Music – Page 4 – Dan Steven Erickson

What’s the Problem with Gibson Guitars?

If you follow my YouTube Channel, you know I’ve been having some issues with my one-year-old Gibson L-00. The glue between the binding and the body started to melt and come out. That leads to the question:

What’s the problem with Gibson Guitars?

If you do a Google search on Gibson quality and customer service, you’ll likely find a lot of negative feedback about their modern products and service. Many people have had trouble with quality. The newer Gibsons have been said to be overpriced for what you get.

In fact, if you do your research, you’ll also discover that the younger generations, (most anyone below boomers), are turning to other brands. They say Gibsons are overpriced and for old people. I might agree.

I’m a boomer/generation X crossover baby, and I’m seeing the light. Unless you own an older classic-era Gibson, which I do, new Gibson products have lost their appeal and their value.

I’ve owned cheaper guitars for 10 years without having any issues.

First, I’ve probably owned around of 25-30 acoustic guitars over 40 years. I’ve owned Fender, Ovation, Martin, Breedlove, Tacoma, Larrivée, Yamaha, Seagull, and others. I’ve owned some guitars for as long as 10-15 years. I’ve owned new guitars and guitars dating back to the 1940s. My 2024 Gibson L-00, with a $3000 price tag, is the most expensive new guitar I’ve ever bought.

But after almost exactly one year of ownership, the glue between the binding and the body started coming out. I’ve never had that issue with any other guitar, even the vintage models.

Shit happens.

I understand that it’s not a perfect world and guitars may have issues due to weather and wear. I get that. But what I don’t get is a company that seems to be making it hard for people to address their issues and get quality customer service.

I emailed Gibson the day I took my guitar out the case equipped with an internal humidifier in a climate-controlled apartment and found glue melting. I mentioned it had been only a year since I bought the guitar and that I’d owned many guitars of lesser value that had no issues like this over 10-year time periods. I requested either return, exchange, or repair.

The Gibson representative asked for photos of the damage and my original receipt. I could easily photo the damage, but I bought the guitar in Maine and my receipt was still up there. I currently live 20 minutes from Nashville, home of Gibson Guitars. I thought maybe, for a guitar that’s only a year old, they might make an exception about the receipt. Nope. I get it. It’s corporate America.

I went to Maine for the receipt.

So, I had a trip to Maine scheduled and I got the receipt. “Now it should be simple,” I thought. Nope. They want me to ship the guitar to them even though I live 20 minutes away from their facility. Sure, they said they’d provide a label, but there was nothing said about packaging. Not only that, shipping guitars is a nerve-racking event for any guitar owner. Gibson knows that.

I called the company and they hid behind “policy.” So, I asked to speak with a manager. I’m waiting for a callback.

That’s my story, but there’s a greater message.

I own a Filson coat. After 20 years the cuffs started wearing out. Filson repaired the coat at no cost to me and no questions asked. A shirt I ordered from Filson recently was lost in the mail. Filson reimbursed me and resent the shirt at no cost. That’s the kind of company loyalty I can buy into. And guess what? I bought another shirt form them yesterday. Gibson might learn a lesson from this.

I know guitars and clothing are different products. I understand that there are many factors involved with damages to guitars. But I had hoped that a $3000 product with about one year of mild, in-home-only use might be a no-brainer for a company that might want to uphold their dying reputation. Apparently, they are not very concerned.

So, what’s next?

I suppose I’ll wait a week to see if I get a call from a Gibson manager. If not, I’ll likely trade that L-00 in for another brand of guitar.

So, back to the question at hand: What’s the problem with Gibson Guitars?

From my humble view, the company is too full of itself. They once made some of the best guitars in America. They were a staple of Rock & Roll. But sometime in the 1970s they started mass producing instruments of a lower quality. They traded their soul for a buck. They had to declare bankruptcy more recently. Younger artists have started turning away from the brand.

