Babe Ruth, Cabbage, The Beatles and the State of Music Production

That's a crazy title, eh? Well, today is Babe Ruth was born on this day in 1895. Did you know that he often wore a cabbage leaf under his baseball cap to keep cool? He changed it every few innings! I saw this little nugget today, and it got me thinking.

It's amazing some of the things that people who accomplished great things years ago, did it with what would seem to us as "unheard of" or impossible. So, back when Babe Ruth was playing, baseball players didn't have near the amount of luxuries that today's players do, like breathable, lightweight ball caps!...and most players had "regular" jobs in the off season. Can you imagine that now?

So what's my point? Well, the Music industry is the same way. As soon as I read that fact about Babe Ruth, I thought of how the Beatles recorded most of their early hits with a 4-track analog recorder. If you've every used a 4-track, you know this is crazy! To put it in perspective, I just finished tracking the Collins Brothers CD at my home studio, and I have At Least 10 tracks on each song....and my debut album "Short and Sweet" easily had over 30 tracks per song. Now, the Beatles certainly had more than 4 tracks per song, but they had to do some serious work to make the records sound as good as they do. Today, everything is digital, and you can almost do anything you want to a track, with the push of a few buttons.

Music is feeling. The Beatles were able to convey a feeling on those records that really connected with a HUGE amount of people. That is really hard to do. Some of the best bands today would find it nearly impossible to re-create the sound that the Beatles came up, and they have technologies at their fingertips that would seem impossible only a few decades ago.

It made me realize how dynamic and subjective music really is. I learned a while back, that it is impossible to please everyone with your music. Some people will like your style and some people will probably hate it. That's the great thing about music! There's no right or wrong. If it sounds good to you, who's to say it's not good? If it's really out there, then you may be one of only a handful of people that like it, but that's ok too!

I thought for a long time that I needed to spend a TON of money to get a great sounding record. With the technology we have today, the home recording studio, and the ability to distribute music across the world almost instantly, it doesn't really have to be that way.

If you've got talent, you can write a good melody, and you are confident in what sounds good to you...go for it! If you're lucky, (and me too!) you can find a "handful" of people that really like what you do, and find a connection to your music. Who knows? Maybe a "handful" can turn into enough to make a career out of music!

So here's to Babe Ruth, The Beatles, and everyone else who inspires us every day to do the best with what we have!

MIXING HAS BEGUN!

The Collins Brothers CD is starting to come together!  This past weekend I trekked down to Gainesville, Fla. to hand off my beloved hard drive to Musician/Producer/Professional Model/Engineer Michael J. On said hard drive are all of the ProTools files of the upcoming Collins Brothers CD.  Michael will be playing some bass guitar, lead guitar, keyboards, and whatever else comes to mind.  Having blossomed into a very talented mixing engineer, Michael will also be mixing the record at his F.I.G. Studios.  

He just sent me two of the first mixes, and I'm getting pretty pumped about it.  So far, so good! For those of you who do not know, The Collins Brothers is just what it sounds like:  Matt Collins and Bo Collins.  We are Brothers.  We grew up singing together, and still try to as often as possible.  We have always wanted to record a CD with our take of some of our favorite songs.  So, we did!  The Collins Brothers CD is an acoustic based Americana-style collection of some of our favorite tunes.  Here are the tracks we recorded...hopefully we like them all enough to include them all on the final CD!

 

in no particular order:

"Winding Wheel" - originally by Ryan Adams

"Tear Stained Eye" - originally by Son Volt

"Bring It On Home To Me" - originally by Sam Cooke

"Long Ride Home" - originally by Patty Griffin

"Jacksonville Skyline" - originally by Whiskeytown

"Americana Motel" - originally by Cast Iron Filter

"This Boy" - originally by The Beatles

"Red Dragon Tattoo" - originally by Fountains of Wayne

"Glory Bound" - originally by Martin Sexton

"Jam" - originally by Toad The Wet Sprocket

"God Said No" - originally by Dan Bern

 

So, keep checking MattCollinsOnline.com and sign up for my free eNewsletter to keep up with our progress!

Thanksgiving - Highs and Lows

So, this Thanksgiving was certainly an interesting one.  Filled with highs and lows.  My best friend lost his father, who had been (and always will be) one of the most unique, down-to-earth, funny, kind, and welcoming people I have ever had the pleasure of knowing.  I felt as though I lost a member of my own family...ugh.    I was certainly reminded, as I thought about what a full and influential life he had, that we should all try to live our life to the fullest.  I know it sounds cliche', but it's true.  This was very unexpected, and proves to me that every day matters.  My friend has one of the closest families that I know, so I know that all of them will lean on each other and make it through a little easier.   This Thanksgiving pretty much changed the way I'll look at Thanksgiving from now on.

During all of this, my brother and I had been planning to do all of his recording sessions for our new side project/album called "The Collins Brothers."  So, we rolled with the punches and decided that we would improvise.  I packed up as much of my home studio that I could, and hauled it down to Apopka, Fla where we spent Thanksgiving day with our parents.  

We set up all the mics, the computer, etc and basically turned the spare bedroom into a makeshift recording studio.  Now that I think about it, it fits this CD that we are doing very well.  It's Americana - it feels like we're at any given family function with a guitar, singing songs, just like have for as long as I can remember.  So, why not record it the same way?

As I was looking at the room we transformed - we raided our mom's linen closet, and made a huge tent out of blankets, sheets and pillows - it reminded my of all of the tents we built growing up...pretty cool stuff.

