thinking rn about how
waaay back when (1950s & before, mostly)
artists might record the same song a few times—
new label? record that one again that people like when you play it live.
new band? record that one again... etc.
if you dig into old rock&roll & blues you'll find a lot of this.
& as we've increasingly entered a world where everyone has access to everything,
it happens less & less.
two versions of the same song for the same global audience seem like redundancy.
but it isn't—
cos every performance is different,
as is every performance situation.
as a fan of bootlegs, live recordings, & obscurities,
this strikes me as a loss.
I *love* hearing how an artist felt about the same song on a different day, different year, in a different state or country.
I suppose it's part of the 'folk music' nature of things that tends to get bulldozed....
... anyways,
what IS kinda cool
is the way my band, for example,
can livestream a rehearsal,
jam out random covers & post them to soundcloud or patreon or wtf,
& leave it up there for anyone who digs us to find.
in that way
social media can bring back folk traditions?