It’s sad to say, but perhaps Gibson is just dying along side of its beloved bedfellow, Rock & Roll. – dse

Going Downhill Fast

Here’s a song I wrote and recorded same day about three months ago. At the time I said it was a work in progress, and so it may be. But the words still feel pretty true in these times we are facing. Here’s Going Downhill Fast. – dse

Don’t look now but we’re going downhill fast
Don’t look now but we’re going downhill fast
When a government breaks its own constitution
A democracy will never last

Don’t look now but we’re becoming a police state
Don’t look now but we’re becoming a police state
When a country’s people don’t stand up against abuse
They’re just sealing their own fate

I can’t believe the things I’m seeing
This isn’t the America I’ve known
You voted a convicted felon into office
Now he wants to lock you in a dome

Don’t look now but we’re going downhill fast
Don’t look now but we’re going downhill fast
When a government breaks its own constitution
A democracy will never last

He’s raising tariffs instead of taxes
That just comes back on you and me
He’s got the police abusing power
And you think that we’re still free

Don’t look now but we’re going downhill fast
Don’t look now but we’re going downhill fast
When a government breaks its own constitution
A democracy will never last

Now, it’s only a matter of time before
These policies spread throughout the land
Y’all better reconsider
Before it’s too late to take a stand

Don’t look now but we’re going downhill fast
Don’t look now but we’re going downhill fast
When a government breaks its own constitution
A democracy will never last

Maybe I Was Wrong About the South

Rodney Crowell and Guests at 2025 Americanafest, Nashville Tennessee – Photo by Dan Steven Erickson

Recently, I took a trip to Memphis to check out Beale Street for the first time in 35 years. I was very disappointed. I wrote an essay and posted a video about how the South has lost its musical soul. Maybe I was wrong.

First, as a longtime original songwriter and poet, I’m not taking anything back about Beale Street and Lower Broad. As far as I can see, they’ve completely sold out.

Second, I’m not taking anything back about the state of the commercial music industry in the South, or anywhere in America for that matter. It sucks.

But there are still a lot of great musicians and songwriters in the South that play and write from the heart. In fact, the majority of independent musicians in America are still holding onto their souls. The problem is, if they have some musical integrity, the likelihood of gaining entrance into the commercial industry is minimal.

Last week, I saw two of my favorite living songwriters: Bill Callahan and Rodney Crowell. Guess what? They’re both from the South, Texas to be exact. And they are both unique and soulful voices in the world of music.

Bill Callahan breaks so many boundaries with his unique style that he would never be picked up by any major label. Rodney Crowell had his day as a hit songwriter. He’s still writing great songs. But he’s also sharing the stage with new musicians and spotlighting their talents.

So, is it the South? No. It’s the industry. It’s kind of like America in general.

One percent of Americans hold 99% of the wealth. The rest of us are just trying to get by. It’s the same with music. One percent of musicians get highlighted by fighting or buying their way into the commercial industry. The other 99% are playing dive bars and living rooms. – dse

Bill Callahan at the Whirling Tiger, Louisville KY

Last night I had the pleasure and the privilege to see Bill Callahan and his band perform at the Whirling Tiger in Louisville, Kentucky. It’s the second time I’ve seen Bill. The first was June 21, 2019 in Portland, Oregon.

Bill Callahan – Photo by Dan Steven Erickson

If you’re not familiar with Bill Callahan, I recommend you stop reading right now and go find his music and listen. He’s a musical artist unlike any I know, and last night through a set of unusual circumstances I was able to meet him and tell him how much I appreciate his work.

Last night’s show was a little mellower than the show I saw in Portland. Bill’s music has a great sense of space. It’s less formulaic than most music you’ve likely ever heard. He is clearly in the singer-songwriter genre with elements of Americana, country, rock, and blues, but there’s more. I can’t quite explain. Go listen.

At the venue, the people in the crowd were all friendly and social. I met other fans and we talked about how Bill’s music overflows with poetic emotion. We agreed that it was almost like he’s untouchable, beyond comparison, just pure honesty in musical artistry.

And then, as we were leaving, a newfound friend said, “look, there he is.” Sure enough, Bill was standing by a door as the crowd all made their way out. We stopped and talked and he was kind enough to let us each get a photo with him. Then he went in the door. I’m not sure anyone else talked to him. It was an unusual moment for me, almost surreal.

I let Bill know that I think his work is some of the best songwriting around today. Of course, he was graceful. But I continued to tell him that I am a life-long songwriter and that what he does is beyond what most songwriters do. I said, “my songs are so structured.” Let me explain.

What makes Bill Callahan one of the best songwriters I’ve ever known is that he is able to weave in and out of traditional songwriting and into something that is almost free of traditional song form. His band helps to create a flow, a waxing and waning. Again, it’s hard to explain because there is no one else who does quite what he does.

