You are the music, while the music lasts ...

One of the great joys of my Second Life has been the discovery of "virtual" band, Deep Sky Traveler, and it is no secret that I am devoted to their cause. I try never to miss an event, I buy their albums, and where possible, I try to promote their efforts.

My association with them began when I heard FacelessAPe Mefusula perform his live show. For a time I had him booked to play regular shows at Idle Rogue, and I became aware that he was part of a band performing concerst in Second Life.The emphasis is applied becaue it was always my desire to showcase the "band" experience at Idle Rogue. I am still guilty of it lol. I will sign bands to perform without hearing them, so much do I desire to be a "live band" venue.

For many months, Deep Sky Traveler played a regular monthly gig at Idle Rogue. And, of course, as soon as I heard Bowie Bravin was doing solo shows, I booked him, because to me, Bowie Bravin is simply the finest vocalist working today. I am now managing his bookings inworld, and consider him to be a great friend, so that point is probably moot.

I feel the need to address the "track singer/not live" issue, because the bias is so entrenched in the live scene in Second Life. It is not, at least at this point, possible for complex music to be played live into SL. Music of the calibre of Deep Sky Traveler's would be difficult enough to stage live in a real venue, let alone to stream from three different locations into SL. The cost would be prohibitive, and the fact that the economy in Second Life is akin to that of a third-world country means the effort would not be worth the return. When you are ready to pay $100-200 in real money for tickets to a gig, you will see changes.

Until then, our musical choices are limited by time, distance and resources. At the moment you can listen to a range that goes from your grandad banging away on his guitar to a few of his friends, to the multi-layered tracks and loops used by some very fine musicians to augment their more or less live input to music they create.

Music is fundamental to my personal needs. I must have it. I go to hear djs, including those who mix "live" and those who simply have great playlists. I go to hear live musicians, whose quality varies wildly, and whose material may be original or covers. To me, Second Life blesses us with the many musical options we have, and I am delighted that I can hear fresh, well-made original music, no matter how it is presented.

I tell you all this because I plan to write an entry about their two recently-realeased albums, Into The Blackwater and The Sacred Science Of Souls, and wish to establish my obvious bias from the outset. I read enough sycophantic gushing from the fashion feeds to know it's perfectly acceptable to review a product when you are clearly going to be biased in its' favour, but let me clear: I ❤ Deep Sky Traveler. I would like to tell you about their recordings, and I feel privileged that we are able to communicate with the musicians who choose to engage with us using Second Life.