Simply Six: Martin England

1. For many artists, they cite a defining moment for themselves when they knew they wanted to be a singer.  For many it was the appearance of Elvis on the Ed Sullivan show, to another generation it was the Beatles’ appearance on Sullivan half a decade later.  Is there such a defining moment for you? 

The first time I ever sang along to my first record - Beach Boys Endless Summer. It took me to a place I'd never been before. I used to lock myself in the bathroom and conduct my own interviews with myself as if I'd make it big. 

2. When you’re not creating music what are you listening to?  Who are some of your favorites?

Ryan Bingham is one of my favorite new American songwriters, along with AA Bondy (who I saw at Newport Folk Festival and was AMAZING). I listen to anything that tells a story and matches it up with a nice melody, but also songs that are accessible to everyone. Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash are two of my all-time favorites. I love Wilco, My Morning Jacket, Justin Townes Earle. Don't get me started. 

3. What would you say is your greatest moment so far as an artist, either on record or live? 

Playing the Vic Theater in Chicago while opening for the Sawdoctors back in 2006 with my band, Pondering Judd. The place was sold out. I hadn't seen my wife (Jennifer) in nearly a month, and she'd flown out to Chicago for the show. We weren't able to connect before the show started (she flew out with other band member's wives), but the first person I saw in that sea of five-thousand plus was my wife, not because she was in the front row, but she just stuck out in a crowd. It was fitting, because nobody's been more supportive of my career than her. 

4.  Do you believe music can change the world or is just something to listen to?   How much can music influence current events? 

Humans are the only species who do not produce music for a specific purpose. Having said that, I think there's a medicinal quality to it that brings people together. The people's elixir. 

5. How has technology affected the music industry?  How has technology affected your career as a musician? 

The internet has allowed me to be a DIY artist, simply because it cuts out so many middle people. It's allowed me to push my music into parts of the world that I've never seen (which is an interesting thought unto itself). It's also allowed me to connect with other musicians from across the country without ever having met them. 

6.  Now for my Barbara Walters question:  If you were a pair of shoes what type of shoes would you be? 

Cowboy boots - because I don't own any.

Simply Six: C.R. Ecker

1. For many artists, they cite a defining moment for themselves when they knew

they wanted  to   be a singer.  For many it was the appearance of Elvis on the Ed

Sullivan show,  to   another generation it was the Beatles’ appearance on Sullivan

half a decade later.  Is there  such  a defining moment for you?

As a songwriter, it would The Beach Boys, at least at the beginning.  I had never heard such harmonies fit so perfectly with words crafted to match so seamlessly, all from Brian Wilson alone in his room less than ten miles from the ocean.  So I joined our high school glee club and a four-kid group called The Informal Vocal Culture Society.  (I was the Josh Turner-type voice.)  In my 20s, when my interest turned to country, I suppose the crafting of words and music inherent in that genre drew me to composing in that style?  Great way to tell stories and the words really do count for something!

2. When you’re not creating music what are you listening   to?  Who are some of

your favorites?

For someone who has written mostly country, I really like Brad Paisley, the Zac Brown Band and Keith Urban, currently.  Long-time favorites include Kenny Rogers, Kentucky Headhunters, and, most of all by a mile, Waylon Jennings.  And in the summer, at a live performance in Simi Valley, California, I saw Jamestown Revival for the first time.  These two guys from Texas will end up in the Country Music Hall of Fame someday, you wait and see!  Texas country at its coolest.  But I gotta’ tell you, the Beatles had a big impact in my musical direction.  You can hear it in two of the album cuts – “One More Night with You” and “When I Walked with You.”

3. What would you say is your greatest moment so far as an artist, either on record

or live?

The greatest moment is from idea generation to hearing the end result. Since I composed the songs and produced them working closely with a top-notch arranger I met at The Los Angeles Songwriters Showcase, it’s when I would hear the master tape for the first time after all the production elements were put together into the mix that the public would hear.  No more changes because none were needed!

4.  Do you believe music can change the world or is just something   to listen   to?

How much can music influence current events?

