"The Barking Eye"

Many people have messaged me personally on various topics including some I've written about on the Barking Eye Blog and one of them is "why they can't comment" on this blog.  The reason is quite simple.  When I started this blog I had it open so that anyone could comment.   That was short lived as almost immediately, idiots with verbal attacks started flooding the comments.  Yes, these comments were from local musicians and readers that really had nothing to say that was worthy of posting.  So, because of a few bad apples, the forum is heavily screened.   Those on my friends list on Facebook and Myspace know how to get a hold of me and you can comment via email OR you can comment on links to this blog that I post on Facebook.  I'm sorry but to keep this blog positive, it's best to keep comments on track, without hostility.

Next, I have had a ton of responses to the project I mentioned about a website to sell local artists music.
Yes, I have been looking at grants to start such a site but also a main server computer base for such a project for all the material from local bands.  This is not an easy business to start so I want to make sure I'm not getting in over my head with this.  I am making sure if I do follow through on this that it will be a safe and secure site for local musicians to sell and promote their music.   Suggestions have been rolling in since I posted the article and all of these are welcome.  A few have commented on the single song format I mentioned in the main article.  The reason for single song downloads is that it allows artists that just can't afford a full blow album of tracks, to sell a single song they might have recorded.  Yes, full albums will be be made available but one song at a time.  This is no different that "CDnow". I have looked at access to downloading an entire album in ZIP and FLAC formats but I'm still not convinced on it. High quality MP3's seem the most logical.  Single song formats seems the easiest but it also seems to help the "little guy" sell a single song if that's all they have to promote.  Some artists never get to the full album stage.  I hope that makes sense.  Details of the progress of my venture will follow in future posts. Stay tuned. ;-)

I must clarify for some that "The Barking Eye" is a simple blog dedicated to my thoughts and opinions about the local music scene.  Some stories may be about current artists and some are from our cities past music scene.  The topics I write about are ones that interest me.  I apologize if they don't interest you. ;-)  Some feel I should be talking about more current topics and more mainstream artists.  I've also taken heat for not writing about Lop Lops and a few other bars or artists. First,  let me say that there are bands and musicians in this city that never get written about and there are some from the past that put out music that again, never got written about.  Forgotten bands and lost music. That alone, interests me to search these artists out and talk about them.  As for venues like Lop Lops and others, I will simply say that they are always in the media spot light and so are their regular artists.  I want to promote those that the media seems to ignore, miss or forget about.  Lop Lops has been great for many local artists as have some of the other bars but there are artists that just can't get their feet into these establishments and again, those are the ones that interest me.  Please do not take my blog the wrong way.  I love to support local talent but I'm really after supporting the underdog.  Other blogs like Sault Metal Scene have the underground metal scene covered and I'd like to in some way shape or form help the other local music styles find a voice in local media. ;-)

Lastly, whether my comments or opinions tick you off or make you think, they are still my opinons so all you have to do is take them with a grain of salt as the saying goes.  If you disagree, that is fine.  If you enjoy what I talk about, that is fine too.  Everyone is entitled to an opinion and so I voice those on my blog and forum.  That does not mean you have the right to attack my opinions on my blogs or forums.
It also doesn't give you the right to message me, phone me or email me with your displeasure.  You can simply start your own sites and voice your opinions there.  I don't have to hear everyones responses
because, like I mentioned earlier, these sites are about what's on my mind at the time and not about getting into verbal attacks or back and forth bickering.  In other words, I'm not into debating. ;-) That is not the purpose of this blog nor will it ever be. ;-)

Stay tuned
Glen "the Freq"