A BRAND NEW SONG ABOUT TECHNOLOGY vs ART - "Dinner with Chris Stein"
Hi friends
In 1999 I went to a dinner with Blondie guitarist Chris Stein. I was 21 years old, he was probably in his 50s. We had a fascinating conversation and at one point Chris said something that sounded shocking to my idealistic 21 year old ears “If I was 15 now and wanted to destroy the system, I dont think Id pick a guitar, Id become a computer hacker - thats where the real subversive kids are now”.
This conversation, my feelings about it at the time, and my reflections now are the subject of my new song “Dinner with Chris Stein”.
Its fascinating to be sharing this song exclusively on Steemit today. There is no way I could have foreseen the shifts in technology and the delivery of music that would come over the next 2 decades. The cultural landscape is almost unrecognizable.
At times, playing music feels like it moves upstream in todays culture. We live in this fast sharing info-overload society, and music asks us to slow down and pause, reflect on who we are. Technology doesnt ask this of us.
But I am called towards both - innovation and expression from the heart. I will not give up my humanness, nor my desire to move into new spaces of connection.
Grateful I can share my psyche, my hopes and my fears on amazing technological platforms that keep changing. Grateful for 3 chords, that have never changed.
Hear the song via @dtube below
If you have trouble viewing check out
Illustration by Mel Stringer http://www.melstringer.com.au
Follow me for daily videos, songs, thoughts and dreams via @benleemusic
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Man. I seriously dig your voice, and the rawness of this acoustic recording. it sounds great. dope lyrics too, as a musician it def resonates with me. the music industry is this crazy ever shifting paradigm, no one quite knows what lies in the industry's future, and it's kind of scary. But beacons of light like this very platform, present golden opportunities that def help give independent artists of all mediums all over the world a chance to entertain the notion of actually making a living from our skillset.
We still stand a chance as the record labels fall and/or merge, while independent musicians have a staggering number of options and power never afforded to them before. a little overwhelming but beautiful at the same time. great to hear meaningful music so well executed my friend. would love to collab on a song together.
You have a great way of expressing the optimism that I feel! Thank you
of course brother. look forward to hearing more.
Thanks for posting this. It's great! Really like your style - am now folling you.
I first saw Blondie in 1979 as the opening band for Rush in Philadelphia. Parallel Lines had just been released and the Rush crowd wasn't fond of anything resembling disco. Blondie got booed off the stage after only 3 songs. I wasn't happy as I was a fan of both bands, but it was memorable.
Thanks mate! Wow thats a wild bill. Its fun to see bands at the start of their career - sometimes you can sense where things are headed, other times success is a total shock!
Very true - I saw Squeeze play around 1979 at Rutgers College in NJ and there were about 50 people there. I sat on the edge of the stage near Jools Holland. Soon thereafter, Argy Bargy came out and they got huge in the US.
Oh nice, this post was featured in Computerworld's article: "Rock it from the crypto: Ben Lee shares new song on blockchain platform Steemit". Too bad I haven't seen that earlier.
So cool! Glad word is getting out there!
This is brilliant! Thanks so much and I l o v e the music! Huge thumbs up. Will be following along + hoping to 'get' the dtube thing at some point....minnowing along here!
Thank you. Me too. I love the TS Elliot quote on your profile.
cool song- i really like the idea of counter culture shifting to crypto
Me too. It seems to be happening.
i did put up a couple of my songs a few days ago - i would value your thoughts
Great track, thank you for sharing here!
Blondie was the first gig I went to - Hammersmith, London. Good times!!
Resteemed ...
Namaste!
Appreciated!
Brother , this is great ! I love the story and how you translated it into a song :) . Love your voice , hitting those high notes flawlessly ! Glad i came into your steemit channel ! You have a supporter here ! hope to hear more from you ! Cheers!
Thank you so much for your kind words!
Glad to see you on here! We are newbies as well but already love the community. Followed and look forward to your future posts.
Thanks!
Awesome! For some reason I was surprised that there wasn't some applause at the end of it :)
Ha!
Very cool song. That must have been an interesting dinner conversation. I've had similar talks with Tom Petty, Willie Nelson, and Bonnie Raitt.
Wow - what is your background? Music biz?