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Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Juno awards and quality of attention

I slept most of the afternoon because Jane and I were working until 3:30 last night and up at 8:30 this morning to finish my submission for the Juno awards.

Judgment and competition are detrimental to the growth and freedom necessary for true expression, but here we are in the music world doing just that with awards programs. Why do I bother submitting? 

Unfortunately, recognition from awards, reviews, and press affects how people pay attention to music. if an artist has some sort of recognition—or buzz—as they say, people become curious, pay attention to the music, and then are more likely to actually experience what the artist is doing. If the same artist, with the same songs does not have that recognition, the same audience is likely to neglect the performance—in spite of its quality—and miss the whole thing.

It's very much about the modern psyche and the inability of many people to slow down and pay attention. So rather than complain about it, I accept it as part of life at the moment, and work at being more attentive myself, and attend to the aspects of my music that develop human connections and recognition. I believe in the quality of my songs and the human virtues that they stand for, so it's worth it to me that I focus on the consciousness of attention. That's the essence of awareness anyway.

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