Nicely stated slau. :) Chuck On Oct 11, 2014, at 11:02 AM, Slau Halatyn wrote:
> Hi Brian, > > This is one of those philosophical questions that has, of course, no right or > wrong answer. Naturally, you already know that and are clearly just fielding > others' opinion. You've already gotten a couple of good responses. While > blindness surely isn't your focal point and it's probably mainly a nuisance > to you, as Scott mentioned, it's of interest to others. That said, I > personally don't think it should necessarily be the first or the last thing > to bring up in a bio. Somewhere in the middle is probably a good sweet spot. > Also, bios are so often ungracefully edited by others to fit into smaller > spaces and you essentially have absolutely no control over what happens > there. To me, keeping it in the middle is your best chance of either having > it be non-foremost if the bio is left untouched and not necessarily the first > or last thing, prompting an editor to have it stick out at the very beginning > or as the last word in an edited bio. > > Incidentally, in a documentary called "Keep On Keepin' On,"currently in > theaters in several cities in the U.s., a jazz pianist named Justin Kauflin > is seen getting a phone call notifying him that he's gotten into the > Thelonious Monk jazz competition. Now, this could have all been staged for > the cameras but, at the end of the phone call, Justin mentions in passing to > the organizer that he happens to be blind and will partake in the competition > with his guide dog beside him on stage. Undoubtedly, all entrants have to > submit bios and I'm sure that Justin's bio doesn't glaze over the fact that > he's blind. In fact, if you look at his web site, it's prominently featured > in his bio. What led to his involvement with Clark Terry (the primary focus > of this documentary), was the fact that he was a blind jazz student at > William Patterson college where Clark Terry was a visiting instructor. CT, > having had diabetes for some 60 years, was starting to lose his sight. The > connection with Justin was inevitable. This led to Terry introducing Justin > to Quincy Jones, Terry's first trumpet student. The rest is history for > Justin, who is now touring and signed to a record deal because of Quincy. > Justin is very talented and, if I'm not mistaken, a subscriber to this list > and I say this with all due respect. As talented as he is, his blindness > played a role in his career. It made him who he is. It drew him to the piano > in the first place. It was instrumental, so to speak, in the situations that > led to his current status. The rest, of course, is up to him. The point I'm > trying to make is that, as matter of fact as it is to so many of us, it > really is the 800-pound gorilla in the room as far as everybody else in the > world is concerned and that, for a musician, is usually a good thing. There > is the mystique and a stereotype of musicians having "golden ears." Whether > or not you have golden ears, let people think you do. As long as you're not > claiming it yourself, let others assume and it'll probably work to your > advantage most of the time. The rest, again, is up to you. > > There's a great saying about talent: > Talent won't necessarily get you a gig but it will help you keep the gigs you > get. > > I say, blindness won't help you keep the gigs you get but it might help you > get the gig if for no other reason that it's memorable. > > Best, > > Slau > > On Oct 11, 2014, at 8:17 AM, Brian Casey <[email protected]> wrote: > >> Hi all, >> >> Sorry for the very off topic nature of this post, but I feel there might be >> some very helpful opinions on this list. >> >> If you have thoughts on this, you might e-mail me directly rather than me >> clogging the list with off topic traffic. >> >> My e-ail is: >> >> [email protected] >> >> So, generally, I have never made a reference to being blind in any press >> releases or musician bio's on websites etc as I strive to be noticed for my >> music alone. Similarly I chose not to make any reference tto being blind on >> official documentation or websites to do with my studio. >> >> However, I've recently changed my opinion a bit on mentioning it in my >> musician bio/press release as I plan to release my next EP. >> >> There are two reasons for this. >> >> 1. Recently I played an international guitar festival, and in the programme, >> they wrote a description for each artist, and after a cool description of >> me, right at the end was a real awkward looking sentence. Brian is also the >> first blind musician to play the festival. >> >> Like it matters! Anyway, that was a bit cringe, so I've been thinking sense >> by mentioning my blindness in my own releases, I take control of the >> situation and set the agenda on how it is mentioned, or at least to an >> extent. So if I mention it fast, and get it out of the way I might be better >> off. Obviously if I got more and more well known then people are going to >> learn about me anyway. >> >> 2. >> >> The second reason is obviously it's a some what unique selling point, so if >> I am going to mention it, again I m ay as well mention it early in a >> bio/press release, catch the attention and move on to talking about what I >> want to talk about. >> >> So that is my reasoning. >> >> I'm struggling to find a great way of putting it that I like though! >> >> Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated. >> >> Below is a draft I've tried to come up with that addresses it in the very >> first sentence, aiming to get it done and dusted before the first sentence >> is even finished. >> >> Thanks all, >> Brian. >> >> >> At the age of 4, Brian Casey permanently lost his sight after a short but >> life threatening illness, yet memories of his early life are dominated by >> his desire to try and explore every musical instrument that crossed his >> path, because it is music that defines this 25 year old far and above any of >> lifes other influences. >> >> >> >> His second EP Rain Songs, due for release this November is a 5 track >> alternative folk journey through stories of hope and despair, thriving on an >> eclectic pallet of influences ranging from the intensity and aggression of >> rock/blues heroes of old to the nuance and openness of his favourite modern >> day singer-songwriters. Moving from simple acoustic arrangements to larger >> than life soundscapes with ease, the EP is a self-recorded exhibition of >> Casey's songwriting, multi-instrumentalism and production skills in equal >> measure,. >> >> >> >> Raised on the south-west coast of Ireland, on the edge of Europe, a mish >> mash of influences pulled Casey's attention from classical piano to >> traditional Irish music, from his parents collection of classic records to >> the alternative sounds of the 1990's, drip fed through the static of long >> wave radio and his brothers cassette-tapes. With very few musicians of a >> similar age around, makeshift attempts to record and overdub with home >> stereos and Dictaphones came as a natural solution, setting him on a course >> of parallel paths that continues today, juggling engineering, musicianship >> and songwriting in his Wavefield recording studio. >> >> >> >> Never staying still, 2015 will see the completion of a debut album between >> touring and other production projects, expanding on the sounds and themes >> of Rain Songs and Casey's 2014 debut EP, Plain Sailing. >> >> >> -- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >> "Pro Tools Accessibility" group. >> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an >> email to [email protected]. >> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. > > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Pro Tools Accessibility" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Pro Tools Accessibility" group. 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