Record Collection Recollections #6: The Personal Touch
Back when I worked in the radio station, I collected quite a few autographed CDs. Hardly the big names, and nothing that would be worth any money, though I still prize my copy of What Are You Going To Do With Your Life? signed by Ian McCulloch. I never actually met Mac though, so it's not like he signed it for me personally; it was just something the record company sent through. (They probably intended us to give it away as a competition prize, but, frankly, it would have been wasted on our listeners.)
These days, I buy a fair few CDs from Bandcamp, or direct from the artist's website, and it's nice when you get a little signed note to show they've posted it themselves. I recently ordered a couple of Otis Gibbs CDs direct from the States and got a nice "Thank you, Rol," on note-paper decorated with musical staves. In the streaming era, independent artists really do appreciate those of us who still shell out for the physical media.
I'm similarly impressed by artists who work their own merch stands at gigs. I'm much more likely to buy something if they're selling their own stuff. I had a good chat with David Gedge when he was working the Cinerama merch stand at The Leadmill back in the 90s, and this cemented my impression of him being a very down-to-earth rock star.
Just last week, I met Kirby Brown at the American Aquarium gig. Kirby was manning his own merch stand after playing a cool support set. BJ Barham from AmAq promised to meet everyone at his own merch stand after the gig; sadly we had to leave before getting the chance to take him up on that offer, but Kirby was there straight after his set. I was unfamiliar with work 'til that night. He does a good line in acoustic Americana, though he hails from Brooklyn rather than anywhere near Nashville. He'd travelled up from London that afternoon via National Express, so I figured he deserved to make a sale. Plus, I was rather taken with his songs, particularly Spiders. He didn't have any change and I only had a twenty pound note, so he had to get it changed at the bar... but this is the kind of memory that will keep him on my radar in future.
I've probably got about a dozen or so signed CDs and Records. No-one particularly famous. Mostly Americana artists bought at gigs
ReplyDelete