chopsy
46 posts
Jun 12, 2015
12:45 PM
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Frank Fairfield's facebook post on quitting the "music biz"
"One also gets pretty sick of being as mediocre a musician as I under the diligent scrutiny of all the banjo hangout bloggers in the blogosphere multiverse."
The internet can be a vitriolic, opinionated place. I am ashamed to say my 3rd post on banjo hangout was a critical one of Frank's recent NPR tiny desk performance. I do enjoy his playing (particularly on the fiddle) but his singing has always grated on my nerves (I almost posted it as an example in one of our threads as how NOT to sound authentic but thought twice about it) and in the tiny desk concert he played a cello with what I felt was poor intonation and possibly not enough rehearsal on the ambitious tunes they tackled.
I feel that on this forum we are pretty open to constructive criticism although often it takes a detour away from being constructive. This might be a good day to think about how what you say might impact the life or career of someone else.
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marine1896
225 posts
Jun 12, 2015
12:59 PM
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He should quit the internet not music.
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"Those British boys want to play the blues real bad, and they do"
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Goldbrick
1039 posts
Jun 12, 2015
1:14 PM
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I am guessing other things are going on in his life
Nobody puts in the kind of time he must have put in over the years to quit over random phux knocking his playing
Probably just burned out.
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nacoran
8515 posts
Jun 12, 2015
1:23 PM
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marine1896, well said!
Internet critique, both giving and receiving is a hard thing. Personally, if someone has a constructive piece of advice that will improve my playing I want to hear it, but just saying, 'wow, that sucks' doesn't help much! I try to balance my comments with that in mind, and if it's just that I don't like the style I just say that it's not my cup of tea or skip commenting, but if I can offer advice I like to.
When guys get to the pro-level hopefully they've gotten a thick enough skin. Sometimes it's useful to use a pro-level piece instructionally. If I can find things I like and things I don't like in something and use it to explain
something to someone else it's very useful, but still, sometimes it comes down to saying things that may hurt. Most of the time though you can say it in a way that explains what you mean without crushing someone's soul.
I wouldn't even want to crush Bob Dylan's harmonica soul. Maybe his harmonicas, but not his soul! :) (Man can he write a lyric though!)
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Nate
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1847
2432 posts
Jun 12, 2015
5:44 PM
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music is about the enjoyment it brings to our-self's
he was clearly smiling ,laughing and telling jokes
what more do you need?
i remember i was 5 or 6 the beatles were on ed sulivan
that's what i wanted to do.
it only took me about 10 minutes to realize i would never be a paul mc cartney
it took him 50 years to realize he cannot sing?
how is it that people can delude them-self's
into thinking there singing is fine?
the only thing worse is someone that is convinced they can play harmonica, with out doing the work required.
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1847
2433 posts
Jun 12, 2015
5:50 PM
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mickj jagger is a pretty mediocre singer and harmonica player
he has managed to record some of the best recordings of our times.
he just did what he loved and got lucky.
he also worked harder than anyone i would guess.
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chopsy
47 posts
Jun 12, 2015
6:19 PM
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>> it took him 50 years to realize he cannot sing?
oh heck no, I believe he is still in his (late) twenties.
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sonny3
269 posts
Jun 12, 2015
6:47 PM
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Well, if ever I find i don't like someone's voice or playing, i stop listening and certainly refrain from ripping them on the internet.I like Frank's voice and his playing. Folks say all kinds of junk online that they would never say in person. As long as he's happy, good for him. He is a very talented fella.
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Danny Starwars
227 posts
Jun 12, 2015
6:48 PM
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I'd never heard of him til now and just YouTubed him. I really like him
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jbone
1962 posts
Jun 12, 2015
8:57 PM
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It's so simple, as we've learned here in recent years: Music GOOD, people sometimes BAD.
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Rontana
106 posts
Jun 13, 2015
4:48 AM
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Yeah . . . anonymity turns a surprisingly large percentage of people into animals. The behavior exhibited (in terms of sadistic intent) reminds me of what happened in the infamous Stanford prison experiment.
Want to see a cross section of how nuts people get when they can hide behind the net? Just read the comments after any news article. Spooky stuff.
I don't participate in, or have accounts with, any interactive social media. In fact, this is the only forum I'm on (and strictly because it is really unsurpassed for anyone wanting to learn about/become proficient on harp).
Abstaining from social-media does make things tougher when I want to market something, but the privacy and absence of crazy-talk is a more than equitable trade.
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BronzeWailer
1708 posts
Jun 13, 2015
5:19 AM
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It does always surprise me how much vitriol gets spewed about on the net.
That said, I quite liked Frank Fairfield's music and he seemed to have a reasonable following and appreciative audience. I thought his voice suited the material OK. It must be tough to make it in the music business, but it would be a shame if he gave it away due to harsh criticism.
There is something to be said for biting one's tongue and pausing before hitting the send button.
BronzeWailer's YouTube
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Thievin' Heathen
544 posts
Jun 13, 2015
6:59 AM
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I once heard a banjo player say he was playing an instrument who's name meant "outhouse" in at least 4 languages. Probably not a good choice of instrument for the thin skinned.
I agree with 1896. He just needs to quit the internet. It's definitely not for the thin skinned.
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ted burke
278 posts
Jun 13, 2015
7:07 AM
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I write criticism for my own blog and as a contributor to some other online arts/culture sites, but I pretty much do so as a continuation of a part time career I had for 25 years as a print writer for alternative publications in San Diego. There were rules the editors enforced, the first of which is to critically (and fairly) assess the merits of the album/movie/play/book under review and not gossip or otherwise engage in cheap snark. The internet has become a means , though, by which anyone can play, and the problem with large groups of people weighing in on lightly moderated comment threads or in the play pens of their own blogdoms is that they allow themselves to engage in insult, invective and injurious bile throwing without regard to whether the artist under consideration is doing work that actually has merit. It's understandable why someone would just want to leave it behind and do something else where thinking is a virtue.
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Ted Burke
tburke4@san.rr.com
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