He kicks up a big fuss and we tell him that he doesn’t have to be such a big baby about it.

Now I am just grateful to God, that he made me fortunate enough to be a musician.  

If you ask me how the show was I will just say that it’s a moot question. U2 does not know how to put on a bad or even lackluster show. It’s not in their vocabulary.  I think what most impressed me though was how amidst the entire arena spectacle, the band was still able to come off as personable and reachable. It’s like they are rock stars but they aren’t rock stars (does that make sense?)

Anyhow, In the middle of the concert a very cool thing happens to me…..I am just enjoying the music. Standing with the rest of the audience swaying to the music when I notice a woman trying to catch my eye…..I turn to her and she asks me, “Don’t you play at that Crepe place”?

She is referring to “La Creperie” a restaurant that I play at a lot.

“Yes”, I respond.

She says to me, “I have one of your CDs….You’re awesome”!

I smile and say thank you. We exchange pleasantries and she goes back to her seat. 

So many times, someone see’s me playing, they buy a CD, and I might never hear from them again…..I always hope they really enjoyed it.

So I think to myself: How cool is that?

She’s here to see one of the most famous Rock bands of all time.  Yet she recognizes me and takes the moment to recognize me for my music.

 Like I said: How cool is that?  

I referred her to the point in the film where our hero is detained by a hi security, hi tech, ominous Government agency called SHEILD, and how Thor’s mortal friends managed to fool said Government agency (in spite of all their hi tech resources) with fake ID information so that he could be released to them. And then as if that wasn’t bad enough, as our hero is leaving their facilities he just happens to be able to take a classified document (that his mortal friend needs) because it just happens to be lying out in the open.

I said that aside from that I had no problems with the movie. Then she asked me "But you had no problems with the part about The God Of Thunder from another dimension with the flying hammer"?

"OF COURSE NOT"! I replied. :)

 Two very BIG upsets occurred.  

 Arcade Fire won album of the year for their rock concept album “The Suburbs” beating out chart toppers like Lady Gaga.

 But even more amazing was the win by Jazz musician Esperanza Spalding in the best new artist category, beating out pop machines like Justin Bieber.

On Twitter you had people asking “Who are the Suburbs? (No that wasn’t a misprint, they really said that). And how could they beat Lady Gaga when they haven’t had a radio hit”?

Already I can hear people in the media saying that the Grammy’s are out of touch letting a Jazz musician that most people have never heard of, win over a pop star that everyone has heard of.

And as a voting member of the Grammy’s I say screw em! This has been a long time coming.

I grew up hating the Grammy's but loving the Oscars.

To me the Grammy's seemed to give awards based solely on sales. It always felt like nothing more than a popularity contest.  Unlike the Oscars which truly seemed to make an effort to honor artistic achievement over Box office receipts. American Pie may have made a lot of money but you didn’t see it get a best picture nomination. This is because box office doesn’t necessarily always equal great cinema.  

For the most part we don’t bat an eye when a movie that most of the general public hasn’t seen gets nominated for or wins best picture (how many people reading this have seen The King’s Speech yet?).  In fact for most of us the reaction is “I have never seen this movie, but it must be pretty good if it got nominated or won best picture”.

So why isn’t the reaction the same when it comes to music? Why has there been so much internet outrage by people who are upset that a music artist they have never heard of wins over an artist that everyone has heard of. Why isn’t the reaction; “Well maybe because they are really good”.

I became a member because sometimes the only way to affect change is from the inside and I have been encouraging indie artists to become voting members ever since.

Little by little, more and more indie artists are becoming Grammy members and voting. I knew it was only a matter of time before we might start seeing things like this. But to be honest, I thought it would take a lot longer for something like this to happen. But it did.

I am really proud of my fellow voting members for making this happen.  But I guess it's is going to take a while for the general public to realize that sales don't always equal quality when it comes to music either. 

http://wp.me/phXrP-y9