Rebekah Jacob's Gallery

I've spent many a day walking around Charleston, SC going in and out of every art gallery that I could find. I don't pretend to know anything about art but I have ALWAYS loved going in Rebekah Jacob's Gallery on King St.. For it's size and focus it is definitely my favorite, focusing on art and photography of the American South. It's pretty much one clean and light rectangular room with great art. I thought what the hell, maybe Rebekah wouldn't mind talking to a hilly billy from Nashville. I imagined that it could be the visual arts version of a great small boutique music publishing house. She sat down and talked with me on a day that seemed really busy for her while she ate her 4:00 sandwich/lunch.

From the outset I was a little worried that she would look at me like "what the hell does this guys know?" (which is nothing) and that the whole world of gallary owners could be a little.... well condescending to people who know nothing about it (i.e., me).  Guess I was the prejudiced one. She was incredibly kind, sweet and genuine.

Here it went:

Me: So where are you from?

Rebekah: I grew up in the Mississippi Delta, Clarksdale, Mississippi. I grew up (pretty much) a tone’s throw behind the courthouse on Clark Street.

Me: WOW, that's some serious "stuff" (OK I said shit but she didn't flinch/I think she'd heard it before). Clarksdale, for those that haven't followed along, is the birthplace of the Blues and damn near "Rock and Roll" which for the most part grew outta the blues.

Me: How'd you get from there to here then:

Rebekah: As a child, I was always creative, I loved art class but I never wanted to be an artist. It just wasn't in me. I went to Ole' Miss majoring in English (with aspirations of becoming a lawyer), journeyed to DC to work for a congressman (Chip Pickering) and there I found legislation to be boring and recycled and I despised the conservative dress code.  I then went back to school getting my M.A. in Art History....started working in a gallery in Grad School (@ Oxford, Ms) and "just never got off the train". My father was an entrepreneur so I always knew that I wanted to own my own gallery. Becoming an art dealer is a long process, an apprenticeship. I've worked with some really good dealers and without them there's no way I could have had the success that I’ve had.  And they have provided encouragement, which is so important.

Me: How do you decide who you're going to work with?

Rebekah: It's like you I'm sure, first off I have to like the person, I have to like their work and develop a level of trust. I always find it odd when artists call and want me to show their work without meeting me. They may not like my style, the daily rhythm of the gallery, my intensity, etc.  I’ll then make a list of “clients” (potential or current customers) who may be interested and take a few pieces on a "trial run" and offer those pieces (to the clients) and if I can't make the crossover between artist and client I usually won't represent the artist. She did say on occasion that she'll take a chance on an artist but you can tell it must be really hard to do . Rebekah also spends time fostering these “clients” that a lot of times over the years will buy many pieces.

In finding the new artists she says she loves referrals from other dealers or artists . Someone who calls me up and says that you've just GOT to work with this or that person. Though, at the core it’s a sixth sense, which has no real template.

Me: So once you start a relationship with the artists how does it work from there.

Rebekah: They will finish a piece and send it to me (via e-mail in a JPEG) and I'll say if I can work with it or not. They know I have a pretty streamline approach and that I know my clients (the buyers).

It's a fun trade and a fun daily experience. It gets... I mean right now (in the business) you know I've had like 4 calls from artists today who need or want money (and they haven't sold anything) and that get's hard. You feel guilty but it's not your sole responsibility. She prefers for an artist to have multiple galleries so that it don't ALL fall on her shoulders and she believes that it does "take a community" to help an artist succeed.

Rebeka: It's dealing with how to balance the risk. How risky can I go and how risky can my check book allow me to go. By enlarge I represent artist and material of the southeast. I know the area and I know the clients. The more specific you are, the "tighter your niche", in a lot of ways the better off you are.

She says of the business: I think about it 24/7 and I'm always reading books and magazines. 

Rebekeh has had this gallery now for 5 years and she did NOT seem to take that for granted!

The most positive and beautiful moments for me is when I see artists’ expand their studios, buy a car, grow their families, etc… It’s visual validation that I am doing my job.

I admire the fact that she's been able to do this on her own with art that she loves.

Rebekah,  LOVE your taste in art, your guts in doing it and your passion in how you go about it all. PLEASE stop by this gallery! It'll save you a lot of time. :)
Here's a link to my fav's: link

Oh, and she's quite pretty to boot! :)

For the Barry Dean's of the world...

I met Barry Dean years ago when Barbara Cloyd sent him my way (which she's done MANY a time). Barry 

had 2 songs back then that I can still remember clear as day "Boots of Sunny Red" & "Burn That Letter". Barry is an amazing singer in a town of amazing singers, an amazing songwriter in a town of amazing songwriters and an amazing person in a town of amazing people (being the best of the best is what I'm trying to say). I'm posting this video (Video!!) for my friends outside of Nashville who don't know about these amazing people. This is for the Barry Dean's, Tony Lane's, Travis Meadows's, Thom Schyuler's and Travis Hill's of this world. Though they are every bit an artist as a Brad Paisley, their not doing it to get rich (thought they'd take it) or doing it to be famous. They just want to make a living and raise their kids to be good and healthy people and have a happy family life. Barry and these others are the people I admire SO much and have felt so fortunate to have been around. I hope you enjoy this song that he wrote with David Lee and Tony Lane. Blue collar, hard damn working writers. Sure was great seeing good friends last night. 

p.s. I have NO idea WHY the format of this paragraph is SO freaking messed up!!!! 

