I know a guy my age (67), a bass player (if you consider a Rickenbacker a bass---I don’t ;-), who does nothing but p*ss and moan about how "good" music isn’t popular anymore, like it was when we were young. It has never occurred to him that he sounds exactly like the WWII generation did when Rock ’n’ Roll replaced Big Bands as the Pop music that sold. I have tried to tell him that we had our time, that the present now belongs to younger people, but he just doesn’t get it. All he talks about is the British Invasion (especially the da*n Beatles. Enough with The Beatles, already!) and new music derived from it. Your living in the past, maaan.
With the big record labels now obsolete, and small-time recording so affordable, there is maybe more new music being created than ever before. Everybody I know has recorded themselves and pressed up CD’s, which they sell at their live shows and on their websites. Just because you don’t like what’s on mass-market radio and television doesn’t mean "good" stuff isn’t around. It’s all over the place!
The unpopular music business---love it, Wolf! Popularity is relative, and as long as an artist is able to sell enough tickets to travel the country (or world), they still are doing it. Joan Osborne has been to Portland (Oregon) twice in the past 18 months, and she filled the medium-sized theater she played. Dobroist Jerry Douglas (from Alison Krauss’ band) did the same awhile back. Nobody at that level is getting airplay or screen time, but so what? Neither did NRBQ, Rockpile, or Captain Beefheart!
The music I have liked most has long been on the cult level. Jazz is a marginal music (in terms of visibility), as is Classical, Blues, Bluegrass, and many other forms. Let the kids have their fun, who cares? That doesn't stop me from having mine!