Bill played for two solid hours. If you know his music, he played selections from some of his greatest works, clear back to his music with the band Smog. If you don’t know his music, here’s his discography via wikipedia. – dse

A Trip to Memphis and the Lost Soul of Music

Club Handy, Beale Street – Photo by Dan Steven Erickson

So, I went to Memphis on Saturday night. I thought I’d take in some blues on Beale Street. I remember checking out the clubs back in the early 1990s. There was nothing but good soulful blues from club to club.

Things have changed. And I must say that I was very disappointed.

First, getting into the hotel was a pain in the ass because it was valet parking only, but no one could drive a stick shift. I had to park my own car. That’s fine, but it made for a little longer check-in process.

I spent an hour or two chilling after the long drive and then headed down to Beale at about 8:30. It was much different than I remembered.

I had to show my ID and go through security.

Just to get onto Beale, I had to go through a checkpoint. Okay, I get it, but what about the music. I walked up and down the street listening for the blues that I remembered on Beale years ago. I didn’t hear any.

I was hungry and stopped at an Irish place, Silky O’ Sullivan’s, for some food. I had to pay a $5 cover charge. There were dueling pianos as the entertainment. But they weren’t playing blues. They were playing pop covers. I’ve got nothing against Bryan Adams, but the “Summer of ’69” was not my idea of music I’d find on Beale. Oh, and the food sucked. I paid $14 for a very thin corned-beef sandwich and a few potato chips.

After about 45 minutes with pop-rock dueling pianos I set back out to find some blues. I heard hip-hop. I heard dance music. I heard a folk duo playing Led Zeppelin. I heard something with a little soul and a clap machine. But I still heard no blues.

Finally, at the tiny Club Handy, I heard a whaling blues guitar. It was less soulful and more rock and roll, but it was bluesy. I found another place where the music was bluesy but later a security asked me to leave the street when I walked a couple of feet past the street exit at BB King’s place to look through the window to see the band to consider going in. Asshole.

On a side note, on the short walk from the hotel to Beale and back, several drivers ignored walk signs and I basically had to dodge traffic as a pedestrian. Memphis has the highest rate of pedestrian accidents in the country. The following morning on the way out of town, a car nearly sideswiped me on I-240.

Overall, it was a shitty experience and I’ll likely never go back.

Beale is like Lower Broad in Nashville, worse really.

If you’ve been to Nashville lately, you might know what Lower Broadway has become. It’s a string of clubs with nothing but cover bands and drunks. But at least they’re playing the genre of music people come to see.

I went to Beale Street to see the blues and was very disappointed to find very little blues being played. Add the fact that you get cover charged for many of the clubs after paying to get onto the street itself? Seriously? What a joke.

But my biggest complaint has to do with both Broadway in Nashville and Beale in Memphis. They’ve both sold their souls.

I spent time in Nashville, New Orleans, and Memphis in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The live music was good in all three cities. Not only was there great music, much of it was original. Now, I hear nothing but cover bands and clap machines.

The entertainment industry is simply concerned with one thing: making money. The majority of people don’t go to hear great original music. They go to get drunk and hear songs they can sing-along to.

That’s what the rednecks want. That’s what they get. Cheap recycled music played by underpaid musicians who have been trained to play to a click track. I’m not impressed. – dse

Why I Won’t Use AI for Songwriting

I’m not a hard anti-AI guy, but as a songwriter, no thank you.

I’ve actually played around with ChatGPT for writing lyrics and Suno for creating songs. In both cases, it can be entertaining to play with, but I have no desire to use AI for songwriting. Why?

My lyrics are my stories. AI strings mediocre lines together and calls it a song. I will admit that I asked AI to write some humorous songs that were pretty hilarious. But I’ll use my own lyrics, thank you.
AI music is too perfect. Seriously, I can tell the entire song is programmed. But it’s not just AI. It started with drum machines, digital audio workshops, and autotune. Yes, I program electronic music. But my goal is usually to do things more artistically and less for commercial appeal.
AI music lacks soul. This is the big one for me. I dare you to create AI that can match the raw emotional power of Miles Davis, old AC-DC, John Lee Hooker, or Sex Pistols. It’s not going to happen. If and when it does, we can talk again.

Check out my video to learn more about my thoughts on AI and songwriting. And check out my YouTube Channel to hear some of my songwriting. – dse