General Music Chat

. I don't know anyone who puts on an album in their living room to sit and listen any more. I'm willing to bet that less than half of the households in the US even have a living room 'stereo system' any more. Mine is 25 years old - 1st generation single-disc CD player, and dual cassette player.

Thanks, Mike. I do realize this is our biggest challenge. Except for jazz, modern music has strayed soooo far from being art that people no longer expect it, or in most cases in America, they can't recognize it when they hear it.

The first time I saw him (live in Poland) I remember thinking "this couldn't work in America". He played mostly mid-tempo black music and didn't attempt to manipulate or hype the audience. Even worse, all his music is "G" rated!

But I believe there is a large segment of people who are sick of fast food hype being pushed out onstage as music, and those people are going to love him. I'm not saying he's going to replace Led Zeppelin or Beyonce'. We aren't aiming there. He will appeal to the chick-flick crowd, black people, and the same people that liked Seal or Sade. They didn't do too bad.

The secret to his success is how he will connect with audiences through the deeply spiritual themes that run through his music. I have a theory that most people of faith are not listening to religious radio. When they hear something of value, they stop what they're doing and go buy it, because it's so rare. This is why "G" rated movies ALWAYS do better than the hyped-up crap that Hollywood is putting out.

That is also the reason for the success of Matisyahu, Bob Carlisle, Sixpence, Mercy Me, a long list of C&W artists, and P.O.D.

Scott says:

I wish the guy luck, but..no need to get mad over it.

I hope I didn't come across as angry? I'm not in any way upset that you guys don't get him at all, and I'm under no illusion that he would appeal to rock guitar players in the first place.

I knew it would be a challenge, and expected this predictable response here. That's why it will be such fun to accomplish!

I'm confident and secure in knowing that time will tell.

yod, i checked his "signs" video. good enough tune, and he has an alright voice. i'm not exactly blown away....maybe i need to check some more of his stuff.

this one put me very much in mind of the stuff duncan sheik was doing 10 or so yrs ago. i hope things work out for him and wish him good luck.

Must be nice to have others willing to push pull and tug.

Doing it yourself . . . is a bitch.

I'm glad we have a record of your review here. You just walked by a burning bush and didn't notice.

:shock:

Not sure what you heard,

Yes you are. I said I heard the video Jimmy linked and then I linked another.
You are defensive when I gave an honest review with a "not trying to be harsh" disclaimer.

I'm just not impressed.

Listened/watched a few of the videos last night. Probably does appeal to the 'easy listening' or maybe that mid-Euro crowd. I don't think he is going to be the next Michael Buble.

Who is Michael Buble ?

George, Michael Buble is a modern Frank Sinatra-style crooner. Just Google him he's all over the place.

Now we have a reference. Michael Buble is a phenomenal singer. Smooth, powerful, great range, impeccable phrasing and pronunciation. In my opinion he blows Sinatra out of the water.

Szczesniak isn't even on the same planet as Buble. And yes they have a similar market.

And Buble regularly sells out 10K-15K arenas at $100+/ticket.

I think we missed my point . . .

Happens in the typed word where inflection does not color intent.

Allow me to clarify.

I know whom Michael Buble is . . . and you could not pay me to sit through one of his boring performances.

The point I failed to communicate with my one liner is this.

Beauty is in the eye ( ear ) of the beholder.

Never heard of M. Bauble is lol but I agree with George..

Beauty is in the eye(s) of the beholder...don't get turned to stone. lol

THIS GUY IS BLOWING THE COMPETITION OUT OF THE WATER! I agree with yod (rarely) ..he is going to be big!.. his not so thin frame reminds me that Leslie West was not exactly skinny.. LOL

Now we have a reference. Michael Buble is a phenomenal singer. Smooth, powerful, great range, impeccable phrasing and pronunciation. In my opinion he blows Sinatra out of the water.

Szczesniak isn't even on the same planet as Buble. And yes they have a similar market.

It's understood that all of us guitar players, including me, like a more raw brand of rock n roll musically than what Mietek does. But as a singer, my favorites were almost all black soul singers. This guy is phenomenal whether any of you can see it or not. We already started recording his next english album, doing more of a soul/jazz/gospel music approach as he has done all his career in Poland.

But the edge in your "voice" indicates something more....are you still sore about the "drinking of beer by christians" debate?

Because, as a classically trained voice, Mietek is easily as good or better than Buble, depending purely on one's personal preference. One of the Producers we are working with is HB Barnum and he disagrees with your assessment. He produced Frank Sinatra, btw, and also Count Basie, Lou Rawls, Aretha Franklin and some of the greatest music in world history.

Having a voice is only part of what makes someone successful at that level. A lot of systems have to come together at the right time, and who you know is as important as who you are.

He has a lot of the right kind of influential biz people already in his corner and that will only multiply exponentially as long the USA gives him a work visa. For Mietek, the world is his apple. The only question is whether he really wants to bite into America. There is a huge audience for this guy and I'm going to be a piece of making sure they hear about him.

Just remember his name. If you haven't heard about him in major media within the next 3 years I will humbly concede your excellent prophetic ability.

yod, i checked his "signs" video. good enough tune, and he has an alright voice. i'm not exactly blown away....maybe i need to check some more of his stuff.

this one put me very much in mind of the stuff duncan sheik was doing 10 or so yrs ago. i hope things work out for him and wish him good luck.

That is very kind of you. Thanks for checking it out.

That song was co-produced with Rob Hoffman (Michael Jackson, Christian Agulera, Quincy Jones) but I don't think it's in the top 5 best songs of the CD.

My favorite songs from that disk aren't up on youtube yet, though the record label in Poland has put a few others from that CD up.

Again, the fact that he doesn't try to get dramatic in every song is what the appeal is going to be, imo.

Now we have a reference. Michael Buble is a phenomenal singer. Smooth, powerful, great range, impeccable phrasing and pronunciation. In my opinion he blows Sinatra out of the water.

Szczesniak isn't even on the same planet as Buble. And yes they have a similar market.

It's understood that all of us guitar players, including me, like a more raw brand of rock n roll musically than what Mietek does. But as a singer, my favorites were almost all black soul singers. This guy is phenomenal whether any of you can see it or not. We already started recording his next english album, doing more of a soul/jazz/gospel music approach as he has done all his career in Poland.

But the edge in your "voice" indicates something more....are you still sore about the "drinking of beer by christians" debate?

Because, as a classically trained voice, Mietek is easily as good or better than Buble, depending purely on one's personal preference. One of the Producers we are working with is HB Barnum and he disagrees with your assessment. He produced Frank Sinatra, btw, and also Count Basie, Lou Rawls, Aretha Franklin and some of the greatest music in world history.

Having a voice is only part of what makes someone successful at that level. A lot of systems have to come together at the right time, and who you know is as important as who you are.

He has a lot of the right kind of influential biz people already in his corner and that will only multiply exponentially as long the USA gives him a work visa. For Mietek, the world is his apple. The only question is whether he really wants to bite into America. There is a huge audience for this guy and I'm going to be a piece of making sure they hear about him.

Just remember his name. If you haven't heard about him in major media within the next 3 years I will humbly concede your excellent prophetic ability.

You are rather full of something, aren't you?

3 years? Geeze, I hope it doesn't take him that long to figure it out.
He seems like he has backing and support now, so why 3 years?

You can have god almighty as a producer, if the people don't like him, he's screwed regardless of what you or the producer du jour think.

Get a grip and let people decide for themselves instead of trying vainly to ram it down our throats.

You sound like a poorly written press release.