The Top 100 Most Played list on my iPod tells an interesting story. It’s is full of experienced women artists like Laurie Anderson, Lucinda Williams, Patty Griffin and Marianne Faithful who’ve been around for a while. Is this just nostalgia on my part? I don’t think so. No one loves change more than I do but to be a Lovemark you need to connect across time. Songs are stories set to music and like all great stories they speak for the past as well as the present and future. Without those connections the best you can hope for is being a short-term fad. I find it bewildering that so much great music gets brushed aside in the rush for the new and the obsession with celebrity. Listen to Bob Dylan’s show on RadioXM or David Byrne Radio on the web. They show how mining the past and making authentic connections between very different artists leads to compelling listening. Only David Byrne would put Ennio Morricone and Frank Zappa together! And don’t forget to by Lucinda’s new album, West.
