Live Music Ain’t Dead

But it’s kinda on life support. In the not too distant past, a solid minority of all Americans learned how to play an instrument or sing or both. It’s kinda rare these days.

In a way, it’s similar to sports. It used to be that everyone played some kind of sport when they were young, just for the fun of it. It was sometimes organized, like Little League and so forth, but it wasn’t always considered a kind of minor league for pros to spring from right from the get-go. Now not many people want their children to learn to be good sports and vie with their peers for some very minor bragging rights. The whole edifice is erected to produce a handful of professionals that make more money than a software startup budget. The fun has been squeezed out of it.

Look and listen to these kids. They’re making the kind of music that used to haunt every nightclub and restaurant in the world. Live music was everywhere compared to nowadays. People want giant events or nothing at this point. Me? I’d like to listen to La Vie en Rose made fresh right in front of me by some cute kids.

They’re trapped in YouTube amber, and I don’t know how to get them out.