creative process, and trying to explore new musical roads with my main instrument (guitar), and other instruments...sometimes even when they're played by another musician.

We can't rely on the tools to make the job complete itself. Let's be responsible for both sides - getting the best tools we can, and make sure we're the best operators of those tools we can possibly be.

Until next time,

-TRMJ