Chaos In The Music Industry

Butterflies Are Free Blog is dedicated to the untold stories in the music industry with a focus on Nashville. It will most likely end up focused on the Country Music industry, but no one really knows.

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Chaos: For our purposes the classic definition of chaos does not apply. Instead, this article is about the lesser known reference to the word as used in “Chaos Theory”."Chaos Theory" is usually defined by a simple and more understandable phrase - "The Butterfly Effect": A butterfly flaps his winds in Argentina and through a series of seemingly unrelated events causes a tornado in Texas. So, how does this relate to the music industry? Here is a true story with the names omitted (for now).

In 1979 a minor music executive was on an expedition in surrounding states to find talented groups to be signed and booked into a collective of same named night clubs. One of these groups had an exceptional guitar picker that was also a very exceptional musician and writer. Long story short, the band was signed. They traveled for a while in the circuit, but this music executive was more interested in the guitar picker than the band.

In 1980, the picker was convinced to move to Nashville even though he did not have the money to effect such a move, having just married and with a baby on the way. Remember now that the executive was not a major mover and shaker in the industry, so he could only invite the talented man to move into his house while the writer was introduced around town. So where do the butterflies enter the picture? This song magician is now one of the most prolific song writers in the city of Nashville. The musician has played his melodious guitar on hundreds of record cuts that have been heard by by an entire nation.

But the music executive, like so many other music executives, moved away from Nashville. He went into another industry and became a computer engineer, never to set foot in Nashville again for 25 years. Just how much of an unsung hero was he to the industry? Let's see.

The musician went on to have a dozen number one hits. In addition, he has had many that made it into the top 20. If it wasn’t for several of those singles, many artists that you know today might never have been known at all. The writers contribution was the springboard to their success. Am I sure of this? No. But just think about how things happen in the business.

The same music executive has more stories of the same type. He promises me he will reveal them later in this blog. I am sure there must be hundreds, if not thousands, of similar stories like the one above. I also will bet that these people would love to get noticed for an intervention like the one above. They are not seeking fame or fortune. Just the satisfaction that someone finally knows what it is that they did.

Do you have a similar story to tell? Send me an email at the address below with your name and a way to contact you.The blog is http://butterfliesarefreeblog.blogspot.com/ Email me at gareyw@gmail.com.