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A Folkie in the Wall Street Journal?

Hi! If you're checking out my website because the WSJ Article spurred your interest, thank you! I also urge you to check out my most important musical project, the folk-rock/Americana harmony trio, Gathering Time. It has been my greatest effort and reward as an original songwriter and touring musician, and also probably my most commercially viable project in the music business today, offering specialty tribute shows of culturally significant 1960s music, re-imaginings of historic traditional folk songs, and creative arrangements of songs by many top contemporary songwriters, as well as our own compositions. Plus it's the most fun! I hope you'll give it a listen, and enjoy the music as much as I do.

Now, on to the first blog post:

A Folkie in the Wall Street Journal
Not everybody knows, but before I became a full-time musician I had careers in advertising, journalism, and (briefly) in public relations. I hated selling advertising for a local shopper and slightly less for an actual local newspaper; I liked it a bit more for the Long Island rock radio station. I didn't like selling it, but I liked writing it, and coming up with creative concepts. But selling advertising taught me how to knock on doors and make phone calls, write business letters and make pitches. I also worked on the editorial side, for several groups of local papers and for Long Island Business News, where I learned how to ask questions and distill information for an audience. And all of this came in handy when I decided to become a professional musician.

Music, after all, isn't just an art, it's a business. If you want to make money at it, you need to treat it as such, unless you're one of those lucky ones who have a manager to handle the business end of things -- and even if you do, you better understand what they're doing or you'll end up fighting with them a lot. 

There's a lot I learned from selling advertising -- the number one rule is it's not just about the sale, it's about the relationship and the trust that while of course you want to make a living, you want to do so by meeting their needs and helping them meet their goals as well. And once you make the sale and nurture a good relationship with the client, you make more sales. And the same goes for gigs. If you're a good musician, the best marketing tool is the chance to have your talent be seen and heard. It sounds obvious, but I've been surprised at the number of musicians who've passed up gigs because they weren't convenient, or required them to learn some music that was out of their wheelhouse. Gigs lead to more gigs, and broadening your musical horizons is like branching out into other goods or services you can offer. Most of the really good musicians I know have widely varied tastes in music, even if they do have one or two they specialize in. 

I learned a lot in the business world that has applied to my music career. But I've also learned a lot doing music and leading a band, valuable lessons that apply in the business world -- so many that I'm thinking of developing a speaking program about it. For example, different musicians have different talents, but all are necessary for the band to succeed. I'm a credible guitarist, singer, and vocal arranger, but only a fair-to-middling drummer. How ridiculous would it be to expect my drummer to be as good a guitarist as I am? But I've seen many managers who expect their hires to be almost clones of themselves in terms of abilities, and give little regard for the employees' own special talents. 

Other lessons: attitude matters over everything -- talent can be nurtured and developed, but a bad attitude makes everything else impossible. Relationships matter, within the company and between it and your allies, advisors, and even competitors. Competitors can sometimes be allies; competitions can be friendly. Showing appreciation and giving credit where it is due are two of the best things you can do for yourself and others; it'll pay many dividends down the road. Mistreat others and you'll end up mistreating yourself. If you think only of what's best for you at the moment, you might not only hurt others but hurt the possibility of something even better down the road. Be flexible and easygoing, and you'll be someone people come to with ideas that might benefit you big time.

More thoughts to come.

08/02/2018

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Original Music:
   Stuart Markus' original music can be called acoustic rock, folk-rock, adult album alternative or modern folk. His songs include straight-up, four-beat rockers and melodic ballads.
   He's been compared to James Taylor by many, but his influences include Simon & Garfunkel, the Beatles, Crosby, Stills & Nash, Jackson Browne, Billy Joel, traditional sea chanteys and classic rock. "If I find it interesting, it'll find its way into my music," he says.
   Stuart works in pop song structures, making the music easy for the listener to grasp onto, yet his musical training brings a richness that stretches beyond typical 3- or 4-song pop. Lyrically, Stuart uses personal experience and observation to tap into universal feelings and thoughts. Concise lines and concrete imagery about specific situations still frequently evoke reactions of "That could've been written about me" or "I've definitely been there."
   His lyrics range from dark to hopeful, romantic to bizarre, angry to twisted, taking the listener through a wide range of emotions and stories over the course of a concert or an album.

  A founding member of the folk-rock harmony trio Gathering Time (www.gathering-time.com), Stuart mainly performs original songs in that configuration. However, he has written scores of songs that he is happy to play solo in situations where that may be preferred, or to work them into sets of cover songs where appropriate. Look for his original music on the music page of this website, or on the GT site.