I can’t think of any songs that have changed the world, but John Lennon’s “Give Peace a Chance” was certainly the musical benchmark of my generation and still gives me pause when I hear it.  I really do hope that “Bushwacked (Bewildered, Beat-up Bad and Broke) will become more than just a song, but will rally people to be more active in demanding change in government and finance to fix our economy.  I would like listeners to think and act.  This thoughtful, simply sung composition is not entertainment, by any stretch of the imagination.  It’s kind of like when “Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?” made people listen in the Great Depression and know they were not alone being down and out.  The most touching reaction from a listener to BBBuB&B has been – “I feel this song is written for me and all the others on the ropes and when I listen to it, each time  it helps to take the edge off, even if just for a little while.”  We must have done something right in the early stages of the album launch as BBBuB&B now sits in the website devoted to the song made famous so many years ago by Al Jolson.  From my point-of-view as the songwriter, that says a lot.

5. How has technology affected the music industry?  How has technology affected

your career as a musician?

Thankfully, it has been a game-changer for songwriters and performers. No need for publishers or labels now.  We do that.  No need for fronting heavy CD, jewel case and packaging expenses either. Thanks to Internet radio, we are being played in 25 countries in just four short weeks. The big challenge that still remains for Indies like us is getting airplay on traditional AM/FM stations.  But I think that will change when listeners catch on that, no matter the station format, they are hearing the same 15 or 20 performers in rotation, over and over and over again, with commercials all or most of the time. So now, all our music, in this album and hopefully another in 2012, will be heard around the world.  Wow!

6.  Now for my Barbara Walters question:  If you were a pair of shoes what type of

shoes would you be?

Deck shoes.   Easy to put on, pretty wear resistant, comfortable and just right for where I live in Los Angeles,  near Marina del Rey.  If I ever walk along the docks in cowboy boats, my wife assures me you will be the first to get a photo of me falling in the water!

Simply Six: Sheri Miller

1. For many artists, they cite a defining moment for themselves when they knew they wanted to be a singer.  For many it was the appearance of Elvis on the Ed Sullivan show, to another generation it was the Beatles’ appearance on Sullivan half a decade later.  Is there such a defining moment for you?

I have a feeling if I was alive when The Beatles were on the Ed Sullivan show, I would’ve been convinced in one heartbeat, one split second flat, I wanted to sing, and write songs.  How could you not, it’s the Beatles?

For me, I can’t recall one specific thrilling, defining moment, but I’ve been writing songs since I first sat on a piano bench at age 6/7.  Making up songs always felt as natural to me as feeling the wind on my neck, or swimming in the ocean.  It feels like it’s been born with me, as part of nature.  My nature.

2. When you’re not creating music what are you listening to?  Who are some of

your favorites?

Aaah, great question.  The Beatles.  Beach Boys.  Wings.  Nina Simone.  Ella Fitzgerald.  Etta James.  Paul Simon.  Tom Waits.  Joni Mitchell.  Ricki Lee Jones.  Jimi Hendrix.  Glenn Gould.  Bach.  Tchaikovsky.  John Coltrane.  Bob Dylan.  Elvis Costello.  Leonard Cohen.  Adele.   Raphael Saadiq.  Stevie Wonder. 

3. What would you say is your greatest moment so far as an artist, either on record or live?

When you play a song live, and people have told you the cried. Or written me they’ve cried from listening to a recording.  I once read a Rickie Lee Jones interview, and she said something to the effect of “the point of making music is to make people cry; and to make yourself cry.”  I think that’s a beautiful way of putting it.

4.  Do you believe music can change the world or is just something to listen to?

How much can music influence current events?

Absolutely!  Music has changed the world since the first note rang clear through the treetops.  Bob Dylan in the ‘60’s with “Blowin’ In The Wind” influenced masses of teenagers to support the peace movement.  So many civil rights songs, from Sam Cooke’s “A Change Is Gonna Come” to gospel spirituals, inspired and gave strength to busloads of Civil Rights activists who found deep sources of courage to risk their lives, and ride through the dangerous South to protest the Jim Crow laws. They changed the world.  Music has lifted people up, told our stories, and changed our world since the beginning of time.  I think it’s an honor and privilege to be part of the musical tradition and legacy in any form.

5. How has technology affected the music industry?  How has technology affected your career as a musician?

Wow.  Loaded question.  Technology, in essence, has revoked the power from the record companies and massive terrestrial radio stations, and given the power back to the listeners, the people themselves, the musicians, at the very source.  Anyone can post a song on the internet.  Anyone can be heard. It’s a double-edged and a blessing. I love the new technology. It’s a true musical democracy.  Amen.

