Social networking has given everyone a voice, but deafened every ear. Billions of tweets, status updates, and blogs… opinion after opinion, but almost no one cares about any opinion more than their own. And the outside opinions you do respect are few and far between.

Everyone has a platform, but hardly anyone has an audience. When everyone has a megaphone, all you can hear is noise. It takes incredible patience to filter through all the garbage… the meaningless blog posts, the self-centered tweets, the unsolicited friend requests – all just adding to the noise.

Everyone is a writer, a journalist, a photographer, a musician, a model… and almost everybody sucks. Everyone thinks they’re popular, a critic, a fan, they’re cliché, redundant, they’re posers… and almost no one is a leader. If you are going to write, sing, dance, tweet, produce a video, etc., make it something that matters. Be great. Lead. Be unique. Do it for other people. Build an audience, and do everything for them.

Downingtown has the worst electromagnetic interference in the world.  My bass guitar sounds like it’s being recorded in a microwave.

I started my feeble attempt to record this morning, only to find my bass guitar interference nightmare is back.  I spent the past two hours reading up on it, and it seems like it’s electromagnetic interference.  I’m not sure the source of it… turned off every appliance in the house and still no luck.

I believe it’s electromagnetic interference as opposed to a ground issue because when I turn the bass it changes the frequency and amplitude of the buzz.  I even changed rooms and realized the buzz is even more horrific on the second floor than the third.

I first realized this problem when I recorded “Ears Will Sing” last year and just played through it.  But going back to my “Nothing at All” recording, which I did in Exton, there was no interference in the bass signal whatsoever. But there’s no way I’m going to continue to play through this noise… it’s awful.

I’m reading you can shield the components of the bass using self-adhesive copper foil, which is what I will probably try next.  But bottom line – no way I’m getting done this recording today.

It’s so easy to get off track.  Let your mind wander for a few seconds here or there, and by the end of the day you’re a few steps off track.  Days like those pile up, and a year or two down the road you wake up completely lost… wondering who you are, how you got there, and how you get back to where you need to be.

First thing’s first – It’s never too late to go back, it’s never too late to return.  This is the theme of my upcoming song “Return.”  Sometimes, you just can’t move forward until you go back.  In math, if you being solving an equation and make a mistake, continuing in that mistake will never get you the right answer.  You first have to go back and correct your mistake.  Only then can you move forward to solve the equation.

Alright, not usually. But sometimes, it really does. It’s completely a mystery to me too. Some days it’s so easy, but on days like today it’s all junk. Maybe I’m just trying too hard to write the single and all I’m coming up with is a filler. I hate fillers though.

As a music artist, some people buy my music because they like a few of my songs. But my true fans buy me. They read my blog, they follow me on Twitter, they’re friends with me on Facebook, they download every song. They buy into not only my music, but who I am, what I do, and why I do it.

The same goes for every music artist, every business, and every organization. Someone wanting coffee may walk into your café and buy a cup. But the person coming back over and over again is buying into your atmosphere, the way you give back to the community, and the enthusiasm of your employees.

Are your customers buying your products, or are they buying you? Which one are you selling, and how are you selling it?