So, to get to the point, we knocked out my brother's parts on all eleven songs in one afternoon - I told you Bo was good!  Now we're one step closer to having the album done.  Next step, add a few more instruments, mix and master.  Hopefully, we're still on track for an early 2009 release.

Thanks for keeping up with me on here...I hope all of you had a great Thanksgiving! 

Matt  

The Collins Brothers CD

My family has always been immersed in music.  My dad, Bobby Collins, played bass guitar and trumpet in bands consistently while we were growing up.  I remember when my brother Bo got one of his first drum sets, which ironically, found it's way to Jon Ruhff, who played them on my debut album.  Weird, huh?

I took piano lessons for 6 or 7 years during elementary and middle school, then picked up my dad's trumpet and played that in middle and high school band for a few years as well.  Then, I found my favorite in an acoustic guitar when I was 14, and now, it's how I make my living.  

Why do I bring this up?  Because for as long as I can remember, music has been such an important aspect of the closeness of our family.  We can always find some common ground with music.  I remember when my brother went to college, and we'd talk once a week or so, and it always revolved around music.  "What are you listening to?"  "Who have you seen in concert?"  My favorite was when my brother would call me when he wrote a song, to play it for me...get my reaction, test it out.  

I think it has always been a dream of my parents that my brother and I record an album together.  Now, Bo has sung on just about every recording I've ever done, just because I don't know anyone who can sing harmonies better.  But, I still feel like we haven't really done something together.

So, finally, now that I have the means and the know-how to have my own home recording studio...we're finally going to make it happen.  We will be recording a stripped-down, acoustic, vocal-freindly, cover album of some of our favorite songs.  Now, I know cover albums can be cheesy, but I think that most people will find that they may not know all of the songs.  We're not doing "Brown Eyed  Girl" or "Freebird" or anything.  The songs we will be doing will be songs that are some of our favorites, some of the ones we used to call the other up and say "have you heard this album yet?"

I have been doing a lot of these songs at my shows for a long time, and I find that most people really like them...even if they haven't heard the original.  We'll also be doing some songs that people know.  These just happen to be some of our favorites to play as well.

So, we're really excited about it and plan on recording it this fall and winter, for an early 2009 release...and don't be surprised if you hear some Bobby Collins on there as well!  We hope you are going to like what we're doing, and maybe we can do a few of these albums in the future.

The 10 Things Not To Do To A Musician At A Concert

Welcome to the inaugural blog from me, Matt Collins. As you can see from the title, I'm not a "typical" musician. I like to be at home with my wife and little boy. I watch baseball. I mow my yard, and I enjoy the company of small gatherings. I am passionate about my music, but I've never really fit in to the "RockStar" mentality. I'm just a normal guy. That may not be very interesting to some of you, but it's the truth. I don't pretend to be larger than life, because I'm not. I'm just living it, and I'm extremely lucky to be a musician for a living, and I wouldn't trade it for anything. I really enjoy performing and meeting people at my shows, but when I'm done, I really like to just be at home with my family and close friends. Don't get me wrong, I like to go out and "socialize" like everyone else, it's just the exception, not the rule. I'm sure I'll write more about this phenomenon in a future blog.

For now, I've been needing to get some things off my chest, and perhaps inform the average listener of a few "not to do's." So here goes....please feel free to comment or make your own list.



"The 10 Things Not To Do To A Musician At A Concert"




10. Don't ask "Are You Coming or Going?"

• Now this in and of itself is not that bad, hence number 10, but it's usually accompanied by a self-amusing chuckle.
  

9. Don't ask "Are You Any Good?"

• self-explanatory
  

8. Don't yell "Skynyrd!!!"

• more on this later

7. Don't get our hopes up with "My cousin's step-brother's boss's best friend is in the music business, he'll sign you."

• This may be true, but more times than not, the friend is the guy who picks the play list at the annual corporate Christmas party.

6. Assess the situation before you ask, "Can you turn it down?"

• Sometimes this is warranted with some bands, but a solo, acoustic act in a noisy bar or restaurant? Try telling the other 60 people in the place that they don't have to yell across the room to their buddy every 5 minutes.

5. Don't say "We can't hear ourselves think!"

• Who hears themselves think? And "we?" Apparently, these people communicate telepathically to each other. And it's usually the "youth-challenged" in the audience. I thought you can't hear anything when you get to a certain age.

4. Don't carry on a conversation with a singer who is currently singing a song

• I know you're asking yourself, "who does that?" You would be surprised. Some musicians are really really good, but I have never met any that can sing, remember the words, play guitar, and carry on a conversation at the same time. Maybe if we could be telepathic too, that would work.
  

3. Don't sit within 6 feet of the band if you're the one of the only ones in the venue

• Although it's appreciated that you really want to get in to the music...this can be a little creepy to the band.

2. Under no circumstances should you take the liberty of grabbing the microphone and adding your extreme rockstar skillz

• However, being invited on stage is an honor. Our career is on the line here...don't screw it up.

1. For the love of God, don't scream "FREEBIRD!!!!!"

• This could be the most annoying joke of all time. Those who say this OBVIOUSLY just made it up, and it's the FUNNIEST thing anyone has ever said on the face of the earth. No one has ever said it before, and probably never will again.
  

So, there it is...I'm sure I'll think of more once I post this, but it is now your job to comment and tell me any that I missed.

Until next time,

Matt Collins
www.mattcollinsonline.com