To be honest, making hot records make me fear less the hands of time and the strangeness of aging.
There are old men, and then there are old men with hot records. There are guys like Willie Nelson you wouldn’t even recognize before they were 40. Well maybe there is just Willie Nelson.
But as a songwriter he gives you hope, that if you can still jog a couple miles, and you have a catalog, you might be able to throw on a bandana and strap on an old acoustic and really turn the party out.
Willie could walk into any college bar and be the coolest kid there. The dude is pretty gangster. It’s not a secret he has an Uzi in the tour bus. Not my goal but I don’t do business with bikers. But Willie has an Uzi.
Who knows what the future holds. All I know is that the only thing holding me back from dropping so many almost complete HOT records is money. Not even that much money, just some extra scratch to mix this and that.
Of all things, a musician should be glad to pay cash for great cover art. My singles are looking better than my albums. There something about one image for one song, I say. It’s so damn pure.
But oh cash flow. I do sure need more scratch to do vocals just right with the goddess Mell Dettmer. Lenni I-Music is gonna add some Jamaican banjo here and there. But a major breakthrough has been teaming up with friends that are producers.
☆It started with Jamie Simmonds in 2014, and we still need to finish our track ‘Marksman at The Gate’ that Ramsey Chavez adores. But that gave me the courage to play my own guitar on my own records.
☆My ace Scott Rowe is making me sound like a gaaaard damn genius with his spot on Sherlock Soul productions. Lewis Harding and I take a long time to complete our Sherlock collaborations, but they are diamonds.
☆Hambone Wilson signed on to produce my track ‘Winston’ this week.
☆Last week Adam Kutchman got started on ‘Starlite’.
☆If I can just prove I can touch the rim by Sept 12th, I’ll win a bet with Justin Smith that will allow me to cut ‘Spanish Guns’ with Jeremy Elliott and Aaron Guest.
☆Ethan Anderson is speculating who is playing on the Tom Petty tribute, Good Medicine.
☆Reggae Powerhouse Band is keeping me busy and has me voicing a Sly & Robbie Riddim August 30th.
☆As soon as Jeremy Steel Beans‘ new multitrack studio is up and running, we’ll finish ‘Black Antler’ and ‘The Yard’.
☆Justin Armstrong is bringing me a drive with my New Orleans session with Eric Struthers and Eric Bolivar.
I got a lot of buns in the oven. My duet partner on the next Staxx Brothers album, Stephanie Walbon actually has a bun in the oven.
I just wish we lived in a world…or well…I really wish this was Sweden where you show your government 10 hot records and they just give you a check to make music full time for the glory and economic security of Scandinavia.
Because right now the glory nor the Scandinavian company Spotify is paying the bills. But I am hooked. Songwriting is my addiction.
I just want ‘Free Your Mind’ to be a hit that makes my next 100 productions possible.
But right now it is my friends that are truly making this possible.
Maybe it’s really friends that are helping me resist the fear of aging. Because bring it on. I need 40 more years to cut all these hot records.
My vault is deeeeeeep. And it’s only going to get deeper. I write much more than I’ll ever record.
Maybe somebody will keep cutting my records when I’m gone.
Davin’s new song has been released and has become a global earworm and Caribbean dancehall hit. Listen here on Reggaeville: DAVIN MICHAEL STEDMAN & ANTHONY RED ROSE – FREE YOUR MIND FEAT. SLY & ROBBIE WITH LENKY MARSDEN. The video is now available on Youtube.
– Musician and writer Davin Michael Stedman has many ventures, such as the AMAZING blog, 100milesofmusic.com, and is one of the driving forces behind the Staxx Brothers. This past spring he spent weeks networking in and reporting from Kingston, Jamaica. His single with British band Sherlock Soul is now available as well.
