A certain venue I used to write creative posts for is still using my writing somewhat disctinct style, which is…pretty awesome actually.
They paid me well considering, right up until I got back from my first trip to Jamaica. That was a paid position I kind of invented and it really helped the club reestablish itself and its image in the scene.
I just saw a sponsored post about a local band I dig, playing off something the club is sitting their imagining I would have written.
I ain’t mad at ya. I want to thank ya. That gig helped me hold on to not having a day job and playing music full time, just long enough to get my break in Kingston with Anthony Cameron, as BJ DjSticky (Bluejay aka Dj Sticky ) opened door after door.
Bluejay was another gentleman that paid me to write creatively through his Conscious Culture Festival. That writing led me Jamaica.
In another era I would I would be writing for publications, but have a look at how many magazines and newspapers went under since I was in college. Thousands. I mean you can try to board a sinking ship.
So I write here. I am a songwriter anyway. But for those that follow my whimsy and adventures and misgivings, I salute you.
I can’t stop writing. This is my sword. 10,000 hours? I think anyone with the gift of gab can be a writer. You just have to develop your own style by hearing the sound of your own voice.
In college Mrs. Archibald made me switch from Comm to English. She called me to her office and explained that as a 19 year old freshman that took a gap year to have Wyatt Powell force him to confront that he wasn’t going to make it in music JUST working at Costco, that somehow, someway, I had my own voice as a writer.
It was a turning point, just like when Wyatt brought me to the powerlines and broke it to me that I had to get the f☆ck out of Mays Pond and live my life to have something to write real songs about.
I found my voice as a writer at first listening to the playback on cassettes, trying to pen songs, figuring our what I wanted to say. How to say it. How I would say it. It’s acting really.
I learned early on that if you can sing it, you can say it, and if you can really sing it, you can say damn near anything you want. 90s R&B dudes definitely brought that one home.
I also learned that imitation is the greatest form of flattery. It’s a small kind of legacy. I know what that venue is doing, and they know what I did for them.
…and people stopped messaging me saying that they heard my voice reading The _______’s posts, because well,
…they can bite your style, but they can’t have your voice.
Thank you for reading me. I really appreciate your time, and I hope I get to sing for you soon. I miss it.
But I had to step back to make sure people might hear me beyond the ear shot of these cruel algorithms that is slanted towards mediocracy, meltdowns, and weightloss baby kitten pics.
– Musician and writer Davin Michael Stedman has many ventures, such as the AMAZING blog, 100milesofmusic.com. Davin’s new song 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. His single with British band Sherlock Soul is available here.
