“Say what you want, just spell my name right.”
I know it’s only the proliferation of social media that stokes my ire when it comes to the omnipresence of gossip in the music sphere. Yes I know gossip has been with us since the beginning of culture but it seemed that at one time it was an aside not the entire platform of what a “career” was built upon. The street I live on is called “I’ve got enough of my own problems” to worry about the latest social media beef or salacious scandal. It does make for a welcome distraction in the entertainment purpose realm but it doesn’t have jack to do with great music. So in that sense it bothers me that often times more emphasis is placed on the gossip realm than the actual music. I know the proverbial Pandora’s Box has been open and the train has left the station but part of my challenge is waking up on the side of the bed that simply reminds me that “I don’t know, don’t care what’s going on in those streets.”
Ivan Orr is a multi-instrumentalist, composer, performer, and writer. A native of Charlottesville, Virginia Ivan was involved with the forming and nascent days of The Music Resource Center as its first Program Director. A graduate of Virginia Commonwealth University’s Department of Music, Ivan currently resides in Richmond, VA where he maintains an active performance and production schedule while serving as the Music Editor for Grown Folks Music, a position he has held since 2010.
