Kev Rowe: Interesting
10 books you might like...
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I definitely wouldn't call myself an avid reader. But, there have been books that I have read that have really changed the way I think about life that you might want to give a try. I mostly read books about music, writing, spirituality, religion, travel, self-help, marketing, and other artists and interesting people whom I admire. Throw in a few classics that have just helped me in trying to learn a little and have a meaningful, well balanced, enjoyable existence, and this is the list you get....1. "The Power of Now" - Author, Eckhart Tolle. This book is amazing. It's very interesting to read, because in just the way it was written it can bring you into some amazing areas of self awareness and reflection, diminishing the personal ego, and growing your inner space and spirituality. Literally, while you're reading it, all the sudden you say to yourself, "Whoa, that's a heavy moment he just hit me with there." And that moment is The Power of Now. Hard to describe really, but very cool, kind of metaphysical stuff.
2. "Songwriters on Songwriting" - Author, Paul Zollo. Love this book too. Basically, it is about 50 personal interviews with some of the most famous, well known songwriters known today, everyone from Bob Dylan, Paul Simon, and Tom Waits to Madonna or Prince. The actual interviews are very diverse and interesting and really get into the songwriting process and how these people write. What I found really entertaining is that when any one of these artists were asked, "So, where do these songs come from?" they all have varied answers and in their attempt to describe it, most of them realize they have no idea at all. And some of them admit it, or just skirt the issue entirely. But, some have very technical writing techniques, some of which I've employed. Others are much less formal with their writing process, another strategy I've worked on. And everything in between. Very informative and entertaining book.3. "The Prophet"- Author, Kalil Gibran. Really a great writer's reference book and a classic. It's almost poetry it's so dense and concise in imagery and information. It has been referenced by many great musicians, poets, and writers throughout the years and is actually the book that June Carter gave to Johnny Cash to inspire his lyrics. It's about a prophet who shows up on the shores of a small town and describes what he sees in front of him. Each couple pages tackles a different topic, like love, friendship, community, religion, purpose, and much more. Couple pages at a time is good. It's pretty heavy and can only be taken in small doses.
4. "How to Successfully Promote Your Music on the Internet" - Author, David Nevue. Hey, I'll admit it, much of this very website was designed and modeled on the advice David gives on how to market music in this crazy, independent, on-line, business world we all operate in today. He really gets detailed too, spanning from how to build a quality website with good content that is functional, accessible, high in search engine ranking, and positively promotes and sells your music and message. And now I'm a link building fool! Mostly it's all about quality content, in everything you do - marketing, making music, or otherwise.
5. "Zen Guitar" - Author, Philip Toshio Sudo. This is kind of a spiritual manual on playing the guitar, and mixes some eastern religion and philosophies with the more western culture of guitar music . I've got to warn you, it's just a hair cheesy when it puts out little credos like "To play Zen Guitar, one must set aside his ego, and just play", like it's an old chinese proverb. But, it's still an awesome book with tons of great quotes from amazing guitarists like Jerry Garcia, Ry Cooder, Duane Allman, Eric Clapton, and all the other guitar gods. It's short, fun, and inspiring. And there's a lot of truths in those cheesy quotes too. Great gift for any guitar player actually.
6. "A Brave New World" - Author, Aldous Huxley. Okay, this one I didn't really read. As I was driving from Charleston, SC to Lake Placid, NY one fall I listened to all 13 cds of the audio book. Man, what an experience. I'm sure you've heard of this book and possibly were made to read it in high school. And I'm pretty sure I was playing my guitar in my room the entire semester I was supposed to be reading it. But, what a great book. Briefly, it's about a futuristic world devoid of real pain and suffering which is replaced by artificial happiness and order all while everyone is popping this eternally happy pill, called Soma. And how that artificial world conflicts with the real world. So, so relevant even more today than it was written. I love Huxley. "Doors of Perception" is great too.
7. "Autobiography of a Yogi" - Author, Piramahansa Yogananda. A friend of mine Stan Barton, a fiddle player from Jamestown, NY, highly recommended this to me and I'm so glad he did. It is a very eastern religion based book about yogis and their lifestyle, belief system, and culture. It is a straight autobiography in that it documents the author's life. But, he is very vivid in his recollections and descriptions of spiritual dreams and mystical adventures he has while meditating and devotedly traveling the globe in search of meaning. It's very cool how he weaves together the actual facts of his life with the underlying spiritual journey that he was on, while not always being aware of it. I had incredible dreams for the next six months after reading it, much of which I brought into my songwriting.
8. "On the Road" - Author, Jack Kerouac. Alright, another audio book, but hey it's called "On the Road" so I thought that definitely had special significance since I was in fact "on the road", and even made listening to it cooler than reading it. It too is about two guys traveling across the country and all the crazy things they might see, and all the interesting people they meet. The book is a very american feeling book in that it is idealistic and kind of misguided at the same time, like there could be trouble or joy around every corner. And it has beautiful imagery of American landscapes, people, and cities. Many times in my travels as a musician I've thought about the book.
9. "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" - Author, Robert Pirsig. Another traveling book, this is about a father and son traveling across the country on a motorcycle. The father is a very technical but seemingly spiritual man who is constantly evaluating the inherent "quality" of finite objects and how they relate to their purpose and function. Basically, he tunes up his bike all the time. But how he looks at this machine, which is just steel parts, and sees the underlying function and purpose of how those parts work together to create something far greater is really amazing. And he and his son see some cool places and people.
10. "Blink" - Author, Malcolm Gladwell. This an interesting book about decision making. It is about how we make split second decisions sometimes on both a conscious and unconscious level and how those decisions can be very effective. It also talks about some of the social conditioning that plays into our decision making as compared to some of the choices that we make that seem to be much more inherent, "gut feeling" type of choices. I need to read some more of Malcolm Gladwell's books too, cause everyone says his book "The Tipping Point" is great as well.
Well, thanks for reading through my little literary corner here. I hope you find some value in one of these.
Kev
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