‘LIVE LIVE’ (EXIST NOW)

By David Taus and Tim O’Shea

THE DIRT

Live music builds communities through its dynamic experience. It rarely matters what type of music is being played, but rather that it is being played that serves as the catalyst for the gathering of like-minded people. Live music is an event. It is call to congregate, to celebrate and reflect. Live music can flourish in non-commercial environs nourished only by willing listeners and word-of-mouth. It can transform a crowd of thousands or a solitary serenaded soul. It offers crucial new ideas that would otherwise grow stale awaiting distribution or mass-approval. Live music exists in the moment and encourages us to follow.

Music has always been best represented and experienced live. An increasing number of musicians are learning to thrive both economically and artistically on their live efforts. Many have amassed a following with little to no support from commercial media or popular press. Instead, such acts follow a non-traditional or grassroots approach. They allow, even encourage, the recording and free distribution of their concerts. Emphasizing the performance in performing arts, these artists are not content to confine themselves within a studio document. A focus is placed on discovery through improvisation in their performances and this often results in a departure from any studio efforts. On a grand scale, these artists are the modern heirs and subsequent teachers of the musical oral tradition practiced for generations. It is this work, these ideals, and the resultant community we will showcase in ‘Live Live.’

THE SEED

The resources for live music are rich in diversity, readily accessible, and increasingly distributed for free or moderate cost. In the shadow of the RIAA and Napster, many grass-roots organizations (www.etree.org for instance) have established artist-sanctioned digital resources with thousands of hours of high quality live music freely available for download and distribution--providing no one profits from the endeavor. Traditionally this music spread via person-to-person trading of tapes or CDs. It is our belief that community-based radio best bridges the gap between artist and audience serves without losing the message under a blanket of corporate policy or play lists. Community radio is a viable, relevant, and underutilized tool with which to spread the message and moment found within live music. This is especially true for individuals that cannot access or afford access to these musical archives over the Internet and for artists seeking a wider audience within their local community. Radio also educates and introduces an audience that may be unaware these resources exist and demonstrates a focus on the success of the artist rather than the industry of packaging and distribution.

‘Live Live’ is an appetizer platter. It provides new and varied tastes to an audiences’ appetite for the full meal. Our goal is to introduce listeners to a myriad of live performances and encourage the pursuit of and participation in live music. We endeavor to arouse public interest in live music by:

• Calling attention to shows at local venues (e.g. Harper’s Ferry, O’Brien’s, House of Blues, The Paradise, Matt Murphy’s, The Middle East);

• Inviting artists performing locally to interview and perform in-studio;

• Contacting local live music resources in search of local talent to showcase on the program;

• Increasing public awareness of both live music in Boston and 1670 AM through street-level advertising, word of mouth, and electronic media

• Incorporating the Internet and providing archives of our materials for listener access.

THE SPROUT

The radio show itself will emphasize three points:

Exposure. We will play a wide variety of live music across many genres (see representative music list below). Our hope is to introduce listeners to a range of live performances from numerous artists showing similarities across genres. We will give special attention small and local musicians who may be performing in Boston around the time of any given show.

Community. In addition to playing live music, we of course will encourage people to go out and hear live music. We will select and showcase local artists in proximity to concert dates as well as give listeners a calendar of music events around Boston and venue information. We will also inform them of other resources for seeing live music, or playing live music (Internet sites, jam sessions, etc). Our hope is that live music will not only please the ears, but it will also bring people together.

Education. To encourage the growth of community, we must educate our members. To take part in live music, one most extend their reach into larger communities and learn to share the experience with others. There is a synchrony between artist and audience that elevates a live performance. We hope to share our love for live music.

Having invested years to the growth and support of live music we tend to talk about it at great length. Discussion and debate are key elements in our program. We will offer critical, informed reviews of different musicians, venues, offer chances for others to do the same, and provide resources for further discussion. We believe that this dialogue is crucial to the building of community around live music, and therefore would include more talk in the program than a normal music-based radio show might.

We also plan to supplement the radio show with a computer-based initiative. Utilizing personal resources we will provide a web page with archived broadcasts, live shows for download in their entirety from select artists (a pick-of-the-week), links to live music resources, and a forum for continued discussion and community building.

THE FERTILIZER

We are two friends who met because of live music and consider music to be a vital part of our existence. We are enthusiastic about live music and grassroots community organizing and bring distinct skill sets to ‘Live Live.’

David Taus: Despite being born in the Midwest, I have what most consider a decent taste in music. I listen to music the way most people watch movies. I have played some sort of instrument since I was six years old. My seventh grade literature teacher had to tell me so many times to stop banging on my books that he finally suggested to my parents to get me drum lessons. I studied symphonic percussion, have played in various bands and ensembles, and have taught myself the guitar. I have studied music theory at the college level, as well as the bar level. I am a packrat about my music collection, with tape collections of 400 and cd collection pushing 600. I’m not ashamed. I also worked for two years as a live sound engineer at The Underground, a popular music venue in Providence, RI.

Tim O’Shea: I think my first concert was seeing Kenny Rogers with my parents at the New York State Fair when I was about 10. My tastes in music have yet to recover. Through college I went to as many concerts as possible, pursing the jam-band experience until I’d logged thousands of miles on the car and hundreds of ticket stubs. Things got worse when I realized you could trade tapes, then CDs, and now with the Internet I may never turn of my speakers. I work to support creative and artistic endeavors in everyone through whatever means I can provide. My resume says I have a background in information technology, too.

THE GARDEN

Here is a partial list of some of artists to be featured on ‘Live Live.’

Medeski, Martin, and Wood (avant garde jazz)

Parliament Funkadelic (granddaddys of funk)

Grateful Dead (psychedelic rock/folk/blues)

Bela Fleck (banjo virtuoso)

Spearhead (politically minded soul/hip hop)

Yonder Mountain String Band (bluegrass)

Duke Ellington (don’t mean a thing if it ain’t got that swing)

Ben Harper (prog-folk)

Stevie Wonder (very superstitious)

B.B. King (blues legend)

John Coltrane (jazz)

Tori Amos (melodic song-writing)

Phish (jamband)

Keith Jarrett (classical piano improvisations)

Willie Nelson (country/folk)

The Roots (hip hop with live instruments)

Talking Heads (new wave)

Underworld (techno)

Paul Oakenfold/Paul Van Dyk/Sasha/Digweed (trance DJs)

Miles Davis (jazz)

Pearl Jam (grunge)

moe. (rock)

Ozomatli (latin/hip-hop)

Stevie Ray Vaughn (rock/blues)

Bob Marley (reggae)

Soulive (funk-laced jazz)