DEFINING CULTURAL YEAR of THE DECADE?

[Rick Walker <looppool@cruzio.com>]

Happy New Years,  EVERYBODY!

I was meditating on what this next year will bring artistically for our 
community.

Here's what I thought:

We haven't had a defining cultural year in this past decade yet  ( like 
'68 in the sixties,  '75 in the 70's ,   '82 in the 80's,   etc.)
so this feels like the right year to make a very, very strong cultural 
imprint on history.

Because I"ve been involved in a lot of interviews in recent months and 
also in correspondances with
loopers,loop promoters, journalists, radio DJs and others,  I have 
noticed that there has
been a huge proliferation of interest in live looping in the past year 
alone.  There has also been an
attendant surge in new software and features in hardware and the 
creation of new techniques commensorately.

 From talking to journalists, I have also noticed that our community is 
now very solidly on their radar whereas
five years ago, we were just a blip.

In the past couple of years a lot of new high profile artists have 
emerged from the
pop and jazz worlds and started incorporating live looping in their 
musical  sets.

I say that we make a huge concerted effort this coming year to release 
new records in this community
and help make live looping be one of the emergent trends of this past 
decade, historically speaking.

If you've been telling yourself that you really should finish that 
project you've been working on forever---
I exhort you to put it out this year, or even get up off of the couch 
and push play on  the plethora of high quality recorders (both portable and
computer or analogue based that now exist)  if you weren't thinking 
about making a release this year.

You can reference the excellent thread on how to release a new project 
in the new digital era and
even on a budget (of money ,  or time )

Some famous visual artist once said that 'being prolific is a form of 
generosity' 

In that spirit,

I'll book anyone who debuts a CD this year at the Y2K9 International  
Live Looping Festival,  hands down,  no questions asked!

Here's to this wonderful community and all of it's amazing members.
It's been a huge blessing in my own life to be here with you all.

Happy New Years and may 2009  define our decade in the coming years.

Rick Walker


 
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