Why Bill Callahan matters

When most of us hear the word Apocalypse we think of the end time and the rapture. We think of fire and destruction. But that isn't the whole story, is it? It's befitting to write about a thought like this after Easter. In the theory of the Apocalypse, a few believe that we must tear everything down in order to rebuild a new in a way that is for the better. What that better is is always up to interpretation and personal taste. It is of course usually the writer. History is written by the victors, while the future is written by the losers and the present is written by bloggers.

Bill Callahan's musical career has spanned 3 decades now and through that time he has learned on his own how to best find his sound. We as media folk are always looking for the next hot young sound to constantly feed our readers or viewers, but sometimes the best horse in the race is the older more experienced. You have to live to learn. You have to go through heartbreak to understand love and you have to have gone through some shit to understand the blues. Are you allowed to sing the blues if you are younger than 30? And that may be too young.

Through the last 20 plus years Bill (can I call him Bill?) has perfected his voice by becoming more comfortable with his vocal limitations and stayed true to his late 80s lo-fi roots. He has been true to himself musically and it has fully translated over the years to where we are now, with his 3rd "solo" record, Apocalypse.

I can sit here on my couch and tell you that this is the way to go about creating music. The long hard path to success and notoriety, and both of those things are so relative. Instead of the American Idol/N*Sync/Bieber route. Bill Callahan, by doing what we should all do, has found a way to make his mark with his undeniably strong, unique voice by looking inside and being true to himself. That is what we all want. Everyone we deal with to speak truly to us and hopefully they expect the same from us. And I think Bill puts it best, "you must reap what you sew, or sing"

Bill Callahan - "Baby's Breath" by One Thirty BPM