Relic

Relic
By PT

We’ve all seen that quote about the music industry from Hunter S. Thompson. I can think of at least two people in the musical instrument world who have it as their email signature. You know the quote I’m talking about:

"The music business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs. There's also a negative side."

It’s certainly a humorous sentiment, and there are enough real life stories to prove the truth behind Thompson’s candid remark. (Interesting side note: According to my friends at About.com, the quote comes from Thompson's book Generation of Swine: Tales of Shame and Degradation in the 80s, but he never wrote the pithy ending line ‘There’s also a negative side’. That was mysteriously added later and misattributed to him. Other interesting side note: I don’t actually have friends at About.com.)

Too often, I hear these stories, and I get a little sad about the music industry and what it does to people.  However, it is way more fun to hear the good stories - the ones that fly in the face of the HST quote. It may take a little more digging, but it is well worth the effort.

One of my favorite recent stories is that of acoustic guitarist Matt Stevens. Matt is the perfect example of how a musician can make a name for himself through hard work, talent and creativity.  I interviewed Matt for Six-String Bliss back in September 2010, and I was blown away by the nearly endless ways the guy markets himself and makes himself accessible to listeners. In a world where twitter-spamming is often mistaken for marketing, Matt has gone another direction. Sure, he is a constant presence on Twitter, but he tweets wisely, linking to all sorts of interesting content. He also streams gigs over the Internet, offers Skype guitar lessons and so much more.

But all of that is nothing without the music. Matt’s new album Relic hit me pretty hard. His stuff has always been good, but he took a massive leap forward with this one. It may be odd to say this about a mostly-acoustic album, but it reminds me a lot of Led Zepplin in the power of the music and feelings it evokes.  Relic is one of my top albums of the year.

Matt Steven’s isn’t at the top of Billboard charts, but he is making a name for himself in a big bad way. I can’t tell you how many magazine articles I’ve seen on Matt Stevens in the past twelve months, but I can tell you the most recent was a write up in Guitar Player magazine. And seeing such a talented and nice fellow getting his due from the guitar establishment brings a big smile to my face.

If you love guitar, treat yourself to Relic. It is available on his site at http://www.mattstevensguitar.com/ where you can name your own price for the album.

PT Hylton is the co-host of the guitar talk podcast Six-String Bliss. He also writes fiction and has been known to throw a little disc golf. He lives in the birthplace of country music.


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