Recording Artist Advocate: Don't hold back.

So, Paula Deen is losing her job and lots of sponsors for using racial slurs sometime in the past. I don’t watch her show and won’t notice, but I have to say if your glad about that – Don’t cheer too hard. Anything you’ve ever said may get you fired someday.

What does this mean for the rest of us?

The owner of a bakery didn’t want to make a wedding cake for a gay couple, and got in all kinds of legal trouble.  Another bakery called the cops when a family wanted a birthday cake for their  little boy named Adolf Hitler. Some land mines are obvious and some are not. 

I’ll record anything I can feel OK about. If an all gay band wanted to record at Rough Wood Studio, I’d probably record them, if they’re music is any good.

If a racist band wanted to record with me. Would I have to record them too? Or risk getting sued.

I’ve had to draw a line with a few artists. But so far I’ve been able to show them how what they were trying to do would harm them or turn off their audience. Maybe I need sensitivity training.  

Things are cyclical. We’re moving into a cycle where you’ll see a lot more witch hunts. This is a time when walls are going up, metaphorically, and people are getting kicked out of the group. We’re in the part of the cycle where we divide ourselves into smaller and more exclusive groups. It’s not good. Watch out for it.  

It might not be the most popular time to reach across those, barriers? Do you reach across a barrier, or reach around - a barrier? But, I say, “Don’t give in.” And don’t be afraid to talk or sing or write about - anything. The best music seems to happen when artist point out a wrong that needs to be addressed.

You may upset some people. Talk to other folks you respect. You might find a more subtle way to say the same things.

Music slips in past our normal defenses. It reaches us in a very deep way. People with dementia or Alzheimer’s may not recognize their families, but they remember songs.  Music is - amazing. 

When you are ready to record something amazing, call me. Robert Snyder at Rough Wood Recording Studio in the Great state of Texas.