I have never approached any one from out of the blue and asked them to sign something.
Seems very weird.
When I have seen an artist out in the world, who was going about their business, if I really liked them I might say, "thank you, the last album was great" and keep walking. They are, eating, shopping, talking to friends... I don't want to interrupt.
As for people who have come into my shop, or I have met at their gigs or promotional tours, all great people. All humble, down to earth folks. (Except Roger McGuinn) Perhaps because I am always mindful of the fact that getting ready to go on stage takes concentration and focus and coming off stage they are exhausted/hyped/tired from working so hard. I also realize they have obligations even after the show. I also realize that being nice to fans is part of their job, and they don't always want to be working.
I have also called a lot of artists on the phone from out of the blue.
All of these have been people who put out a small press recording.
All of these encounters have been great, with people thrilled to hear their record had traveled so far over so long a period of time, and people like it.
The one exception was a local "womens band".
One member was still active on the music scene easy to find.
I called her up and explained I had customers in Japan who liked the record and asked if she had more copies.
She got irate and told me if I had sold any of her records I owed her money.
I explained about the used record market and offered to buy any copies she had for what they used to sell them off the bandstand, and suggested a price at least twice what that would have been.
Instead of replying to that she wanted to know if they were playing the record on the air in Japan.
I told here there was a song that the dj's liked to play in the clubs.
She flipped and started screaming about how they owed her money.
She would not discuss selling me any records until she was paid for the money she was losing to Japanese club play.
Aceyalone. One of the biggest assholes I have ever met. He was really on some, "pssssshhh... get the phawk out of my face," when I just wanted to drop a pound and see if he'd sign my copy of "All Balls Don't Bounce." He was actually the OPENING act and I was the only person there who knew who the phawk he was. GTFOH with that. Douche.
HarveyCanal"a distraction from my main thesis." 13,234 Posts
Comments
Seems very weird.
When I have seen an artist out in the world, who was going about their business, if I really liked them I might say, "thank you, the last album was great" and keep walking. They are, eating, shopping, talking to friends... I don't want to interrupt.
As for people who have come into my shop, or I have met at their gigs or promotional tours, all great people. All humble, down to earth folks. (Except Roger McGuinn) Perhaps because I am always mindful of the fact that getting ready to go on stage takes concentration and focus and coming off stage they are exhausted/hyped/tired from working so hard. I also realize they have obligations even after the show. I also realize that being nice to fans is part of their job, and they don't always want to be working.
All of these have been people who put out a small press recording.
All of these encounters have been great, with people thrilled to hear their record had traveled so far over so long a period of time, and people like it.
The one exception was a local "womens band".
One member was still active on the music scene easy to find.
I called her up and explained I had customers in Japan who liked the record and asked if she had more copies.
She got irate and told me if I had sold any of her records I owed her money.
I explained about the used record market and offered to buy any copies she had for what they used to sell them off the bandstand, and suggested a price at least twice what that would have been.
Instead of replying to that she wanted to know if they were playing the record on the air in Japan.
I told here there was a song that the dj's liked to play in the clubs.
She flipped and started screaming about how they owed her money.
She would not discuss selling me any records until she was paid for the money she was losing to Japanese club play.