See all Ari TV episodes at http://www.ariherstand.com

I got new shirts in today! The "Trumpetar" design is by yours truly :) The old school AH fans might remember it from back in the day. I've revamped it and put it on a tilt (and on Navy).  Check em out at the store!

Peace

~Ari

See all Ari TV episodes at www.ariherstand.com (left tab)

The Minneapolis City Council is proposing a ban on everyone under 21 from entering music venues. Crazy right?! Well, it's sadly true and could very well be a reality if we don't speak out about this. I'd been tweeting, posting Facebook comments and commenting on the City Pages blog about this topic because I know how detrimental this ordinance (if passed) could be to the Minneapolis music scene and someone from WCCO caught on to this and asked to interview me for this story.

I love the Minneapolis music scene too much to see it destroyed by a few in power who have no idea how to curb underage binge drinking and think that this is the direction to take.

Clearly those in the scene know how great a job music venues do about making sure no one under 21 has a drop of alcohol in their club and that the City Council is quite out of touch and going about this completely wrong (and will kill many jobs and much of the Minneapolis economy by passing this ordinance). I could go on and on, but WCCO did an excellent piece on this (and interviewed me!)

Check out the full story:



and the promo piece:

As always ALL Ari TV episodes found at www.ariherstand.com

Ari Out West




The Canal Room

I responded to Dan Wilson's response to an MPR discussion. And, like his response, mine is so long that I decided to include it here as well!

Here's Dan's blog about it: http://blogs.myspace.com/danwilsonmusic
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Dan, great post. I always enjoy hearing other musicians' - from the top to the bottom - take on this issue.  It's amazing that we are still having this debate 9 years later. You'd think this would be settled by now.  Well, as an 'up and comer' I have gone back and forth on this many times.  I've heard all sides and many great points on both sides.  There is much more gray to this topic than many like to believe.  The MN mom does not deserve the $1.92 million penalty - i think we can all agree on that.

As a musician who has never been on a major label and never given a giant advance, I see being compensated for my work differently.  I'm not hoping for the 'big break' from a major record company willing to give me 300k and I can live easily for a while.  I know the reality of the music industry in which we live and I use my current knowledge to my benefit in discovering how I can make a living by just playing music.  Yes, touring is big, but not everything. Selling records (primarily on iTunes) is big as well, but not close to everything. Getting placed on TV shows is great royalty money (a year and a half later) so relying on that isn't everything either.  I have to find ways to make money in every medium possible to survive. 

Personally, I think it's great moving into a digital world. Yes, I personally still buy CDs when I can (for the sole reason that I just LIKE them), but I also frequent iTunes out of convenience. Out of principle I never download illegally (also for quality's sake).  But moreover, being able to reach an international audience by spending 10 minutes uploading a song or a video and developing a decent Myspace page is HUGE for us independent artists. I'm in a stage where I feel the harder I work the more I will succeed.  It's an amazing feeling knowing that if I put more time into developing my internet presence, promoting shows, and overall working on building a following that I will not only expand my listener base but increase my income. This mentality, I think, is new to musicians.

Of course I would love to spend all day writing and practicing and every night gigging and such, but currently that's not a reality anymore for independent artists. There are fewer "big breaks" I feel happening and it's about the work that independent musicians are putting in on the ground that determines how far and fast they will progress.  Obviously, first comes first, you have to have your craft down and maintain the musical and artistic integrity within everything you do.  That's why I dedicate half my time to the music end of things and half my time to the business side of things. It's a full 60 hour week - but it's better than making lattes or delivering subs.

So how to work my digression back to the main topic? err. well like I mentioned, there is a lot of gray to this issue.  I initially used Napster in the early years to download bootleg DMB concerts and rare, coffee shop Mayer recordings.  This only turned me more onto the groups and inspired me to be the first in line at the CD store for the midnight release of their latest album. Did I ever illegally download songs from released albums? Sure. I never illegally downloaded albums of bands I knew, but used Napster/Limewire more like I use Myspace now - to test them out.  It definitely helped improve my musical knowledge and library (especially when I was a freshman in college and couldn't afford to buy songs from the 100s of artists that I wanted to learn about). Did I then make complete albums and burn them for my friends. No. Did I eventually delete all of my pirated music for quality and legitimacy's sake... mostly. However, in the early stages (2001-2003) there was no Myspace, Youtube, iTunes, Facebook or any other easy ways to discover new music except this! (and going to see live music occasionally - which i did 4 times a week my freshman year in college) So I, like so many, itched for any possible way to learn and listen and discover new music.  Once 'legitimate' and legal alternatives presented themselves, the majority flocked to those.

Now I don't believe this is quite the issue it used to be (the MN mom case originally went to court in 2007).  The record companies were too stubborn and set in their old ways to do anything about file sharing when they were first told about this so it bit them in the butt.  It hasn't hurt independent artists in the least - only helped.  But I do see how the major label artists it has definitely hurt.  Not just the artists but the songwriters, producers, engineers and anyone else making points and royalties off of an album's success. Luckily NOW the industry is starting to figure out how to appropriately compensate these people - not just based on record sales.

