Vocal emphasis

[AmandaLynn]

Now that we've all gotten over the initial shock of hearing This Side for the first time, I'm sure we can agree that the album really grows on you. But I do have a question... Both Sean and Chris have now released solo albums that are very instrumentally based, and Sean has another solo album due in late fall. NC's new album seems to showcase their lyric-writing and vocal capabilities more than their instrumental ones. Not to say that the instrumentals in This Side aren't fantastic-- the beginning of the track This Side where the guitar starts with the melody and then the mandolin picks it up, the reverse of what happens at the end, makes me grin every time--but they seem to be overshadowed by the vocals. Does anyone know if this is a permanent arrangement...that NC will be primarily vocally-based and their solo albums will be where the instrumentals are featured? If anyone has any insight, let me know.



*~Illusions and dreams as usual, it seems~*

[Banjo_Ken]

I really hope that they go back to a more balanced approach on the next album. Even though the album is growing on me (I still don't like some of it), I stand by my opinion that the instrumental work should be featured more. The problem, for me, is that they cut down the instrumental breaks in the vocal songs to virtually nothing. I really do think they're much stronger instrumentalists than vocalists, so to cut back on the instrumenal side almost to the point of neglect seems rather silly to me.

Ken

[jaceyhomen]

I kind of agree with both of you. Perhaps that's why Let It Fall is such a hit at our house....we play it all the time. Only one vocal.

I think SS&C have certainly grown in the vocals department and pretty lyrics are always nice. Sara once said Alison Krauss was such a help to them in that way. But, their genius, their strength is still in their instruments.

I'll take 'em anyway I can get 'em!

Jacey[noise]

[Chip]

I doubt that anyone, including the band, has any idea what is in store for the next album. A lot will depend on where they are musically a year or two from now, and how the current album does.

If I were to look into my crystal ball and make a wild guess, I would *guess* that the audience they gain from This Side will be expecting mostly vocal tunes in the genre of the current recording, and since that is where their current writing seems to be focused as well as what has the widest appeal, my wild guess would be that they'll probably put their energies more on vocal tunes.

Further supporting that idea is a conversation I had with their manager, in which he said that the move away from instrumentals was a conscious choice made by the band, management, and record company (as well as producer) jointly in order to be able to cross-promote the record into the pop/rock genre. Extrapolating, it would seem likely that if the current album is successful, they'll probably continue with that style.

But that's all conjecture, and that and three bucks will get you a cup of coffee at Starbucks.

[headgear]

i might have got this wrong but what i got from that post, chip, was that they conciously took the decision to change their style to appeal to a wider audience.

and further to that, whatever they do in the future will be determined by how well this record sells.

that sounds *exactly* like the very definition of selling out.

[mandoBob]

I've been a big defender of NC against the whole sell out talk (there's a lot of that going on over at the mandolincafe.com boards), but I must say I find myself agreeing with headgear here.
it's a little dismaying, but I suppose this isn't about me and what I want (and if you're keeping score, I want more mando, more guitar, more fiddle, more mando, and a bit more mando...and some vocals on the side please). it seems a bit daft to de-emphasize your stongest strength, no? but as artists, that's their perogative, and I hope they do well with it. I do enjoy the new album, and I take heart that they do side projects with more instrumentals, so I'm not complaining, just a little sad.

[warlord]

Note that the band has been playing a vast majority of the songs on This Side in their concerts for months to years before the album was released (or even recorded). They've been playing Seven Wonders, Green and Grey, This Side and others for a very long time. I'm not sure how you can consider them selling out when it's what they've been doing all along.

-derek

[NCFan4Ever]

Nickel Creek Rocks! I don't know why we are all worried about if they have sold out or not, because they are still the most awesome band ever! I agree that :This Side: is definately more focused on vocals, but since they have great voices, who cares?

[headgear]

melanie, derek: either i've not made myself clear, or you've misunderstood what i'm trying to explain.

this is not a person opinion about whether or not i think nickel creek have 'sold out' - so please let's not have another thread about have they/haven't they.

what i'm saying is that from what the mangement (or otherwise) told chip it sounds a whole lot like they are seeing what sells and are then going to use that information to influence the next record.

no offence to chip - but what he posted a bit further up seems completely at odds with everything else we've been told.

hang on... let me just get my bothered face...

[warlord]

Selling CDs and Selling Shows is how NC makes their living. The more they sell, the better a living they make. So I certainly would expect them to make CDs that they think will sell better.

The question is whether they write the songs specifically to sell better, or whether they choose which songs (that they've already written) to put on the CD based on what will sell better. I see nothing wrong with the latter.

-derek

[mel4Him]

i think that NC is just evolving more vocally and even though i do miss some of the instrumentals i really like their vocals. i don't think they did more vocals to sell more records i just think that's what they are getting in to more so therefore will have more on their album:)

[Chip]

I am really, really tired of the selling out vamp that seems to be such a recurring theme of late.

Putting emphasis on what works (i.e., what your fans, en masse, show their support for) is not selling out.

Nickel Creek are musicians. They want to be successful and make a good living at what they do. That interest and desire is not selling out.

If they have already, for more than a year and a half, been doing something that is causing their audience to grow and get them airplay (i.e., writing and performing songs like This Side, Green and Grey, Peace with Distraction, Shout WYCBD, etc) loooong before they became wildly popular, and if they simply continue what is helping them to be successful, I don't see how anyone with a brain can see that as selling out.

Selling out, by most reasonable definitions, would be for an artist to do something they really dislike, don't believe in, or something that compromises their ideals or ethics, solely for the purpose of being commercially successful.

Nickel Creek has not only not done that, they've done the opposite. Selling out would be resting on existing success, making a safe record, the record that the record company might have proposed if it had artistic control. But instead, thanks to the artistic freedom granted them, NC made a very edgy, risky record.

Does the new recording have elements that will make it appeal to a wider audience than their last record? Absolutely. Was that a conscious decision? From what I've heard and understand, yes. Did they make that decision solely to produce a wider selling record? Absolutely not. They made the decision because that style was where they were already headed (as a listen to any live show recorded in the last year will show) AND because it musically excited them to produce an edgy record that Chris described as making people a little uncomfortable.

I get really annoyed with people who equate selling out with anything that remotely indlcates giving consideration to the music side of the business. That's why they call it the music business. Music IS a business. If you make your living at selling a product or service, including music, you have to offer a product that the marketplace wants to buy, or you won't be able to make your living at it. If you discover that people want more of one part of what you offer, and you enjoy and believe in that part of what you do, there is NO WAY that it's anything other than respect for your audience (i.e., your customers) and sound business sense that drives you to put more energy toward that part of your repertoire. I see absolutely nothing related to selling out that involves taking those things that get the strongest audience (or radio) response, and giving the band's audience more of what they want.

On the contrary, being responsive to what a majority of your audience responds to, as Nickel Creek has clearly done, shows a deep respect for the collective voice of their audience (as judged by audience response, ticket sales, CD sales, airplay, etc)

How anybody can equate giving the majority of your audience what they want with selling out is totally beyond me.

[NCFan4Ever]

Great post Chip! Can you just copy and paste that onto every thread that has selling out talk and let this be the end of it?