I just wanted to do a quick update on the following;

• My progress with the book ‘A Hero’s Journey Through the Music Industry’…

• Where I am with my next blogs…

• How I am shifting the blog topics to more specific areas of performance, musicianship and the music industry.

_{Summer Time…So, I took the summer off, unusual for me I know. My son Luke got married to the beautiful Stephanie, we traveled a bit, discovered the amazing wild beauty of Achill Island of the coast of Mayo and generally made the most of a summer break. ( just noticed that if you put a space into Achill you get “A chill’ island, and that says it all really).  I see now the summer has given me time to reflect on this website and on my blogs. Some time to think about what they want to become?}

_{Those who have read the first three blogs will see that they are generally quite personal and reflective pieces covering Burn Out, my love of strange musical instruments and some personal insights into the nature of self-limiting beliefs and the artist.}

_{But now, following the summer, (and a big wedding) and as I return to this work and as completion of my book starts to appear on the horizon (still some ways off but just starting to fill my viewfinder now) so I want to shift the blog content to a more relevant area of my experience and expertise within the music industry. It also seems timely, as one of the big stories from the summer is the imminent retirement of young Mr. Sheeran. Perhaps the arc of my/our story (in the book) meshes naturally with Ed’s move into “retirement” (I’m guessing Ed’s interpretation of retirement and mine are less than congruent, I think he likes to stay busy). But his career started in close relationship with us at FDM and Nizlopi and now that Luke and John are “officially” not touring anymore it seems we are bookending or reflecting some career paths here.}

The Book?

For those who know our story, it might appear a strange and counter-intuitive move that I am planning to submit my finished manuscript to a major publisher. So why, I hear you ask, would I do that? Aren’t we the guys who pioneered the DIY route by creating our own Independent label FDM Records and refused to sign to a major record label (even though the offers were there)?

Well, the short answer is Yes! So, why am I doing this? Glad you asked. My process at the moment is this, I am drafting a non-fiction proposal letter for ‘A Hero’s Journey Through the Music Industry’ that will be sent to a number of major publishing houses that might be a ‘good fit’ for the material.

Even though I have monitored closely the impact of the digital world on print publishing, and to a great extent this has followed a similar arc to the impact made upon the music business by digital (and all the other challenges this has brought ie. download, piracy, streaming etc). Nevertheless, I cannot deny the value of a major publisher for my project. If the fit is good, and they ‘get it right’ it can mean significant exposure of our story. It means I don’t have to reinvent the wheel, re-build the pyramids or complete the labours of Hercules. Such is the life of a DIY artist or author!

D.I.Y or Die?

So, am I going over to the Darkside? Well, I hope not and only time will tell. And of course, publishing is an ultra-competitive business these days (see again today’s recording industry) and they might not be prepared to take a chance on a first-timer like myself – even though I believe our story is something of a modern fable of little folk who took on the might of the big guys and…..won? We shall see…stay tuned!

 _{Coming Soon!}

Here is a shortlist of the topics for the upcoming blogs;

• Musicianship & Warriorship
• Very good is the enemy of great
• Move slow and make things

The next blog is due to be published in the next couple of days.