In conclusion (damn this is almost longer than Dan's original post! yikes) I don't condone illegally downloading but I won't condemn it either.  My advice, ALWAYS buy the music. Be it iTunes, CD, whatever - if nothing more for quality's sake and to enjoy the full experience of (and respect) that piece of art.  Listen to that music with excellent headphones or on a great speaker system. Go see live music - especially LOCAL, live, Minneapolis music. And always always always ...tip your bartenders.

Love,

Ari Herstand

As always you can find ALL Ari TV episodes at www.ariherstand.com (left tab)

So, as many of you may have heard from my Twitter or Facebook updates I had quite a startling incident a couple weeks ago.  Coming from my show in Cedarburg, WI I was on my way (making the 5.5 hour drive) to Minneapolis to perform during a wedding ceremony.  Right around the Wisconsin Dells - about 2 hours into my trip I noticed a bird walking along the left side of the road.  It was pretty far up ahead and was just on the shoulder so I didn't think too much about it - always see birds flying about. But as I got closer I noticed this bird was HUGE.  I was in the left lane and there were a line of cars on my right so there was no where for me to go - I was leading a line of cars as well.  As I pulled closer, the bird just kept walking along the shoulder, but out of the line of traffic so I didn't worry too much.  I was listening to the new Farewell Circuit album which is kind of a mix between Radiohead and Sigur Ros so i was in a bit of a trance.

The moment I got inches away from the bird it jumped/flew up from the shoulder and smack onto my windshield! ahhhhhh! My windshield shattered and bird guts flew inside my giant suv and covered my gear in the back and literally hit the back wall.  I was covered in glass and now could not see out of my windshield as it had corrugated, spider web cracks in my vision.  It felt like a moment in a Quentin Tarentino movie with the unassuming soundtrack and the sudden, violent action out of nowhere.

I, attempting to remain as calm as possible, now entrenched in glass shards with my arms starting to bleed, put my left blinker on and pulled over to the side of the road.

All I could think about was that my GPS currently said I was going to make it to the wedding at 3:15 and I had to be there around 3:30 to get setup with the ceremony beginning at 6:00.

Now with bleeding arms and my car smelling like bird shit, on the side of the road I started brushing off all the glass from my chair in hopes to continue on the road to the wedding.  I called Amy, who was not on this trip with me - thank god! - to help process out what to do!  She talked some sense into me and told me I probably shouldn't keep going and should probably get the car towed to a glass/car shop.  I needed to figure out, though, how i was going to get to the wedding!

The bride and I had been talking about this wedding for over a year and a half now and the music was extremely important to her - I was performing music throughout the entire ceremony (as they walk down the isle, when the parents come up, etc).

While on the phone, a police officer pulled up and saw I was scratched up and asked if everything was ok (with a giant piece of chew in his mouth...ick).  He mentioned to me that the giant bird was in fact a giant TURKEY! Happy early thanksgiving.  Noting that he could call a tow truck, I remembered that I had car insurance and I should probably bring them into the equation if I didn't want to pay an arm and a leg later on.  I spent about 25 minutes on the phone with the car insurance place and they arranged a tow truck to pick me up and take me to a near by glass shop.

I called my mom who was in Madison (about 45 minutes away) and started processing it out with her. I asked her if she could come pick me up and drive me the rest of the way to Minneapolis.

About 20 minutes later the tow truck arrived and hooked my car up and we were off.  By the time we arrived to the glass shop - about 15 minutes away - the windshield had started to cave in almost to the point of full out collapse. Good thing I didn't decide to finish the 3.5 hour drive!

My mom arrived shortly thereafter and we transferred my turkey covered gear (after cleaning it off a bit) into her car and we were off. 

I called the brother of the bride and told him to not mention a thing to his sister as to not alarm her, but to let everyone else know that I wasn't going to be there early, or maybe not even on time. we were in text communication the entire ride there and miraculously i hit 0 traffic on 94 and 394 (horrible spots in the Twin Cities during rush hour) at 5:30 on Friday. weird! I arrived to the outdoor venue and we pulled up the car onto the patio where the guests and the wedding party were standing. The bride asked "who is that pulling up right now to my wedding!" - i don't believe we were on an actual road.  "I think that's your singer" a friend mentioned.  The bride was only then informed of what happened - now that i was there safe and sound... with 15 minutes to spare - well to setup, sound check, change into my suit and warm up. ha.

Luckily, I finished tying my tie at 6:01 and I began playing the opening usher processional music by 6:03 - only 3 minutes after the wedding was supposed to begin. Not bad.

My car has since (only very recently) been completely fixed and detailed - no turkey guts left - and I am safe and sound.  Mom saved the day!

Word of advice, if you see a turkey (or deer) walking on the side of the road, slow the F down and/or move over... no matter if the people start honking and screaming obscenities. The trade off is much worse...

~Ari