Cover Songs:
   Besides being a recording and touring songwriter, Stuart has been a working musician since 1993, with a collection of hundreds of popular songs from the past six decades. The lion's share of his repertoire is from the classic rock and folk-rock eras of the 1960s and '70s, but he stretches back to the swing era and forward to the current decade, to please audiences of all ages -- all adapted to the acoustic guitar.
   Stuart is equally at home providing mellow background music for an evening's dinner gathering, or rocking it up for a crowd that wants to dance, clap and sing along. And he has no problem changing gears once the dining is done and the party hats come out. He can provide a sound system more than capable of filling a large room or a small yard.
   For larger events, Stu can team up with other musicians to work as a duo, trio, or foursome. He is also available for sideman duties on guitar, bass, and backing vocals.
   Though he has never had an incident resulting in damage or injury (except to himself), he carries performers' liability insurance to a level of $2,000,000.
His covers repertoire includes songs by:
•America •The Beatles •Jackson Browne •Jimmy Buffett •The Byrds •Harry Chapin •Eric Clapton •Creedence Clearwater Revival •Jim Croce •Crosby, Stills & Nash •John Denver •Neil Diamond •Doobie Brothers •The Drifters •Bob Dylan •Eagles •Fleetwood Mac •Dan Fogelberg •Gin Blossoms •Grateful Dead •Arlo Guthrie •Buddy Holly •Joe Jackson •Jethro Tull •Billy Joel •Elton John •Gordon Lightfoot •Loggins & Messina •John Mayer •Steve Miller •Joni Mitchell •The Monkees •Moody Blues •Van Morrison •Peter, Paul & Mary •REM •Bob Seger •Simon & Garfunkel •Steely Dan •Matthew Sweet •Cat Stevens •Al Stewart
•James Taylor •The Who •Neil Young
... and many others!

Traditional Music:
Sea Chanteys and Maritime Ballads

A lifelong small-boat sailor, Stuart made his first voyage on a tall ship in OpSail 1992 on the HMS Rose, a replica of a British frigate that patrolled Long Island Sound in colonial days. Then based in Bridgeport, CT, the modern Rose went on to play the part of Russell Crowe's command in the 2004 Fox/Miramax release Master & Commander: Far Side of the World. Stuart has since volunteered at South St. Seaport Museum in New York City, helping restore the Cape Horn Clipper RMS Wavertree and sail her during OpSail 2000.

Technically, sea chanteys are work songs - sung to keep a rhythm as all hands needed to haul on a line or heave on a pump handle together to make the ship run. Most have a call-and-response structure like other work songs, and served the additional function of providing a bit of distraction from the tedious but tiring work. They could also be a bit of a pressure relief valve, incorporating some creative group gripes about the less pleasant aspects of the sailor's life. Other sea songs - nautical ballads and 'forebitters' - so-called because they were typically sung by someone sitting or standing on the fore-bit, a wooden structure for tying off heavy lines - provided entertainment, distraction and comradeship for sailors off watch in the days before radio, TV, or even widespread literacy.

Stuart Markus has been performing traditional nautical music since 1998, and is currently a member of the duo The Royal Yard (www.TheRoyalYard.com) with noted singer-songwriter and traditional music performer Robin Greenstein. (www.robingreenstein.com). Stuart's performances are enhanced by his experiences sailing on the Rose and Wavertree. Their most popular show is entitled:
"Pirate Tunes, Sailor Songs and Salty Language" -- a 60 to 90-minute show of many sea chanteys and the various types of shipboard work they went with, traditional maritime ballads, and forebitters (songs for fun) -- plus explanations of the many words and phrases still in common use that have come down to us from the sea. 

Other Traditional Music Shows
"Four Centuries of Folk Music" – If you think only of Pete Seeger or Peter, Paul & Mary when you think of folk music, think again! Stuart also has originated a new program called Four Centuries of Folk Music, a 90-minute program of folk songs incorporating 17th & 18th-century ballads of the Francis Child collection, popular folk songs from the Civil War & Reconstruction era, sea chanteys, labor songs from the 1890s to the 1930s, songs from the 1950s folk revival, civil rights and anti-war songs from the '60s and modern singer-songwriters in the folk tradition.

"A Very Victorian Holiday Season" – Many of the traditions associated with Christmas today came from Victorian England, but many of those were rooted in centuries past drawing on even older celebrations of the new year, winter solstice and winter weather. Performed with Robin Greenstein (www.RobinGreenstein.com), this program includes songs both familiar and obscure, providing a peak into how the holidays were celebrated a century and a half ago.

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