TWO BOOKS - THE MUSIC BIZ

I'm usually reading two books at any time - one devotional for my spiritual life and something for fun like a biography, or music industry book, and once in a while - fiction.

For my role as Band Manager for Anthem For Today, I've got a hunger for information about the music industry - backstage stuff, how stuff works, marketing and hype, learning to connect with smarter people than me. All of it will help me guide AFT's career.

Two books I read on vacation might be of interest to you if you like music industry books. "Everybody Wants Some" by Ian Christie is the story of Van Halen. Being a classic rock fan, (and maybe a musicologist), this book told their story as kids, making people think they're the definitive California band even though none are from Cal, breaking into the music business doing free shows, going through lead singers and of course - how their manager saved the day.

The author goes through each Van Halen album, how each were planned and marketed by their manager. Actually they had three over the years - all brilliant guys.

There's a lot of junk in the book (sex, drugs and tattletale stuff) that I skipped over. But, overall, I had a hard time putting the book down, even while looking over the ocean from my cruise cabin.

The other book I read is "Roadie - my life on the road with Coldplay" by Matt McGinn.  The amazon description was so good, I ordered the book immediately. I'm not a Coldplay fan - in fact before reading the book, I only knew one song. (I know, I know - I'm late to this party!)

Matt is the full-time roadie for Jonny Buckland and the book is 50% about his off-stage work for Jonny - which is what I wanted to know.

Unfortunately, I don't think there was one single page that didn't glorify beer and F-bombs. It was excessive and after jumping pages, I absorbed the info I was looking for.

There was a redeeming factor - his emotional descriptions of events were bang on. Like, standing with the band backstage, for the two minutes before the band goes on stage - it's a nervous, brotherhood  moment - hard to put into words, but Matt did. I found myself saying, "Ya! Ya! Me too!"

Overall, it's a positive book - there's no dirt or gossip about Coldplay.

My next book is "We Are The Road Crew" by Ken Barr. I'll let you know how it goes.