So I was derping around the interwebs tonight and found out David Lowrey has a solo album. Not only that I can buy the album through his website for 13 bucks. Including shipping! Including an MP3 download. AUTOGRAPHED! Holy shit! Autographed CD from the lead singer of my favorite band!
Not only that, he teaches a class at the University of Georgia! My Alma Mater! How fucking cool is that! Damn I want to buy this CD now. Lemme listen to one of the songs first. Yeah, it's probably just like Camper/Cracker, but I'd like to at least hear it first before buying it. So I click on the YouTube video for Raise 'Em Up On Honey that is embedded on David's Website.
Huh? David's song... on David's website... Where he's trying to sell his music... And I actually WANT to buy it from him because I want to support him (and get an autograph)... and I can't even listen to it. Whaa? It doesn't help that David is apparently virulently anti-file sharing and seems to believe that anyone who downloads music is a schmuck who just wants to steal from artists. Well David, unfortunately the only way I seem to be able to listen to your music before I buy it other than hearing short clips on Amazon is to download the goddamn thing because your own record label has blocked me from hearing it on your own website. Music that you supposedly put up on YouTube yourself.
After clicking around for a while I found a couple of videos on his website that I could actually watch. And they're awesome. Like this one.
Even so, after reading all this stuff tonight written by my favorite singer, I can't help but feel like a goddamn criminal just for wanting to listen to his music. Even though I have already bought just about every single Cracker and Camper Van Beethoven album. Even though I have bought tickets to three of his shows and actually stuck around for the encore at the 40 Watt at The Golden Age tour show after all those assholes who were acting like fools and making racket during Dixie Babylon left. Even though I've wanted his autograph for decades and it's sitting right there in front of me and all I have to do is whip out the credit card (and at 4:30 in the morning while I'm writing this, believe me I'm more than drunk enough and willing enough to do it even though my wife will give me the skunk eye when the credit card bill comes) and buy a fucking CD for less than I could buy it at most retail outlets. Even though I want to support this guy, all I feel right now is that David Lowrey and his record feels that I'm a scumbag for expecting to listen to one of the songs on the album I want to buy before I buy it.
Sorry, but with all this SOPA/PIPA/ACTA/PCIPA horseshit floating around right now, I can't in good conscience support an organization that wants to destroy the internet. Especially one that only views me, an actual paying customer, as a fucking criminal. UMG's blocking of that YouTube video literally cost David Lowrey an album sale tonight. And David, if you somehow end up seeing this post on this bullshit little blog of mine somehow, let me just say I still love your stuff. And in full disclosure, while most of the Cracker/Camper CDs I have I bought new, there were a couple I bought from a used CD store because they were out of print and I couldn't find them anywhere else when I bought 'em. And since you don't see a dime from those sales, well, it's just the same as piracy, right? I pretty much stole your music, right? So, David, leave a comment or e-mail me of you happen to see this and I'll send you ten bucks for those two CDs since I'm apparently a fucking goddamn music thief just because I'm one of your fans. Because I'm sure as hell not buying your solo album now.
And that makes me sad.
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