Eric Whitacre passed this along a few days ago.  It’s an incredibly random sketch by David Cross (from his Mr. Show days) that seems to imagine the film Amadeus — if it instead took place in the era of Sousa. There’s even a reference to sasparilla! You really have to see it…

I haven’t updated in ages, so today, we have two (count ’em — TWO!) blog entries.  I’ve been busy working on “Asphalt Cocktail,” and it’s slow going.  Coming up with material that feels worthy of that title is rough.

A few photos from the past few days, and both feel decidedly Texas-related. First, a few nights ago, we went for BBQ at Rudy’s. For a Texas chain, it’s mighty tasty — smokey, flavorful, moist brisket — on Wonder bread. Newman would love this place.

Then we came home and find a new pet on the bathroom wall. I don’t want to know how he got in, but he’s here in the house now — and he’s really fast. No way I’m catching him, but maybe Loki can.

Back to work, I guess. I need to get a lot done today, because tomorrow, I’m spending the afternoon at UT-Austin. One band is rehearsing “Kingfishers Catch Fire,” and another is rehearsing “Clocking.” Should be fun!

I don’t have all of the details yet, but it appears that the stink I first raised three years back with ASCAP has finally led to a beneficial policy change.  As I wrote a few weeks ago, ASCAP had a policy of not paying for every college band performance. Instead, they conducted a sample survey, paying for only certain college performances. (This meant that if I had, say, 50 college performances, I might have been paid for 20.) They did pay for every professional performance, but for band, there aren’t many of those to be had. BMI (the “other” music licensing agency) had no such policy, and paid for every college band performance.

Thanks to some lobbying, the voice of John Corigliano, a whole lot of documentation of how many performances weren’t being paid, and over 100 pages of letters of support from composers and band directors, Fran Richard (Director of Concert Music for ASCAP) raised the issue with the CEO of ASCAP, and the policy has been corrected. As of October, every college band performance reported to ASCAP will generate a royalty payment for the ASCAP composer and publisher of the performed works.

For many composers, this is a life-changing policy revision. Composers who write wind band music should see a huge increase in ASCAP royalties, and that income could make the difference between earning a livable income or not. For others, maybe they can finally afford that tanning bed they’ve had their eye on.