Wild Bills: Chris Cavanaugh & Josh Thompson

After plucking myself from my family in Charleston, SC for Thanksgiving I went BACK to Georgia to see Chris Cavanaugh play last night at "Wild Bill's". "Wild Bills" is one of the last big country clubs in the Atlanta area. Multi-floored bar that'd probably hold 2000+ taking up SUCH a big space that the sound pretty much sounded like you were in a gymnasium.  Chris was opening for Josh Thompson on Columbia Nashville. It's a little bogus cuz I've known Chris since he was in college at MTSU years back. Chris is one of those kids who's not waited on Nashville to make him a "star". He's on the road to a good or great living because he wants it bad enough. That's pretty much all there is to it. He's not the most talented singer, songwriter or performer that I've ever met but after years of working with a bunch of REALLY talented people, it's the one's who's willing to be relentless who I've found have had the most success (and made the most out of themselves). It's the Craig Wiseman's, David Lee's or Rusty Gaston's (on the publishing side). Chris did a great job of entertaining the medium sized crowd at Wild Bills and they (outside of a few) had NO idea who the hell he was. GREAT crowd response! He's made himself SO much more than he started out being as a singer, player, writer and performer. He's now damn good at all of these. THESE are the people at this point in my life that I want to spend the most time working with. On top of all of that, he's a great kid.
I gotta stop for a second and say that I saw and learned this in the most obvious way when I met with David Lee years back: "Lucky Man"- #1 for Montgomery Gentry, "Letter's from Home"-#1 for John Michael Montgomery, "Roll with it"-#1 for Easton Corbin and "Hello World"-great song recorded by Lady Antebellum, etc.... When I met with David I SO wanted to work with him because of who he was as a person AND as a writer (we'd hang out at the "Spoke" and just talk about "stuff" at the time) but I just did NOT hear anything special in his songs or in their potential. It just all sounded (to me) so generic. Well, Chris Oglesby (who did sign him) was a HELL of a lot smarter than me and I remember him telling me (way back then) that HE was the kind of writer he would want to build a company around. I saw years later the writer that Chris was hearing (with his great foresight). David from hard damn work made himself one of my favorite writers today and I have to admit, my dumbass didn't think that that was really possible (at least as a writer). I thought you either were or you weren't. Live and learn and I may STILL be a dumbass but I DO know that I'm not gonna make that same mistake again if possible and I'm gonna do whatever I can to support Chris, cuz he has that kinda drive & talent and is that good a person.

Chris Cavanaugh trying to pick up chicks

Josh Thompson set

After Chris I watched Josh Thompson play. I have to admit that I really love his voice but the songs that he sings for the most part don't let me enjoy his great tone. It could be more of what radio's wanting today but maybe not. Selfishly, I'd rather hear him sing songs that aren't so rangy. He sings them fine but it get's away from his middle tone that's SO damn "warm" and heartfelt to me.  

Here's to my last night in Georgia. I'm pointing in the direction of the Carolina's! Don't be shy if you have some tips. I promise I won't "steal" them. Hell, I can't DO anything with 'em other than write about 'em. :)

David Conrad-Part I

David Conrad-Part I

Before leaving town I had lunch with an old boss and another co-worker/friend from my Almo Irving Publishing days, Bobby Rymer and David Conrad. On the way over it hit me that if there was ever someone who’s worth hearing about, for all those that wouldn’t already know, it’s David. He was my first and main mentor in music publishing. We were meeting at the bar part of Sunset Grill. I got there first and asked the bartender where to sit. He asked “who are you meeting?”, I told him and he said "Mr. Conrad sits anywhere he wants". So I sit down (one booth over from the “Harlan Howard” booth, apparently). We three sat there and caught up on what’s going on with my trip and their lives. He let’s me take him downtown to run an errand. That’s where this took place, in my car. David has always been one of (if not the top) music publishers in the last 30 years in Nashville. Starting his career in the early 70's and he has worked with everyone from Kent Robbins to Emmylou Harris, Paul Kennerley, Craig Wiseman, Marc Knopfler, Annie Roboff, Gillian Welch, Dennis Morgan and Waylon Jennings and a ton of others. Many of these being Hall Of Famer's. His friends have been some of the top music exec’s of the last 50 years. In talking with him, I'd forgotten HOW confident the guy was when he spoke. It's a general disposition, he's always carried as long as I've know him (close to 20 years). 

Me: What goes into being a good publisher, you think?

DC: Part of it just has to do with how you grow up and how diligent and focused you are on anything that you set about to do. And that could’ve been delivering mail… there are people that depend on it and depend on whether you do it right or wrong and learn as much as you can about it.  There’s a discipline that’s just there because of the way that you grew up. The other thing is the affinity for music and for songs. It took me a little bit to understand the difference between (a good and) a great song. I had to learn that. Because I was a musician (he's an excellent Classical guitarist), I’d just cared about melodies and the playing. That was taught to me by a guy named Glenn Keener who was the head of A&R at Mercury Records….. I (also) learned from great songwriters like John Schweers, Bobby Barker, Archie Jordan and Kent Robbins. Not only how to recognize the difference between good and great lyrics but how to overcome it when it was not there. And if it was a great idea THEN it was worth EVERYTHING you had to give it. Every bit of time you could put into it, every bit of effort and passion to write a little movie that’s engaging and economical and the notion that you gotta write this many (gesturing with his hands) for this many (smaller portion) to pay off, anyway.

DC: You spend those (first) 2 or 3 years learning these fundamentals and then you get to really learning the fine points of becoming a really good publisher. What’s good and what’s great… you’re willing to do it and think it and breathe it and eat and sleep it 24 hours a day, because it’s a lifestyle. It absolutely is a lifestyle and that’s why I don’t miss it a bit now. I got a new lifestyle.