Saturday, November 05, 2005

Sovoso


I have just returned home from a performance at the Fox Theatre. Martha called this morning and asked if I could go with her tonight. I'm so tickled she called. It was a really fun evening.

Performing tonight was Sovoso, a "vocal band." It was amazing. If this group comes to your town, make it a point to go. You won't see anything else like it and you'll be bowled over by what they do.

These five performers are their own accompaniment, all with their voices, which are some of the most versatile instruments I've ever heard. I love a cappella singing, so this was a special treat. Only true artists can sing a cappella, much less for an entire performance. I kept wondering if they all have perfect pitch.

Blues, gospel, jazz and contemporary music blended into a seamless performance that had a world music feel.

Two of the group members sang with Bobby McFerrin's a cappella group, Voicestra. At times it was hard to imagine it was only three men and two women creating all that sound.

The last song they did included a local high school group and was about a topic dear to my heart - community. The song was about building a bridge. During that performance I closed my eyes at times and let the music wash over me. It was a spine-tingling experience.

I had a revelation tonight. I often comment that I don't care for live performance of any sort, or for movies, or anything that makes me sit still for an extended period of time. What I realized tonight is that I'm content to sit still for a very long time if what I'm experiencing is enthralling. That just doesn't happen often. I had no difficulties tonight. None.

Tonight also reminded me why I was a music major for only a brief time.

The Blog Answer


Just moments ago, I realized one of the really important things about blogs, and why they're so popular. They're updated regularly. It's incredibly simple and yet powerful.

The biggest complaint people have about the internet - from inception to now - is that people put up sites and then walk away and never do anything with them again. Even though we live in a world where people are supposedly technologically advanced, most people wouldn't recognize html if it bit them in the ass. So, you find really sophisticated businesses that have incorrect hours on their websites and other such foolishness, not to mention the people who have "last updated November 2003" on their pages.

But blogs have fixed that... it's easy to update. The question is why people see blogs that way, but not websites, which are also easy to update.

Occasionally I do website updating for people who just need something very basic done - a few changes here and there - but not something they want to pay their designer to do. It's not work I especially enjoy, other than the part where people are amazed by it, but it's not work I mind either. Maybe this needs to become a more formalized business.

It seems to be a largely untapped market - reasonably priced, regular updating. Not the kind that usually comes with your package - three changes for $50 over the next year. If your page only changes three times a year, no one is going to have reason to return more often than that.

Hence the blogging concept. Of course, there are tons of programs to do webpages that are as easy as blogs, but people don't see them that way. The psychology of the internet age is a continually changing, fascinating thing.