So did you wake up today thinking "I want to do something different.
Something that will change the way people think about me, music, God,
and this world. I want to be radically different than the normal music
that we are inundated with at every store, restaurant, radio station,
and website."

Well, I did.

Folks, I produce alot of music. Maybe too much.

Most people I complain to about the music I hear look at me like I'm
some human who hasn't been "turned" yet. Like there's a pod with my
name on it and I need to be replaced by my pod person duplicate so I
will quit complaining and accept that all music must have rules so
radio will play it, distributors will accept it, and generally people
will get it.

And you know what, that is what I have been going along with for years
here in Nashville. Absolutely, let's make a product that will be
accepted into the marketplace and fit into the landscape next to the
other nice Christian music CDs.

I can tell you after three plus years, we have had CDs played on the
radio, accepted and sold in Christian stores across the US, tons of
publicity, and we've spent tens of thousands for the pleasure.

Artists still make their living on the road. They make a profit by
ministering directly to people.

Our most successful artist in this way is Kristyn Leigh. And yes, even
though she is enjoying some success with her current single on radio
and video, we expressly made her CD to support her live ministry. We
knew that her audience would eat up her CD "The Heavy and the Holy",
because it was exactly what Kristyn was about.

We DIDN'T make it so we could please radio and distribution, et al.

OK, so here's the moral.

If it doesn't matter to the marketplace whether we make art that is
EXACTLY what they want, because radio, distribution, or publicity are
such fickle beasts, then why not make EXACTLY what we want??

Why paint inside the lines like we've been told, sometimes limiting
our creativity, if there is no upside to doing so?

The answer is we need to keep thinking up new ways to completely,
creatively, and originally do our art.

I think that's why I love jazz so much. The rules are completely loose.

But it doesn't have to be just jazz..

Painters paint. Abstract. Fresco. Watercolor. Portrait. Impressionist.
And even inside those genres exist different camps and sub-genres.

Like the different revolutions and musical periods, we are definitely
entering a new time in music.

More than ever the independent artistic mind is taking hold and
exciting folks. New musical genres are popping up all the time. If
there was ever a time to think outside of the box, THIS IS IT!

"So long status quo
I think I just let go
You make me want to be brave
The way it always was
Is no longer good enough
You make me want to be brave"
- Nichole Nordeman

By the way if you want to break out of some songwriting ruts you may
in, take a listen to Nichole, or Chris Rice, or Sara Groves. They will
change the way you think about lyric writing.

Be brave. We are.

At my company, Creative Soul, the president just handed down an order.
No more normal. No more expected. No more produce by numbers so radio
will like it. This means art, music, songs, singers, players,
engineers, designers, anything!

One of my clients recently asked if I thought Creative Soul had become
a tad less "creative" in the three years I have been here. I thought
for a minute and answered, "Yeah, I think we have."

Don't get me wrong, we've done amazing work, and clients have been
thrilled and done very well. But we may have suffered from a little
too much Nashville-itis. Nasty thing. Chafing, cough, and a terrible
urge to meet for coffee too much.

And it's a bit of a trap, because people DO come to Nashville asking
for the "Nashville" sound. But believe me, even players and engineers
here are ready for something different, challenging, and maybe even a
little bit strange.

That's why we are bringing some soul, jazz, reggae, and harder edged
rock to Creative Soul this year.

I challenge you artists reading this to be brave and strike out in the
most original ways you can.

Think out of the box.

"Be daring, be different, be impractical, be anything that will assert
integrity of purpose and imaginative vision against the
play-it-safers, the creatures of the commonplace, the slaves of the
ordinary." - Cecil Beaton

Have a great week!

EC
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Eric Copeland is the lead producer, writer, and arranger for Creative
Soul in Franklin, TN and has laid down the law: We want some fresh,
new, out of the box projects. If you have one, if you are sick and
tired of being sick and tired of top 40 music, let's talk. We are
looking for new projects for the 2008 year of change. Bring it on!
http://www.creativesoulonline.com