The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #118010 Message #2547427
Posted By: reggie miles
23-Jan-09 - 06:57 PM
Thread Name: What are the odds?
Subject: My song Wall Street Blues
Some eciting news to share:
What are the odds, that guy from a small town in northwest Washington State, playing a homemade acoustic resophonic guitar, built out of junk he found at garage sales and using a propeller shaft bearing from a boat for a bottleneck slide, could catch the attention of a writer from one of the largest media outlets on the planet, with a song that he wrote in a single day? Hmmmmm, I dunno, a million to one, several million to one? Whatever the odds, they have to be enormous. Factor in that the writer lives on the other side of the country and the fact that, previously, I've had no exposure there and you've got a web dream come true.
I've rarely had the chance to get beyond the Northwest. Though I've thoroughly enjoy the few opportunities that I've had come my way to get around the country, it's not been something that's easy to organize. Still, I look forward to doing more of that.
I'm presently in the midst of organizing a high resolution head shot photo for that writer with the Wall Street Journal, who is creating an article about folks who have written songs about our difficult economy. He caught a YouTube video of my song "Wall Street Bail Out Blues" and interviewed me by phone the other day. This is my newest song. Though I've been playing it a lot, so far, the video is the only recorded version of it.
Reggie Miles Wall Street Blues on YouTube
The video itself was caught only 3 or 4 days after I had written the song in early October. I was still working up the guitar part and memorizing the verses. The version that I'm singing at present has changed a little from that earlier one.
This song has made quite an impact on those who have heard it. The reactions that I've received to it have surprised me. Folks have commented about how they've been stopped dead in their tracks by its message. Others have burst into applause after hearing it for the first time or shouted out their agreement with the message as I sang. It's clearly striking a nerve and resonating with listeners. It's a great feeling knowing that the strength of this message is causing that kind of response.
Who knows where this might lead? It might lead nowhere. Call me an optimist but I have a feeling that this could mean that a few more seconds of my elusive fifteen minutes of fame might be coming my way.
Hey, it ain't the cover of the Rolling Stone but it's not every day that a writer from a major worldwide news outlet seeks me out to talk to me about my songwriting. That's a huge validation of my efforts at staying true to my vision.
I must be doing something right.
Thanks for listening
Follow your dreams.
Reg