Tiki Tuesday

Newness is indeed goodness when your friends are whisking you off on a week night to a magic island cove. Such a great little expedition. Yay for bandmate-friends.

During our drunken yet intellectual chatting, we toyed with the idea of music and accessibility, and I wanted to jot down a bit of that thought while it's still lingering.

Our collective sentiment was just that nothing should be out of reach, especially not art and creativity. Music is music no matter how it's made, who is making it, or what other people think. There's no such thing as cheating. Open tunings are not cheating, electronica is not cheating, mixing is not cheating.

Not everything needs to sound polished or even needs to be right all the time, which is not to say that every kid taking piano lessons should have a record contract, but that it's a shame if something as primal as music and self expression is limited to a handful of virtuosos not just because offbeat artists like Joanna Newsom or even someone like Bob Dylan or Igor Stravinski can stretch and challenge ideas about what good art is, but because art should be a basic human right.

Also, that folk music is where it's at. The music of the people. We want people to feel like art and creativity are within reach, that the creative impulse exists outside of the pursuit of fame or money. Folk music is where it's at - the music of the people. Let there not be a hierarchy. Just let your voice be heard.

If you want to start a band, do it. Even if you can't play a single instrument, chances are you'll wind up in a tiki bar one Tuesday in Alameda happy to be alive and know the people you know.