Jani Lane....

So I'm still in shock about the news about Jani Lane passing away. Some of you know my history better than others but for those who don't, I was a big 80s metal fan. When I was a kid the first time I was actually impressed by a songwriter was in 1989 and it was Jani Lane and his song Heaven. I was always into the crazy party songs of the 80s but at 12 years old this was the first time I could remember being moved by lyrics and melody. It inspired me to get an acoustic guitar. I studied Janis writing and lyrics and approach for the next few years all the way through their cd Dog Eat Dog. His song Stronger Now is as good of a song as anyone has ever written. Anyone.
So after being a huge fan as an early teen one of my missions in life were to actually write with Jani. I once waited outside of their tour bus at 16 years old with my guitar hoping to catch him and was gonna ask him to write w me. I never saw him that day so I sorta gave up.
Fast forward 7 years I'm living in LA and my band had a deal from Sonny records and we had a management showcase at The Viper Room on Sunset. A bunch of big dogs came out to scout us and after words took us out to The Rainbow for drinks. At one of my meetings the guy introduced himself as Obi and told me what his firm could offer us. I asked who he represented and the first client he named was Jani. I then told him I would sign with him right then if he could arrange a writing session w us. He called Jani and the next day at 3pm at a place called Sound Arena in the Valley I met Jani officially as a peer and we spent the next 2 hours writing songs. It was a dream come true for a kid from small town Carolina. We worked up a song "Remedy" that I still play today. He was an awesome guy and treated me well. I would see him from time to time on the strip and he always said hello. A few more years passed and Obi was trying to fill in some dates for Janis solo tour and I offered him a gig at The Money in Rock Hill and he accepted. Jani came to town and didn't have a guitar so he used my Guild acoustic for his show. I was so proud that one of my heroes was playing my hometown and using my guitar on the gig.  After the show we hung for a while and he was off to the next show. I never saw him again after that but I always pulled for him to do well. So last night when I got the news about his passing it bummed me out pretty hard. He was one of the main reasons I do what I do. 99% of musicians wouldn't admit that as they're too cool for school but I proudly admit I went to the Lane songwriting school and if you listen to my stuff it's obvious. R.I.P Jani... Here's a picture of Jani playing my guitar in my hometown for me and about 20 friends.

Updates and Rants.

So this summer has been great for everyone here in the Early Ray camp. Been playing a ton and spreading the gospel. Just played the Shinefest last week and had a blast! Looking forward to next weeks show opening for Charlie Daniels. Planning a Suds and Sandals booze cruise next month. Check out our Facebook and earlyray.com for all the details.

So last week I go to play a gig and this particular gig is one I've been doing for years and beside the gig is a Borders book store. Anytime I play this show I get there a couple hours early to go sit and enjoy some books. Sometimes I'd buy a couple and sometimes I'd just enjoy some coffee and checking out new books. This past week I pulled up excited to go in and on the front was a huge going out of business banner. I hoped that this was a silly marketing tool and not legit. I then walked in to see books scattered everywhere with sale tags, furniture gone, coffee shop closed  and it hit home that my favorite book store was indeed closing. A couple years ago when the kindle book thing came out and made books downloadable my buddy told me that bookstores would not survive another 5 years. He was right. Borders all across America are closing and it sux. Once you could download a book and put it on torrent sites for free downloads then the product became valueless. This really really really sucks. So now books will go the way of the CD and become a dinosaur. So you will see libraries closing and an entire workforce will be cut now. Writers, publishers, printing companies, stores, etc etc etc will now all lose jobs now that books are available free online. You will see the quality of book decimate as anyone can self publish on amazon for free. When you pay for a book you actually read the book as you have something invested. Now most folks will give up on a book after a few pages cause it was free. Some of my fav stuff didn't even become interesting till half way threw. There is nothing I can do. The technology is out there and yet another form of art is now gonna be destroyed. Music is shit now and anyone with a laptop can put a cd out on itunes. Musicians can't sell cds so they can't pay for gas to tour, etc etc. Great writers will soon not care to write as there will no longer be a payback. I know I'm ranting and sound like the fun police but music downloading cost nearly a half million jobs over the last 10 years and now you will see this in the book world. Imagine if I could right click and download a car for free? Imagine if I could go to a torrent site and get a free washer and dryer? This would be outrage and punished to the highest degree but when it comes to the arts it doesn't matter. The thing that sux is tons of folks will lose jobs and the enjoyment of books will slowly fade away. I know I sound drastic but how many cd stores are currently in your town? How many were there 10 years ago.  So I urge you that if you enjoy art then support it or it will go away. Period.

My next rant. Can we officially bury the term "much needed". I see on every social media that everything now is "much needed". Sorry but if your "date night" is "much needed" then I think you're doing ok. Please only use that term when it's appropriate. Example A. Got some "much needed" medicine today for that chlamydia I caught on spring break. See that was Much Needed. Sorry but rewatching the Notebook is never much needed.

Ok now for news of the obvious. So I admit I'm very very very late on the whole Bob Dylan thing. Truth is I was never a fan. I could never get past his voice to enjoy the songs. Just wasn't my deal. Just recently I discovered a tribute cd of his material and holy shit. I gotta admit this guy is one of the greatest writers ever. After listening to his catalog I can point out at least 50 diff songs that has been stolen or ripped off from Bob. Songs that I loved over the years were just Dylan rip offs. So a public apology to Bob Dylan. Wow holy damn can you write a good song.

Sorry if this blog is a big rant. I think the summer heat has gotten to me. On a positive note. Early Ray is trucking along and things are going great. We got some cool shows coming up and some great new songs. I'm excited about the future.

Go listen to some Dyan and buy a book and give some "much needed" support to the arts!

Early Rizzle