6.  Now for my Barbara Walters question:  If you were a pair of shoes what type of shoes would you be?

Barbara, I dig it.  I would be a flashy, sparkly 3 inch pair of sexy hot smokin’ high heeled puppies.  You could walk in me, but never walk all over me.  I’d make you feel something.   Something good.  Watch me comin’, now.  I got some sole! 

http://www.sherimiller.com/
http://www.facebook.com/sherimillermusic

Simply Six: Jeff Johnson

1.     For many artists, they cite a defining moment for themselves when they knew they wanted to be a singer.  For many it was the appearance of Elvis on the Ed Sullivan show, to another generation it was the Beatles’ appearance on Sullivan half a decade later.  Is there such a defining moment for you?

Yes, I knew when I saw The Beatles movie Help on TV when I was 10 years old.  Seeing them singing “You’re Gonna Lose That Girl” in the recording studio and singing “Ticket To Ride” skiing down that mountain did the trick.  From then on, it was music for me.

2. When you’re not creating music what are you listening to?  Who are some of your favorites?

The classics, of course, Beatles, Beach Boys, Elton John.  A lot of 80s music – Pet Shop Boys, Tears For Fears, Smiths.  Recently, Adele, Florence & The Machine, Foster The People, Coldplay…

3. What would you say is your greatest moment so far as an artist, either on record or live?

On record, I think the best so far was the recording of my new album Shine with so many great musicians, including a live string section (for the first time!).  Performance-wise it would be playing with my band – Chalk Farm - back in Chicago at some great venues – Cabaret Metro, Park West, Avalon, Limelight.  We had a great time. 

4.  Do you believe music can change the world or is just something to listen to?   How much can music influence current events?

I do believe that music can change the world.  It inspires.  It motivates.  It brings us together.  It happened in a big way in the 60s and it can happen again.

5. How has technology affected the music industry?  How has technology affected your career as a musician?

Technology has made it easy for artists to record high quality music and release it themselves.  Now there are more albums released than ever before.  Certainly, my album Shine could not have been recorded 20 years ago without spending a huge amount of money and having support from a big label.  Of course, the Internet has made it possible for artists to reach out to fans around the world and certainly to have more intimate and immediate relationships with fans than ever before.

6.  Now for my Barbara Walters question:  If you were a pair of shoes what type of shoes would you be?

I’m going to say Converse sneakers!  

SIMPLY SIX: Dean & Britta

This Simply Six if from Britta from the duo Dean & Britta.

1. For many artists, they cite a defining moment for themselves when they knew they wanted to be a singer. For many it was the appearance of Elvis on the Ed Sullivan show, to another generation it was the Beatles’ appearance on Sullivan half a decade later. Is there such a defining moment for you?

Britta: When I first sang alone in my car at 16.

2. When you’re not creating music what are you listening to? Who are some of your favorites?

Britta: Ennio Morricone, The Velvet Underground, Jonathan Richman, New Order,
The Crystal Stilts, The Beach Boys

3. What would you say is your greatest moment so far as an artist, either on record or live?

Britta: Our album "L'Avventura" is something I'm very proud of...
as for a live performance, I'd have to say performing "13 Most Beautiful... song for Andy Warhol's Screen Tests" at the Allen Room in NYC with Lou Reed in the audience.

4. Do you believe music can change the world or is just something to listen to? How much can music influence current events?

Britta: Everything changes the world. Music definitely changes my world. I think music is personal, though, so I don't see how it influence "events." But personal change... people becoming more fully human -- full of joy, empathy, the mystery of life -- that can change the way people approach life and other human beings. I hope that it makes them less susceptible to the politics of fear.

5. How has technology affected the music industry? How has technology affected your career as a musician?

Britta: People don't buy CDs anymore. This is putting the big record labels out of business - which is only a good thing! - but I think that music will become like poetry in the future. No way to make a living. People will just do it for love/fun. We don't make money selling CDs anymore, so we have to do other things. Currently, we were commissioned by The Andy Warhol Museum to write and perform music for 13 of his "Screen Tests" (silent black & white portraits shot on Bolex film shot in the mid-60s at his Silver Factory). We're been touring with that for the past year. Dean also wrote a book, "Black Postcards," and I do voiceovers for a couple of shows on Adult Swim (Moral Orel and a new show which has not yet aired called "Frankenhole").

6. Now for my Barbara Walters question: If you were a pair of shoes what type of shoes would you be?

Britta: Black leather boots (think Bardot in the late '60s)