Making A Name For Myself

What does that expression even mean?

I was flattered the other night when somebody in town recognised that I was producing solo work under the name of "Wolfe something..." - That's close enough for me at the moment.

In The Perfect 5th last Thursday to watch The Darlingtons, alot of people were discussing my old band The Rickys. Basically I felt that, musically, The Darlingtons are far greater then we ever were, and if they continue to develop their sound, performance and style, then there's no telling where their music will take them.

However, most people seemed to disagree and felt that The Rickys displayed something else - something that got people on their feet and had people humming the songs the next week at work.

Anyway the question is not which band excited Taunton the most, but why are people more interested in talking to me about a local band that split up nearly two years ago and not about my current solo work?

I wonder whether its the sonic physicality of a rock band that grabs peoples attention, sending them home with their ears ringing, where as the sensitive, delicate performance of a singer songwriter can easily be lost in a noisy bar.

Perhaps as an artist on my own I'm too meek. When there was the four of us we created a racket, lording it up wherever we went, demanding peoples attention both on and offstage. All that just seems unnecessary when your on your own and your happy to just sit with your acoustic and sing the songs you write in your bedroom.

Maybe people don't really care about another singer/songwriter on the scene. Could a solo artist like that ever become a phenomenon? Why not? Their songs are surely just as powerful as any bands. How much more can a funky bassline and battling guitars really add to a song which touches on basic human emotions?

Perhaps you can help answer these questions after watching me play at The Perfect 5th next month.